Mounting a trolling motor on an inflatable boat

newscientist · #1 06-24-2016, 04:32 AM

I am planning to buy a trolling motor for my Intex Seahawk 3 man inflatable boat and I was looking for some advice. Minn Kota 30 lb motor seems the best choice, but there is also the Intex motor. I will also need a mounting kit (available in Cabela's) and a 12 V battery (not sure if a car battery can work). I remember reading that I will need a circle breaker to protect my the motor, not sure about this one and where to get it from.
I welcome any advice if you guys have experience about this.

EZM · #2 06-24-2016, 07:24 AM

I would go with the MinnKota. 30lbs would be minimum. The bigger the better.

A 50lb to 55lb would be better in my opinion - especially if you want to operate in choppier/windier conditions. Inflatables are often harder to push compared to other smaller boats.

As far as a battery is concerned - the battery should be a deep cycle battery. A car battery (assuming your talking about a standard cranking battery), although it would work, is designed to start your engine with one burst of juice, versus a deep cycle, where it designed to discharge (run juice) over a longer period of time.

The deep cycles will last longer and give you better longevity on the water as they are designed to be discharged and recharged with no ill effects to the battery and, quite often, provide a little more Amp Hours (last longer in terms of time).

I don't think a standard cranking battery is designed for repeated full discharging and recharging on a regular cycle and would likely need to be replaced far more often.

foothills800 · #3 06-24-2016, 07:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newscientist

I am planning to buy a trolling motor for my Intex Seahawk 3 man inflatable boat and I was looking for some advice. Minn Kota 30 lb motor seems the best choice, but there is also the Intex motor. I will also need a mounting kit (available in Cabela's) and a 12 V battery (not sure if a car battery can work). I remember reading that I will need a circle breaker to protect my the motor, not sure about this one and where to get it from.
I welcome any advice if you guys have experience about this.

I just bought what you are looking at last week, went with a minn k 32lb, on the same dingy got the boat and mount from Canadian tire, with the motor in red deer all in was 349.00 , I had a 12volt rv battery laying around, I charged and put in a milk crate in the boat with a seat on top. We tested the boat on the horsegaurd creek and gets around good.

Deep · #4 06-24-2016, 10:58 AM

newscientist- this site is blessed with great battery and elect. trolling motor info. Just use the search feature. I have many years experience with inflatables also. Good luck and enjoy.

newscientist · #5 06-24-2016, 10:58 AM

Thanks fellows for your help. I think I will have to through in another 100 dollar or so for the battery. Is there a particular one you guys recommend? Minn Kota also sells battery chargers and battery cases/centre. Do I need to budget for these as well?

newscientist · #6 06-24-2016, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deep

newscientist- this site is blessed with great battery and elect. trolling motor info. Just use the search feature. I have many years experience with inflatables also. Good luck and enjoy.

Which site you mean?

dwedmon · #7 06-24-2016, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newscientist

Thanks fellows for your help. I think I will have to through in another 100 dollar or so for the battery. Is there a particular one you guys recommend? Minn Kota also sells battery chargers and battery cases/centre. Do I need to budget for these as well?

Costco has very good deep cycles for a reasonable price. it's their kirkland brand.

If you put a hard floor on your inflatable it will move more efficiently in the water and that will help you squeeze more power out of your motor.

TROLLER · #8 06-24-2016, 02:54 PM

I also use the Minnkota battery box which has a built in circuit breaker as well as a 12volt plug in.

Not sure if it is really needed or not but for the extra safety precaution I went ahead and bought one. Also handy for keeping the battery in.

Deep · #9 06-24-2016, 03:14 PM

On "this site"- use the search function above and look up both trolling motors as well as Deep cycle batteries. There is a great deal of valuable information to assist in your decisions.

newscientist · #10 06-25-2016, 08:07 PM

Thanks all for the nice tips..

Stinky Buffalo · #11 06-28-2016, 09:33 AM

We ended up getting an Intex inflatable as well - picked up the motor mount as well as a battery box, which includes cigarette-lighter plugs for accessories, and separate circuit breakers for the accessories and the motor.

Highly recommend the circuit breaker. It's there to protect your motor from burnout when you jam the prop with weeds etc.

You can buy the motor's circuit breaker separately (I saw them on the shelf at Cabelas and the Fishin' Hole). They're about $65. I was originally planning on making my own box with quick connectors etc. but by the time I put it all together, it would have been around the same price as the Minn Kota battery box (or the one they sell at Canadian Tire - they range between $80-$90).

I have the Minn Kota 55-lb thrust motor and use a Costco deep-cycle (not the starting/deep-cycle) battery (group 27). I think the battery cost me less than $110. The theory behind the higher thrust motor is that I can get a decent amount of work at lower speed settings, and get more life out of a battery charge, and also have the extra "jam" to get me out of a current or windy situation if the need arises. We'll see how that works out for me.

