Help Me Choose A Good Trolling Motor To Buy...

[crappiequeen]

So we are out on the lake last weekend, and i smell smoke... then a smelly hot plastic smell. We had just finished trolling for some slabs & were headed to another spot. I seen smoke coming from the troll motor... it shorted out melted all the wiring, NOT fun. soooo needless to say i am wanting to buy a new one. I am unfamiliar with them (this one came with the boat) so please help me choose a good powerful model. IF you were to buy one for yourself....what would you get. We do alot of trolling. Bow mounted of course.

[Jerry Rapp]

really need a bit more info. What burnt up? Foot or hand operated? 12 or 24 volt. How old is it?(maybe a lot cheaper to get it fixed). Wrench and others will know a lot more than I do, but the additional info would be good. I always try to get and recommend getting the biggest one you can.

[MoSportsmen]

You might consider a bow mount kick steer. Less money to start with, fewer parts to break and fail, has reverse when needed. I extend the control handle, have an on off switch on the floor. I have had foot control before and for the most part I don't want to pay for it. In some situations the kick steer motor is easier to operate, with less mess and efforet than a foot control.

Just thought I would throw that in the mix, a lot of people don't know they even exist.

Tom

[crappiequeen]

@ Jerry Rap.. it was a Foot Control. 12 volt 55 lb thrust. the smoke came out of the torpedo looking thing the prop is attached to, and on the mounting frame where all the wires connect! it melted the whole wire loom to the carpet INSIDE the boat( a real mess) all the way to the battery. a miracle it did not catch on fire.

price is not an issue, i want a brand new one. dependable, reliable. this one was OLD! not putting money into it. But thanks for replying.

@MoSportsmen..what brand do you have? i will stay with the foot control, bow mount. mine had reverse.

[rps]

I suggest the Minn Kota brand. I have owned multiple versions of Motor Guide and Minn Kota over the years and have been more satisfied with the latter. I also have had hand tiller, foot tiller, and watch fob tiller models. I found the hand tiller the best until the watch fob tiller became available.

Low end:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Boating/Electric-Trolling-Motors/Bow-Mount|/pc/104794380/c/104716980/sc/104233680/Minn-Kota-55-Edge-Hand-Control-Bow-Mount-Trolling-Motor/1298566.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fboating-electric-trolling-motors-bow-mount%2F_%2FN-1100545%2FNo-48%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104233680%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253Bcat104794380%253Bcat104716980%26WTz_st%3DGuidedNav%26WTz_stype%3DGNP&WTz_l=SBC%3Bcat104794380%3Bcat104716980%3Bcat104233680

Foot Control: http://www.cabelas.com/product/Boating/Electric-Trolling-Motors/Bow-Mount|/pc/104794380/c/104716980/sc/104233680/Minn-Kota174-55-PowerDrive8482-V2-AutoPilot8482-Bow-Mount-Trolling-Motor/727553.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fboating-electric-trolling-motors-bow-mount%2F_%2FN-1100545%2FNo-0%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104233680%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253Bcat104794380%253Bcat104716980%26WTz_st%3DGuidedNav%26WTz_stype%3DGNP&WTz_l=SBC%3Bcat104794380%3Bcat104716980%3Bcat104233680

Hope that gets you started.

[LarrySTL]

Minnkota or Motorguide, period. I dont know if others are still making T motors now, but even if they are, I would stick with those two. Buy more thrust than you think you might need and if it was me, it would have to have variable speed, or many different speed settings, not just Low Medium High stuff. Please put a circuit breaker on the system very near the battery.

There are some good mechanics here who can tell you lots more about the specifics than I can.

I'll add that except for a very small boat, trolling motors may be more satisfactory to position the boat than to actually troll for lengthy amounts of time.

[MoSportsmen]

I have a Minnkota. I would be more likely to be looking at cable control foot control if I were in the market.....Do they still make those?

The ones with the remote control you can operate from anywhere in the boat are cool.......but for me I trust mechanics rather than electronics. The remote control models have motors and electronics turning the motor. More to fail and ware out sooner, IMHO.

Tom

[riverfish]

yes they still make the rack and pinion motors and they are cheaper too! i personally would rather have to fix a wire myself than have to pay someone to fix a circuit board so keep that in mind. queen i personally like the motorguide because to me when i push the pedal/accelerator i want it to go not gradually get up to speed like the min kota i used to have i just didnt like it. next it sound to me like you had a bad connection if it went from your t motor head unit to your harness then back to the battery as well. you need to get that straightned out first and foremost because it dont matter how new or how good you buy its going to happen again if you dont i recomend replacing it all i used to try to salvage everything i could but it really is better to spend the dollar and it be right and up to par then to go a few weeks or trip have a reoccurance and wished you would have spent the dollar in the first place and like larry said plese put a circuit breaker back there near your batteries it anywhere from ten to twenty dollars and better to shut yourself down than to start a fire

[fishinwrench]

BPS has the MinnKota Edge series on sale now, I have installed two of them over the weekend and for the money I am pretty impressed with them. Nice solid mount and all the same time-tested components as the Maxxum has.

Since you'll be changing out the boat wiring, go ahead and step it up a size or two and DEFINATELY install a circuit breaker or at least a fuse link.

[Seth]

Minnkota is what I use. If you want the best cable steer, get a Fortrex. Since it sounds like you are in to trolling for crappie, you may be better off going with a Terrova with Ipilot. You can set a course, adjust the speed, and just focus on fishing. If you find that awesome spot, hit spot lock and it will hold you in place and you can focus on fishing, not messing with the trolling motor. You said price wasn't an option so both of these will run you 1200-1500 most likely.

Make sure you are running at least 6awg marine grade wiring from your trolling motor plug to the battery. If you can fit 4awg, even better! If you go with a 55# thrust, stick a 50 amp breaker on the hot wire to the battery, if you go with an 80 then use a 60amp breaker.