electric boat motor

Hi lyndon,
I have a Minn Kota 40 electric motor which i'm rapt with. The 40 series is the one compatible with salt water. It has 5 forward gears and three reverse. I believe there are more sizes but i'm not familiar with them.
The positioning on your boat is purely a personal decision, where would you normally fish from and require manoeuvrebility, (now there's a word for this time of day).
The 100 amp hr battery would give you hours and hours of continuous use.
Regards from Col.

mounted on the front gives you better pulling power in the wind or current.
you cant go wrong with a minn kota. cheers

If you intend to use a lot the best for both purposes in the Riptide bowmount 55lb with auto-pilot. Will be suitable for both boats.

They are currently around the the $1250.

Go with the Riptide because they are suitable for saltwater.

Have had three. One 40lb transom mount which we utilise on the 14ft canoe and the 3.7tinnie. Was replaced (when someones else need was greater than ours).

Bloody mongrel hope it broke down on them.

Replaced with another 40lb and then upgraded to the 55AP. The autopilot is fantastic.

The other brands available in order of recommendation are Mercury do an electric, new model has remote (non cable) control.

Then you have the Jarvis Walker watersnake.

It is the cheapest and is available at all the cheaper store the a - mart sports and bcf etc but only has 12 months warranty and is not saltwater or have the autopilot.

Have been using electrics mosts weeks as live at the beach and my 55LB is the best investment that I have made.

Most of the fishing I do with lures is under power on the AP and great for estuaries and the big impoundments, especially up in the heavy timber.

If you look up the AUSFISH site you will find heaps of info on this.

But you get what you pay for.

Minnkota first Mercury second and Watersnake last.

Anyway just a personal recommendation after many years of use.

Regards and enjoy you fishing

Trevor

Hi lyndon k,
Having owned both a bow and transom mounted electric motor, I would say the bow mount is the best all rounder. It is far easier to control a boat by pulling it rather than pushing it at slow speeds. The bow mounted motor allows me to position the boat so I can cast at snags and structure. The foot controller is excellent and gives me a hands free approach to fishing. I don't know how I fished with out it. If you are only going to use it for trolling, a transom mounted motor will be ok. For the record I use a Minn Kota 55 on a 13 foot boat. MotorGuide also have a good product. I'm not sure how heavy your boat is but you might need a 24v model. Speak to the experts at a marine dealership. I've enclosed a link to a site that has a discussion area on electric motors. It might help in your decision. Site Link
Regards, Monkey

Lyndon,

Well the RT55AP will do the job.

It is a 12volt system and we get about five to seven hours out of Deep Cycle Trojan battery.

If you go up in size then you look at a 24volt systems, more battery to carry.

The RT55AP, is going to be superceded shortly, by a I believe a cordless foot control. Current model has a cable to motor. Which I tuck along the side of boat. No drama.

However the current setup is quite good with a front quick release bracket. Could have one for the front of each boat. Bracket that is.

The autopilot works on compass bearing and when you adjust left or right foot control it will keep on readjust the direction to stay on that bearing while underway.
Set direction and adjust speed control and the motor stay on track while you enjoy your fishing.

You only then have to adjust occassionaly while casting to move in or around a corner etc.

They are great and take about half hour to work out, then you wonder how you ever managed without one.

The Motorguide is the Mercury one.

Check out the foot control, I found the Minn Kota the best of the lot. Again Personal preference.
Quote Minnkota.
AUTOPILOT tm Controls:
The Minn Kota Autopilot uses a magnetic compass and a microporcessor chiip to keep the trolling motor pointed in the direction you want to go. Each time the wind or water current moves the boat off course, the AutoPilot senses the change and steers itself back to the original heading. The AutoPilot direction is set every time a sterering change is made. To change direction, steer until the control head points to the desired course. The AutoPilot will pull the bow of the boat around and correct automatically until the boat is moving in the direction you chose. The AutoPilot push button on the control head turns the automatic steering on or off.

Hope that all helps.

Greater than sliced bread.

Have seen the RT55AP. On that model quintrex as well and should do the adequately.

Enjoy

Trevor

Hi there Lyndon, my brother in law use to sell these things and I'm pretty sure still does (he's changed jobs but still the same field). If you want his number to have a chat to him and ask him what you need to know just send me a member message and Ill give you his number. Might even be able to give discount Im not sure !! Worth a try. Regards Steve M

Think it has been pretty well covered, but here is my input.

I've had a 40 lb transom mount for about 3 years. Recently upgraded to a 55 lb bow mount. Both Minn Kota. If you are into flicking lures, bow mount is absolutely the way to go. We recently spent 6 weeks fishing in the Gulf. Had the transom mount with us. First purchase when I got back was a bow mount. 'Look mum, no hands'. Both hands on the rod (fishing rod that is) and no interuption to fishing.

For trolling bow v transom is not as important and transom mount is much cheaper if that is an issue.

Son has recently bought a Jarvis Walker Water Snake 44 lb transom mount. It goes well and was less than half the price of the Minn Kota. Price was important to him, so probably a good purchase. For quality and reliability, I'd always go the Minn Kota.

With the 40 lb Minn Kota, I originally used a 120 AH AGM battery, but found it too heavy. Our tinnie is a roof topper on trips and I have to lift the battery in and out frequently. I changed over to a 60 AH AGM and have been surprised how well it has gone. Have never been short of power, but I might put a 90 AH AGM that I have in the boat a bit now that I have the 55 lb motor with auto pilot that will use a bit more power.
If you troll a lot, 100AH is probably about right when you have the outboard on and get to the target area using outboard. You will get 3 or 4 hours of trolling at least. To extend time, don't troll with electric against a strong tide. Either troll in one direction only, or troll with tide on electric and against with outboard.

In summary; If you have the money, Minn Kota Riptide bow mount is the go. Your 100AH battery should be fine in the 13 ft tinnie. If money is an issue and you will only use for trolling, a transom mount will do the job just fine.

Good fishing.

Norm C

Lyndon,

Use my 55ap with either the outboard 15hp yamaha on most impoundments. But on the electric dams (Hinze) and low hp dams (ie lenthalls) use the 55ap with the 40lb transom. Together make an ideal setup and a bit of grunt from two electrics.

Cheers

Trevor

Twin trojan deep cycle batteries.

Their is a current thread on Lenthalls on AUSFISH in regard to campsite.

bY Big Units reports doesn't seem likely that campsite will open soon.

Best to follow up on Ausfish, always plenty of comments under Freshwater forum.

Regards Trevor