Electric Trolling Motor

kennharriet · Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 5:02 pm Post subject: Electric Trolling Motor

Has anyone front mounted an electric trolling motor on a CD 22'? I have a Minnkota Auto Pilot with a 48" shaft from another boat. Hanging it between the bow rail mounting flanges, the prop is below the paint line. It seems this could make the boat more versatile, ie: bass or crappie fishing along the lake shore.

Spike · Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 11:10 pm Post subject:

Ken
Hi. how are you all doing? Am thinking that you woud burn through a battery pretty quick pushing a boat with the weight of a 22' cruiser. But I guess a guy could try.
Chuck
Bootleg Hooch

Papillon · Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 11:41 pm Post subject:

I don't know about the fishing angle but it would make a niffty bow thurster for docking.

Give it a try and let us know how it performs. Good Luck.

Wefings · Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2009 9:07 am Post subject:

The only problem I can see is that boats buck and rock and unless the trolling motor is well under water , the prop will come out of the water and you will have a fancy bow decoration that wont work well unless its dead calm . But the wireless remote type trolling motors would be the answer on a C Dory for sure . Hope it works . Keep us posted .
Marc

kennharriet · Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2009 11:15 am Post subject:

I was hoping someone else would take the bait and give it a try before I mounted it on my boat. Razz

Makes sense that the motor would be in and out of the water if there was any chop at all, because of the bow up attitude of the C-Dory. I'll let you know how it works. Thanks

Grumpy · Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2009 11:45 am Post subject:

Is this going to start a discussion on the value of singles vs twins vs triples ? Twisted Evil

Merv

Wefings · Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2009 4:16 pm Post subject:

12 Vs. 24 Vs. 36 Volts . The new battle .
Marc

lloyds · Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2009 4:24 pm Post subject:

Seems like you would need a motor leg about 7' long. I have thought about a good one several times and just put it on the transom, for those really calm days. But those are few and far between.

Doryman · Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2009 10:30 pm Post subject:

There is another thread here in which there is a long discussion about using the kind of trolling motor that attaches to an outboard.

L@@K HERE

Warren

Aurelia · Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2013 6:44 pm Post subject:

So how about that bow mount option?

I use a remote controlled unit now on a Lund and I sure would miss it. They have 54 and 60 inch shafts availble from Minn Kota at least. Can somebody measure a 22 from bow deck between the vertical supports on one side to the resting water line?

Could it be mounted around the existing cleat and anchor hardware? How wide is a 22 front deck in front of the V-berth hump? I am picturing one mounted sideways and positioned on the deck edge of one side spanning nearly the width of the forward deck. They have a mount (black or white) that only requires the top smaller block in this pic.

http://www.boaterbarn.com/images_products/minn_kota_mka_22_mounting_54693big.jpg

thataway · Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2013 8:13 pm Post subject:

I have an 60 shaft 83# Thrust trolling motor on my Caracal. The freeboard is about 6" less on the Caracal--they are sitting side by side on the trailer. But the Caracal, being a cat, has a huge for deck and we put the trolling motor when "up" along the top of one AMA. To put this size trolling motor on a C Dory would be awkward at best. You have the forward hatch and bow railing/pulpit to contend with. The Caracal has a platform mounted fishing seat so that one can control the motor easily by hand or foot option.

We use two #27 batteries to power this motor--and that is sufficient. But for that size motor (the minimum size necessary for a C dory 22) you would use more power than for the smaller caracal cat, with its narrow hulls.

I believe that it would not be practical--and that is why I have a Center console, boat which has a dedicated casting fishing platform for the trolling motor.

nordicstallion · Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2013 8:26 pm Post subject:

I put the trolling motor off my old fly fishing pram on my transom. Took it off again, it REALLY didn't like the salt water

DuckDogTitus · Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2013 10:02 pm Post subject:

I dont believe the weight of the boat is a problem, our old Lund weighed 1,000lbs more than a 22ft C-Dory.

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/choosing-a-trolling-motor.html

personally I think the problem is just the awkwardness of casting, but I'm very picky. also I kinda think the cabin creates more of a sail than a flat bass boat, so if you are working the shallows hard, it seems like you could very easily be fighting the breeze much more so in than in a flat bass boat with no wind block at all.

I definitely understand the idea though. bass boats and duck boats were high on my radar, but in the end they didn't make the cut.

Aurelia · Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2013 11:08 pm Post subject:

We use a 55lb salt water bow mount on our current Lund. It is a relatively light boat but still 17ft long with 7.5ft beam and more draft than a 19/22.

We power it with two group 31AGM batteries and have never been able to get them down below 85% charge. We use the boat almost entirely in the Puget Sound and steer the motor with a wireless remote I-Pilot system. We have found the 55lb motor to be perfectly adequate and with a Kipawa prop pushes the boat at about 3mph when needed but that is not how we use it.

I really love the GPS anchor mode where the motor steers and powers itself to hold the boat in one location and for that I think the power requirement is significantly less than trolling along all the time. We use it in moderate winds and currents with no problems.

I can see the motor across the bow of a C-dory as a bit of an eyesore/tripping pole but wonder about the simple feasibility.

What is that distance from bow edge (next to rear railing base) to the water line? And how wide is the 22 at that point across the deck? If it could fit it could work and that would be great.

I don't think this type of autopilot motor would work well of the stern or I would be looking into that as an alternative. I think dragging a boat around by the rear would not quite be the same. But from a front corner....

thataway · Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 10:25 am Post subject:

At the aft base of the railing it is about 33" to the water, at the mid point about 34" and bow almost 36" (depends on loading, trim and weight on bow). The dimension across the deck forward of the aft railing is about 44" (you cannot go straight across the boat, because of the cabin house above the bunk. The over all length of the 60" shaft length trolling motor is 75" (it is almost 30" longer than the boat is wide at that point--so would stick out about 12" one side and 18" on the other side--because of the configuration of the mount for the trolling motor--and there is a significant crown to the deck. The mount alone is 28"--and with the configuration of the tilt mechanism to deploy the motor it would not work because of interference with the railing. The only option would be to leave it fixed with a mount which did not bring the motor aboard, but only allowed you to pull it up and down (which has to be done manually.

I don't know what size Lund DuckDogTitus has, however I could not find one in the current line up which weighs more than a C Dory 22. As pointed out the area exposed to the wind is probably more important than weight when using trolling motors.

Lots of difference between pulling an aluminum boat around and a 22 C Dory with a trolling motor--Although a 55 may move a 22, it is not adequate--I find that the 83# thrust is about right for the 18 foot cat (low profile, since there is no T top.