New minn kota

[Seahorse]

Took boat out today with new Minn Kota fitted.

What a great addition to boating.

A fantastic thing. So good about just pttering around on the electric and not starting the motor all the time.

That bottom lock works a treat. It just held me in the exact spot between bridge pilons, where the tide was running fairly quick.

Every other boat was anchored.

just one question. Is it ok to have this lock on for long periods of time?

summary. Best thing i have ever bought.

The foot pedal worked well, as well as the remote around my neck.

cheers
greg

[Feral]

You can have it on as long as your battery can take. If your worried about it, check the voltage of the battery with no load on it, As long as it is over 11.8 volts when you get home after a day out you wont have any worries. If it goes below 11.6 to often it will definitely shorten up the life of your battery.

[kingcray]

so wheres all the fish greg?

[Funchy]

will never have another tinny without one :-D

[scottar]

No more excuses on the Scarby snaps now.

[Seahorse]

Sorry dean. Me and electronics take a little time to work each other out.
Only fished for about an hour yesterday.

did get 1 flattie. A keeper.

Should had had one of these years ago.

Hey Scottar, I dont think one of these electrics will ever help me at Scarb reef. Lol

Going out in morning for a fish. Battery is on Charge. Hopefully will get good day on 1 battery charge.

its a 120amp battery. As big as a 4WD battery. Bloody heavy though.

cheers
greg

[alleycat]

Glad you liked yours greg, I took mine out for its first run yesterday and agree its fantastic, mine just has the remote control without the foot pedal, fishing was tough even with the leccy and we only caught 2 small fish, water still has to much colour in it I think, and just a question on caring for the electric motor!, do you just hose it down or is it best to spray with lanox..

[Seahorse]

Hey Alley.
iam not to sure about the cleaning of it.
I just wiped it over with the chamios after i washed the boat.

Yeah they are great. I wasnt going to get the foot pedal, but thought oh well whats another $250.

Cheers
greg

[beaglebasher]

I have been thinking about fitting a trolling motor on my 5m freedom sport. I use the boat mainly in the freshwater chasing Murray Cod in Burrenjuck and trout in the Snowy mountains and occasionally offshore from Wollongong. My boat has a 90 hp Yamaha 2stroke and I am getting fed up with the noise and smell. I dropped into the local boat shop last week to check things out and the salesman told me I would need a 90lbs thrust motor and it would cost about 3 grand to get it fitted. He was including two batteries and the cost of welding on the plate the electric motor sits on. I would think there are cheap electric motors on ebay but I need some advice.

[Xtreme]

Hi Beaglebasher,

I'd be putting an 80lb long shaft Minn Kota on a 5m boat, they are 24v so it's a 2 battery set up and yes ,$3k is about the money. You get what you pay for and the Minn Kota is a quality outfit. Bow mounted, you will wonder how you ever did without one. Can't comment on other models in this size but I have had 2 x 80lb autopilot models on my last 2 boats and they are magic. Have had other makes of various quality in the 55lb size on smaller tinnies and had issues.

steve

[scottar]

On bigger boats, bow mount is the ONLY way to go and pretty much anything over a 4.5m tinnie or anything with a lot of windage is going to want 24 volt 80 pound or better. As Xtreme has mentioned, you do get what you pay for with quality and features when it comes to electric motors. The only brands I personally would consider are the Minn Kota or Motorguide. My last one was the I-pilot Minn Kota - absolute gold.