Electric power Hobie Pro Angler?

I think you'll find that anything bigger will not fit through the mirage drive hole.

This is awesome! What did you make the insert of? And how did you do that? I really want to do exactly the same thing, which the difference that I want a 30-35lb motor right from the start.

I went to Tap Plastics.  They have a store near the Carmen Drive exit off I-5.  I told the guy what I was doing and had some measurements for different thickness of plastics needed.  I had to get 1/2", 3/8" and 3/4" thick plastic I believe.  Tap plastics cut the plastic pieces for me.  I don't remember the name of the plastic, but it is strong and not brittle.  I didn't bother gluing the pieces, I just bolted them together.  I used a file, grinder, orbital sander, and sand paper to shape the pieces.  The studs that stick out of the side of the mount are stainless bolts sandwiched back to back inside the mount.

I think there may be a couple 30 lb thrust motors that might work.  I'm not a motor expert, but I think that the Watersnake 30 that Walmart has might be a relabeled motorguide motor.  If so, I think the lower unit is 3 inches in diameter.  That should be big enough to go through the bottom of the boat.  I will know by Friday night because I just ordered this motor from Walamart and it's on the way.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Watersnake-Tracer-FWTCS30TH-30-Trolling-Motor/12961486

My buddy electrified his Tarpon 140 and put a 50# thrust motor on it. He can keep up with my Hobie, but much to his disappointment, he can't blow by me. More thrust doesn't translate to more speed. To get his speed up he needs to change the pitch on his prop. Trolling motors don't need to be high speed, so they are pitched for low speed. More thrust will just allow the prop to push larger loads. Your 18# thrust motor probably has enough  push, it just needs more bite.

As far as I know......  They don't even sell a replacement prop for the watersnake 18.

My buddy electrified his Tarpon 140 and put a 50# thrust motor on it. He can keep up with my Hobie, but much to his disappointment, he can't blow by me. More thrust doesn't translate to more speed. To get his speed up he needs to change the pitch on his prop. Trolling motors don't need to be high speed, so they are pitched for low speed. More thrust will just allow the prop to push larger loads. Your 18# thrust motor probably has enough  push, it just needs more bite.

A buddy of mine was using a 55# minnkota on an AI and he was disappointed with the speed. I believe it was ~4mph and he eventually upgraded to a 2.5hp yammy.

Outback is 12 feet. It's hull speed is around 3 kt take or add. More horse power will not make it sail faster, unless you will make it fly.

I got the new watersnake 30 lb thrust motor yesterday.  I spent some time modifying my setup for the bigger motor.  The 3" diameter motor does not have any clearance issues fitting down through the hole in the hull, but I did have to trim a tiny bit off the prop blades to fit.  Below is a video. 

That is very impressive! Please try it on the water and let us know the result.

30 lbs of thrust pushes the pro angler much better than the 18 lb thrust motor.  Below is a short video.

Good job! I gotta say though that after I watched your video, the choices that show up in the window after the video is done had one that showed two dudes with Yamahas mounted on their PA14s. That is enough to get those babies up on a plane and make them long range kayaks - OK, boats.

Have fun with that thing - looks great...