55lbs Minn Kota installation

[Steven78]

Gday Friends
Today i went out and got my self a Electric motor bow mount. The problem is what’s the best way to mount it. My boat is a 4.2m Quintrex with no welded bow mount plate. The side of the boat is think i was thinking if i bolted the Kota quick release plate to the side edge of the boat as it’s the strongest point see attached picture. Under the plate I would place Nylon sheet to fill in the gaps. Inside the boat I would use a bit of marine ply to distribute to load evenly. I know welding would be a better option but you know me I want to get out there and use it ASAP.
Your input or help would be loved :)

[Steven78]

Another pic

[beatle]

Be careful when mounting bracket that there are no obstructions whilst sliding the motor and top bracket into place. From your pic. it looks like the length of the motor may foul the other side of your boat as you slide the motor into place.

[warrior]

as beatle said i think the motor will foul at that angle make sure you angle it up to the front as far as poss as this will give you good steering capabilities ,there is a great quick release bracket that goes on first, made by minkota thats if you are struggling with distance at the front of the boat i cut the rail of mine as well and slightly hung the electric of the edge so i could get a good fixing thru the side and also put a peice of aluminium checker plate onto the hull to take the full motor, pop rivited and sikaflexed on.

[Steven78]

Thanks for the advice I will post some pics once its done :)

[JT]

Hey Stephen,

Here are some pics of my installation that might help out. The 55 was installed on a 400 Hornet Trophy.

Cheers

John

[JT]

The quick release plate was mounted on the rubber levelling blocks that were supplied with the unit. Fixed at only three points with stainlessbolts and Nyloc nuts as I too don't have the extension on the bow for the mount. With the angle mine is mounted, when the motor is retracted its out of the way. The only downside of doing this way is the mounting plate extends into the boat and I can't open one side of the split anchor hatch. I can live with that.

[JT]

Installed

[JT]

From Above

[finga64]

The only downside of doing this way is the mounting plate extends into the boat and I can't open one side of the split anchor hatch. I can live with that.



What if you split your hatch in half and put a set of hinges on the bottom of the split so your 1/2 hatch folds in half when you lift it up. ie like the picture below

[JT]

G'day Finga,

That's a good setup.

That's sort of what I am going to do, I'll split the hatch and the section that is obstructed by the mounting plate will be fixed in place and I'll mount my Lowrance X-135 sounder on it. I'll then be able to use the hatch by moving the hinges.

Cheers

John

[Steven78]

Thanks that looks really good. I have now mounted mine just waiting for some Duralack before bolting it down for good.

The only thing that will be left after that is weld the lose end of the rail back on

Finding a place to put the 120AH battery is the hardest thing so far.
I have found a place but it will take a few trips to work out if i want it there.

[JT]

This is where mine are. The one in the box is an 80 a/h sealed gel cell, the one in the floor is the cranking battery. Since this photo was taken the cables to the 55AP have been put under the front casting deck out od the way.

John

[finga64]

I have some short lengths of the big sucker twin enclosed cable if anybody is interested. $10/m. It's not tinned though but should last a real long time if the connections are soldered on and twin walled heat shrink used :)

[agnes_jack]

If you have the auto-pilot model, the mount should also be packed so that it is sitting as level as possible when the boat is in it's normal loaded state while in the water, for it to work at max efficieny ;)

Regards, Tony

[gogecko]

Nice setup JT. What happens if the unit cant be retracted all the way because something, like a windscreen, is obstructing the head of the unit when its laid down. Do you need to retract it all the way? Say Ive only got 3 ft clearance instead of 5 ft.

Could it be retracted halfway and balance on the midpoint of the shaft? Would it be stable enough to do that, and then drive boat at normal speed?

Im still toying with putting one on my runabout. It might be a while before I upgrade the boat, but the leccy should come in the next month or so.

cheers
Andrew

[JT]

G'day Andrew,

Pretty sure with the 55AP's they are either fully extended or fully retracted, no in between. You'll find that the weight of the motor head will make it tend to want to deploy on you unless its locked tight.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

John