This is definitely going to be some weight when finished!!
I thought that I should check out the motor current draw and thrust before finalising the motor fitting. So into the bathroom test tank for testing. It took 3 12V 7Ah gel cells and around 4 1/2 Kg of other weights to bring it down near the water line. (I also had an 8Ah 3S lipo for power.
I borrowed the esc from my fast boat although it is a bit over the top at 160A but it is easily programmed to give reverse and does give good slow running. A wattmeter was fitted between the battery and esc to check the current when running. First impression was that at full throttle its time for drag racing
. The current was still only at around 8A max and it did have good slow running up to around 1/4 throttle. The esc was then programmed to 50% forward and this gave good performance. Max current under 4A and around 40 watts and at minimum throttle the prop revs were low so should give good low speed and a decent run time. The reverse speed was set higher as the prop seems to be much less effective in reverse.
The only problem I have found is that the shaft does let water through so will need grease or heavy oil added to stop this. It looks like I will need to retrofit an oiling tube.
Jim