trolling motor power

[Chet C]

i currently have a 14ft smokercraft v bottom boat, with a motorguide foot controlled 46lb thrust in the front, looking for some more power, i have 2 12 volt batteries in the boat now, question i have is if i mount another hand controlled motor on the transom, for example if i add a 50 lb thrust motor, will this actually be equal to approx 96lb thrust motor or am i missing something.

 

chet

[Born 2 fish]

If I was you I would go with a 24volt trolling motor at the bow 75-80 lb thrust. It’s easier to pull the boat than push it for the motor.

[haggard]

I'm not sure if the thrust numbers will simply add up to 96 lb but unless I'm missing something this means you're controlling two different motors simultaneously at different ends of the boat, which sounds cumbersome. I'd just get a single bow mount 24 V motor and sell the existing 12 V.

 

[WRB]

You rarely use all the thrust power fishing with a trolling motor. Trolling motors are used to control the position of the boat. Your OB is used to move the boat any distance.

If the 46 lb TM isn't enough power to controll the boat you need a new or batteries.

Tom

[Swagonmaster]

Unless of course  he wants to pull skiers. 

[J Francho]

What do you mean by "more power"??  Do you mean greater speed?  Longer battery life?  Better pick up to speed?

[Chet C]

mainly speed, one thing i don't care for on the motorguide foot controlled motor, is when i have to use it in the high speed number 5, the foot control is very erratic hard to keep it in one position, i am constantly correcting it, to easy to turn, if it only had somekind of a friction adjustment to keep the direction more precise, in the first 3 speeds its good 4th can be touchy, but 5th speed so hard to steer it, it goes to the right, i correct goes to the left extremely ect, i never had any of these issues with my minkotas on other boats, i bought this boat used with this motor on it.

 

chet

[WRB]

More thrust requires more skill to control. Are you in hurry? Lift the TM out of the water and use your big engine to move the boat faster.

Tom

[Mjmj]

No it will not equal more thrust. I have a minn kota  160 RIP tide. It is 2 80 lbs motors..

I also have a 112 lbs motor on the front .  The 112 will move the boat faster than the 160. As stated above, get a larger thrust trolling motor on the front. I would think a 70 or 80 would probably move that boat around 3.4 mph or faster. Moving weight (batteries and  other gear) toward s the bow will also help move that boat faster when using a trolling motor 

[J Francho]

10 hours ago, Chet Cognigni said:

one thing i don't care for on the motorguide foot controlled motor, is when i have to use it in the high speed number 5, the foot control is very erratic hard to keep it in one position

T-H Marine makes a product called Troll Perfect that may help, though like Tom said it takes practice.  More thrust doesn't always = more speed.  I can't imagine anyone needing more than 80# on a small boat.

[Bankc]

Thrust is a measure of how much weight the motor can pull, not how fast it pulls it.  If your motor doesn't have enough thrust to pull the boat, then it won't be able to reach top speed, or it'll take a long time to do it.  Increasing the thrust of the motor beyond the minimal amount necessary to pull the boat efficiently won't gain you any top speed.  It might gain you a bit of acceleration though.

 

Speed is controlled by the pitch and RMP of the prop.  Trolling motors aren't typically designed for speed.  So adding a new one won't likely get you much more speed, unless of course the old one is severely underpowered for you boat and the new one is the correct or better power.  And even then, the speed increase will likely be minimal.

 

What you need is an outboard motor.  They make electric outboard motors.  You might look into one of them, though they're not cheap for a good one (compared to a trolling motor).  But they will get the RPM of the prop up considerably higher than what a trolling motor is designed to do.

[BassNJake]

When we fished electric motor only tourneys in Ohio

We had a 101lb thrust 36V on the front and an 80lb 24V on the back of a 16 foot Crestliner

 

Wanting to go even faster, I bought a second 101 for the back

It didn't help, the extra weight slowed us down and the cavitation from the front motor affected the ability of the back motor to get a good bite IMO

 

That being said now that I only use a front trolling motor, I'd never have one smaller than 80lb thrust

[Chet C]

i was wondering about this project, since i already have the foot controlled motorguide mounted on the boat, i was thinking of removing the motor and cables off the bow mount, and getting a minkotta 55 thrust is variable speed or the standard 5 position motor, remove the transom mount and install it on the motorguide mount on the bow, if there are any diameter adjustments to be made, i have a lathe and some delrin to make any bushing to make it fit, i know i will be only gaining 9 ft lbs of thrust ober the motorguide 46lb thrust motor, but i think i will like a hand controlled bow mount over the foot controlled, if this will work any pros and cons of the minkota choice 5 position speed over the variable speed motor. any thoughts or suggestions.

chet

[WRB]

You don't have are outboard engine?

Tom

[Chet C]

yes i have a 25hp yamaha, it when i fish electric only lakes or 10hp max. i use the trolling motor only

 

 

chet

[Krux5506]

14 hours ago, Chet Cognigni said:

mainly speed, one thing i don't care for on the motorguide foot controlled motor, is when i have to use it in the high speed number 5, the foot control is very erratic hard to keep it in one position, i am constantly correcting it, to easy to turn, if it only had somekind of a friction adjustment to keep the direction more precise, in the first 3 speeds its good 4th can be touchy, but 5th speed so hard to steer it, it goes to the right, i correct goes to the left extremely ect, i never had any of these issues with my minkotas on other boats, i bought this boat used with this motor on it.

 

chet

That was the same exact issue i had with my motorguide, i absolutely hated it. Although, it came on my 17 ft Lund so a fair amount more boat for a 46# tm. I upgraded to 80# Minn Kota which is way more stable to control. When it's windy out you're gonna be happy you have more thrust, in my opinion. Especially on aluminum boats of any size that blow around like a cork out on the water in those conditions. 

[Swagonmaster]

I recently got a Minn Kota Maxxum 70 for my 17' Glastron boat and couldn't be happier with the tm. It has plenty power and being a bow mount foot control it is really easy to control (unless you have a side wind and are going slowly, then all bets are off!)