1436 jon questions about motors...O/B and transom troller

[woodscavenger]

I'm wet behind the ears but have yet to get the boat in the water. It has a 25hp O/B and I bought a transom mount 40# electric trolling motor. Pulled the trolling motor out of the box and realize the transom space it a bit more limited than anticipated. The width across the back is limited by the triangular braces in the corner and the two rear handles to lift and carry the boat.

Besides the obvious....make it a bow mount troller....what are my options?

Do I create a side extension outrigger for the trolling motor?

Can I move the O/B off to one side and make more room? How with that effect the driveability of the boat?

 

[JMichael]

My solution would be to remove one of the rear handles if you want to keep it as a rear mount, or convert it to a bow mount TM.

 

[-CN-]

I discovered the same issue. Luckily my boat is 42 wide and when I slide the trolling motor as far to one side as possible, which is limited by the triangular bracing, I have just enough clearance to steer either motor.
The best solution I think would be to add a raised mounting point to the transom right behind one of the triangle braces. For a trolling motor it sure doesn't need to be very tall. Only need 2 inches at most to clamp the little motor on.

 

[kstrayhorn]

Remember that doing that is going to give you propulsion from the corner of the boat and might make it difficult to maneuver where/how you want to. Previous owner of mine had two plates welded at 90° mounted to the bow for a clamp-on. I'd think that would be your best option, but if you're against that, maybe some kind of swivel bracket? I'm imagining 2 plates with a pin in the middle of one and a sleeve on the other. That should allow you raise the mounting point as well as swivel the trolling motor out of the way when it's up to use the outboard