Minn Kota Talon on aluminum boat

[A-Jay]

19 minutes ago, gimruis said:

 

One is still better than none.  But two is better than one.

 

With one, and some waves, current, etc, the boat actually holds on one spot better than it would if it was flat.  The problem in my boat is that I have a mod V bass boat and the transom sits very low on the water, so if there's a decent chop, I start taking waves over the stern.  With two talons, you can anchor and face your boat into the wind/chop whereas with one your boat will sit with the stern into the wind/waves.

 

I use mine quite a bit at the access when I unload/load by myself too.

In calm conditions, yes.

Anything past a gentle breeze,

My rig will still spin or 'weather vane' so the stern is facing the wind/waves;

especially over a harder bottom.

The 25 inch transom helps deflect some of the splash back

but I still get a decent amount when it's a little sporty.

 

@Senko'em  Fishing off the back of my rig with twin 12 ft Talons and the 200 hp ProXS is not the best deal.   I do it when I have to but it's usually a last resort.  So A Talon and Two Motors may be the same type of situation. 

 

A-Jay

 

 

 

 

[cyclops2]

Why are not they being mounted to the bow ?  Obvious ?  The companies can make the flat deck  storage position easy. Would put a lot less strain on everything up or down.

[gim]

30 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

My rig will still spin or 'weather vane' so the stern is facing the wind/waves;

especially over a harder bottom.

Didn't know that.  Good to know

[Senko'em]

58 minutes ago, gimruis said:

 

One is still better than none.  But two is better than one.

 

With one, and some waves, current, etc, the boat actually holds on one spot better than it would if it was flat.  The problem in my boat is that I have a mod V bass boat and the transom sits very low on the water, so if there's a decent chop, I start taking waves over the stern.  With two talons, you can anchor and face your boat into the wind/chop whereas with one your boat will sit with the stern into the wind/waves.

 

I use mine quite a bit at the access when I unload/load by myself too.

I agree about boat ramp/dock assistance with Talon. I have a Lund ProV which sits pretty high in water and catches wind. I’m thinking of adding a separate battery to power the Talon & graphs- how do you have yours rigged?

[gim]

3 minutes ago, Senko'em said:

I agree about boat ramp/dock assistance with Talon. I have a Lund ProV which sits pretty high in water and catches wind. I’m thinking of adding a separate battery to power the Talon & graphs- how do you have yours rigged?

 

Mine is attached with a specialize sandwich bracket.  The transom on my Ranger RT178 is irregularly shaped so they can't mount it directly.  Its powered by the cranking battery which runs my graphs, pumps, lights, and electric starter for my outboard.  I have never had the talon fail in 6 full seasons.  As long as you have good battery power, it should operate properly.  Here are a couple photos.  Not the greatest but its the only photos I have right now as my boat is in my Father's garage for the winter.  You can't really see the talon in the one photo of the boat, but its on the other side of the outboard.

[Senko'em]

36 minutes ago, gimruis said:

 

Mine is attached with a specialize sandwich bracket.  The transom on my Ranger RT178 is irregularly shaped so they can't mount it directly.  Its powered by the cranking battery which runs my graphs, pumps, lights, and electric starter for my outboard.  I have never had the talon fail in 6 full seasons.  As long as you have good battery power, it should operate properly.  Here are a couple photos.  Not the greatest but its the only photos I have right now as my boat is in my Father's garage for the winter.  You can't really see the talon in the one photo of the boat, but its on the other side of the outboard.

Nice looking rig. I have 2018 Lund 1975 ProV Sport with flat transom. Good to know about wiring to crank battery. I hate the thought of adding another battery. Mine is in storage, too. I’ll try to add photo. 

[gim]

6 minutes ago, Senko'em said:

I have 2018 Lund 1975 ProV Sport with flat transom.

I'm guessing you can mount it directly to the transom based on that photo.  You may want to add a folding bracket for it depending on if you have any height restrictions.  I have one on mine because I only have a 7 foot garage door and the height of the talon is about 7 feet, 2 inches.

[Senko'em]

31 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I'm guessing you can mount it directly to the transom based on that photo.  You may want to add a folding bracket for it depending on if you have any height restrictions.  I have one on mine because I only have a 7 foot garage door and the height of the talon is about 7 feet, 2 inches.

Yep, flat transom so would mount directly there. I’d also get the folding bracket because there are some local lakes (SW Oh.) that have low bridges. Thanks for all your assistance!

[BayouSlide]

4 hours ago, Senko'em said:

Yep, flat transom so would mount directly there. I’d also get the folding bracket because there are some local lakes (SW Oh.) that have low bridges. Thanks for all your assistance!

 

Kinda late to the party but take a lesson from my experience. I have the same setup (folding bracket) on a 15 ft. Talon on the transom of my G3. MK says that you should trailer with the Talon up because the plastic supporting prop arm is not designed for support while trailering.

 

I trailered with it up on our state's rough roadways for a over a year and eventually it cracked the underlying aluminum on the transom, requiring a strengthening weld. Your Talon is probably shorter so YMMV. But it's easy to fabricate a sturdier support out of wood and cushioning (pool noodle, etc.) and a bungie tie down, then you can trailer lowered without worry of breaking the factory prop arm.

[Way north bass guy]

I’ve trailered mine now for about 4 years ( it’s a 12’er), in the upright position and have never had any issues structurally as far as the transom goes, and it’s always rock solid on the mount, but I can see where some boats it may be an issue if they don’t have a real beefy transom. As far as holding, I use mine often to hold the boat, I’d say it works fairly well down to at least 10’ on most bottoms, and a pretty close to the full 12’ if there’s not too much wind. Often I’m fishing solo, but I do have my father with me sometimes, and he’s not a real serious fisherman, but still does very well off the back of the boat and the talon doesn’t seem to get in his way, even with his wild, sidearm casts he does sometimes ?. 

[Senko'em]

16 hours ago, Way north bass guy said:

I’ve trailered mine now for about 4 years ( it’s a 12’er), in the upright position and have never had any issues structurally as far as the transom goes, and it’s always rock solid on the mount, but I can see where some boats it may be an issue if they don’t have a real beefy transom. As far as holding, I use mine often to hold the boat, I’d say it works fairly well down to at least 10’ on most bottoms, and a pretty close to the full 12’ if there’s not too much wind. Often I’m fishing solo, but I do have my father with me sometimes, and he’s not a real serious fisherman, but still does very well off the back of the boat and the talon doesn’t seem to get in his way, even with his wild, sidearm casts he does sometimes ?. 

Good to know about trailering and partner fishing back there. I fish with a “sit-downer” & worry a 12’ Talon would get in his way.

[gim]

Something I should also mention is that you will void a Mercury outboard warranty when you use a sandwich bracket like I did.  At the time, I was completely unaware of it.  My warranty is now over by 3 years and I didn't need it, so its a moot point.  I'm a little upset that the dealer either didn't know or inform me of this when they used the sandwich bracket to mount my talon.

 

I have also heard of hull warranties being voided if you attach the talon directly to the transom.  Something you may want to look into if you have a relatively new boat.