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Please help
I'm thinking of a trolling motor for my parker 18 and I like the idea of a bow mount over a transome mount. Do any of you have or know anyone with this set up and if so how well does it perform? Any mounting and rigging information is appreciated. Specificly battery location and if you run it from it's own battery or connect to your 1st or 2nd battery. Thanks in advance.
well you can read the topic ,
minn kota riptide on walkie.below on the page.
maybe it is of some use to you guy's , and I have the perfect adress for the trolling engines.
greetings from holland
marti
[This message was edited by marti on 09-14-03 at 05:04 PM.]
Just today I helped a pal pull the bow rail off his 1801, Installing a MK 65lb w/auto pilot on the way. If any of you went through with this project and have any pointers they'd be most appreciated now, before we start drilling... Thanks
The bow rail is my concern. I have children on board, so the rail must remain, but the motor cannot function on the bow with teh rail. I am looking into fabricating a stainless bracket that will stick out beyond the bow, and avoid the rail. ugly as hell, but it will might work. I can bolt and unbold form the bow when i want to remove the entire unit (will only really use it to work the banks of the severn.
love to hear how you project goes. are you keeping the rail off?
Have you considered Lenco's Trolln' Tabs? You could forget about messing with your bow rails. These things can be operated from anywhere on the boat. And if you don't already have trim tabs, then you would probably like the added benefits of them as well. While I have no personal experience with the trolln' tabs (I have regular Lenco's), they've always looked like an interesting concept. Here's a couple of links for additional info:
Drifter, the only thing that strikes me about the trolling tabs is the added resistance. Do they always stay down? The Q & A didn't say anything about that.
quote:Originally posted by Garett:
Drifter, the only thing that strikes me about the trolling tabs is the added resistance. Do they always stay down? The Q & A didn't say anything about that.
Keep Smile'n, It's a nice day to be alive.Garett- It's my understanding that they are folded up and out of the way when not using the trolln feature of the tabs. Look at the 1st and 3rd pics on the first link in my previous post. Those pics show a boat underway with the trolln part of the tabs retracted. Maybe someone that owns them can offer better insight. Also, they've probably been discussed before if you're willing to search the forum. The only negative I recall about performance is that these tabs are not optimal for very shallow water, such as flats fishing. I would assume that this would not be a factor with the boat mentioned in the topic. I've even considered these tabs to assist in docking. They would have the docking ability of twin outboards on a single-screw boat. Would be nice in heavy current and wind situations. I think some people use them to "stalk" fish, such as False Albacore on the NC coast and tarpon in Fla, where outboards would spook 'em.
Ye, I looked at them to they seem to be the solution, but men I think they look ugly
the other thing is they don't have variable speed, just slow and fast so it is not the right ting for me to keep the boat in place.
What you guy's think of these, custom build
bold on and of in 3 minutes and out of the way.
white salt water also available and remote.
variable speed I 'm thinking of buying one.
He uses only the white ones now.They have a more saltwater proof
paint and are more durable than any other trolling motor on the
market..
I have nothing to do with this guy but he gives decent awnsers and helps working it out.
tired-of-waders, I was in the same situation. I have an older 19 foot Angler CC that I restored. It has a bow rail that I must leave on because of my 12 year old daughter and her little friends. I did not think that I could mount a bow mount motor because of the rail. A friend gave me his old long shaft motor when he upgraded and for the heck of it I played around with positioning it until I found a place it would work. Mine is mounted just to the left of center, as close to the bow light as I could get it. The bow rail flares forward slightly at the front and gives me just enoyugh clearance to deploy and retract the motor without having to fabricate a new bracket. I mounted two small 12 volt batteries under the hatch on the forward casting platform. I put in two waterproof 12 volt outlets in the face of the casting platform and plug the motor and live baitwell in these. When striper fishing I have the motor foot control, bait well and two rods within easy reach. I use a large sheet rock bucket with a padded lid for a seat. This same setup works for live baiting kingfish without having to keep bumping the outboard in and out of gear like I used to have to do. I will try to post some pics when I go next week. This is the best thing I have done to that boat. It really opens up possibilities that the transom mounted trolling motors did not work for. Laird
I had a vision last night that included a three foot rectangle of stainless steel (where i find it i havn't a clue), and two 1.5 pieces of starboard.
The existing trolling bracket on the minn kota power glide will fit under the rail, but it does not have the clearance to open and close. it has this big bracing bracket that allows the motor to glide up and down for stowage.
