Gen 3 PRO Ductless Integrated Rudder Propulsion System for Hobie™ Kayaks

I only write reviews for exceptionally bad or good products to discourage or encourage potential buyers. Having used a Gen 3 on my PA 12 for a couple months and have had experience with their customer support I feel qualified to share my findings. I use mine for offshore salt water fishing in Southern California.
The motor is pretty easy to install. But you really need two people. One just to hold the spring loaded rudder components in place while the other threads the screw. With the rudder retracted your prop tucks nicely into the bottom of the kayak.
The throttle mechanism mounted on a rudder control is wonderful. What you have here is a motorized rudder. I think what I love most is how quickly you can spin the kayak around with the prop. With this in mind I didn’t spend the extra money on the PA 360 drive. This saved me about half the cost of the TPPGen 3 motor purchase. Fishing offshore, I would never consider a motor that replaces the pedal drive. Period. If I were to wrap something around my prop and couldn’t clear it, I still have the pedal drive to get me back.
This motor will not win any drag races, but I get about 3.5 to 4.5 MPH at 3/4 throttle, depending on wind and current. I don’t notice a lot of difference between 3/4 and full throttle. Light pedaling will give an extra 1 MPH. I usually pedal at least some of the time for a little exercise, but it’s certainly not necessary. There is some electric motor humming noise at higher throttle. But not bad and I don’t notice any vibration.
As far a battery life, prepare to be amazed. I’ve fished for about 4 hours, frequently at full throttle and had about 80% battery life remaining. The battery pack itself is beautiful, fairly light, easy to connect and stows nicely in my combination “milk crate/ rod holder.
I can also speak to TPP customer service and support. Like a dummy, while attempting to recharge my battery pack I mistakenly plugged my e-bike charger into it and instantly fried my circuit board! I know, what an idiot. But I contacted them by email, they responded and sent me a return label code. Once they had the battery they diagnosed and repaired it in a week and shipped it back. There was a $49 diagnostic fee and a $200 repair fee. But this included shipping both ways and a new circuit board. You can’t ask for much more.
I can’t speak to long term usage, but the motor itself isn’t very complicated. I think it’s important to flush it and lubricate it as directed, especially after use in salt water. They sell motor tune up and bearing replacement kits for a reasonable price.
I honestly can’t think of anything negative to say. The best all around option to put you further, faster and longer.

I have 2 Gen 2 units for my Hobie Outback and PA14. It pushed the PA14 at 3.4. The new Gen 3 pushes it at 4.2. I just used it for 3.5 hours with quite a bit of full speed throttle to see how it performed. Had 86% power left when done. This is exactly what I was hoping for with the upgrade.

Yesterday was the first opportunity I had to get out kayak fishing using the Gen 3 system. It was amazing!

The conditions were: inshore bay off the Gulf of Mexico, clear & sunny, wind SE to S to 10 knots sustained, gusts occasional 12 to 14, water surface was constant ripples with occasional light chop. Kayak is a 2019 Hobie outback.

I fished for about 5 hours, returning with 79% on the battery. There were a total of about 1 hour haul-butt transits to get to the fishing spots I had selected for this trip. The rest of the time was all fishing. Transits were done a just under full power where I could maintain 3.8 - 5 MPH on GPS. During fishing periods I maintained 0.2 to 1.5 MPH. Total distance was around 7 miles.

I was so impressed that I could throttle down to 0.3 - 0.4 MPH to control drift while exploring grass flats with soft plastics, drop down to .2 MPH or less to actively fish an area, move up to 1.0-1.4 MPH to re-position for another drift, then open up to 4-5 MPH to transit to my next spot. It was pretty easy to tweak rudder position and RPM to adjust drift for different wind or water conditions.

Also, after using my paddle around my launch/recovery spot, I NEVER used the pedals!

There was only one downside issue I noticed - the motor is not "silent". A low power, .2 - 1.2 MPH, there was no audible noise, 1.5 - 3.0 MPH there was some audible noise and about 3.0 MPH the noise was very noticeable, but I wasn't fishing at those higher speeds anyway. At any speed I noticed only electronic noise and no acoustics from cavitation, which is really impressive for a standard prop rotating at those speeds.

This is a very impressive system for the avid kayak fisherperson and I'm sure it will get even better with upgrades. If I had another kayak, I'd buy a second Gen 3 system in a heart beat. If you're on the fence, just do it!

I’ve been using Texas power paddle for two years now I have the GEN two and the GEN three and this GEN three is amazing. It cuts right through the grass It’s got more speed and it still has great battery life eight hours of fishing no problem. I’ve had it all over the south east and it is a must have I use it from going from point A to point B and as well as being able to turn on a dime, it takes two minutes to set it up when you get to the ramp every morning the set up when you first get the motor is about 10 minutes. I recommend this motor to everyone I fish around. It’s slim design no one ever knows, you have a motor and they always ask. It’s the future. It’s amazing. Check out my Instagram if you want to see it in action! @Joe_h_kirk

I already had Gen2 units on my PA14 and recently added one to my Lynx also. I was pleased with the clean install and they work like a champ in the right conditions. Its not every day that I needed a more "weedless" option but when the Gen3 Pro was announced I knew I would get one. Ive used it now twice and its definitely got a little more "juice" and I was able to power through some pretty thick grass on my initial test runs. Im convinced it will do what I need it to do in my home waters in N Alabama and on my frequent saltwater trips to Florida and Louisiana.