dual trolling question

[JeffChastain]

I posted in the motor section first, not realizing this was the proper section. I was at work, and in a hurry.

Anyhow, I currently have a 37 lb minnkota on my transom. Today I bought a 24 lb minnkota to add on. Think I'd be able to run both on the transom at full power? Or would my boat want to turn to the weaker trolling motor side?

 

[freetofish]

if you fish with a partner, I think you should put the second one on the back... Your not looking for speed as much as you are looking for boat control. I had my smaller boat rigged that way it was super to have the help on the rear of the boat to keep us straight, or even in loading on a trailer... Just a thought .

 

[kofkorn]

I would mount one in the front of the boat, one in the back. Use a simple switch wired with a long wire attached to an automotive relay. Wire the relay between your fused battery connection and the trolling motor. Then you can control the on/off of the front motor while steering from the back. (Or vise versa)

I've actually built a similar unit for my trolling motor, but instead of a relay, I wired a PWM controller:

12V 30A DC Motor Speed Control PWM HHO RC Controller from EBAY


I just remotely wired the rheostat that came with it and mounted it in a box with a long lead. Now I have the trolling motor on the front and I have complete control of the speed (from ~10 rpm - full speed) simply by turning the dial. It works really well, and the only issue I have is keeping the controller out of the rain.

Good Luck!

 

[kofkorn]

As an alternate option, you could play with the distance from the center of the transom for the two motors. If you put the 37lb motor closer to the center, with the 24lb unit as far from center as possible, the boat shouldn't turn as much. I'm sure you can play with the location and find a sweet spot where you can run both at max speed and keep it fairly straight.

 

[JeffChastain]

freetofish, kofkorn, thanks for the good advice and helpful insight. freetofish, that was my original idea to put one on front and one on transom, but didn't know how I would work that if I was alone. kofkorn cleared that up for me. My question is when you're ready to load up on the trailer, do you have to disconnect the front TM from the relay? Otherwise it'd just keep on running. I reckon you could just disconnect it from it's battery, having the TM's on separate batteries, right?

 

[kofkorn]

If you use a simple relay set up, the motor will only run when you have the remote switch turned on. All you would have to do is turn the switch off, the motor stops. When you get close to the ramp, turn off the small switch and pull the bow motor out of the water. No problem.

Wire it up like this:



Note the 87A and 87 contacts are flip flopped on the diagram compared to the relay picture; Attach the motor wire to the "87" contact which is normally open. Put a 30A or 40A fuse between the battery and the relay, and a 1A fuse between the battery and the switch.

I usually disconnect my motor from the batteries when I'm out of the water any way. Better to use a quick disconnect if possible.

 

[JeffChastain]

So, I came across this yesterday. www.basspro.com/Trolling-Motor-Foot-Switch-by-Big-Foot®/product/16071/93066

That's basically gonna do the same thing as wiring a relay. It'll allow me to leave the rear trolling motor on full power, cutting it on and off as I need to, and use the front to steer. I figure for 18 bucks, and keeping my hands free, it's a good deal.

 

[Brine]

So, I came across this yesterday. www.basspro.com/Trolling-Motor-Foot-Switch-by-Big-Foot®/product/16071/93066

That's basically gonna do the same thing as wiring a relay. It'll allow me to leave the rear trolling motor on full power, cutting it on and off as I need to, and use the front to steer. I figure for 18 bucks, and keeping my hands free, it's a good deal.

In case you have one close to you, most of the Walmarts by me sell the Big Foot Switch for $12 I think.

 

[kofkorn]

That looks like it will do the trick, but you'll probably have to extend the leads. From what I can see it only comes with 32" of wiring. Shouldn't be difficult, but be sure to at least match the gauge and material of the leads on the motor itself.

Good luck!