Newport Vessels NK300 Motor Review | Searching for the Best Kayak Motor

[@PaulOutdoorsTV]

Good review, I have the nk300 on my pwr129 as well. I did notice that you removed the rudder all together due to you using foot steering. I kept my rudder and turned it into a skeg by putting two screws into the top of the rudder housing making it stay straight now it helps me track straight .

[@roadtripangler]

Nice! I thought about doing that! I know if I put a bow mount on the kayak it would be almost required.

[@Jsteezyfishing]

I have the nk-180. I love it but I want more power for getting up river in the spring when water levels are up and currents speeds are increased. I’m hoping they come out with a nk300 pro. And have the lower end of the throttle a little more controlled for slower speeds. The torqeedo looks great but I just can’t bring myself to spend over 3k on a kayak motor.

[@roadtripangler]

The NK180 is a great motor, but for some the NK300 has just the right amount of power! The Torqeedo is an investment but I think it is better in a lot of ways. I am doing the side by side comparison video next. They are both great motors though!

[@TexasPapa13]

I’m running an xi3 salt on my pwr129. Thinking about adding the nk300. Use it for distance travel and the xi3 for once I’m at a spot. How far you think the 50ah range will be ?

[@roadtripangler]

You could cover a lot of ground with a 50Ah. I’m the range would depend on how much throttle you give it. For example at full throttle running 6.6mph you should get about 1.4hrs of run time giving you a range of 9.24mph. If you back down to half throttle you will still be at over 5mph likely which would give you a range of close to 15 miles. Hopefully that helps. I will say that is the nice thing about the Torqeedo. You have the accurate range data on the screen but you pay for the tech!

[@TexasPapa13]

@ yeah the torquedo is out of my price range. lol

[@PaulOutdoorsTV]

I have both on my pwr. I do have the victron Bluetooth shunt on my 36 volt 60ah and with my throttle at 50% my time shows around 5-6 hours before the battery is dead.

[@bChipps]

I use a 60aH for my nk180 pro and I can run full throttle for a pretty long time I have yet to get it close to empty but I suspect about a hour at full throttle and 3 at 80% throttle on my calculations

[@bChipps]

the main benefit of the newport is the choice of battery. Can easily find a bigger battery to get way more longevity.

[@roadtripangler]

That is a huge bright for sure!

[@markdotson607]

Now that you have had the big 3 in motors what's the best

[@roadtripangler]

I am releasing the comparison video next, but I think it really depends on what you are doing with them. For me I would chooses the Torqeedo even though it is a higher price. The tech, range data, speed, and sealed battery with all sealed connections is just better. You pay for it, but it is the higher quality. The bixby is the most versatile of them and I will be using it some more as well! Especially on my inflatables!

[@TexasPapa13]

Did you mean to skip the reverse lock cable ?

[@roadtripangler]

Yes. I don’t typically install them. I rarely use it.

[@robswoodsandcustomsawmilli9940]

Something that was not talked about is the batt charger. The Torqeedo comes with 180watt charger for the 1080 watt battery, you can also purchase the new Torqeedo without the batt its $ 1,749msrp and 1,349. for the batt so combined 3,098. First thing the charger is garbage. Thats gone to take about 8 or so hours to charge compared to the lipfo4 chargers you can get that are 25amps at 36volts. I could live with the price of 1749 with definitely a nicer controller with the Torqeedo. But until the make a version that you can use any batt. They have an inferior product. It's just a Plain rip-off to pay 1349. for a 1080 batt with a crap charger.

[@roadtripangler]

I think you are right on some of that, however the gps system is built into the battery, plus it is fully sealed in a case that is fire resistant if there ever was a problem. It is not simply a 1080 battery vs an off the shelf battery. You are paying for the gps and safety tech that is proprietary to them. I am not saying it justifies the cost difference but they are not apples to apples by any means.

[@robswoodsandcustomsawmilli9940]

@@roadtripangler Just want to address this. So as far as the tech in the batt. First the gps that would in no way have to be integrated in the batt and if you have a higher end fish finder you have a gps on that. Now as far as it being sealed great. Thats not a worry I have. I never heard of a lipfo4 batt going up in flames but maybe that's a concern for others. Here is really the point I want to drive home if you want 2 batts for the torqeedo you have to buy there's. When you buy another batt guess what it has the same electronics as the other batt has in which if you put all the electronics outside of the batt you could drastically reduce the price of an extra batt. Hell you could even just add an auxiliary port to add capacity to the current 1080 watt battery. I don't want to hate on Torqeedo but I would guess that's why most people don't buy it over the Newport.

[@FishingCPA-yf3oz]

Its calculating your battery percentage by the battery voltage. When your running it your voltage will drop. I would just look at that when your at a stop. But if you really need more accurate readings A Bluetooth battery I would recommend the litiime 36volt 50amp hour.

[@roadtripangler]

It stayed down even after stopping and then creeped back up a bit latter. My battery does have Bluetooth but I don’t have the app downloaded yet. Good advice on the app though!