We may earn a referral commission from some links on this page. It doesn't change your price or our recommendations.
Thruster specs
DockStar Smart Thruster, bow and stern: specs, price and boat fit
Two Smart Thrusters, one on a bow track and one on the transom, let you spin a boat in her own length or walk her sideways onto a dock: push the ends opposite ways to turn her, the same way to move her across. Each gives 90 lb, and sitting at the very ends, the pair turns a boat harder than a typical tunnel thruster at the bow. It suits trawlers and sailboats in the 20 to 50 ft range DockStar’s manual gives.
There is no pair price. You buy two units and two tracks, so the total is $8,650 to $9,070, the sum of DockStar’s own prices. One remote runs both, top buttons for the bow and bottom ones for the stern, and the second unit can arrive years after the first. Two tunnels would mean two holes below the waterline and a long haul-out; this needs neither, and no wiring. See the cost.
A pair gives far more turning, yet it will not pin a boat to the dock in a strong crosswind or a running current, and DockStar’s manual says as much. Each end is lowered by hand on its rope and raised before you speed up. I run a single unit at the stern of my own trawler, and a hard wind on the bow is where one runs short. Every unit carries its own battery and two-year warranty.
The full spec sheet for a yard sits lower down, and the DockStar Smart Thruster review covers DockStar’s whole range.
Where this summary comes from (6 sources, read 13 October 2026)
- DockStar Smart Thruster user manual, v.260305 (specs, intended use, deployment, care)
- DockStar bow installation guide (displacement hulls, under 8 knots; bobstays and anchors)
- DockStar stern installation guide (four mounting configurations, off the engine wash)
- DockStar build and price, read 13 October 2026 (unit and every track)
- Trawler Forum, DockStar thread, 2018 to 2022 (owners on one unit in wind)
- DockStar limited warranty, v.260828 (two years, first owner, battery covered)
On real boats: where it goes, fitted
Key facts
- DIY level 5 of 5 Owner install
- Thrust 90 lb 41 kgf, DockStar's rating
- Boat length 20 to 50 ft The intended use in DockStar's manual
- Price $8,650 to $9,070 full kit, dockstarthrusters.com, 23 September 2026
- Fitted by a yard $8,970 to $10,150 Our estimate at 45 to 50 ft, unit and job
- Voltage 12.8 V, its own battery Nothing is wired to the boat
- Mounts External Removable, one at each end, sold as two
- To fit it Afloat The maker says it goes on in the water
- Run limit 10 minutes Per charge, the manual's figure
Every figure here is the maker’s or a dealer’s, except the fitted cost, which is our estimate. The full spec sheet is further down.
Will the DockStar Smart Thruster (bow and stern) steer your boat?
44 FT TRAWLER · BOTH ENDS · 15 KT WIND
Every knot figure here is wind speed, not boat speed or current.
On a 44 ft trawler, each end sized on its own: the bow unit (90 lb) steers her at 15 kt against the 95 lb her bow needs, and the stern unit (90 lb) at 15 kt against the 90 lb her stern needs. The chip is the weaker end. The pair fitted from $8,970.
A DockStar at each end
Two units turn her in her own length, and pushing the same way they walk her sideways, which one thruster cannot do. On a 44 ft trawler, the pair fitted from $8,970:
Turns her in her own length
Steers her at 21 kt
Bow one way, stern the other, and she pivots about her middle.
Moves her sideways
Holds her at 10 kt
Both push the same way, so she holds against the dock, or walks on and off it, in a beam wind with the engines in neutral.
The DockStar Smart Thruster (bow and stern) on a trawler, by length (the weaker end)
- 25 ft26 kt
- 30 ft21 kt
- 35 ft18 kt
- 40 ft16 kt
- 45 ft14 kt
- 50 ft13 kt
- 55 ft12 kt
- 60 ft11 kt
- 65 ft10 kt
- 70 ft9 kt
- 75 ft9 kt
- 80 ft8 kt
Outlined: under 13 kt at one end, or past the 50 ft DockStar sells the pair for.
