Electric Minn Kota researching to buy.

[-JR-]

Went to the fishing hole show and talked to there salesmen and was told that the 55 minn kota would work great on my 19 ft baylinner. When I went to pick it up ,the manger told me not big enough and tried to sell me a bigger one. I left the store with nothing in my hands ,doing research now.
Anyone out there have a 55 pusher minn kota on their fibberglass boat.
Are you happy with it ?

[ronnyboy]

Originally Posted by -JR-

Went to the fishing hole show and talked to there salesmen and was told that the 55 minn kota would work great on my 19 ft baylinner. When I went to pick it up ,the manger told me not big enough and tried to sell me a bigger one. I left the store with nothing in my hands ,doing research now.
Anyone out there have a 55 pusher minn kota on their fibberglass boat.
Are you happy with it ?

I have a 17 foot tracker boat with a 40lb thrust on the bow and I have no problems getting around,the salesman is a blowhard

[Sled Dog]

I had a 42 pound Minn Kota for my 16' Mirrocraft and moved it over to a 20' Lund Alaskan with no problem. My son wanted it when he took the Mirrocraft so I replaced it with a 70 pound /24 volt Power Drive unit. The 70 pounder can be scary when it kicks in and swings the bow rapidly if you're not expecting it. The disadvantage of the higher thrust electrics is the 24 or 36 volts they require, which may require mounting and additional battery. I'd have been happy to stick with my original 42 pound unit so I don't think you'd have an issue with a 55. Glass boats are a little heavier, bit once in motion I don't think they take a whole lot more power to keep moving.

[rielbowhunter]

go to the Minn Kota site. http://www.minnkotamotors.com/selectamotor/

[TJG]

good site

http://www.trollingmotors.net/trolli...ing-guide.html

remember, in the wind, u will b wanting more power.

[Mudslide]

The Manager was totally right and was just trying to do you a favour. A 55 on a 19ft boat is way to light.

It will troll on a dead calm day but how many of those do we get in Alberta. You will also find that you are running the motor at 70% which is hard on the motor and drains a 12 volt battery faster. If it was me I'd go with at least a 24 volt 80lb model with the 60 inch shaft. Longer shaft keeps the motor in the water when the waves come up.

[-JR-]

Thanks for all the feed back ,i have decided to go with a gas kicker.

[TROLLER]

Originally Posted by -JR-

Went to the fishing hole show and talked to there salesmen and was told that the 55 minn kota would work great on my 19 ft baylinner. When I went to pick it up ,the manger told me not big enough and tried to sell me a bigger one. I left the store with nothing in my hands ,doing research now.
Anyone out there have a 55 pusher minn kota on their fibberglass boat.
Are you happy with it ?

Good luck trying to move that 19ft in the wind. I have a 55 on my 16 and it is a work out with any kind of wind.

If I was to buy a new one it would be at least a 100 with built in auto pilot. and 2 batteries with charger.

[The Fisherman Guy]

I was in the market for a new Minn Kota recently, mainly for trolling. After a bunch of research and advice from those who are much more knowledable on the subject than me, I decided to use my main motor to troll with a large drift sock. Keeps the boat straight in the wind, and is a helluva lot cheaper!

Why did I pull the plug on the electric?

Battery weight.

Short run time, even on a 24V system.

Not enough oomph to take it onto big water for a day of fishing.

[TrollGRG]

Originally Posted by -JR-

Thanks for all the feed back ,i have decided to go with a gas kicker.

If that works for you, fine. Personally (and remember everyone has an opinion etc etc) I would go with the 55. I agree that in the high winds it will get pushed around but you would have the larger motor for those situations. The main reason I would go with the electric is that on a lot of lakes (and getting to be more) you cannot use a gas motor. That is when I use the electric most. Yoiu probably won't be getting into some of the smaller pot holes with a 19 footer but there are still larger lakes where the fuel is restricted.

[TROLLER]

Originally Posted by -JR-

Thanks for all the feed back ,i have decided to go with a gas kicker.

Now on gas kickers a few things. Some will say you should go to a 15Hp but the 9.9 high thrust will move you along no problem and have enough power to get you home if the big motor goes down.

I switched to the electric tilt on my kicker simply because I could see myself taking a dive one day while lifting the old kicker out of the water on a windy day. Something you have to think about as you get somewhat older. ha.

I have the yamaha but merc is great as is honda but honda does not have a whole lot of service guys. That being said Bass had last week the merc 9.9 on for 1500 bucks.

An electric is still great for walleye tho.

