what electric motor do I need?

[texaslawdog]

Thinking about motoring a 14-16 ft aluminum Mod Jon I will be getting(weight of boat from 230lb to 275 lbs.)  I want to use an electric transom motor for propulsion and trolling and I don't want to get an outboard gas motor.  What lb of thrust would I need?  And would one of those electric motors that resemble a gas outboard be even better?  Seems these types cost a whole lot more than the more conventional looking electric motors.   I'm going to fish mainly medium size lakes and a few tidal rivers. 

[DanielG]

I troll a homemade from an 18 ft sailing catamaran boat (see lower icon in the margin) with two 35 lb minn kota's. I usually only use one as two give you more power (like in wind) but not much difference in speed. According to my Garmin I can hit 2.5 mph on a good day and usually troll at 1.5-2 mph which seems sufficiently fast. I have two 100 amp AGM batteries (the motor is 12 volts). The time I'm out is usually 3.5 hrs, but I can do up to 6 hrs at a time. I don't stop much. Lots of steady trolling in this deep, little cover lake. My boat isn't that light and neither am I! I'll bet my boat is at least double the weight of yours.

This is sufficient for my needs. The size of the motors is sort of a sweet spot in performance and cost. And the reason I have two motors and two batteries instead of one larger one, is that if one motor or battery dies. I can always get home. And... when one battery is low on juice... it's time to turn around with the other one.

 

 

 

[texaslawdog]

3 hours ago, DanielG said:

I troll a homemade from an 18 ft sailing catamaran boat (see lower icon in the margin) with two 35 lb minn kota's. I usually only use one as two give you more power (like in wind) but not much difference in speed. According to my Garmin I can hit 2.5 mph on a good day and usually troll at 1.5-2 mph which seems sufficiently fast. I have two 100 amp AGM batteries (the motor is 12 volts). The time I'm out is usually 3.5 hrs, but I can do up to 6 hrs at a time. I don't stop much. Lots of steady trolling in this deep, little cover lake. My boat isn't that light and neither am I! I'll bet my boat is at least double the weight of yours.

This is sufficient for my needs. The size of the motors is sort of a sweet spot in performance and cost. And the reason I have two motors and two batteries instead of one larger one, is that if one motor or battery dies. I can always get home. And... when one battery is low on juice... it's time to turn around with the other one.

 

 

 

Hi Dan, thank you for your info, it helps.  I don't know a lot on what an electric motor will do.  I want it to be able to power my boat around a lake.  I'm not interested in going 72mph on a lake.  All I need is to be able to get around the lake to several fishing spots during an outing without having to take all day to do it.  Can these electric motors allow me to do that?

[Ratherbefishing75]

Hi there. I power a 16.5 canoe with a 55 thrust pound  minnkota      It moves it around just nicely and it should push yours around without a problem i pared that with a 1000 CCA deep cycle battery and have not had to use my backup booster pack 

[browne762]

I have a Lowe 1546 with a 25hp and use a 55lb Minnkota Maxxium at the front for a trolling motor. It moves the boat around very well. I normally use it at half power, but when at full power it is pretty darn quick all things considered.

 

If I were to pull the outboard, fuel and one battery to cut weight I personally would be fine with only having a 55lb TM on a 200ish acre lake for a day of fishing.

[texaslawdog]

46 minutes ago, Ratherbefishing75 said:

Hi there. I power a 16.5 canoe with a 55 thrust pound  minnkota      It moves it around just nicely and it should push yours around without a problem i pared that with a 1000 CCA deep cycle battery and have not had to use my backup booster pack 

Hi Rbf75, appreciate your input, I'm slowly getting the info I will need to complete my rig.

26 minutes ago, browne762 said:

I have a Lowe 1546 with a 25hp and use a 55lb Minnkota Maxxium at the front for a trolling motor. It moves the boat around very well. I normally use it at half power, but when at full power it is pretty darn quick all things considered.

