Unbox A $299 Pedal Drive For My Fishing Kayak 

Really appreciate your feedback. Many viewers (including myself :-) want to get to the 'meat' and move the video in a very fast pace. Very often, I edit the videos that way, especially around the 'voice over'. When I watched my own videos, I fell that rush and sometimes it isn't easy to listen to. Glad there are viewers like you want to have a more relaxed pace. I will pay attention to this in my future videos. Thanks!

Thanks for your input. Would you please share which seller you get the drive from. I know others would like to get one too. I used this drive on my homemade boat and it works well. I have no complain. The test video is here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HLlpsABLKDI.html The mount I have for the drive is not very sturdy and I need to modify it for another trial. Cheers!

Thanks for your reply of the supplier's info. For some unknown reason, RU-vid only show part of the info in my notification: This is what I see. " I bought this exact same pedal drive system for about $160 + a $7 or $8 credit fee + about $92.50 for shipping with my total costs approx $259 US Dollars. I bought it from Viking in" Are you based in US, or other country? The 1 week shipping seemed to be very fact. Thanks.

Thanks Mike, I got the info. I appreciate that. Some viewers asked this info in the past. I will let them know. Cheers!

This pedal drive made in China, which allows seller to put their brand on it. You can see a similar ( I would say the same drive) from this supplier on Aliexpress: www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805584691663.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.63.4110UfvWUfvWah&algo_pvid=d0e01933-4ed8-436a-b0ad-92a2107d57ce&algo_exp_id=d0e01933-4ed8-436a-b0ad-92a2107d57ce-31&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%21465.26%21437.34%21%21%213344.82%213144.13%21%402101c59817160047611513643ecde8%2112000034292136921%21sea%21US%210%21AB&curPageLogUid=Khf9wZkfs6C2&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A

If you want a replacement propeller, I've seen people using RC airplane propellers on their kayaks

Thanks for the great input. I did ask Boat-to-go about this and they pointed me to the Native Watercraft site. Apparently there are interchangeable parts between different vendors. At first, I want to build a pontoon Kayak with width of 32-34", but with this drive (short shaft), that is a problem. The result may be similar to this one at 44" wide. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RtxiMNVfmuE.html It will work well at the wider /larger rivers, also good for fitting a sail. But it will be a bit wide for the narrow rivers near my house.

I don't want to spend that much money either. Still thinking about the best way to mount this...Please stay tuned, hopefully I will have the boat done within 8 weeks. By then, the weather and the water will be warmer for water test.

@@DIYUSA Can't wait! Is the shaft long enough to work on the catamaran too?

@@DIYUSA Ah, that's too bad about it not fitting the catamaran but that's to be expected I guess. Unless you got another one and mounted one in each pontoon! hehe :)

Thanks for your question. This is the boat I built with this drive. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HLlpsABLKDI.html The thickness of the foam is 4". There is 1' clearance between the top of the propeller and the bottom of the boat. This video showed how I used a sheet of card board to come up with the correct dimensions to mount the pedal drive. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_8U7Iinz3Ig.html The boat I built is like a paddle board. If you use foam to build a kayak (with higher side walls), the bottom can be 2" thick and you have more clearance to place the pedal drive. Cheers!

Thanks for checking. I am still building my tandem kayak, should finish that in about a week. Then I will start building the fishing kayak using this drive. I probably will be able to test this drive in that kayak around end of May, i.e. in about a month. Will update you! Cheers!

@@DIYUSA Nice. Was thinking of a better alternative vs trolling motor but my yak is not built for peddle drive but does have an open spot in the middle so DIY should be fine. Thanks and good luck on you project.

Thanks for asking. It works well as expected. Now the drive is sitting in the garage since Oct and there is no sign of rust. It works well but I need to improve on the mount for the pedal drive. This play list documented the boat I built for that drive and it included the water test. I will redo this boat in spring 2022 to reduce the boat's width. This playlist also has a video about getting this drive directly thru Alibaba and the cost will be less. ru-vid.com/group/PL2ShZzOUu01sur_IJ8eY1rA_wOMXvKH7r Have a Happy New Year!

