Ok in my never ending quest for a 28' pontoon, I'm still holding out
for one that has a GM 3.0 mercruiser basicly for the 4 cycle economy
over say a 2-cycle 70hp Johnson etc. And I like the size of a 28'
because I want something I can take my brothers and families out for a
river cruise or a good day at the lake.

But one thing I'm wondering is if there would be any type of
practicality to going "hybrid" on something like this. And I dont'
mean a true hybrid but rather an electric alternate power.

Here's how I look at it. A 28'r would provide ample bouancy for extra
weight. I have access to air cooled electric forklift motors up to
about 10 h.p which is actually quite a bit more power than what one
would think. With the automotive engine and plenty of surrounding
room, I can make charging systems up to 64 v. w/no problem. Even
mounting a seperate alternator on the engine is only limited to the
pulley and bracket[s].

My idea would be to mount the electric motor not quite midship,
inboard, and run direct drive to a folding prop, like on some sailboat
applications. in other words, this would be one huge, stationary
trolling motor!

Cruise around on electric, using the mercruiser drive as a rudder,
then when the batteries get low, or you need some speed etc, you start
the 3.0 , use mechanical power and charge the thrust batteries at the
same time.

I dont' really like the idea of 600+ lb. of extra aparatus etc, but
I'm thinking this could be a neat alternate to running straight fossil
fuel all the time.

It worked on submarines for years. I can't see why it wouldn't work on
a pontoon boat.

comments deffinately welcome.