Re: Minn Kota Maxxum - how to test thrust?
Ifya' feel brave(ha ha..)git in some shallow water with a 6 dollar bathroom scale with the nose of the trolling motor against it while your holding it in some clear water and turn er up and read what the scale says. Another more sane way is use fish scale with rating according at least to the thrust clipped to a line off the stern of the boat and and trolling motor aimed straight ahead in some calm water with no wind and measure the thrust. Keep in mind this is only static thrust and could vary slightly from spec but it will give you a good idea. To validate power output a good amp meter reading of amp draw will tell you more than anything if draws up to spec. Prop wear has a drastic effect on trolling motors thrust, check and see if ya ground abit of it off over the last seasons. If you use the motor ALOT, you might have to replace the brushes(very easy to do..) Last but not least wire size is EXTREMELY important in addition to length.<br />EX: 20' run from trolling motor to battery(average bass boat)for a twelve volt Maxxum 40 LB. thrust motor you need #2 AWG copper wire which gives you an acceptable .3 volt drop. This is very large primary wire and few manufactures of boats take these issues into consideration and install substandard wires.<br />The final issue is to shorten the factory wires on the trolling motor to the shortest workable length for your application. An additonal source of problems sometimes is the plug you use to connect your trolling motor to its harness if your not using a wing nut post at the front of the boat. Measure the voltage at the battery AND at the plug at the front of the boat under FULL load and note the voltage difference(known as voltage drop) and get back to us.
