Trolling Motors?

[Mrwooley]

G'Day all,

In need of some advice .........

I'm about to get more more involved in trout fishing and am thinking about getting a auxiliary motor for trolling, as my 75HP 2 stroke doesn't like running that slow.

I thought about about buying both motors but the costs soon start to add up.

My idea was to use the electric for trolling for trout, and the 5Hp 4 stroke for saltwater trolling. What to you guys think, can I get away with only one motor type for both uses? What do you use for these purposes?

I have a 475 Quintrex Bowrider and the bow mount electrics look easy to mount and use, as I would get the wireless version, but what about the 5Hp 4 stroke? I know I would need to get all the mounting attachments fitted, but how easy are they to use? They seem a long way off the stern to be comfortable?

Does anyone have pics of their set-ups so I could get an idea?

All advice appreciated.

Regards,

Barry.

[a boat]

Hi Barry, a bow mounted electric outboard will be the most effiecient way of "pulling" your boat around in the freshwater and not sure how fast you want to troll for salt but I do not think it would be enough with the electric outboard. On the other hand a 5HP 4-Stroke might go too fast for you and a single cylinder 4-Stroke of any brand is not the smoothest running engine at low speed and they do not have an in built fuel tank making a small 5HP 2-Stroke a lighter, cheaper option and they have thier own fuel so if you have a problem with the main supply you can still use the aux engine.

I think if I was you mate I would look at fitting a bow mount Co Pilot / Auto-pilot unit and see how it goes and I would run a 24V 70Lb bow mount that should see about 8 knots at at max output.

Cheers,

Huey.

[The Iceman]

I would just get the electric motor Its fine for both fresh and saltwater trolling and will be a lot easier to control the boat pulling from the front

[pelican]

Possibly a dumb answer but for the added expense and hassle of $2500 at a guess for auxillery what would be the cost of updating your 2 stroke to a new one be it etec or 4stroke and trading in your existing. Depends on age and condition of your existing motor what your changeover cost would be. A cheaper small electric could be used in fresh stealth when required. If troll / idle speed is too quick there are prop baffles you can use , tow a small drogue of if you are doing it all day buy a second prop and just use on trolling days - just have to watch you don't overrev the motor coming home. Newer motors can idle pretty slow.

New motor new warranty , better reliability etc and the new motors will reliably troll slowly all day, only one to maintain.

[a boat]

Hi Pel, very valid point you make mate, but you would be looking at about triple the cost to upgrade his "old" tec engine to a "new" tec engine, no matter what brand, when comparing the cost of fitting a good size electric outboard. Even if he trolls ALOT on his main engine running the correct temp, correct plugs and the best oil the "old" tec carby designs are fine, they just are not that great on fuel when compared to the newer clean engines.

As mentioned I personally think it would be worth trying the bow mounted electric and get silent running without any more fuel be used for your trolling and slow fishing and it is what I would do.

Cheers,

Huey.

[Jewhunter]

You can't beat travelling silently with an electric.

I reckon it would open up some more fishing options for you.

Cheers,

Grant.

[Mik]

Hey Barry

I had an auxillary 2St motor put on my old fibreglass runabout for exactly the reason you want, trolling. I used that boat to troll on Lake Burrendong & it did suit what I used it for, trolling deep diving bibed hardbody lures at about 4k/hr. I would have liked to go slower sometimes but the little 8HP was already at idle.

From my experience, I would say the electric (Never had one) would be the ducks guts. The probs I had were as follows;

• 8 HP 2st a wee bit faster than I'd like
  
• Continually dropping the motor or raising became a pain when you wanted to plane
  
• The controls were fitted to the main motor via a connector rod which was good coz you could steer from the helm, but a pain coz it was another thing you had to connect or disconnect when raising / lowering motor
  

It was all good in theory & for the "Occasional use" it was fine, but when you trolled a spot & then wanted to move quickly (IE get the boat up on the plane) you had to disconnect everything & reach right over the back to pull her up. Plus, I had the old style steering arms which had grease pints on them that coated the arms in grease, it seemed you only had to think about reaching over to put your hand on the auxillary motor & you were covered in grease.

My choice, electric mate. It sounds like you have decided to get that PLUS possibly an auxillary, perhaps get the electric & see what speeds you can acheive before forking out for another outboard.

