I'm in process of rigging a new fishing boat (18', wgt approx 1400 lbs incl.
boat, motor gas and equipment) and want to put a bow-mounted trolling motor
on it. Any recommendations? Are the ones which are wireless controlled a
good buy? Minn-kota vs Motor Guide? 12v vs. 24v (I'm a casual fisherman
not out there everyday).

I've owned Minn-Kota transom mounted motors before and liked them, but have
no experience with bow-mounted motors.

Anything I should be particularly cautious of?

Thanks,

Ray

Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:
On Wed, 8 Mar 2006 20:36:37 -0500, "Ray Bates"
wrote:

I'm in process of rigging a new fishing boat (18', wgt approx 1400 lbs incl.
boat, motor gas and equipment) and want to put a bow-mounted trolling motor
on it. Any recommendations? Are the ones which are wireless controlled a
good buy? Minn-kota vs Motor Guide? 12v vs. 24v (I'm a casual fisherman
not out there everyday).

I've owned Minn-Kota transom mounted motors before and liked them, but have
no experience with bow-mounted motors.

Anything I should be particularly cautious of?

Yes - don't buy a Motor Guide - they are crap and Mercury's warranty
on them suck. The are horribly engineered and prone to do interesting
things like short out at the switch.

Did I mention that Mercury's warranty on them sucks?

Funny that. You don't hear people that own Motor Guides complain about
them much, but I've seen several of them go bad for various reasons. My
MinnKota just keeps going and going.

Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:
On Thu, 09 Mar 2006 11:44:47 GMT, Shortwave Sportfishing
wrote:

On Wed, 8 Mar 2006 20:36:37 -0500, "Ray Bates"
wrote:

I'm in process of rigging a new fishing boat (18', wgt approx 1400 lbs incl.
boat, motor gas and equipment) and want to put a bow-mounted trolling motor
on it. Any recommendations? Are the ones which are wireless controlled a
good buy? Minn-kota vs Motor Guide? 12v vs. 24v (I'm a casual fisherman
not out there everyday).

I've owned Minn-Kota transom mounted motors before and liked them, but have
no experience with bow-mounted motors.

Anything I should be particularly cautious of?

Yes - don't buy a Motor Guide - they are crap and Mercury's warranty
on them suck. The are horribly engineered and prone to do interesting
things like short out at the switch.

Did I mention that Mercury's warranty on them sucks?

Did I mention that Mercury's warranty on them sucks?

I've heard that Mercury's warranty on Motor Guides suck. Is there any
truth to this?

Ray Bates wrote:
I'm in process of rigging a new fishing boat (18', wgt approx 1400 lbs incl.
boat, motor gas and equipment) and want to put a bow-mounted trolling motor
on it. Any recommendations? Are the ones which are wireless controlled a
good buy? Minn-kota vs Motor Guide? 12v vs. 24v (I'm a casual fisherman
not out there everyday).

I've owned Minn-Kota transom mounted motors before and liked them, but have
no experience with bow-mounted motors.

Anything I should be particularly cautious of?

Thanks,

Ray

Seem like you only need a 12-volt trolling motor. According to
Minn-Kota tech support:

I am sorry but we do not have a listing that shows
what size motor works on which boat. There are
just so many different styles of boats out there that
it is not possible to maintain that sort of database.
I can tell you that each of our motors are designed
to push around a certain amount of weight.
Our 30 lbs. thrust motors will handle a total boat
weight up to around 1500 lbs.
Our 40 lbs. thrust motors up to around 2000 lbs.
Our 55 lbs. thrust motors up to around 2700 lbs.
Our 70 lbs. thrust motors up to around 3500 lbs
Our 80 lbs. thrust motors up to around 4000 lbs.
The 12 volt systems are up to 55 lbs. thrust.
The 24 volt systems would be 70 or 80 lbs. thrust.

Seem like your 18-ft boat is very light. The total weight (1400-lb)
plus two adults (360-lb), one extra battery (55-lb) for the trolling
motor, and the trolling motor itself (...) will be only around 1900-lb
to 2000-lb. According to the spec shown above, you will only need a
trolling motor that can provide 40-lb thrust. If you want a bit more
room for calculation error, you will go for a 55-lb thrust model, and
that still only needs a 12-volt system.

I am under the impression that we can use the trolling motor to bring
us back home in case the outboard motor dies as long as we are not that
far away from the shore and the current is not strong. This means this
is a good idea to get a heavy long run-time deep cycle battery. This
costs more; but you only need one for the 12-volt trolling motor
anyway.

