Can’t troll down slow enough

I need some help fellas. I’ve got a 60HP 2 stroke Johnson with a factory 14×7 aluminum prop(don’t really know what those numbers mean). At a closed throttle it idles at 700 rpm and pushes my 17′ Alumacraft Competitor at 3 mph in forward gear; way too fast for some trolling applications. I know I can backtroll or toss out a driftsock to slow down but there are many times I want to go forward and I just can’t go as slow as I want. Ideally I’d like to get down under 1.0 mph. At full throttle my engine runs about 5000 rpm and pushes me at 33 mph.

What can I try to slow down short of spending $2,500 on a Yammy T8 or is that my best alternative? Perhaps a different prop, retune the engine????? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

There is just nothing you’re going to be able to do to that engine along the lines of a re-tune or prop switch that is going to get you from 3 MPH to 1.0 or less. You could consider a 24 – 36 volt electric for the bow or transom but in my opinion that is another ‘second best.’ To troll and have the best in control over both speed and direction a kicker motor can’t be beat IMHO.

1.0 is pretty much out of the question for a main outboard from what I have seen. However little things like filling livewell(s) and keeping the weight in the back will and adjusting trim will slow you down, but every boat is different. I have a 1700 fisherman /125 merc that trolls to about 2.2mph in calm but when I do all those things I can get 1.5 or so. Use the wind if possible as well. Go for an electric with anything slower(autopilot works awsome for that)

There are products on the market that will help you.Go to google search and punch in/products that slow down trolling speed/ I have seen these plates on bigger outboards they look like they would work to me

I run a 1676 Explorer SS with a 50 hsp Merc…I had the exact same problem…I tried a lot of things …but when it came right down to it i couldn’t get the the most important things i needed while deploying all these gagets…boat speed and boat control.. get a T8 and your problems will be solved !!!

Git-r-Done

I went home and looked at my prop again after writing my initial post. Turns out I have a 14×17, not a 14×7. The diameter must be 14 and pitch 17, meaning one revolution would travel 17 inches in a straight line. I suppose if I knew the gear ratio in the lower unit and factored that in with 700 rpm idle speed and assumed no slippage, I could calculate theoretical minimum boat speed in calm/no current situations????

Get yourself a good drift sock!

Although, I do agree with the people steering you towards a kicker. That would be the ultimate solution, but perhaps not in the budget . I have temporarily gone to a troll plate from Cabelas. This unit is called a hydro-troll. It comes in 3 colors and is rated for like between a 40 hp??? to a 175 hp. Does this work as well as a kicker??? For surely not!! Does it work good enough? Probably???. It slows me down with a 135 Optimax to under 1 mph in still conditions. I plan on getting a kicker hopefully sooner than later but I have installed this for the time being and it is doing the job (slowing me down). I also know a few people that use this to slow down for back trolling, lindy’s @ etc.

My roomate just picked up a troll plate and got a medium sized Cabelas $20 drift sock with it free. The troll plate runs $100 and is pretty simple to install!

Just my 2 cents worth!

Here is a recent thread on this same subject.

controling trolling speed

A 17 pitch prop on a 50 hp motor seems a little much. I’m running a 15 pitch stainless on my 75 4 stroke. You could drop at least one pitch maybe 2 and maybe get a little more top end and slow you down a little bit.

As for a T8, yes the best motor for trolling slow made today, but on a 16 foot boat there may be wieght issues. I’d go with a 24 volt transom mount electric.

We have 70 hp johnson on a 18′ lund same problem , we tryed the trolling plate it stoped the boat we had to rev the motor at a high rpm to get the troling speed we wanted and we lost some turning ability ,we took it off and went with a minkota.