Thanks for watching. I am glad I have the drive now and know the limitations: mainly the shaft is a bit short for my initial design direction (in a pontoon implementation). I will have to increase the spacing of the pontoons, i.e. the width of the kayak will be wider to accommodate the pedal drive. The challenges will be in weight (want to be under 30 lbs. but I need a stronger frame) and able to fit that in my small car. The current direction of the kayak will be similar to this one. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jhuhts95jiU.html

@@DIYUSA under 30 lbs will be difficult for sure. I suggest you try xps foam and fibreglass, makes for a very light and stiff sandwich construction. What makes you steer away from a single hull? I understand that there will have to be a hole for the shaft to pass thrue but thats nothing epoxy glue can't seal up. as long as you clean and rough up the surfaces it sticks to damn near everything and never lets go. cheers

@@lucasvanhamburg4937 Thanks for the suggestion. Yes, I plan to use XPS foam and I have got the material. The main reason for not going with the single hull is I want to fit the whole 10' boat inside my small car (Toyota Prius C with the back seat down). Also I want a simpler process than using fiberglass :-) Yes, getting down to 30 lbs not including the accessories is difficult. I believe I have a path to get there, but not with this 1st proto-type. I hope to share my experiment /learning soon. Again, thanks for your comments and support.

Thanks for your feedback and support. I will restart building that pontoon fishing boat next week. I know what I want now. A few weeks ago, I built a 14.5' foldable canoe. In my water test, it is very stable. I will test it tomorrow for fishing on the local river. This boat weighs 30 lbs, still easy for me to move it by myself. The pontoon boat estimated to be at 40 lbs. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nuDxhA00Vik.html Cheers!

I have bought things from manufactures on Alibaba, but I have never bought a pedal drive from them. Sorry I don't have the information you ask for. Thanks for watching and asking a very good question.

@@DIYUSA thank you sm for reply im waiting for your reply long time .the pedal drive on alibaba same as like u have .so thats why i asked you .❤

@@allnew8908 I usually reply within 24 hours. For the past few days, I was camping at the coast and couldn't get to the internet. Sorry for the delay. I notice the pedal drive I have uses the same propeller as the 'Native' drive (interchangeable). To me this is not a surprise because most of these drives are made in China and the manufacturers get the common parts from a few suppliers. Also the build should be similar, because I believe most US retailers pick a specific model and rebrand them. They could just purchase in bulk and resale that in US. The quality control could be different between suppliers. Cheers!

@@DIYUSA yes its ok thank you sm for reply i got your answer . Nice to hear your words again. Now it helped me a lot . Hope you have a good day ❤❤👍😊

Thanks for watching!

Please check the video at 0:55 for the info. It is a company in Florida. I don't know if they still have this in stock. I bought that in March this year.

Couldnt find it on the site

@@claytonyoung1351 They probably sold all they have. When I got mine, there were only 4 left in stock.

Not sure if you can get one thru Alibaba. Is should cost less. Please check out this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--km87kkrE38.htmlsi=eMb8821BUJrdEqTi

Thanks for your suggestion. Will definitely getting the spare props.

@@DIYUSA don't forget extra shear pins. BTW I own a yak myself. Just a cheap lifetime tamarack think its a 10 footer. Good for the snake river. Love my bass fishing.

@@starsoldier3643 Thanks for your input. I am new to paddle drive and really appreciate your guidance. Cheers!

@@DIYUSA not to hard. Just try to keep in mind unlike cats we don't have 9 lives. So we must prepare for things before hand. Think of it as hiking on water and bring supplies accordingly. Never owned a peddle drive myself. But even with motors one needs props a pins. Once a prop is damaged it needs changed because it causes vibration and bearing failure. If your on the ocean watch high low tides. Currents will drag you out to sea certain times of day. Always were life vest designed for yaks. Movement is everything on a yak. Now I've never had one on the ocean but I live on border of Idaho Oregon but live in Oregon. The Snake river runs between the two states so I'm like 300 yard from the Snake. During high and low tide we must be careful where we are on the river as the ride makes huge back currents looks like the river is running backwards in those areas. Get caught there you'll be there till the tide stops rolling inland. You can row to either side and wait on the bank. A bit like surfing. Crazy. I know cuz I got caught. Lol.

@@starsoldier3643 Yes, I totally agree to play it safe. The only boat I dare to bring that to the ocean is my pontoon boat. Other boats I built can and should be only be used in calm rivers and lakes. I also go out with my friend, who will be in a motorized raft and can help me if I run into trouble. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Possibly so, depending on where you are. A viewer got the same drive, for less than US$250 express shipped to him for approx. $260. Details here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--km87kkrE38.html