The Fishin' Hole has competitive prices on the motors - they were on sale a short while ago, you may want to keep an eye on them. If battery life is an issue, go with the Endura Max feature, which wastes less power. Newport Vessels has a line of motors that rate very well, and have power-saving features as well. Definitely worth a look, and built well. The Intex motor has mixed reviews - I don't know if I would recommend those. The best motor deal I could find was at Costco - listed here. The only odd thing is that I couldn't find it listed on Minn Kota's web site, so not sure if it's a Costco special or what. The main reason I didn't get that one is that I wanted to have one with more thrust.

Happy fishing!

cube · #12 06-28-2016, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newscientist

I am planning to buy a trolling motor for my Intex Seahawk 3 man inflatable boat and I was looking for some advice. Minn Kota 30 lb motor seems the best choice, but there is also the Intex motor. I will also need a mounting kit (available in Cabela's) and a 12 V battery (not sure if a car battery can work). I remember reading that I will need a circle breaker to protect my the motor, not sure about this one and where to get it from.
I welcome any advice if you guys have experience about this.

Unless you plan on going at full throttle all the time I would look for a motor with Pulse Width Modulation. Minn Kota calls PWM the maximizer. In non PWM motors the power used is always full throttle even if you only set the motor control at 1. They waste the extra energy as heat so at lower settings you could be wasting 80% of your energy. If on the other hand you always go full throttle it won't make a difference so get the cheaper one.

newscientist · #13 06-29-2016, 04:22 AM

Guys, that's a wealth of info. Thanks a ton.
I got the Minn Kota Endura C2 30. It is on sale at cabela's and canadian tire matched the price with an additional %10 off, so it was a good deal. However, the Endura Max model in Costco (thanks Stinky Buffalo) is pretty interesting with the charger included and the power saving feature (appreciate the info Cube). I will probably go get it.
Another thing I am considering is to custom make a wood hard floor for the boat. It was mentioned earlier in this discussion (thanks Dwedmon) and there are many YouTube videos about it.
Great taking to you. Thanks

newscientist · #14 07-09-2016, 02:00 AM

Thanks all for your suggestions. After much reading and price comparison, this is what I ended up getting.

1. Minn Kota Endura Max 44 lb, Costco, $200
2. Minn Kota battery charger, Costco, $80 (bundled with the motor)
3. Minn Kota battery box, Amazon.ca, $70
4. Intex motor mount, Canadian Tire, $50
5. Kirkland marine deep cycle battery 95 Ah, Costco, $100

I picked the mid range motor to give me speed when I need it, while being a bit easier on the battery in comparison to the C2 models. Costco's no question one year return/replacement policy sold me for their battery. They offer a bigger dual purpose 120 Ah battery for $135, but it was considerably heavier (27 group size). I picked the smaller 95 Ah as it was lighter and pure deep cycle (not dual purpose). I guess 95Ah would be more than enough for my motor pushing the small inflatable for my half-day fishing trips. The battery box has the cycle breaker and the 12 v outlet to inflate the boat with the portable pump.

This is exactly $500 plus tax (in addition to the boat). I think that's a decent deal for what I got, unless you guys think otherwise

newscientist · #15 07-09-2016, 02:46 AM

Now, it's time to make the hard floor. I took the measurements and I plan to make the floor of plywood in 2 or 3 hinged peices. Where can I get this wood cut into shape, Homedepote?
I have an evil idea to make a keel underneath the boat. I think if I put a 3 inch thick pvc pipe along the boat between the hard floor and the inflatable base it will act like a keel and help stabilize the boat. This will put extra pressure on the inflatable base so I think I will have to keep it a bit under inflated. What do you guys think about this idea?

nevercatchmuch · #16 08-06-2016, 03:15 PM

How are you finding this boat? Build the floor?
I picked one up. Sturdy but wow, hard to handle in the wind with rowing (as are most inflatables).

Vook · #17 08-08-2016, 04:43 PM

Go to Costco and get deep cycle marine (not starting!) battery (the best price). The more ampere-hour capacity the better. Get a plastic battery box that feet your battery (around $20). Check Costco web site they had a good deal for 44lb minn kota motors bundled with a portable charger. Check kijiji, 30lbs are usually on the list, b/c they are too weak.

kinwahkly · #18 08-09-2016, 03:09 PM

Ive got a Min kota 55 lb with a deep cycle rv battery on my Scadden x5, pushes my fat arse around very well .

newscientist · #19 08-09-2016, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nevercatchmuch

How are you finding this boat? Build the floor?
I picked one up. Sturdy but wow, hard to handle in the wind with rowing (as are most inflatables).

I like it a lot. Already helped me catching some big pikes. The hard base is a must, made a huge difference as I now set on a small chair/stool which keeps my legs conformable. I even fish standing some times. Of course not as stable as hard boats, but it is still a great deal for what I paid. Just make sure you do not over inflate the boat or set on the tubes as this can put too much pressure on the welded parts. After all, it is not a heavy duty inflatable raft. It handles 2 adults, the motor and the battery pretty well in calm weather. If the weather turns ugly, waves can bring water inside the boat and ruin your day. So if the weather is not cooperating do not use it far from shore.