[conehead]

21' outlaw jet boat bought 5yrs ago,many upgrades,15hp yamaha,panther remote steering,hds 10 with structure scan, and many more goodies,,,,,minn kota terrova 80lb,60" with i-pilot last spring with a minn kota charger,,,,,,,,,shoulda been the very first upgrade.nothing beats it. 5 day spring fishing for walleye in northern sask and my 2000 yamaha gen every night.........perfect

[ViperV7]

Originally Posted by Mudslide

The Manager was totally right and was just trying to do you a favour. A 55 on a 19ft boat is way to light.

It will troll on a dead calm day but how many of those do we get in Alberta. You will also find that you are running the motor at 70% which is hard on the motor and drains a 12 volt battery faster. If it was me I'd go with at least a 24 volt 80lb model with the 60 inch shaft. Longer shaft keeps the motor in the water when the waves come up.

I will second that, my buddy has a 17' Glastron and a 55lb thrust struggles to move it. If you get a wind you will screwed. And batteries won't last long. You have to remember you have heavy fiberglass boat.

[-JR-]

Originally Posted by TrollGRG

If that works for you, fine. Personally (and remember everyone has an opinion etc etc) I would go with the 55. I agree that in the high winds it will get pushed around but you would have the larger motor for those situations. The main reason I would go with the electric is that on a lot of lakes (and getting to be more) you cannot use a gas motor. That is when I use the electric most. Yoiu probably won't be getting into some of the smaller pot holes with a 19 footer but there are still larger lakes where the fuel is restricted.

I have heard people getting finned in a electric motor only lakes ,because they have a gas engine in the boat even if they are not using it.

[ViperV7]

I was told your gas motor has to be right out of the water on electric motor only lakes. But I would see a valid reason beening continents entering the water body.

If your taking a big boat with a gas motor on a electric motor only lake. You should give your head a shake. And if that's your reason for buying an electric motor. Save your money and buy a rubber dingy from crappy tire.

It makes me laugh to see people try to cheap out and end up spending 3 times the money to make the cheap option work.

You can't fix stupid!

Cheers

[freeones]

Originally Posted by The Fisherman Guy

I was in the market for a new Minn Kota recently, mainly for trolling. After a bunch of research and advice from those who are much more knowledable on the subject than me, I decided to use my main motor to troll with a large drift sock. Keeps the boat straight in the wind, and is a helluva lot cheaper!

Why did I pull the plug on the electric?

Battery weight.

Short run time, even on a 24V system.

Not enough oomph to take it onto big water for a day of fishing.

Boat control, even trolling, with the big motor and drift socks is not in the same ballpark as a bowmount electric. On top of that you're putting a lot of hours on your big motor, which can be hard on it, and definitely affects resale.

Battery weight is possibly an issue depending on how big your boat is.

For trolling at 2.2 mph or more, the bowmount will only last a few hours, but at 1-2.2mph or so, a 24V system will last most of the day even pushing around an 18-19' boat unless it's really choppy. You have to be a pretty dedicated troller to really see the benefit of the kicker over an electric.

Unless it's pretty hairy on the water and you're really fighting the conditions, a bowmount or transom mount electric is very effective. If you're trying to fish into the wind or hover on a spot in 40-60 km/h winds, the kicker or big motor is nice no doubt about it.

[TJG]

Or u can use all three. Front trolling, rear electric and big motor, like my boat.
U use the front w/I pilot for tracking and fast turns, use the rear electric for steering and staying on the spot, following a drop off and back trolling or all three when the wind is blowing so hard u cant keep ur hat on!

Originally Posted by freeones

Boat control, even trolling, with the big motor and drift socks is not in the same ballpark as a bowmount electric. On top of that you're putting a lot of hours on your big motor, which can be hard on it, and definitely affects resale.

Battery weight is possibly an issue depending on how big your boat is.

For trolling at 2.2 mph or more, the bowmount will only last a few hours, but at 1-2.2mph or so, a 24V system will last most of the day even pushing around an 18-19' boat unless it's really choppy. You have to be a pretty dedicated troller to really see the benefit of the kicker over an electric.

Unless it's pretty hairy on the water and you're really fighting the conditions, a bowmount or transom mount electric is very effective. If you're trying to fish into the wind or hover on a spot in 40-60 km/h winds, the kicker or big motor is nice no doubt about it.

[bsnyder]

Originally Posted by TJG

Or u can use all three. Front trolling, rear electric and big motor, like my boat.
U use the front w/I pilot for tracking and fast turns, use the rear electric for steering and staying on the spot, following a drop off and back trolling or all three when the wind is blowing so hard u cant keep ur hat on!

Actualy ,its TRUE!.Many times at a tourny on slave we have used both electrics to kinda slow us down in 8 ft waves ,then use the main to move us back to our spot to start our drift again , also use both electrics a lot when fishing the river in Nipewan.Its all about right speed and location