Also, I was shown a thing called a "Troll Plate". Not sure exactly how they work but from what I was told they basically mount onto the leg just above the prop & drop down in front of the prop when in use. They have two positions. Up is horizontal & in this position it can act like an extention to the outboards planing plate (Dunno what they call it but the section that is just above the prop on the leg) When the troll plate is engaged it is vertical in the water & acts like a baffle type arrangement causing less thrust from the prop & thus less speed. There are several versions available but the one I was looking at was a steel plate & it had a cable attached that you can pull to engage the plate. If you need speed you just hit the throttle for a quick burst & the extra thrust kicks the plate back into horizontal position. I was also told that the plastic versions of this are total crap. The one with the cable I think could also raise the plate back to vertical (Not too sure about that)

Like I said, I haven't used one, just looked at them & never seen one mounted so all I can tell you is it "could" be another option for you.

Edited March 3, 2008 by Boofhead

[achjimmy]

Hi Pel, very valid point you make mate, but you would be looking at about triple the cost to upgrade his "old" tec engine to a "new" tec engine, no matter what brand, when comparing the cost of fitting a good size electric outboard. Even if he trolls ALOT on his main engine running the correct temp, correct plugs and the best oil the "old" tec carby designs are fine, they just are not that great on fuel when compared to the newer clean engines.

As mentioned I personally think it would be worth trying the bow mounted electric and get silent running without any more fuel be used for your trolling and slow fishing and it is what I would do.

Cheers,

Huey.

Huey when i was last away i saw a Stacer inboard bowrider (am guessing 5.6?) with an Minn Kota on the front, this would be a 24volt model i suppose. Do you run a single 24v battery or 2X 12v?

[a boat]

Hi Jim, there are 539, 579 as well as 599 Sterndrive bowriders in the Stacer range and if it was about the 579 Sportster I think it would want to of been the 70lb 24V unit.

We run two 12volt batteries in series, but I think the next time I will look at a 24 volt battery because for what my battery guy tells me they have come down in price and weight over the last few years.

The 24 volt units are not as popular as the 12 volt ones but I think on a 579 Sportser with the extra weight of the Mercruiser sterndrive would would nee the extra grunt.

Cheers,

Huey.

[Mrwooley]

G'day guys,

Thanks for all your responces. I'm still not 100% convinced either way. I think I'm going to need see either or both setups for myself. Some people ( off forum as well ) are saying that small 4 strokes do'nt like running slow, others say that they are the best thing they ever bought for slow trolling ?!?? At less that $1,500 ( 5HP ) they are at lot cheaper than some bow mount electrics, which can run up to $2,000 + for a wireless remote version.

It was suggested that it may be viable to upgrade my existing main motor to a 4 Stroke. I do'nt think that would be cost effective, as my 75HP 2 stroke Mercury is a 2005 model with less than 50hrs on it. If I did have unlimited funds, I certainly would concider it.

I am swaying towards a wireless bow mount electric, either a Minn Kota or Motorguide, although it would need to be at a very attractive price, although I have not given up on the 4 stroke yet.

Thanks again everyone for your advice.

Regards,

Barry.

[pjbink]

Why not a small 2 stroke? There even cheaper (well under $1000). You would need a very large (read expensive) electric to push that boat at trolling speed. Re-charging batteries can be a problem too if your out camping.

[bmar560]

I'd say go to the electric option as Iceman says it's easier to control and... it's better for the environment They are also more silent than the outboard engines

[squizzytaylor]

Ive recently been looking at this myself as in the last 2 years Ive spent in the vicinity of $950 in batteries plus the initial cost of the bowmount, switching gear, anderson clips, quick release etc etc. I mainly troll and currently just let the bowmount pull the boat and steer from the main engine. The cost of a Suzi 2.5 HP 4-stroke is around $1200 and comes standard with a 4.5" pitch prop so trolling speeds of 1.5-6knots would be achievable. Weight is only around 12kgs (around 1/3 the weight of a leccy and (single) battery) and as it would be rear mounted would only be used as a pusher unit wile steering would still take place from the main engine.

I would like to hear how noisy the little suzi is though, funny thing is though ive caught as many fish on the 60hp 2 stroke as I have on the leccy but after an hour or so the 60 does get a bit asthmatic.

CHEERS

gEOFF

Edited March 5, 2008 by squizzytaylor

[cut_loose]

here is what i go for

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or

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80 lb trust best bet

[Davemmm]

This is a little bit off topic as I don't use my electric for trolling but if I was buying another one it would be sterndrive rather than bowmount.

I am not someone who is that keen on on driving in and out of structure throwing sp's in every direction but I do like the ability of an electric to drive into spots quietly including trolling over flats. When fishing a drift the electric is magic in keeping a good line.

Having said that I am not sure you will get a full day out of any battery when running leadline or HB's around a lake or dam. You can make sure there is petrol in the tank and refill easily but a battery can run out and take hours to recharge. Personally my experience with mates in the fresh is that trolling can go on for hours on end. An electric will not handle a big day on the dam but an outboard will go for ever with a decent size fuel tank

Dave