Electric trolling motor

[Snowshoe]

How many pound trust motor do I need on a 16 foot Lund (1600 Fury model) to get around decently?

 

[bcbouy]

if you are travelling up river with the electric as the sole propulsion you need and 80 lb. 36v unit.a small pond you need a 30 lb. 12 volt.as you probably guessed,you need to be way more specific as to your needs.

 

[gnappi]

+1 to what bcbouy wrote, more info needed.

Failing that, go as large as you can given boat and cargo weight, conditions, whether it's sole means of propulsion or not, battery size / number you want to spring for, performance you need, budget, etc. etc.

In short, IMO... your boat is pretty heavy, go as large as you can you'll never be sorry for going larger I got a 50lb. 12v for my little 1040 Lowe even though the boat / TM charts recommend as low as 30lb. and I am glad I ignored the charts.

 

[Snowshoe]

No rivers, just lakes. 25hp Merc on the stern and went with a minnKota 55 bow mount. I mounted the battery up front with a charger to balance out the boat better since I fish by myself almost always.

 

[richg99]

You will be fine with the 55 lb given your parameters.

 

[GYPSY400]

I have a 55lb on a similar sized boat.. it does fine with a size 24 battery..any more is overkill and the extra weight of added batteries is not worth it.

I swear every thread about trolling motor size someone chimes in that 80lb 36v is the minimum! Lol

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

 

[richg99]

For a number of years, I had a couple of kayaks on which I added a 30 lb. trolling motor.

The darn thing was TOO FAST. I tried working down a marsh shoreline and every time I turned on the trolling motor, I would buzz past the better fishing cuts and drains. I actually considered drilling holes in the prop to slow its force down.

Buy what you need, which can be different for each of us... depending on where and how you use your trolling motor. Bigger is not always better.

 

[Carbut]

I had the 30lb minn kota on my 16' tracker and it worked fine. Never a problem even in the wind.

All the best:

 

[CRS]

Of all the comments here what stands out the best is that there is no general answer. The size of the lake or river, the type of fishing you do, regulations controlling the type and size of the motors, the style and weight of the boat loaded for fishing. All this must be considered before any motor size can be discussed or criticized. The lakes I fish on are small by many standards 80sq-100sq miles. I mostly troll for White perch, electric only motors and signed affidavit not to place the boat in any other bodies of water, I have a 1448 Tracker Grizzly. I have 3 80lb thrust motors, 2 Minn Kota Traxxis on the back and an Ulterra on the front. 6 120 amp hour AGM batteries 2 for each motor. The reason for this set up is to be able to get to the extremes of the lake and BACK without the fear of a motor failure. If I lose a motor due to some malfunction any one of the motors by itself will get me back to the ramp. The Ulterra allows me to program a trolling route and will keep a constant speed regardless of the wind in most cases. The Traxxiss running at 50% on still water get 3mph and give me 2 hours of run time without depleting the batteries past 50%. I use the Ulterra to steer with while traveling just turn it on long enough to make course corrections. This set up works perfectly for me and was within my budget. The improvements I will make when money allows is to replace the Traxxis with a pair of Torqeedo electric outboards and Lithium Ion batteries.

 

[richg99]

CRS...nice, informative post.

I've never had any experience on Electric Only lakes. Where (what State(s)) are they? Neither Texas nor Tennessee has any, to my knowledge for which I am very happy!
rich

 

[CRS]

CRS...nice, informative post.

I've never had any experience on Electric Only lakes. Where (what State(s)) are they? Neither Texas nor Tennessee has any, to my knowledge for which I am very happy!
rich

sorry about the delay in responding,
The lakes I fish in are in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Pretty Boy reservoir in Baltimore County Maryland and Little Pine Creek Park in Lycoming county PA.

 

[eshaw]

I think wind and current are the biggest considerations to take into account in conjunction with the size a type of hull you use. I use a 16 foot flat bottom and she's a heavy weight. I wouldn't consider anything less than an 80 on it. If it's dead calm I just run it on lower settings. If I were you I'd go to some of the local ramps and marinas and talk to people with similar boats and see what they're using and get their opinions on there setups and take them with a grain of salt. People don't like to talk about the mistakes they've made. You should be able to see a common theme among them as far as size goes.