Help! Which trolling motor???

[MisterCompletely]

I need some help deciding which trolling motor I should buy. I've got a 19-foot inboard with an open bow. I want a bow-mount motor with foot control. Do I get a Minn Kota or a Motorguide? Which model would be good for this boat? Can I remove the motor easily when I don't want to use it? How much power do I need? It's about 30" from the top of the bow down to the water. How long should the shaft be? I'd probably prefer to stick with 12 volts, unless that's not a good idea. I'd sure appreciate any comments or suggestions.[crazy]
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[tomegun]

Minnkota, minnkota , minnkota. Motorguides are POS. I've had 2 motoguides(please kill me). The arrow on the front twists around(all the damn time). They flop! This happens when you get broadsided by a rogue wave. Because of flopping, you need to keep two feet on the pedal(front and back). I love my minnkota. no flopping. one foot use! it goes where the arrow points to. I've run many trolling motors in a variety of bassboats. Motorguides have sucked every time.
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[Theekillerbee]

I agree with Tomegun. Go with Minn Kota. If you have the money, get one of the autopilot models. They are pretty expensive, but once you use one, it's hard to go back to a foot pedal. You need at least a 54" shaft, probably longer. When you are on the water with good sized waves, the motor will come up out of the water. Good luck.
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[PREDATOR]

If your bow is 30" to the water you need a 54 - 62 inch shaft. The distance given for that shaft range by minnkota is 26 - 34 inches. Sounds to me like yoiu are in that range. I recomend the 60 inch shaft so that when you get into some waves, your prop is further under the water.

Your main problem is going to be getting a foot control with a 54 - 62 inch shaft in 12 volt. The do have them. Theres a genesis I believe that would fit. Also theres the maxxum, but now that I think about it, the maxxum in 12 volt with that long a shaft might only be available in hand control.

Anyways, its more a game of money and how much you want to spend.

If all you want is a cable driven motor, basic and simple, the maxxum will save you some money. Since you want to be able to remove the motor, the genesis is not a good option. But the auto pilot is the best choice for easy removal. Just unplug the power and the foot pedal wire, and its a pretty slick unit. You will want to get one of those quick release brackets from cabelas though. Otherwise you will have to pull the side panels, undo the four bolts, and put it all back together. Then you are stuck with holes in your boat as well.

I just went through this last month. I was looking for a motor in the same shaft range as you, but I wanted more than 12 volt and quite a bit of power.

I have to agree with tomegun, no on the motorguide. I owned one once. I have owned two minn kota's and the minn kota is a much higher quality product. In fact, I dont know anyone who has owned bolth a minnkota and a motor guide that didnt in the end think the motor guide was a piece of junk. Maybee I just know minnkota lovers.

The real questions have to be,

first, how much money do you want to spend?

second, how much do you plan on using it?

third, for what type of fishing?

If you plan on using it virtually every trip and most of the day, trolling, in the wind, and waves, 12 volt may not be for you. examples would be walleye fishing, wiper fishing, any type of trolling.

If you plan on using it half the time you are fishing, and mostly to position your boat along the shore, and will only be under power for short periods of time to reposition the boat, you may be extremley happy with a 12 volt system without much lbs of thrust.

One thing to remember is with a boat with a higher profile the wind will push you around a lot more than in say a bass boat. The auto pilot motors are real nice for fixing this problem. Just point them in the direction you want to go, and let the compass fight the wind, rather than your foot.

Your boat is probably glass, and at that length, pretty heavy. I would go with a 65 lb thrust at the minimum.

Welcome to the world of decisions.

With inboards, space is definitley at a premium. I understand why you would want to go 12 volt. Plus, batteries are expensive.

Good luck.
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[PREDATOR]

I was just wondering, we all say that motor guide has been a poor expirience for us, but I got to wondering what it was about them that didnt work for you guys.

For me, the thing wouldnt stay vertical while in use. When you were under power, it would angle forward, and when you were not it angled under the boat. This was not an operational function problem, but it made it a royal pain to use sonar because you were always at a different angle and never straight up and down. I tried to fix it several times, but there was just to much slop. Also the thing was very noisy. the prop squeeked like you wouldnt believe. And the directional indicator on the head wouldnt stay lined up with the lower unit so you never knew wich way you were going until you activated the power and started moving. What a pile! My old tiller minnkota was ten times the motor of that motorguide. My new minnkota has been excellent so far.
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[tomegun]

[#000080][size 2]I even have a Minnkota slide plate that willing to part with.[/size][/#000080]

[#000080][size 2] I agree with Mike(Predator) about additional problems with Motorguides. Did I mention power surges! Burn them they are of the Devil. I saw a real cool Ranger walleye boat at Robertson's Marine yesterday, any takers. Minnkota on the front and a big honkin' Yamaha on the back. I love my baby(150HP) VMAX.[/size][/#000080]
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[MisterCompletely]

Thanks for all the comments about the trolling motors, it helps knowing what your actual experiences have been with them. I have a small Minn Kota transom mount that I used on my smaller boat (15 1/2 foot glass) and it has never been any trouble, but I certainly learned from it that I don't want a transom mount on this big boat. In fact I tried it the other day just for fun at Scofield, before coming in I put it on and tried trolling. My wife picked up 2 bows that we released, but the boat was really squirrelly and I was definitely underpowered. I don't really ever troll for trout, but often troll slow for walleyes, and want to try for the wipers too (that's a new game for me). I also got a little downrigger with the boat when I bought it (Cannon Sport Troll) and I'd like to try using that too. Anyway, after hearing what you guys suggested, and giving it much thought, I've pretty much made up my mind to go with 24v instead of 12, even though I have 4 12v batteries and 3 or 4 12 volt chargers already. And the Auto Pilot would be neat. I really thought the auto pilot was a lot more expensive, like $1500, but that's for that one one deploys automatically, and I don't think I'm THAT lazy just yet. And the longer 60-inch shaft and the more powerful 65 lb. thrust would probably be a big asset, long after I've forgotten about the agony of paying for it! So that's it then, a Minn Kota Powerdrive 65 with Auto Pilot! Cool! Thanks especially guys for steering me away from that other brand. Seems like not many places carry them anymore, anyway. Thanks again for the input, it really helped a lot!
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