KF-10 Feature Summary:

Electric power - Operating on a single 12 v deep discharge (marine) battery you can fish or cruise for hours.  It is spooky quiet allowing you to get closer to the fish. Just cruise along listening to the water part as the boat moves through it.  No fuel, smoke, noise, pollution, fuss.  Just turn it on and go.  today's electric motors are remarkably reliable and never need to have a tune up. Electric power is available to operate fish finders, bilge pump, lights, or other devices to make boating safer and more fun.  With the electric power to assist you, you can paddle  much further and faster.

Large Cockpit - You won't have to coil or uncoil in/out of this 19 x 57 inch cockpit.  There is plenty of dry space for fishing gear, lunches, cameras and clothing (like rain gear) in the cockpit.  No need to pack your gear in dry bags or tie it to a hull.  There is lots of leg room and the seat and seat back is generously padded so an all-day fishing trip doesn't turn into an endurance test.

Stability - Some speed has been traded for great initial stability.  The shallow V bottom and semi-hard chines provide exceptional stability and instill confidence in the paddlers.  It allows them to concentrate on fishing or enjoying their environment.

Boat Handling - the power offered by the electric motor gives the operator great steering authority.  You need not strain paddling back home against an off the bow wind that always threatens to turn you off course.  The boat has a shallow (1 1/2 inch) keel that makes it far less sensitive to wind when fishing and with just a touch of a pedal you can use the motor to correct your drift line in a river or lake.  The boat also tracks very well when under paddle only power.  This is the only kayak we have found that offers excellent handling when in reverse.  It is nearly as fast in reverse as when going forward and it responds remarkably well to steering inputs.

Shallow Water Operation - the electric motor is a modified Minn-Kotta Endura-40.  It has been modified for use on this craft.  The tilt up feature of the motor has been modified to permit the paddlers to remotely tilt the motor up or down with out leaving their seat.  This makes it easy to get through shallow or weedy spots or to beach the boat at the end of the day.

Build your KF10 with confidence-

The KF10 is offered as a kit boat with all parts available from KEB except the skin panels (3 sheets 4 x 8 x 4mm Okoumi Plywood) and finish materials. These panels are large and therefore too expensive to package and ship. Builders can save money and time purchasing them locally. The frame of the boat is constructed first. No forms or jigs are required.  Steering hardware is then added and flotation parts constructed and checked for proper fit. The skins are then placed on the frame, trimmed and fiber-glassed. The boats design eliminates precision cuts on the skin panels and requires no special tools, yet yields a boat that looks good and is strong. Finally the motor and electrics are installed.

Sub-kits are provided so that builders not comfortable with electrical or metal work can obtain these already constructed and tested. Their installation is simple and clearly described in the manual. The Construction/Operation and Maintenance manual provides over 100 pages of detailed drawings, photos and text to guide the builder in the boats construction.

 All parts of the boat are described and can be fabricated by the average builder, or can be purchased from KEB. Detailed mechanical drawings of the steering system and motor modification requirements are given and vendors and their part numbers are provided to assist material purchasing, building and installing these components.

Four kit groups are offered and labeled option 1-4:

Option 1 requires the lowest starting cost, but requires the most labor from the builder.

Options 2-4 are successively more expensive, but require less labor and time from the builder.

Option 4 is a completely built boat.

Option 1 with its lowest start up cost may not be the least expensive way to build a KF10. We buy material in larger quantities and for lower shipping costs, and pass along some of the savings to the builders. So if you are an avid DIY guy, you will still find advantages to options 2 where parts are shipped unassembled, or option 3 where they are assembled and in some cases installed.

 Most folks find the construction process is a very satisfying part of ownership of the KF10. There is a sense of accomplishment that one does not find in a purchased product. This process is viewed as ‘part of the journey’ and they take their time and enjoy the process. In their completed boat they often feel that they had more fun on the water with their creation than anyone else. The builder also gains valuable experience in the boats operating and maintenance characteristics. If a part needs repair or replacing, they just jump in and do it, instead of having to rely on help. Having such confidence in your boat and abilities is a very satisfying part of the KF10 hands free boating experience. You will find as I have that most observers find it hard to believe that I actually built this boat.

