Traxxas m41 cat

[duramax47]

Hey every one I got my first boat today here in Colorado. I got the Traxxas m41 cat. First time driving a boat and I'm hooked. I love it. I know it's not the best boat compared to others such as pro oat maybe. Just some newbie questions I have. I've been reading balanced props on an roc boat are good upgrade? I don't know a thing about props. And should I redo the cooling system? It didn't seem really hot but was warm, I was thinking the esc and motor should have their own cooling lines? Looks to me it gets picked up by rudder and goes through esc to cool it then goes from esc to motor and in my head the water to motor is already warm. Not much cooling. If so how do I go about it?

Hey every one I got my first boat today here in Colorado. I got the Traxxas m41 cat. First time driving a boat and I'm hooked. I love it. I know it's not the best boat compared to others such as pro oat maybe. Just some newbie questions I have. I've been reading balanced props on an roc boat are good upgrade? I don't know a thing about props. And should I redo the cooling system? It didn't seem really hot but was warm, I was thinking the esc and motor should have their own cooling lines? Looks to me it gets picked up by rudder and goes through esc to cool it then goes from esc to motor and in my head the water to motor is already warm. Not much cooling. If so how do I go about it?

Here is a pic

Hey every one I got my first boat today here in Colorado. I got the Traxxas m41 cat. First time driving a boat and I'm hooked. I love it. I know it's not the best boat compared to others such as pro oat maybe. Just some newbie questions I have. I've been reading balanced props on an roc boat are good upgrade? I don't know a thing about props. And should I redo the cooling system? It didn't seem really hot but was warm, I was thinking the esc and motor should have their own cooling lines? Looks to me it gets picked up by rudder and goes through esc to cool it then goes from esc to motor and in my head the water to motor is already warm. Not much cooling. If so how do I go about it?


Here is a pic

 

[grgbulldog]

That's awesome. I saw traxxas had released a new one but I haven't looked into it. I bought an atomik barbwire of craigs about 6 months ago and have yet to even solder deans on so I can run it.

 

[cbaker65]

Usually theres a coil tubing that slides over the motor for cooling an the pickup tube is
at the back of the boat an water is forced through the tube as the boat gains speed.

The props have different pitcthes an are sharp at the leading edges.
A high performance prop will have a more aggressive pitch!
An I think some props create lift an help the boat get up on plane to
skim across the top of the water along with trim tabs that can be mounted at the
transom line at the back of the boat.

That is a catamaran style hull ,so its built for speed in choppy water!..

 

[grgbulldog]

This thread inspired me to get out of bed and go solder some deans on my barbwire.

 

[duramax47]

This thread inspired me to get out of bed and go solder some deans on my barbwire.

That's awesome it's fun I like this boating thing!

Usually theres a coil tubing that slides over the motor for cooling an the pickup tube is
at the back of the boat an water is forced through the tube as the boat gains speed.

The props have different pitcthes an are sharp at the leading edges.
A high performance prop will have a more aggressive pitch!
An I think some props create lift an help the boat get up on plane to
skim across the top of the water along with trim tabs that can be mounted at the
transom line at the back of the boat.

That is a catamaran style hull ,so its built for speed in choppy water!..

Any recommendation on a prop that's good for this boat and where to get it?

 

[duramax47]

The factory prop is a 2 blade composite 42x59mm which is on t now, what's a upgraded prop from that?

 

[Rolex]

The factory prop is a 2 blade composite 42x59mm which is on t now, what's a upgraded prop from that?

Brass props from Dumas. A great selection to choose from ... http://www.dumasproducts.com/index.php?cPath=72&osCsid=a2a5t29mknr6l30ig1obe9ntt1

 

[cbaker65]

Octura brand is another!

You can beef up any brand boat an make them faster ,theres tons of hop-ups
for them!
From drive dogs ,props an aftermarket knife sharp rudders that can be adapted to
anything that floats.

 

[duramax47]

How do I know what prop to choose though?

 

[cbaker65]

How do I know what prop to choose though?

You judge by the size prop that you already have! That would be a base start!
A racing prop will very in pitch an I don't know what yours is.

Your best bet is to contact a dealer in the places that was suggested.Dumas or Octura or
any boat products dealer an tell them what you have to get a recommendation.
They will also need to know the size of the out put shaft ,weather its 3 1/16 or 1/4 drive
or metric size.
If you got a manual hand book ,it might have some clues or sizes in it.
I use to do rc boats ,but I've been out of the game for 18 years.

You might even have to sign up on a regular boat forum to gain some more insight!...

 

[duramax47]

You judge by the size prop that you already have! That would be a base start!
A racing prop will very in pitch an I don't know what yours is.

