bow mount or transom?? electric motor

[Dapper Dan]

Ive renovated my tinny and I have put in a casting deck. I went out fishing with my uncle yesterday and thanks to his electric motor, we were able to get in nice and close to structure which yielded results (y).
I'm looking at purchasing a saltwater electric motor but im not sure whether to go with the bow mount or transom mount :-/.

Bow mount motors are good for keeping hands free to flick around but they are more expensive.
Pros for a transom mount is they are cheaper but they don't offer the same convenience for lure fishing.
is it possible to extend the length of the tiller on the transom mount motors so it can be maneuvered whilst standing up and getting into and staying in a position??

my tinny is only 10ft so it wouldn't need much power to get it around.

what are your thoughts?


Thanks in advance,

Dan

[Dirtysanchez]

Get the bow mount.

I bought a transom mount.. and my boat is 3.6mtrs, Soooo.. the transom is smallish and as such there really isn't enough room for the eleccy, and me, and the outboard, and the rod holders. It has become a horrible mess :(

I do a bit of dabbling with metal / welding, so I have made up a small pod for the back of the boat for the leccy. It looks a lot like those luggage racks you see on motor bikes.. Anyway, hard to explain in text, but the motor now sits 600mm back from the transom and I hope it will work better for my fishing.

In hindsight, I should have thought more about it or asked questions like you have, and come to the conclusion a bow mount is the go ;)

[mylestom]

Personal preferene but if you can afford a bow mount electric is the way to go.

Have both, but prefer the Bow Mount with Auto Pilot but a bit pricery.
Great for casting and fishing in the estuary and impoundment. A must have on the boat. Had probs with foot control early this year and had to manage for a couple of days without, never again. Worth their weight in gold

You can get a Watersnake Bow Mount for about $699 at the moment and not bad value but no AP.

Always a few coming up on this site for sale as well.

Regards

Trev

[reidy]

Bow mount.much better boat control than a transom mount esp. if the wind is blowing hard.
Cheers
Reidy

[BaitThrower]

You can buy outboard tiller extension handles so you can maneuver a tiller steer motor from further up the front of the boat. I think some of them extend to 1.5m or there abouts.

[tunaticer]

How connected are you with your hard earned??

A bow mount with autopilot will be your best option BUT your boat is only 10 feet long, meaning you will not be far away from an extended tiller almost anywhere in the boat. MinnKota sell extenders for thier range of transom mounts and I presume the other manufacturers do and probably some aftermarkets around as well.

Personally I would probably opt for the transom mount in your situation and save the bucks.

Another option is ask at the marine and boatying shops if they have any trade-in bow mounts as sometimes people upgrade to a larger models. A mate picked up a MinnKota RT55AP that was only three months old that was traded in for an upgrade and paid $500 for it a saving of nearly $700.

Jack.

[tunaticer]

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=140304

[gaz066]

DD, you can have the best of both worlds.

I have my transom mount motoguide mounted on the bow of my quinny . Just need to get a small block welded up front ( cheap to do ) for the motor to clamp on , turn the head around ( an easy job ) and you have the best of both worlds. Hand control only but manouvering easier to control from up front.

[tunaticer]

Killitfillit has got a transom mount fitted on a "box" screwed to the bow of his tinny. It has Minn-Kota stickers on the side of it so possibly its an accessory for this application. A neat setup that works well for him.

Jack.

[Mike Delisser]

Bow for sure but if the $ are a prob do what Gazza said in the above post. I did it for a few years until I could afford a foot controlled bow mount.
Cheers
Mike