 

If I were to pull the outboard, fuel and one battery to cut weight I personally would be fine with only having a 55lb TM on a 200ish acre lake for a day of fishing.

Hi b762, your rig is a lot like what I'm planning, 14-16 ft boat(230-280 pounds).  I'm slowly learning the info I need to make my decisions.  Reason I don't like gas motors is that they are very heavy and there are so many things that can go wrong with them.  I have had an electric motored UTV for 6 years and have never had to do or maintain anything with the motor, zero worries.  Yes, I purchased new batteries for $1,100  after 5 years.  But I never worried about having to go get gas(or it's expense), just plug in when thru for the day and ready to go all day the next day.  I feel saving all that weight on a boat is extremely important for many factors and an electric motor and lithium batteries saves a ton of weight compared to a gas outboard and gas.

[browne762]

If cost isn't a big factor I would probably go with a 24v system and more thrust. More power is nice to have even if you don't use it all the time. 

 

I would love a 24v 80lb Ultrex with spot lock, auto pilot and i-pilot, but it was hard to justify putting a $2,500 TM on a Jon Boat with all of the other stuff I had in the works. I still might upgrade in the next couple years... If I were going electric only I would for sure do the Ultrex. I like fishing from the front of the boat and driving from there would be fine to me. Maybe there is something like that in a transom mount model, IDK.

[DanielG]

13 hours ago, texaslawdog said:

Hi Dan, thank you for your info, it helps.  I don't know a lot on what an electric motor will do.  I want it to be able to power my boat around a lake.  I'm not interested in going 72mph on a lake.  All I need is to be able to get around the lake to several fishing spots during an outing without having to take all day to do it.  Can these electric motors allow me to do that?

Any, standard motor's top speed is determined by the weight it has to push. Some of the more expensive, bigger ones will go faster but their purpose isn't speed. The reason they are higher thrust is that if you have a heavier boat the added power will be needed so they can do what they were designed to do. The props are designed so that they hit a max speed no matter what you do. If the wind comes up they draw more current to fight it but the prop doesn't spin faster. They're made to stabalize a boat and move it around will keeping things constant. So using one as a traveling motor is using them for something that is outside of their intended purpose. But, it can work, as long as you're in no rush.

If you like being on the water and want to fish a body of water it's fine. Just not to zip from one location to another.

Where I live I have a set loop I usually travel on. It starts at trolling speed and stops sometimes at locations to cast. I fish the entire loop.  It wouldn't be practical to go a distance to hit a spot to fish then move on to another location. Then again, I do cover about three to five miles in my loop....

[texaslawdog]

5 hours ago, DanielG said:

Any, standard motor's top speed is determined by the weight it has to push. Some of the more expensive, bigger ones will go faster but their purpose isn't speed. The reason they are higher thrust is that if you have a heavier boat the added power will be needed so they can do what they were designed to do. The props are designed so that they hit a max speed no matter what you do. If the wind comes up they draw more current to fight it but the prop doesn't spin faster. They're made to stabalize a boat and move it around will keeping things constant. So using one as a traveling motor is using them for something that is outside of their intended purpose. But, it can work, as long as you're in no rush.

If you like being on the water and want to fish a body of water it's fine. Just not to zip from one location to another.

Where I live I have a set loop I usually travel on. It starts at trolling speed and stops sometimes at locations to cast. I fish the entire loop.  It wouldn't be practical to go a distance to hit a spot to fish then move on to another location. Then again, I do cover about three to five miles in my loop....

Hello DG, some great info there and no I'm in no rush to get from Point A to Point B, not a speed freak, far from it, to me, on the water slower is better!  And how do you remember your loop when fishing? just by memory?

Thanks, Greg

[DanielG]

5 hours ago, texaslawdog said:

Hello DG, some great info there and no I'm in no rush to get from Point A to Point B, not a speed freak, far from it, to me, on the water slower is better!  And how do you remember your loop when fishing? just by memory?

