Trolling motor performance upgrades

[airshot]

I have a bow mount MinnKota power drive V2  12 v trolling motor with the wedge2 weedless prop.  I never fish in weeds so the weedless feature is useless for me.  My boat is a 16' aluminum hull side console weight is around 1200 lbs total.  I use this primarily for trolling for walleye in lake erie.  Not much in prop selection from MK, so ....does anyone have any tricks, hacks, or other ideas to improve the speed ??  I know the weedless props loose speed but MK tells me the power prop doesn't increase the speed either.  Not looking to ski here, just looking for max performance and efficiency from my trolling motor.  Will be moving up to lifepo4 batteries next summer, but hoping others have some real life experience with prop changes. 

[casts_by_fly]

in my autopilot, I lose around 0.4 mph when I swap to the weedless wedge from the standard prop.  For $20 that's worth it just to have a spare prop in the boat.

 

If you want to experiment, you could pick up an RC plan prop from APC.  The 4x10.5L (I think that's the right designation) gives me an extra 0.3-0.4 over the MKP2.  It should work just fine on your powerdrive.  If your boat behaves like mine, that would get you somewhere around 0.6-0.7 mph more.

 

Check out youtube videos for how to 'tune' a trolling motor.  I haven't done before and afters so can't say it with certainty, but it makes sense what they are showing you.  I bet you could pick up 0.1-0.2 there.  

 

Lithium batteries will give you a constand speed for the full day on the water and a slight bump in speed at the start.  The voltage output on them is higher than lead acid so it gives a little bump there, but lead acid drops voltage all day while the litium won't.  

 

Past all that, give a 9.9

 

[Bankc]

  On 11/13/2023 at 6:45 PM, casts_by_fly said:

in my autopilot, I lose around 0.4 mph when I swap to the weedless wedge from the standard prop.  For $20 that's worth it just to have a spare prop in the boat.

 

If you want to experiment, you could pick up an RC plan prop from APC.  The 4x10.5L (I think that's the right designation) gives me an extra 0.3-0.4 over the MKP2.  It should work just fine on your powerdrive.  If your boat behaves like mine, that would get you somewhere around 0.6-0.7 mph more.

 

Check out youtube videos for how to 'tune' a trolling motor.  I haven't done before and afters so can't say it with certainty, but it makes sense what they are showing you.  I bet you could pick up 0.1-0.2 there.  

 

Lithium batteries will give you a constand speed for the full day on the water and a slight bump in speed at the start.  The voltage output on them is higher than lead acid so it gives a little bump there, but lead acid drops voltage all day while the litium won't.  

 

Past all that, give a 9.9

 

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All great advice.  Though, I would be cautious about adding an RC plane prop to your trolling motor.  They work great for kayaks and such, but a kayak, with a person in it and fully loaded, probably weighs around 350lbs, tops.  So it doesn't need the full torque of the trolling motor to get going.  A 1,200lbs, 16-foot boat probably will.  So I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the plane prop didn't actually slow you down.  But they're only a couple of bucks, so it might still be worth the experiment.  

 

Your best bet would probably be to add a kicker motor.  They make electric versions now.  Or maybe try using a drift sock to slow down your main motor.  Hard to say without knowing more details. 

 

I guess the real question is, how fast does your current trolling motor pull you, how slow can you get your big motor to go, and what speeds are you looking for?    

[airshot]

Many thanks for all the suggestions so far....knowing that the power prop improves speed is a plus, MK stated it wouldn't.  Most if my trolling is around 1.5 to 2.0 mph, which my electric can achieve but at almost 75-80%  throttle, a slight improvement in speed from a prop will allow me to mabey run 50-60% rather than 75% for longer run times.  I do have a small 2.2 hp kicker that works really well, especially when used with the MK for steering !!  When I find active fish and return thru the pack, I generally get more action with the electric only...thus my reason for slightly better speed.  MK calls for a model 37 power prop as the replacement for the wedge2, might just order one and try it.  They also list a couple others like the 2 and 6 but give no details or information as to dia or pitch, so those would be a shot in the dark.  About to be a long winter here, so any other suggestions or ideas will be greatly appreciated !!

[AlabamaSpothunter]

14ft Aluminum V hull Jon boat.......switched over to the APC R/C prop......much better prop for my usages than the OEM hummingbird endura prop. 

 

Better speed and better efficiency.    

[airshot]

  On 11/13/2023 at 9:31 PM, AlabamaSpothunter said:

14ft Aluminum V hull Jon boat.......switched over to the APC R/C prop......much better prop for my usages than the OEM hummingbird endura prop. 

 

Better speed and better efficiency.    

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From my research, the airplane propellors work well on small lighter weight boats.  They are less effiecient on heavier boats.  Row boats, car toppers and especially kayaks are prime for airplane props. Thanks for the recomendation, just might try one.

[airshot]

Finally put the boat to bed for the winter, stored all the electronics inside and bid farewell until spring.  Got yp to the house and there was UPS with my new power prop I had ordered.  Well I"ll be d**n.....gotta wait until spring to see if it improves my performance!!!!  How lucky .....