Educate me: Trolling motors

[FuzzyGrub]

" I was spoiled with the foot control on my neighbors boat it freed up your hands to fish, but I constantly had to balance my foot while trying to control the boat with the cable steer."

atuck,
the position of the lever on the cable steer is what provides the feedback so you know which way it is pointed. It can be tuff on the ankles. Many recess them into the deck.

With a power drive style, you have to remember where you left it pointing and only have a rough idea from how long you hold a contact down, to how far it turns.

If you got use to your neighbors cable steer, you might want to try someones PD to see what I'm talking about. It is the number 1 complaint from people that had a cable steer, prior to a PD.

I ended up with two wireless keyfobs. While you can not fish and control at same time, you have complete freedom to move about the boat. The other can take control while you are fighting a fish. While I have a MG Wireless, the MK PD's can be upgraded to it.

I agree with the removable mount. I never leave mine out for weather/temp/theft exposure.

I looked at your project and your hull is close to my 14' starcraft mariner v. 45lbs should be enough. Thats what I have, but when its windy, or the river current is a little stronger, I find myself wishing for a 55.

Good luck with your selections. It is all about trade-offs, and I just try to point out what they are to prospective buyers.

 

[Bob Landry]

As I'm browsing these motors on line, how do I tell if the foot control motors are cable or power driven. I assume that with MK, Power Drive means electroc steer. What about the others?

 

[KevinWI]

I know that at least the PD models are all electric motor driven and "edge" series is cable driven...the other models were out of my price range so I didn't look close at them.

 

[RivRunR]

FWIW you might want to take a look at the MK Terrova 12V / 55# with Co-Pilot, which would solve your foot control vs fob decision since it can have both. Also, remember that if you ever want to upgrade a Powerdrive to iPilot you'll be eliminating the foot control, it won't run both.

As for using it... it takes a little time to get used to the non-cable steering, but I wouldn't ever go back to it at this point. With the Terrova + Co-pilot you can just set your direction, speed and, with minor occasional adjustments, forget it. I don't spend nearly the time steering the TM with the Co-pilot feature that I used to with cables... so although the steering feels/reacts differently, it doesn't seem to matter since I don't spend much time steering it anyway. Plus, if you need to make hands-free adjustments, stop, etc. while you're hauling in that trophy, you can do so with the foot-control which has both fine-tune and full-pedal steering.

And, while I'm spending your money , you might want to take a look at the Terrova's with the built-in US2 sonar..there's a compatibility chart on MK's site.

 

[Bob Landry]

I'm not to concerned about upgrades. Once it's installed, it's going to be what it is. I really don't think it's going to get a lot of continious use, I just want one in the event it's needed. I'm trying to stay around the $500ish price range, so Irealize, that limits me quite a bit. I just don't have an unlimited amount of $$$ to spend on a TM.
I guess a trip to Cabela is in order to do some touchy feely on a couple of motors, mainly to check out the cable driven ones since I havn't used either. What a great thread. Thanks, guys. Keep the info coming.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

In MK the Powerdrive and Terrova, are power drive types. In MG, only the Wireless series.

RivRunr, I do wish I had a way to upgrade to AutoPilot. You did bring up another good point, I forgot to mention. Power drive types are more difficult to mount a transducer to than a cable steer. The shaft slides through the turning motor so you can't wire tie the cable to the shaft. As such, it is more prone to pinching and cutting. So getting one with the transducer included (another $100), should be considered, if that is in your future.

 

[KevinWI]

yeah...I didn't realize that autopilot was not an ad-on feature...you have to go all the way to ipilot...which costs more than the TM.

 

[RivRunR]

You can get the MK PowerDrive (and Terrova) in just about every AutoPilot and US2 configuration...with AP, with US2, neither or both.
If you go to MK's PowerDrive page and hit the "models" tab you can see them all.

So, I think if a PowerDrive has the AutoPilot feature, you can add the remote CoPilot Accessory to the PowerDrive later.

CoPilot on the Powerdrive retains both fob and foot controls, iPilot on the PowerDrive eliminates the foot control (I think).

Of course, none of these are cheap! You could have an Hbird 1198cSI + the new HBird 360 Imaging + TM with iPilot, and easily have more $'s hanging off the front of the boat than the back!!! It's crazy. :shock:

 

[KevinWI]

PD model I have does NOT have auto-pilot...and from what I read, it's not an ad-on feature....you can buy the PD TM with it already installed, but can't add it. ipilot and copilot are ad-ons though.