Other pairs for her, matching makers first, are on the bow-and-stern page.
- Under 10 kt
- 10 to 15 kt
- 15 to 20 kt: the sweet spot
- Over 20 kt: more than she needs
Prices are the low end of the fitted total, from our estimate. For your own boat, drive and installer, the finder prices each unit.
How much of the install is yours
DIY levels
- Level 5: Owner install. No yard, no electrician.
- Level 4: You fit it, electrician connects. You mount and wire it; a marine electrician makes the final connections.
- Level 3: Split with the yard. The yard does the below-waterline part; you do the wiring.
- Level 2: Wiring prep only. The yard fits the unit and does the hull work; you do the wiring prep.
- Level 1: Yard job. A qualified professional does all of it.
You Yard Electrician. The bar is labor hours; a haul-out is a note.
How we rate DIYYou: 2 to 6 h Yard: none Electrician: none No haul-out.
- Fit the track and the unit; charge it You 1 to 3 h each unit DockStar’s own figures: 1 to 2 hours in its buyer’s guide, 2 to 3 hours on its About page. No wiring to the boat. Source.
Your part needs:Hand toolsDrilling above the waterline
Hours are labor only.
Is it right for your boat?
Our figure is the longest boat this pair, one unit at each end, can steer in a 15 knot wind. It is a range because each kind of boat catches the wind differently. Here every kind of boat it fits gets full thrust to 50 ft. The maker gives one range for every boat.
The table below tries the DockStar Smart Thruster (bow and stern) on each kind of boat, at every length that kind of boat is built in. The wind is 15 knots and the rules are the finder’s own. A length counts as a fit when the unit gives the thrust that boat needs where it mounts and the maker lists it for that length.
| Boat | Full thrust at 15 knots | Still a fit, in lighter wind |
|---|---|---|
| Pontoon & tritoon | Not listed. This site does not list it for this kind of boat. | |
| Sailboat | 45 to 50 ft | None |
| Houseboat | Not listed. This site does not list it for this kind of boat. | |
| Catamaran | Not listed. An external unit bolts to the side of a single hull at the bow or to its transom, and a cat has two narrow hulls with a bridgedeck between them, so there is nowhere forward to hang one. | |
| Trawler | 45 to 50 ft | None |
| Motor yacht | 45 to 50 ft | None |
| Bass & flats | Not listed. This site lists no external bow unit for a boat that planes. | |
| Wake & ski boats | Not listed. This site lists no external bow unit for a boat that planes. | |
| Express cruiser | Not listed. This site lists no external bow unit for a boat that planes. | |
| Center console | Not listed. This site lists no external bow unit for a boat that planes. | |
Reading the two length columns. The first column is where one unit gives all the thrust the boat needs in 15 knots. The second is where the finder still lists it: the unit steers her at 13 or 14 knots, no more than 15 percent under the 15 knot breeze, and the column names that wind. On a boat shorter than the first column’s shortest length, the unit is more than the boat needs.
It is sized for three kinds of boat here. For your own boat, the finder gives an answer that also counts your drive and who does the fitting. The compare page sets this unit beside others.
What it costs fitted
These totals are our estimate of a yard job: the unit’s price, plus a yard’s hours at $160 to $180 an hour. The unit carries its own battery, so there is no cable, battery or other part to buy. The hours come from what owners and yards report. Your own yard will have its own opinion. The cost page builds the same figures line by line.
- The unit$8,650 to $9,070
- Yard labor$320 to $1,0802 to 6 hours
- Total, 45 to 50 ft$8,970 to $10,150Our estimate
The DockStar Smart Thruster (bow and stern) fitted by a yard. It comes to the same at every length it is sized for. Our estimate.
Fitting it yourself. Tell the finder you will fit a DockStar yourself and it takes the yard’s labor off. With that off, the total is $8,650 to $9,070. That is the unit’s price alone.
The sizing and the costs on this page are estimates, for guidance only and without warranty. They are no quote, and nobody has inspected your boat. Check them against the maker’s manual and your yard before you rely on them. Terms of use.
