Electric Trolling motors

[Guest]

I'm considering on an electric trolling motor for my 16ft. Day sailer. Has anyone tried this method of propullsion & if so , How many pounds of thrust will be best? ( 44/45 Lbs.) I hope this will work as I would also use the battery power for other purposes ( Nav. lights, cuddy light,Horn....beep, beep, etc.)

Eric Johanson (ecservices-at-sympatico.ca)

[Guest]

even a very small electric trolling motor will work very well. This is the way to go if you feel you must have a motor.

Jim (jimb-at-dsouth.com)

[Guest]

I've been using a 30-36 lb trolling motor for 4 seasons now. It works well the 3-4 times I need it each year and neatly stows away when I'm not using it. However, I am seriously considering replacing the full size deep cylcle marine battery with a compact one I saw at good ole Walmart. The full size battery is heavy and a pain to lug in and out although I've found that I can basically go the whole year on a single charge. Good Luck!

Steve Schriber
DS 11851

Steven Schriber (sschriber-at-spa.net)

[Guest]

Although I use an outboard on my DSI, I used to have a 14' sailboat with a trolling motor. I had a small motor and a small battery. The motor could not drive the boat through any kind of chop or waves. The battery required frequent charging. If you want to go this route I suggest buying a big trolling motor and a big battery (which will weigh 40 to 50 pounds).

Vince

Vince (vincent.demperio-at-bms.com)

[Guest]

I traded a 12 lb. trolling motor and a 50 lb. battery for an 18 lb outboard that will actually get me home against the chop and the tides. The trolling motor worked well during slack tide and calm winds but when things got rough it just couldn't do the job. Consider a small 2-4 hp outboard for safety.

Russ Hobbs (russellr-at-islc.net)

[Guest]

Pay attention to the guy who talked about the need for power to get through chop and waves. I preferred a 2 HP two cycle outboard on my DS. If the wind came up I could drop sails and get home okay even in rough water. If I needed to back up, I just turned the motor around 180 degrees and let it pull me backwards. Used hardly any gas, too.

Ken Cobb (kcobb-at-bspmlaw.com)

[Guest]

Don't go with a small battery...check the ratings on the front panel. See what it draws in amps, and check to see how many minutes it will last at 25 amps (which is about what a 32lb thrust trolling motor will draw). You'll find that those little batteries will only go about 22-25 minutes.

Hef the big one into your boat once, and leave it there until it needs a charge (which won't be that often).

Tom (Tbeames65-at-cs.com)

[Guest]

I am currently using a Minn Kota Endura 30. I am using the motor on an Omega 14 sailboat, essentially a Catalina Capri 14.2. The motor is a little slow in speeds up to 4, but 5 really moves the boat along. The speed of the current has a significant impact and managing the keel can play a part but over all it works really well. I have covered large expanses of water and still had plenty of battery left. The battery by the way is a 75 amp hour wal-mart trolling battery.

Arthur G. Grant (christent-at-dslextreme.com)