 

[atuck593]

Fuzzy, Kevin, and anyone else that may be able to help,
What is the length of the shaft you have on your Motor Guide? You have it on your Starcraft right? I have been looking online the past few days and have found a 45lb thrust Power Drive with a 48" shaft for $390 + tax and $20 shipping. I am thinking $430 at my door total. However, today I received in the mail my Cabela's spring sale flyer. They have a 50lb thrust Power Drive for $429 on sale and I live about 30 min from the Pennsylvania location. Pretty much 5 lbs of thrust free without shipping costs, but the down side is that the motor has a 54" shaft.
Maybe I am over thinking this whole thing but do you think the 54" would be too much on the front of my boat? I have a 42" Endura transom mount version that I mounted on the bow for a little while and that fit ok, which leads me to think the 48" would be perfect. I could always cut 54" shorter like Kevin did with his but that is $50 bucks extra unless I do it myself, but I think that would void any warranty? (Did you find anything out about that Kevin when you called to have yours cut?)
One last thing that I found when looking on the Minn Kota site and Cabela's web site was the fact that they don't have a 54" model in the 50lb thrust for this year. Both Minn Kota and Cabelas have the 50lb thrust in only a 48" model. A mis-print or possibly a previous model year left over? The MSRP of $569 matches the 55lb thrust 54" model on both sites, but Cabelas is usually a bit more expensive.
Thanks for any help.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

Atuck,

A 48" shaft is plenty for your boat, but does not mean a larger one is too big. It is only an impact when in the stowed position. If you carefully measure, you can see if you would have to cut the shaft. From eyeballing your hull, I'd say that a 48" will be angled and the head will reside outside the hull anyway.

Mounting it that way, does have some drawbacks if you dock the boat on that side. Mine extends out to the side to clear railings I did not want to remove or modify. I mainly river fish, and seldom at a dock. But when i am, you just use the other side of the boat.

 

[bryan28]

Bob for what it's worth I have a G3 1756cc and a G3 Rep recommended the Minn kota edge 45 or 50 lb thrust with 45" shaft.

 

[atuck593]

Well Kevin, I bit the bullet and just purchased the Power Drive 45lb thrust 48" length. I am looking for a quick release bracket. I am not sure if I would like the aluminum slide on one or the composite set on one. Which one did you get? How do you like it?

 

[KevinWI]

Well Kevin, I bit the bullet and just purchased the Power Drive 45lb thrust 48" length. I am looking for a quick release bracket. I am not sure if I would like the aluminum slide on one or the composite set on one. Which one did you get? How do you like it?

ha. I bought the aluminum one....built pretty damn solid. Must be teflon coated....slides nice.
found it on amazon.com w/free shipping.
Haven't gotten my TM yet...was backordered...was supposed to ship today. We'll see.

 

[atuck593]

Nice... I saw that one on amazon with free shipping. I also found the composite one for $42 on there so I am not sure which to go with lol. I found mine through a google shopping search for $422 with no tax and free shipping. I don't think it was that bad of a deal. What have you done about connectors? Do you plan on connecting it right to the battery or set it up with a plug in style? Sorry for all the questions... just pickin your brain lol.

 

[KevinWI]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E8DQI6/ref=oh_o01_s00_i00_details
$38.98 ... Free shipping, no tax.

have to see how it's setup first....I have a plug in already from my other TM, so I may use that, but if not, my battery is only 3' away.

That membership I got at sportsmansguide is paying off...got a navionics chip for my locator for 25 off using membership and a coupon....and bought a raincoat and bibs and saved around 20 on that as well....was worth it getting it for the TM deal for $394 plus $20 shipping.
Also bought a minn kota 210D charger for $116 and free ship and minn kota has a $20 rebate. love good deals

 

[atuck593]

Yeah I hear ya on looking for good deals. I went with the composite quick mount. $42 compared to the $79 msrp on the Minn Kota web site. I don't know if its a different model year, but the picture looks exactly the same. I like this one because you can lock the motor onto the boat with a small pad lock, in case I have to leave the boat in a parking lot or something. Can you trailer the boat with the quick release mount or do you have to remove it until you get to the launch?
My next big purchase will be a fish finder/gps combo. I am looking into the Lowrance Elite 4x DSI. I got to see it at Cabela's this past weekend and it was awesome. Great picture with the color and a lot of cool features.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

The MKA-32 is what was recommended to me for being quiet and providing a strong, positive locking mechinism, but it is very pricey.

 

[KevinWI]

you can lock the alum one too. many people leave it on full time and trailer it with lock on all the time...only reason they have it is because of the locking ability. I'm sure they all work fine.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

From what I remember, the MKA-32 has a cam lock that keeps things tight, where the other mounts can loosen up from the torque, and start to vibrate, etc. That was based on research I did about 4 years ago, before going with the MG which had the mount included. Maybe they improved the mounts in that time.