My 18-ft Sea Ray center console is 2260-lb with motor, gas, equipments.
Because I start with much heavier weight than yours, I will have to
get a 24-volt trolling motor after adding 4 adults, trolling motor and
extra batteries. This means I need _two_ 12-volt deep cycle batteries
.... ~$$~

No, I haven't got a trolling motor for my boat yet (too cold for
working on the boat). Therefore, I cannot give you any personal
experience.

Jay Chan

Thanks for information, particularly the thrust chart.

The new boat is aluminum, which accounts for the lighter weight I would
think. (The 24' fiberglass boat it is replacing weighed several thousand
pounds -- but it got crushed somewhat when the barn in which I had it stored
collapsed in a whind storm in November)

Now it is a choice on "which" bow-mount motor and whether or not I want to
pay the extra $$ for a wireless-remote set up. So many decisions. But
that's part of the fun.

Thanks again, ... and I didn't know that the warranty from Mercury sucked.

Ray


wrote in message
oups.com...
Ray Bates wrote:
I'm in process of rigging a new fishing boat (18', wgt approx 1400 lbs
incl.
boat, motor gas and equipment) and want to put a bow-mounted trolling
motor
on it. Any recommendations? Are the ones which are wireless controlled
a
good buy? Minn-kota vs Motor Guide? 12v vs. 24v (I'm a casual fisherman
not out there everyday).

I've owned Minn-Kota transom mounted motors before and liked them, but
have
no experience with bow-mounted motors.

Anything I should be particularly cautious of?

Thanks,

Ray

Seem like you only need a 12-volt trolling motor. According to
Minn-Kota tech support:

I am sorry but we do not have a listing that shows
what size motor works on which boat. There are
just so many different styles of boats out there that
it is not possible to maintain that sort of database.
I can tell you that each of our motors are designed
to push around a certain amount of weight.
Our 30 lbs. thrust motors will handle a total boat
weight up to around 1500 lbs.
Our 40 lbs. thrust motors up to around 2000 lbs.
Our 55 lbs. thrust motors up to around 2700 lbs.
Our 70 lbs. thrust motors up to around 3500 lbs
Our 80 lbs. thrust motors up to around 4000 lbs.
The 12 volt systems are up to 55 lbs. thrust.
The 24 volt systems would be 70 or 80 lbs. thrust.

Seem like your 18-ft boat is very light. The total weight (1400-lb)
plus two adults (360-lb), one extra battery (55-lb) for the trolling
motor, and the trolling motor itself (...) will be only around 1900-lb
to 2000-lb. According to the spec shown above, you will only need a
trolling motor that can provide 40-lb thrust. If you want a bit more
room for calculation error, you will go for a 55-lb thrust model, and
that still only needs a 12-volt system.

I am under the impression that we can use the trolling motor to bring
us back home in case the outboard motor dies as long as we are not that
far away from the shore and the current is not strong. This means this
is a good idea to get a heavy long run-time deep cycle battery. This
costs more; but you only need one for the 12-volt trolling motor
anyway.

My 18-ft Sea Ray center console is 2260-lb with motor, gas, equipments.
Because I start with much heavier weight than yours, I will have to
get a 24-volt trolling motor after adding 4 adults, trolling motor and
extra batteries. This means I need _two_ 12-volt deep cycle batteries
... ~$$~

No, I haven't got a trolling motor for my boat yet (too cold for
working on the boat). Therefore, I cannot give you any personal
experience.

Jay Chan

Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:
On Thu, 9 Mar 2006 19:19:09 -0500, "Ray Bates"
wrote:

Thanks again, ... and I didn't know that the warranty from Mercury sucked.

You do now. :)

RCE can speak to engine warranty, but as far as Moto Guide goes, their
ain't none.

And don't ever expect to get it fixed.

My neighbor keeps spare parts for his, and a lot of them, because
almost every stinking time we take his boat, which is a much nicer boat
than mine, the damned Moto Guide breaks something. When we take my
boat, we always joke about how my Minn Kota doesn't break down, I
bought it used off of a wrecked boat for 1/3 what his MG cost!

"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 9 Mar 2006 19:19:09 -0500, "Ray Bates"
wrote:

Thanks again, ... and I didn't know that the warranty from Mercury sucked.

You do now. :)

RCE can speak to engine warranty, but as far as Moto Guide goes, their
ain't none.

And don't ever expect to get it fixed.


Huh?

RCE

wrote:
Ray Bates wrote:

I'm in process of rigging a new fishing boat (18', wgt approx 1400 lbs incl.
boat, motor gas and equipment) and want to put a bow-mounted trolling motor
on it. Any recommendations? Are the ones which are wireless controlled a
good buy? Minn-kota vs Motor Guide? 12v vs. 24v (I'm a casual fisherman
not out there everyday).