What else you buy
What follows comes from DockStar’s Smart Thruster user manual, version 260305, 2026, read 30 September 2026.
- In the box
- The thruster, the charger and its cord, the remote, antenna, two propellers with pins and nuts, lanyards, rope, the quick start guide.
- Bought separately
- The track assembly for the hull, and extra remotes.
- Charging
- Nothing is wired to the boat. A 12.8 V, 15 Ah lithium pack inside, and a 4 A charger in the box.
The manual’s words, page 12: “To charge the Smart Thruster, connect the Battery Charger to a 110V power outlet and insert the Charger Plug into the Charger Port/Setting Port. It takes about five (5) hours to fully charge.”
Other parts to buy: none. The box holds everything the unit needs, and nothing is wired to the boat.
The cost page has the whole list with what every maker says about each part.
For the yard and the installer
The full spec sheet, grouped the way a yard reads it. Every figure is the maker’s or a dealer’s, with its source.
| Thrust and motor | |
|---|---|
| Thrust | 90 lb (41 kgf) As printed: 90 lb at each end, never summed |
| Motor | 1.01 kW (1,008 W): two 12 V PMDC motors at 42 A each |
| Voltage | 12.8 V, its own battery |
| Power | Rechargeable, internal: 12.8 V, 15 Ah lithium (LFP), about 5 hours to charge from empty. |
| Fitting | |
| Type | External, removable |
| End of the boat | One at each end, sold as two |
| What it does to the hull | Four 3 in 10-32 through-bolts for the track at each end, with washers and nylock nuts, and no wiring through the hull |
| Haul-out to fit it | No: the maker says it goes on afloat |
| Maker’s boat length | 20 to 50 ft, the intended use DockStar gives |
| Price and ordering | |
| Price | $8,650 to $9,070 full kit, the maker's own price, dockstarthrusters.com, 23 September 2026 |
| Part number | Not held for this listing |
| Documents | |
| Manual | User manual (PDF)on the maker's site |
| Installation guide | Bow track installation guide (PDF) Stern track installation guide (PDF) |
| Warranty | DockStar gives 2 years for recreational use and 1 for commercial use, which needs its written approval first. It covers the first owner only, and it covers the battery. You pay shipping on a claim. DockStar's limited warranty policy, v.260828 |
| The site’s review | DockStar Smart Thruster review |
What holds up
Each point names the fact it rests on.
What holds up
- It goes on with the boat in the water. No haul-out is needed to fit it.DockStar's own statement
What the manual and listings say
This is the note we keep on the DockStar Smart Thruster (bow and stern), written from the maker’s manual, its product pages and the dealer’s listing.
In the box: Two thrusters in the kit, one for each end. A complete kit: the battery and charger inside, a wireless remote, two propellers. The hull track is bought separately.
Our note
Two units bought separately, so the range is the bow range plus the stern range. Each figure is the complete system, with the tracks and every mounting part included. There is no pair discount and no package price. One remote runs both, including a second unit added years later. We size it the way we size every thruster on this site.
Its 90 lb is set against the turning effort the boat needs to steer in a 15 knot breeze, as one unit or as a pair, one at each end. DockStar's manual gives boats of 20 to 50 feet as the intended use and no sizing within it. About 10 minutes of run time per charge is many dockings. Recharge is about 5 hours from empty on a 110 V outlet, so plan on shore power or an inverter.
Videos
Two of DockStar’s own videos, from its YouTube channel: the unit docking a trawler in a breeze, and the stern unit going down its track on a swim platform. They are the maker’s pitch. Watch them for what the unit looks like and how it goes in, and take any claim back to the figures above.
Other sizes and close alternatives
The pair is two of DockStar’s single units, each with its own page:
- On a bow track: DockStar Smart Thruster, bow, $4,380 to $4,500.
- On a stern track: DockStar Smart Thruster, stern, $4,270 to $4,570.
DockStar makes the unit in one size only.
No other maker sells a bow-and-stern pair, so there is no like for like to list. The compare page lists every model.
Every model with a page here is listed, maker by maker, on the thruster index.