KF10 Component Descriptions

KF10 Manual- Over 100 pages of text, drawings and photos providing step by step instructions for the construction of the KF10 kayak. Drawings of more complicated wood parts are full size and the information can be easily transferred directly to wood. This manual includes an Operations Section providing detailed description of boat operation and handling characteristics.  A Maintenance section is included providing routine maintenance requirements, a discussion of battery use and care, and routine maintenance requirements of the steering hardware.

Motor Controller- The Motor Controller (M/C) is the heart of the KF10. It is a proprietary unit containing the electronics required for hands free operation of the boat, variable speed control, motor protection and increased motor operating efficiency. It is a plug and play unit requiring no internal settings or adjustments. Interfacing signals are in a DB-9 connector, and 4 screw down terminals are provided for power and motor interface. The unit is simple to install and it is protected from damage if the battery polarity is reversed.

Electrical Kit –This kit includes the Control Panel which is the operator interface to the boat. The Control Panel contains the speed control, an on-off switch, and an LED that warns of a motor overload. A connector on the attached cable plugs into the M/C and 3 wires plug on to the pedal detectors.  The kit also provides the harness which includes a 50 amp circuit breaker and motor wiring. It requires no soldering and all wire terminations are performed with a screwdriver or a 7/16ths wrench.

KF10 Frame Kit- This kit includes all boat frames, stringers and internal parts (seats, cockpit combing, battery shelf ect) needed to ready the boat for skin panels. It does not include flotation material. The frames are 12mm and 18 mm plywood, the stringers are ¾ inch clear cedar. Stringers for bow and stern are pre-shaped to provide a smooth hull contour.  Frame 2 contains the steering pedals and their associated detectors. The transom is equipped with thru hull cable guides. Steering cables are provided.

KF-10 Motor-  The motor is a Minn-Kotta Endura 40 that has been modified for use on the KF10. All M/K steering and speed controls have been removed and the mounting bracket is modified for permanent installation on the boat hull. It is provided with a tiller and cable interface. The motor can be installed or removed without the need for tools. Modifications are described in detail in the manual for builders that prefer to modify their own motors.

How it Works

The operation of the motor is performed at the Control Panel.

This panel is located on the left cockpit combing just in back of the paddlers knee.  It provides signals to the Motor Control Unit which in turn controls the motor operation.  The Control Panel has two controls.  One is a speed control.  This is  a slide control like the volume control on many sound systems.  It provides a continuously variable throttle control for the motor.

The second control on the panel is the Motor Control switch.  This switch has 3 positions:

Aft = OFF
All power is removed from the motor

Middle = Foot Control
Allows pedal sensor to start/stop, select speed fwd/reverse

Forward = Motor Run
 

The forward position of the Motor Control is the Run position.  In this position, the motor will run in response to the throttle setting and no motor control inputs are required from your feet.  this is a handy feature if you want to troll or are just going for a cruise.

There is also a lamp on the panel.  It is ON when the motor is running in Reverse.  It also will flash on-off-on--when the motor attempts to draw excessive current from the battery.  This is most likely to happen if the propeller is fouled with weeds or fishing line.  It alerts the operator to stop and clear the prop to avoid motor damaged.

Each pedal has a detector associated with it that activates when a pressure of greater than 2 lbs is applied to the pedal.  This is not enough pressure to turn the motor for steerage.  The pedal will move a little when your foot is placed on it, about 1/8th inch.  The presence of your foot is sent to the Motor Controller Unit (MCU) and it controls the motor as follows:  With the Motor Control Switch in the Foot Control (middle) position:

1. No Foot on either pedal =  Motor Stop

2. Foot on right pedal =  Motor runs Forward

3. Foot on Left pedal = Motor runs reverse.  Once the motor is running, a foot on either pedal =  Motor continues to run in the same direction as before.

4. Lift both feet from pedals =  Motor stops

Notice that the above sequence requires the operator to stop the motor before it can change direction (Fwd or Rev).  A built in delay of 1/2 second is used to prevent abrupt changes in start/stop and fwd/rev commands to the motor.  The MCU also has a soft-start circuit that ramps up the motor power to the level set at the throttle in about 1 second.  These features make the smooth operation of the KF10 very easy, even for the beginner.  It is like learning to ride a bicycle, strange at first, but in a short time it just seems natural.

Be sure to watch our electric kayak video. This is our first video below showing the 10' kayak.  We have since completed another video on Youtube called, "Dead Fred" showing the new 12' kayak in action.

Fishing in the Kingfisher Electric Kayak is fun allowing you to quietly glide through the water with hands-free control.