Minnkota Transducers

[snkrohn]

This may not necessarily be the correct forum to pose this question, but I am curious if anyone feels that they get less than top performance from the Minnkota trolling motors with the built in transducers. The X135 that I have mounted on the bow of my boat does not seem to perform as well as my dash unit. I was just wondering if anyone else felt like they were getting less than top performance with the Minnkota transducer. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Don House]

This may not necessarily be the correct forum to pose this question, but I am curious if anyone feels that they get less than top performance from the Minnkota trolling motors with the built in transducers. The X135 that I have mounted on the bow of my boat does not seem to perform as well as my dash unit. I was just wondering if anyone else felt like they were getting less than top performance with the Minnkota transducer. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

snkrohn, yes the transducers built into the heads of the minnkotas are just basic transducers or 200mhz only/single cone. I use these for a back up on my boat. I run a outside transducer unit for my electronics, I run humminbird but I really don't think it matters at all..

Good Fishing

Capt. Don

[Fishrman]

I had a built in transducer and it was not very productive. I upgraded my 135 to a X-26 and used the skimmer transducer and it works a lot better. I caught several drop shot fish this past summer using it and there is definitely a difference. I talked to Bill Beck last year and he told me that the built in ones cost a lot to replace also and burn out a little faster. You also have to remember that people like Bill will fish a lot more than me and the average fisherman.

[snkrohn]

Thanks for the responses. Don, are you running your bow unit off a transom mounted transducer or one attached to the trolling motor? My problem is that I have a Minnkota Power Drive and I cannot picture how a conventional trolling motor-type transducer could possibly work. I can run the bow unit off a transom mounted transducer but I kind off hate to give up that eighteen feet between the bow and the stern.

[snakem]

Thanks for the responses. Don, are you running your bow unit off a transom mounted transducer or one attached to the trolling motor? My problem is that I have a Minnkota Power Drive and I cannot picture how a conventional trolling motor-type transducer could possibly work. I can run the bow unit off a transom mounted transducer but I kind off hate to give up that eighteen feet between the bow and the stern.

Dont no about all that stuff, But I have a lowrance on the bow. 135 .I will drop shot with the best of them. they R the best in my book

Snakem Out

[Whack'emGood]

snkrohn,

I have heard that the built-ins don't get near as good of reception as one mounted on the outside of the head, but I have never tried a built-in one. I have heard alot of the Pros bypass the built-in and, instead, mount one directly on the head. I mounted mine directly on the head and it works great. I don't know about your particular trolling motor, but Lowrance makes a trolling motor mount transducer that is designed specifically to mount on most trolling motor heads. It is a puck-type transducer and you just mount it on the head with a steel clamp (that is really just a large steel hose clamp) and then run the cable up the shaft and into the boat and to your graph. Just unhook your built-in transducer and use the new one instead. Click the link below for an illustration from the Lowrance website.

http://www.lowrance.com/Support/Tips-and-T...ansducer-Guide/

I think you can even order them directly from Lowrance... I have a Humminbird graph and ordered mine directly from them.

If you get into it further and have questions about mounting it, IM me and I will try to help.

Good luck!

Whack'em

[snkrohn]

I have mounted and used the puck-type transducers before. My problem is that the Power Drive Minnkota does not use a conventional scissor-type mount (see enclosed link). When the TM is deployed, the shaft slides thru the bracket so the wire from the puck couldn’t be zip tied to the shaft. This is my first experience with this style of TM and so far I’m not overly impressed.

http://www.minnkotamotors.com/products/mot...asp?pg=fbm_pdv2

[Don House]

Thanks for the responses. Don, are you running your bow unit off a transom mounted transducer or one attached to the trolling motor? My problem is that I have a Minnkota Power Drive and I cannot picture how a conventional trolling motor-type transducer could possibly work. I can run the bow unit off a transom mounted transducer but I kind off hate to give up that eighteen feet between the bow and the stern.

snkrohn, well dang... Yes that is a problem big time.. Not too much you can do, unless maybe a bracket on the head or just mount the transducer on the head and you leave the cable loose or attach cable to shaft while using only with velcrow so it is not flopping around... I had the same unit placed on my new boat, first thing was to replace it to a regular lift assist drive unit.

Hope that helped some.. Merry Christmas

Capt. Don

[Whack'emGood]

Oh. I see... well, that's no good. Well, the only thing I can think of is to loop your transducer wire over away from your TM and let the loop hang with slack so you can deploy your TM without pinching the wire... It might be sloppy though.

Whack'em

[snkrohn]

My guess is that I’ll probably end up just running the bow unit off a transom mounted transducer. I can’t picture that flopping wire lasting too long and, besides, it would look pretty tacky. I hate to be fishing eighteen feet in front of the signal but I don’t know if I have much choice. Maybe I’ll stick the nose of my boat outside the garage tonight and maybe someone will steal my trolling motor. Let me know if someone wants my address……………I’ll leave a light on and all the necessary tools.