Trolling Motor Options

I recently got a new boat, an 18′ roughneck jon. The boat came with a trolling motor mount and electrical plug up front for the motor. I also have a mount for a pedestal seat up front.

I plan to primarily river fish and spend some time on the reservoirs. I have 4 questions I am interested in getting opinions on:

1. bow or rear mount? (I have a pedestal seat mount on the back too, but no electrical plug-could always install one)

2. What are the better models/manufacturers?

3. How much thrust would I need for an 18′ boat that weighs in at 1800# loaded on the water (2 fat guys, a motor, some tackle and fuel)?

4. What sort of upgrade (if any) would I need to perform on my electrical system (I only have one battery right now, it is being used to start the motor, run the livewell, run the bilge, and my locator)?

I appreciate your ideas and thoughts.

Tight Lines,

Joe Jiacinto

Joe, is the front pedestal mounted on the front deck, or just below it on the floor?

Herb:

Its mounted on the front casting deck, and I have another one on the back casting deck. The boat is a Lowe 1860VPT. There is already a plug and mounting plate for a trolling motor on the front deck, just fore of the pedestal seat mount.

Regards,

Joe Jiacinto

Joe, the reason I ask is cause sometimes that front deck is mighty small on those jons.
To start with, I’m a fan of MinnKota motors, but I have to admit I’ve never owned any of the competition, of which I’m sure there are some good ones out there.
After all that, I’d have to recommend the maxxum 74 bow mount, 74 lbs thrust, 24v. It’ll have the extra power you need for the river with plenty to spare and you’ll get along just fine with it on the lakes. You’ll have to do your own measuring to determine shaft length, but a guess would be the 52incher.
Hopefully, you’ll get other suggestions on motors so you’ll have more info to sort through before making a final decision.

Joe, if I had to choose I would go with a bow mount. You can always add a transom mount at a later time if you desire. On my boats that had both transom and bow mounted motors, the bow mounts got the highest % of the work. This included river fishing.
Minn kota PDs or Maxxums would be a good choice, I prefer the quick response of cable steer like the Maxxum.
A good rule of thumb is to get 4lbs of thrust per foot of boat. If you are going to run a 12 volt system I would go with 55lbs of thrust.
You will want to add a seperate battery or batteries for your trolling motor. I run no other function off my trolling motor batteries. If you are putting in heavy sessions on the water under any type of condition you may consider going to a 24 volt system. Adding a on board charging system and fish finder on the bow are other options to consider.

You should get the biggest one you can afford, if you fish the river, mostly, I have a 55# minnkota AP on my 16.5 foot Lund rebel, which is a pretty light boat, and it is not enough, in fast current, I was I had went bigger, or done the research, money wasn’t much of an issue, and I kick myself now… As for lake fishing I can do a good 3 mph with my trolling motor, which is perfect since my outboard, ideals about 3 mph… So for lake fishing it works great.

I’d also take a bow mount first, and I like minnkota personally.

I agree with the above…I run a Lund Explorer 1675 SS and I put in a 24v 65 pd by Minkota with a 2 bank onboard charger…Best investment I ever made..Stuck the Minkota Co-pilot on the side and i’m good to go !!

Max out the power and make sure your shaft length is plenty long…

I run a 16′ jon and put the 55# thrust minnkota powerdrive on it. this is a 12 volt motor. This seems to work for my boat.
To really figure out what you need you need to take a good look at what type of fishing you plan on doing with it. If you are like me and do alot of jig fishing (drifting), and pitching the wingdams (anchored) there is not alot of demand on my bow mount motor or battery. The 55# and 12 volt works for me.
Now if you are a guy that likes to spend all day (8hrs) trolling with the bow mount you will have alot of demands on it. The 74# and 24 volt might be the option. I would think this option would meet just about any needs you have.
Just a couple of other notes. The standard foot controls on the minkotas can be a little challanging to use. The co pilot is one option to help with this. There are a couple of other options also.
It sounds like the auto pilot model might have some glitches to it also. Have also heard it might not be responsive for the river either.
Hope this help some. Good luck fishing.

Put any motor on you want as long as it’s a Minnkota.

Final question for wade K. and Dave K.
Any other comments are also very much appricated!

Dave, I am going to order minn kota 65Ib thrust, 60 inch shaft- my question to you is for the river fishing what is your opinion between a pd or auto pilot?

Wade,thanks for you quick responses to my questions, my last question to you is if I order the 65Lb thrust PD or AP with universal sonar and the garmin 250, does the 250 have water temp. and speed sensor and will it work with the universal sonar.
Thanks for any info and a great site,
Wahly

KornKing, I have 2 Minn Kota Maxxums for sale. If your interested in talking about them. Check the Swap forum, or e-mail me [email protected]
Thanks,

-AL

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Wade,thanks for you quick responses to my questions, my last question to you is if I order the 65Lb thrust PD or AP with universal sonar and the garmin 250, does the 250 have water temp. and speed sensor and will it work with the universal sonar.
Thanks for any info and a great site,
Wahly

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The Garmin 250 is compatible with a Minn Kota Universal Sonar Trolling Motor. You would need the universal sonar adapter cable to plug the Garmin into the trolling motor (we have these). Once connected to the trolling motor transducer you would lose the temp/speed. If you wanted to you can get the temp. probe (#010-10225-00) separately and connect it to the base of the trolling motor. I would not recommend adding a speed wheel to the trolling motor. If you have other questions please let me know. Thanks! — Wade

I have never owned an Auto Piolot and with all the bugs most people have talked about , I figured I need no part of that..