I am hoping by extending out the stainless bracket from the bow, I will have the clearance to raise and lower the motor. The starboard will go between the SS and the front deck, as there is a lip to contend with on the rim of the bow. The second piece of starboard will be used as a "super washer" under the bow, so the weight will be off the bolts throughs, and spread over a wide area.
I don't fish the river all that much, (usually run to the bay) but a trolling motor will be awsome when i do. I will just remove the bracket most of the time.
Not a great solution, but the motor was given to me, and I have to work with what I have.
I want to use this more like a bass motor (as opposed to trolling lines) so the tab solution will not work. Not a huge fan of trolling.
Have a friend that had the Lencos on a flats style boat. He said you're always messing with them try to put the boat where you want. Having had a twin screw boat before, I can see that happening... I have fished on a Pathfinder with a bow mount, can't imagine it being any easier... Sunday we got off the rail in minutes. For now we just stuck 1/4" carriage bolts in the 3/8 holes, covered them perfectly, clean looking. The spots where the forward most holes are we figure to put running lights. I'll let you know how it goes and send you picts when it's done if you like. BTW, I think you may be able to have a rail fabricated that could contain the kids. We're planning a short low one to span the two holes we plugged, you do need one there.
Drifter, after looking at the two pics you mentioned - you're right.
They would be pricy to use as thrusters for docking purposes though.
Where I see these coming into play is with the larger boats. I know that the nose of my bow is some 5' off of the water - to high up for any tilling motor, so these would serve as a substitute.
The non-directional control I would think would make the boat slugish for finesse fishing in smaller bays and weed beds? But as I mentioned above, "something is better then nothing - just pricy".
the lencos work great on larger bay boats. You will see quite a few guides on the west coast of FL with them. a bow mount trolling motor will give better handling in the mangroves and such, but you do get used to controlling the boat with the lencos. Where they really shine is chasing tarpon down the beach. with 162# thrust its nice to quitely move up on them.
Check out the Navigator motors that mount on the cavitation plate. I have the dual 110 on my 19' Trophy CC and it works great. It is variable speed and at full power will move my boat at 2.8 mph per GPS.
Wow! I started this over a month ago and thought it was dead. Log on today and to my surprise some good ideas floating around (punn intended). I like the trolling tabs but $1,500.00 is steep. However you do get the benefit of the tabs so all things equal not too much more money than purchase tabs and trolling motor individually.
cjd
I have the low rail so I'm thinking the rail may not be an issue when mounting. I was more concerned with shaft length and wireing. I would like to connect to my 2nd batt which is also charged while underway so I could have plenty of trolling power without worrying about putting a drain on batt 1 so I can get home.
I love to fish the back bays in NJ but hate spooking fish by cranking up the motor. I tend to drift past a spot before cranking up to try it again or keep the engine running to hold my position. The first option wastes fishing time and the second wastes gas. Thus trolling motor info needed.
I have a motor guide 24 volt motor on the front of mt 18 Parker,bow rail was cut 1 foot from tip on both sides and has pins you remove when you want to use the trolling motor . Remove that section and use trolling motor,put it back on when not using the motor.Looks nice and clean on or off . My batteries are under the center console at rear of console,a pain to change batteries but out of the way,have a built in charger so the system works great
Tired of Waders & cjd, here ya go, or well here I go. We mounted the motor today RT65. He got everything they sell, autopilot, copilot, charger etc. So far it's going pretty easy. Parker wanted us to run the power (#6 cable) down the gunnel to the transom and up to the console (32' of it). I'll let you know how it works next week. So far we ran the cable & mounted the motor. Still have to install batteries & charger, make all the connections. Oh to go this route, top shelf everything, said and done we're at $1700 in materials... Almost $1200 on the MK stuff (motor, options, charger, quick release), $300 on the connection stuff (cable, connectors, breaker, plug, battery trays) $180 on batteries I did take a pict, I'll post later. Looks like it was meant to be there..
Guy's and a few Gal's ....Something you all have seem to missed ....Tell me while fishing from the bow and working the trolling motor will you still see your Fish Finder .... Now if you running a shore line no problem but if you following deeper fish and working them good luck ....Been there do that and Hate it to no end ....John
JT... You're just not up to speed on these new gadgets.. The one I'm outting on f\\with my pal has autopilot with built in track back! AND it has a little wireless remote he can wear like a wristwatch or clip to the grip on his fishing rod... He can be anywhere in the boat! Pretty neat stuff. It's going to be real interesting to see how it works and holds up.
Parker 18 - bow mount trolling motor ? 
