Fish Finder & Trolling Motor?

[Quarry Man]

I am going to be fixing up a 14' Smoker Craft Big Fisherman. It is deeper and slightly narrower than my current 14' Sea King. Do I need to worry about this boat being less stable than the Sea King? I am worried that the center of gravity will be too high when I add the casting deck on top of the benches. I want to add a trolling motor that will be used as my main source of propulsion. I am thinking an 80lb terrova 60" w/ i-pilot. I also want to add a Garmin 93sv fish finder.

 

in my previous boat, I had trouble with the boat tracking straight. To fix this, I took the steering head off of an old 36" trolling motor that I have and use it as a rudder. I want to use it on my new boat and mount the side imaging transducer to it. I think this will work, but I have never mounted a fish finder before and am concerned that when I want to use the outboard, I may not be able to use the fish finder. As I type this, I realize that I can slide the rudder to one side of the outboard or use the front motor.

[Scott F]

Mount the side imaging transducer to the transom now and if you get an outboard, you won’t have to remount it. 14 ft boats are never going to be the most stable platform especially with added casting decks. You might consider just adding a floor to the front, ahead of the seat but not as high as the bench. Easier and cheaper to start. See how that works first. You can always add the bigger casting deck later and you won’t be out a lot of money if you don’t like it. I can see that this 14 footer is not going to be your boat of the future. Don’t spend a lot of time and money on a boat you won’t be keeping very long. Use your time to be out fishing, not working on projects. 

[WRB]

60" troller motor on a 14' boat, that is over 1/3 the length of your boat! 42" would be max you will ever need.

Center of gravity should be as close to the water line as possible, length is less important compared to width. 

Tom

[Quarry Man]

my old trolling motor is 54" and is way too long, but the new boat sits higher off the water. I will try to find a 45" terror