Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Trolling motor

9.9

I have the exact motor on my 14’ jon boat, and it is a very nice engine.
But it dosent perform nearly as well as the 55# electric for the slow speeds required for the type fishing i do.
And if recharging the batteries werent an issue, id be taking it to Canada for Walleye trolling.
As for the question on battery brand.
I used WalMart batteries for quite awhile and they worked pretty well.
Last few i got however i was lucky if they lasted for the year warranty period.
It is a pita removing batteries and returning them and installing the new ones even if they are still in warenty.
Even worse when they arent, but thats a personal call.
Lately ive been using Deka brand like many others do down here, and they are holding up longer.

Magnum Bob brings up another good point. My first MK had the five speed twist grip. The one I have now has the variable speed twist grip which I find is way better for my just slow moving the boat along the shoreline. It might cost a bit more for that variable speed and telescoping handle, but well worth it imo.

Windfall that was my line of thinking also as well as comments in user reviews saying the variable speed model was easier on the battery and made it last longer. The boat I wanted it for is an S-16 Lund 1984 model with the 15" transom. Cabela's had the 5 speed one for 235 and the variable speed one for 289 with $25 rebate from Minn Kota. So after some outdoor rewards credit and the rebate I'll be into it for $266.40 . I went to scheels first and they didn"t have the 55 #motor just the 50# ones and blew smoke up my butt trying to tell me it wasn't going to make any difference,user review comments indicated the opposite. I bought the 36" shaft because of my 15" transom should be ok. MB

Over the years, I've had trolling motors from Evinrude, Mercury, Minn Kota, and Motorguide. I guess I'm an unabashed fan of Minn Kota, but I am a little biased as they are made in my home state of Minnesota. I had one Motor Guide, and it worked fin, but I didn't like the handle on it- a big D ring kind of assembly. The on/off switch was in the D-ring kind of like a trigger, and that switch gave out. I bought a simple push button switch, drilled a hole in the bottom of the handle and wired it up. Never gave me any other troubles, and was still working well when I sold the boat. Gotta say go with as much of a Minn Kota as you can afford;. Keep your eyes open for a good deal on a used unit. If you need to save money on the battery, there's no reason you couldn't start with a used car battery from a junkyard. No, they won't hold up as well as a good deep cycle battery, but it would get you on the water.

Reminds me of one of the guys at work who saved money and didn't buy a trolling motor battery and used the one out of his car instead. He had to call the wife to come jump start the car because he used up all the charge out fishing.

Well i dont feel he was far off regarding the performance difference of the two.
I actually have 3 Minn Kotas, one being a 40# thrust i use mostly on a 12’ cartop type aluminum boat.
But i also use it sometimes on my 17’ fiberglass boat attached to a retractable bracket on the stern.
Reason being that i can sit in the back of the boat when trolling rather than up front where the other electric motor is.
And even the 40# thrust motor works well at moving that boat along at far more than enough speed.

I don't know yobuck, I never boated in the places you live but have done more than a bit on the big lakes ,reservoirs and the Missouri River here in South Dakota. When you are working the current or the wind blows the biggest you can buy don't all ways seem big enough. I have a 55lb MK bowmount on my 17' Sylvan and there have been times I had to pull it and crank the 90 OB just to maintain headway and steering in the wind. The new transom mt 55 MK with go on either my S-16 Lund or the 16" Alumacraft which of course are lighter than the Sylvan. Big thing to me was the variable spd instead of speed settings. That 50 they tried to sell me was a 6 spd. I appreciate your view point though and the benefit of your experience, good fishing! MB