I've owned Minn-Kota transom mounted motors before and liked them, but have
no experience with bow-mounted motors.

Anything I should be particularly cautious of?

Thanks,

Ray


Seem like you only need a 12-volt trolling motor. According to
Minn-Kota tech support:

I am sorry but we do not have a listing that shows
what size motor works on which boat. There are
just so many different styles of boats out there that
it is not possible to maintain that sort of database.
I can tell you that each of our motors are designed
to push around a certain amount of weight.
Our 30 lbs. thrust motors will handle a total boat
weight up to around 1500 lbs.
Our 40 lbs. thrust motors up to around 2000 lbs.
Our 55 lbs. thrust motors up to around 2700 lbs.
Our 70 lbs. thrust motors up to around 3500 lbs
Our 80 lbs. thrust motors up to around 4000 lbs.
The 12 volt systems are up to 55 lbs. thrust.
The 24 volt systems would be 70 or 80 lbs. thrust.

Seem like your 18-ft boat is very light. The total weight (1400-lb)
plus two adults (360-lb), one extra battery (55-lb) for the trolling
motor, and the trolling motor itself (...) will be only around 1900-lb
to 2000-lb. According to the spec shown above, you will only need a
trolling motor that can provide 40-lb thrust. If you want a bit more
room for calculation error, you will go for a 55-lb thrust model, and
that still only needs a 12-volt system.

I am under the impression that we can use the trolling motor to bring
us back home in case the outboard motor dies as long as we are not that
far away from the shore and the current is not strong. This means this
is a good idea to get a heavy long run-time deep cycle battery. This
costs more; but you only need one for the 12-volt trolling motor
anyway.

My 18-ft Sea Ray center console is 2260-lb with motor, gas, equipments.
Because I start with much heavier weight than yours, I will have to
get a 24-volt trolling motor after adding 4 adults, trolling motor and
extra batteries. This means I need _two_ 12-volt deep cycle batteries
... ~$$~

No, I haven't got a trolling motor for my boat yet (too cold for
working on the boat). Therefore, I cannot give you any personal
experience.

Jay Chan

I would go with the 24 volt, and I really like the auto pilot/powerdrive
feature, or the wireless.

I have a minnkota and it is fine. I have the 65 pound one on a lund 18
foot fishing boat. I might get the 70 or 80 next time, although I
haven't needed more so far. Also make sure the shaft is long enough for
your boat.

--
Del Cecchi
"This post is my own and doesn’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions,
strategies or opinions.”

Thanks to all of you.

Ray

"Del Cecchi" wrote in message
...
wrote:
Ray Bates wrote:

I'm in process of rigging a new fishing boat (18', wgt approx 1400 lbs
incl.
boat, motor gas and equipment) and want to put a bow-mounted trolling
motor
on it. Any recommendations? Are the ones which are wireless controlled
a
good buy? Minn-kota vs Motor Guide? 12v vs. 24v (I'm a casual fisherman
not out there everyday).

I've owned Minn-Kota transom mounted motors before and liked them, but
have
no experience with bow-mounted motors.

Anything I should be particularly cautious of?

Thanks,

Ray


Seem like you only need a 12-volt trolling motor. According to
Minn-Kota tech support:

I am sorry but we do not have a listing that shows
what size motor works on which boat. There are
just so many different styles of boats out there that
it is not possible to maintain that sort of database.
I can tell you that each of our motors are designed
to push around a certain amount of weight.
Our 30 lbs. thrust motors will handle a total boat
weight up to around 1500 lbs.
Our 40 lbs. thrust motors up to around 2000 lbs.
Our 55 lbs. thrust motors up to around 2700 lbs.
Our 70 lbs. thrust motors up to around 3500 lbs
Our 80 lbs. thrust motors up to around 4000 lbs.
The 12 volt systems are up to 55 lbs. thrust.
The 24 volt systems would be 70 or 80 lbs. thrust.

Seem like your 18-ft boat is very light. The total weight (1400-lb)
plus two adults (360-lb), one extra battery (55-lb) for the trolling
motor, and the trolling motor itself (...) will be only around 1900-lb
to 2000-lb. According to the spec shown above, you will only need a
trolling motor that can provide 40-lb thrust. If you want a bit more
room for calculation error, you will go for a 55-lb thrust model, and
that still only needs a 12-volt system.

