what thrust trolling motor?

[deermaster]

i have a 15' v hull aluminum starcraft. i am planning on getting a 15-25 hp outboard, but cant afford it right away. i would like to get a trolling motor and use only that for fishing for my first summer, and duck hunting in the winter for the first season, until i can get a good outboard. i will be fishing in calm open water, or sheltered water, and duck hunting in the same. i will have a spare battery at all times, and will go absolutly no more than 3-4 miles total, most likely 2 miles total. so i have 2 questions:
1) what kind of speed can i expect with 2 people? 3 mph? faster? slower?
2) how many lbs of thrust should i go with to push 2 people into a 10-15 mph wind? because of the sheltered water, there wont be any seas to speak of, but only wind.
thanks for any info, i really appreciate it.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: what thrust trolling motor?

i had a 45 on a little bigger aluminum hull, wish i had a 55 lb.

 

[Shizzy]

Re: what thrust trolling motor?

are you going to buy a new trolling motor or used?

 

[arks]

Re: what thrust trolling motor?

Well, I use an old bow-mount 36 pounder on my 14' Jon and it's fine, even on windy days. Never thought to check my speed using the troller, but even with a strong headwind I can make decent progress.

 

[deermaster]

Re: what thrust trolling motor?

so you think a 55 lb 12 volt, with 1 battery and an extra will get me "there"?
thanks for the info.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: what thrust trolling motor?

with the new energy saving motors, yes.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: what thrust trolling motor?

so you think a 55 lb 12 volt, with 1 battery and an extra will get me "there"?

My fishing buddy has two group 29's on his 18' Nitro bass boat running a Minnkota 80 bow mount, 24 volt. Will troll over 6 hours steady. (We didn't do much bass fishing this year, but needed the extra space when we took several people with us and went walleye fishing all day, so we took his bass boat.)

I would guess you would be fine with the 55 on a small boat, especially if you are 12 volt and "save" the second battery to get home on.

 

[asdasc]

Re: what thrust trolling motor?

I run an Endura 55 on a 12' Jon and sometimes on a 12' V aluminum boats. They run great with it, but I only run about 500' at a time. Only when the wind get up around 25 MPH or better does it start to effect things too much.

I wish you could get a more agressive prop for them to get higher speed, they have tons of torque.

 

[kaferhaus]

Re: what thrust trolling motor?

I had a MK 36 bow mount on a 16ft bass tracker deep vee that would pull it around just fine if the wind didn't get up over 20mph. On a normal fishing day it lasted all day on one battery. But I only used it once I got to a spot and I'd run around that spot for 20-30 minutes and move on to the next one with the outboard.

I have a MK riptide 55 on my 16ft fiberglass flats boat and it pushes it pretty quick... I've never looked at the gps to see the speed but wide open is way too fast for trying to cast up under trees or piers etc. It has 10 speeds and I rarely have it over the second or third level.. This is a brand new motor and the battery consumption has been fantastic. An obvious big improvement.

On my 26ft Twin Vee I have a 24 volt 80lb motor. Works "okay" but as this boat has a ton of freeboard the wind can be an issue... if it's over 15mph the motor struggles. If the wind is light and I've only got a couple people on the boat the batteries are good for several hours. In bad conditions with 4-5 people on board I've run the batteries down in as little as 2 hours.

The primary factor is the load.... very light boat with little wind resistance is going to get you much better performance than the opposite.

And the new "energy saving" motors are much better. they're also expensive.

At the nearby lake, several old timers use nothing but trolling motors, most have 2-3 large batteries and very small light weight aluminum boats. One of them always has a young boy with him (grandson maybe) the others are always alone.

I've never seen any of these guys more than a couple miles from the ramp and I've never seen any of them out on the lake past about noon.. So my guess is that they're safely getting about 6hrs of fishing time out of their setups.

 

[Wee Hooker]

Re: what thrust trolling motor?

Aluminum V hulls tend to have higher sides and 'kite" in wind. I'd vote you need a 35-40# motor just to menuver and a 55 -65# to sub as main power. Down side is that even 2, series 27 DC batteries can get drained fast when your fighting a 15K wind on the way home. (i.e after a few hours of use, the battery gets drained, which makes the motor run slower which makes you turn up the motor speed which drains the battery faster........) The other problem is that electrics are not propped to give speed. Been there-Done that.
For less than the price of a 55# motor and two batteries, I'd argue you can get a used 4-6 hp kicker that will FAR outperform the electric AND get you home when the wind kicks up.

 

[kaferhaus]

Re: what thrust trolling motor?

I'd argue you can get a used 4-6 hp kicker that will FAR outperform the electric AND get you home when the wind kicks up.

That is the truth. Even a small OB would be a much better choice. I had a 4HP suzuki on the back of a 14ft Jon boat that wouldn't get it on plane but still pushed it 12 or so MPH. Plenty fast enough to run around the lake that only covers 8500 acres. And it sipped gas.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: what thrust trolling motor?

That is the truth. Even a small OB would be a much better choice. I had a 4HP suzuki on the back of a 14ft Jon boat that wouldn't get it on plane but still pushed it 12 or so MPH. Plenty fast enough to run around the lake that only covers 8500 acres. And it sipped gas.

All true...BUT... I used an old Minnkota 32 transom mount this summer until the switch caught fire and it quit. Going to get another- 40 to 55 range.

Anyway, this was on my 14' MFG Niagara. The beauty of silent running (and odor free) is sublime, even when considering the new 4 strokes and their low noise and fuel consumption. It ran hard trolling 1 to 2.5 mph for 4 to six hours on a single group 29 deep cycle, and it didn't change my electric bill by any noticeable amount to charge it. My boat gas cost went up $20 a week after the electric died!

Some waters don't allow gas motors in Vermont- may be like that where you fish?? I would say your best bet would be to have one of each- a 'lectric and a nice small gas job. I don't have it now but my old Johnson 3hp was a wonderful engine on my 14' Sea King. Now, why did I sell it?!?

 

[asdasc]

Re: what thrust trolling motor?

Thanks all. I have settled on the Martin 40 to run. I have it apart now to replace the points and condensers. Other than that it should be very reliable and light weight.

4HP with a more agressive prop should push my aluminum 12' boats around quite well. I do like running quiet on electric at times, and I will always have my MK 55 for that when it is calm out.

Thanks again,

 

[kandil]

Re: what thrust trolling motor?

A bow-mount seems to work better than a transom mount

 

[mickjetblue]

Re: what thrust trolling motor?

On my 1848 jon boat, I have a 40mk on the bow. It was free, as the steering
didn't work, and I managed to change the little electric motor inside and get it
working. It is an older motor.

On the transom, I have used a newer model 55mk.

Even though the bow mount has a placement advantage, the newer 55mk has
much greater power than the 40mk.

I'm thinking about going to a new 70 on the bow, as they're on sale now at iboats.

For what you described, I'd say 55 will do the job. Have a charged spare battery, all the same.

 

[puppy1]

Re: what thrust trolling motor?

I have a 16' alum boat with a 30lb thrust bow mount minn kota. It does a fine job as long as there is light wind. But lets face it with high wind how many fish are there to catch in that place. Maybe better to troll with gas motor at slow speed.