Your best bet is to contact a dealer in the places that was suggested.Dumas or Octura or
any boat products dealer an tell them what you have to get a recommendation.
They will also need to know the size of the out put shaft ,weather its 3 1/16 or 1/4 drive
or metric size.
If you got a manual hand book ,it might have some clues or sizes in it.
I use to do rc boats ,but I've been out of the game for 18 years.

You might even have to sign up on a regular boat forum to gain some more insight!...

Thanks for the info that's what I will do, and are the boat specific forums? If so you have a link? I've been on and off here for 5+ years but this is my first at boats.

 

[Rolex]

Send a PM to @Ron Olson. He's this forum's boat guru.

 

[Ron Olson]

I got the PM as you can tell.
Rolex, Dumas props are awful sorry to say as most are made for scale boat/ship applications. Octura's and Prather's are good choices but for a new boater, AquaCraft props are better option as they're already sharpened and balanced right out of the package. Most hobby shops can get them through their Great Planes distributor or you can order them directly through Tower Hobbies.
When it comes to electric boats, I'm lost to be honest with you. The ESC, motor and battery packs should be warm but not hot so things should be just about right.
It seems the first thing new Fast Electric RTR boat owners want to do is to try to step things up. This boat just hit the market so there's not a whole lot of info out right now on modifications.
This is Traxxas' first shot at trying a Catamaran and to me they rushed things a bit in trying to get it out in time for prime boating season. A Cat should not need trim tabs on it as that's a Band-Aid fix for a problem elsewhere. The Courtney Force Funny Car inspired paint scheme is a love it or hate it thing, it's like a Unicorn puked on it.
As for what better props to put on it, let's wait and see what others are doing. Just enjoy it for now as-is.
Oh yeah, a link to the props: http://www.aquacraftmodels.com/hardware/propellers.php

 

[Rolex]

Thanks, @Ron Olson
That's some great info, there.

 

[Ron Olson]

I try when I can but my electric experience is very limited. I've seen the shots since it was announced that it was coming out and the consensus has been about the same from postings I've seen on Facebook. For $449.95 street price it should have a fiberglass instead of ABS hull (#1 biggest gripe.). I know that it's geared more towards the new or relatively new boater as it has that "Look at me!" appearance. I see too many FE boaters trying to over-power their boats as nobody ever seems to be happy with out-of-the-box speeds. Hull designs are limited to not much more that how it comes as otherwise handling seems to go down the toilet as that's where the imperfections start to show.

 

[duramax47]

I try when I can but my electric experience is very limited. I've seen the shots since it was announced that it was coming out and the consensus has been about the same from postings I've seen on Facebook. For $449.95 street price it should have a fiberglass instead of ABS hull (#1 biggest gripe.). I know that it's geared more towards the new or relatively new boater as it has that "Look at me!" appearance. I see too many FE boaters trying to over-power their boats as nobody ever seems to be happy with out-of-the-box speeds. Hull designs are limited to not much more that how it comes as otherwise handling seems to go down the toilet as that's where the imperfections start to show.

Thanks for chiming in Ron, I really appreciate it. A lot of good info. Out of the box the boat is plenty fast I do like it a lot. I wanted to share with every one about this boat since it just came out. As I do more and more research their are a few things I'd like to share. Like you said Ron for the street price it should be fiberglass, that being said for plastic it does pretty well (not that I have experience this is my first boat and have yet to see what a fiberglass or carbon fiber hull can or will do) I will admit the the color scheme to me was attractive. So far on 6s the motor and esc get warm but nothing I'm worried about. That being said I'd still like to do the dual pick up rudder so the esc and motor have their own cooling. Now on the other end of things the batteries where pretty hot imo but that could be my fault with the makeshift battery set up I'm running Intell my correct batteries show up. I'm running 4 1400mah 3 cell Traxxas lipos at once. 2 batteries on each side of boat connected in parallel then to the series connected to make 6s and total of 5600mah. Puffed 2 of them and the other 2 are fine. But like I said that could be the problem. As far as handling goes I haven't had any issues. I did flip it but I hit a big enough wave ( or ripple more so) to get enough air under it to flip. As I do more research I'm looking at buying another boat, I'm thinking about the pro boat 48 zelos bl. Let me know what you think Ron. Once again thanks for all the info

Send a PM to @Ron Olson. He's this forum's boat guru.

Thanks Rolex!

 

[jasonjord]

it is very fun,fast and handles much better than the spartan.this is much better platform and traxxas did a great job of making improvements based upon the remaining issue with the v3 sparten.all i can say is fast very fast.super fast and easy.