Thanks, Greg

It's not hard to remember. I follow the edge sometime and other times I cut across the lake in certain places. I've been on this lake all my life. I live here. I've snorkeled it as a kid and I've got a Garmin that shows me the topography. So, I guess I know it really well. It's not an issue. This is one of the loops I do. It's path has to do with the rises and falls in the lake bottom. In the summer when the water is warm fish lurk off the drop offs. The loop varies from 10 to 90 ft in depth. The entire loop is approximately three miles. I live at the red dot. Somtimes I take a straighter path about double the distance up. And it varies with the temperature of the water, as with the seasons. I do this and other paths three times a week at 5 am. and sometimes at 7 pm. It never gets old. I do though!

 

[texaslawdog]

10 hours ago, DanielG said:

It's not hard to remember. I follow the edge sometime and other times I cut across the lake in certain places. I've been on this lake all my life. I live here. I've snorkeled it as a kid and I've got a Garmin that shows me the topography. So, I guess I know it really well. It's not an issue. This is one of the loops I do. It's path has to do with the rises and falls in the lake bottom. In the summer when the water is warm fish lurk off the drop offs. The loop varies from 10 to 90 ft in depth. The entire loop is approximately three miles. I live at the red dot. Somtimes I take a straighter path about double the distance up. And it varies with the temperature of the water, as with the seasons. I do this and other paths three times a week at 5 am. and sometimes at 7 pm. It never gets old. I do though!

 

WOW, I don't think I would ever be able to remember all those details that you have for that lake.  I plan on going to several lakes within say 3 hours of my home.  Since I'm retired I now plan on a weekly trip to these lakes using the rig I'm going to get and all the help on here has been very valuable.  Thanks,  Greg.

[DanielG]

3 minutes ago, texaslawdog said:

WOW, I don't think I would ever be able to remember all those details that you have for that lake.  I plan on going to several lakes within say 3 hours of my home.  Since I'm retired I now plan on a weekly trip to these lakes using the rig I'm going to get and all the help on here has been very valuable.  Thanks,  Greg.

Well, familiarity helps. You take the same route(s) day in and day out and they become very comfortable. Of course this is the benefit of living a life in the same place. On the other side of the coin, it's pretty much all that I know!

[kjfishman]

80lb thrust transom mount is in interesting.  Since it is you main propulsion might be the way to go.  I spend a majority of time on electric only lakes and was thinking if my the 50 Mercury needed major repair this might be an alternative. $1489 new isn't that much more than an 80 lb Bow mount.

 

 

 

https://mk.factoryoutletstore.com/details/159689/minn-kota-vantage-80-24v-80lb.html?category_id=20866&catalogitemid=141757

Edited February 12, 2020 by kjfishman
added data

[texaslawdog]

3 hours ago, DanielG said:

Well, familiarity helps. You take the same route(s) day in and day out and they become very comfortable. Of course this is the benefit of living a life in the same place. On the other side of the coin, it's pretty much all that I know!

But hey, if you're happy, right???

 

[texaslawdog]

3 hours ago, kjfishman said:

80lb thrust transom mount is in interesting.  Since it is you main propulsion might be the way to go.  I spend a majority of time on electric only lakes and was thinking if my the 50 Mercury needed major repair this might be an alternative. $1489 new isn't that much more than an 80 lb Bow mount.

 

 

 

https://mk.factoryoutletstore.com/details/159689/minn-kota-vantage-80-24v-80lb.html?category_id=20866&catalogitemid=141757

yes, I have seen this motor advertised as well as a few others.  They cost a whole lot more than other transom mounted electric motors.  So, why do they cost so much more?  Is it because they run on 24 volts instead of 12 volts?  If so, then they must be worth the cost increase if 24 volts helps the boat's maneuverability that much compared to the 12 volt rig.  If so, that might be worth considering, but then again that entails much more weight with one gigantic 24 volt battery or two 12 volt batteries.  So, the only way to defeat this added weight problem is to get lithium batteries but then again, they do cost so much more.  So, there are tough choices to make and I'm not quite there yet!