I am under the impression that we can use the trolling motor to bring
us back home in case the outboard motor dies as long as we are not that
far away from the shore and the current is not strong. This means this
is a good idea to get a heavy long run-time deep cycle battery. This
costs more; but you only need one for the 12-volt trolling motor
anyway.

My 18-ft Sea Ray center console is 2260-lb with motor, gas, equipments.
Because I start with much heavier weight than yours, I will have to
get a 24-volt trolling motor after adding 4 adults, trolling motor and
extra batteries. This means I need _two_ 12-volt deep cycle batteries
... ~$$~

No, I haven't got a trolling motor for my boat yet (too cold for
working on the boat). Therefore, I cannot give you any personal
experience.

Jay Chan

I would go with the 24 volt, and I really like the auto pilot/powerdrive
feature, or the wireless.

I have a minnkota and it is fine. I have the 65 pound one on a lund 18
foot fishing boat. I might get the 70 or 80 next time, although I haven't
needed more so far. Also make sure the shaft is long enough for your
boat.

--
Del Cecchi
"This post is my own and doesn’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions,
strategies or opinions.”

Del Cecchi wrote:
wrote:
Ray Bates wrote:

I'm in process of rigging a new fishing boat (18', wgt approx 1400 lbs incl.
boat, motor gas and equipment) and want to put a bow-mounted trolling motor
on it. Any recommendations? Are the ones which are wireless controlled a
good buy? Minn-kota vs Motor Guide? 12v vs. 24v (I'm a casual fisherman
not out there everyday).

I've owned Minn-Kota transom mounted motors before and liked them, but have
no experience with bow-mounted motors.

Anything I should be particularly cautious of?

Thanks,

Ray


Seem like you only need a 12-volt trolling motor. According to
Minn-Kota tech support:

I am sorry but we do not have a listing that shows
what size motor works on which boat. There are
just so many different styles of boats out there that
it is not possible to maintain that sort of database.
I can tell you that each of our motors are designed
to push around a certain amount of weight.
Our 30 lbs. thrust motors will handle a total boat
weight up to around 1500 lbs.
Our 40 lbs. thrust motors up to around 2000 lbs.
Our 55 lbs. thrust motors up to around 2700 lbs.
Our 70 lbs. thrust motors up to around 3500 lbs
Our 80 lbs. thrust motors up to around 4000 lbs.
The 12 volt systems are up to 55 lbs. thrust.
The 24 volt systems would be 70 or 80 lbs. thrust.

Seem like your 18-ft boat is very light. The total weight (1400-lb)
plus two adults (360-lb), one extra battery (55-lb) for the trolling
motor, and the trolling motor itself (...) will be only around 1900-lb
to 2000-lb. According to the spec shown above, you will only need a
trolling motor that can provide 40-lb thrust. If you want a bit more
room for calculation error, you will go for a 55-lb thrust model, and
that still only needs a 12-volt system.

I am under the impression that we can use the trolling motor to bring
us back home in case the outboard motor dies as long as we are not that
far away from the shore and the current is not strong. This means this
is a good idea to get a heavy long run-time deep cycle battery. This
costs more; but you only need one for the 12-volt trolling motor
anyway.

My 18-ft Sea Ray center console is 2260-lb with motor, gas, equipments.
Because I start with much heavier weight than yours, I will have to
get a 24-volt trolling motor after adding 4 adults, trolling motor and
extra batteries. This means I need _two_ 12-volt deep cycle batteries
... ~$$~

No, I haven't got a trolling motor for my boat yet (too cold for
working on the boat). Therefore, I cannot give you any personal
experience.

Jay Chan

I would go with the 24 volt, and I really like the auto pilot/powerdrive
feature, or the wireless.

I have a minnkota and it is fine. I have the 65 pound one on a lund 18
foot fishing boat. I might get the 70 or 80 next time, although I
haven't needed more so far. Also make sure the shaft is long enough for
your boat.

--
Del Cecchi
"This post is my own and doesn't necessarily represent IBM's positions,
strategies or opinions."

How heavy is your 18-ft Lund boat? Because it is from Lund, I believe
it must be an aluminum boat, and must be lighter than a fiberglass
boat.

Why do you need to upgrade from 65-pound thrust to 80? Is there
something that the 65-pound thrust cannot do?

I am asking these because I am planning to get a 80-lb thrust trolling
motor for my 18-ft fiberglass boat that must be heavier than yours. If
you want a 80-lb thrust trolling motor for your 18-ft boat that is
lighter than mine, this may suggest that an 80-lb trolling motor "may"
not be enough for me.

Thanks in advance for any info.

Jay Chan