Mounting a bow mount trolling motor on a boat that never had one.


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Old 10-31-10, 08:46 AM
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Mounting a bow mount trolling motor on a boat that never had one.

I have a small V shaped deck up front with a nav light mounted on it, up till now this boat only had a transom mount motor. Is there anything that I need to know about purchasing and mounting a bow mount motor other than shaft length? Is it possible that some may not fit or is it possible that I just can't mount one on this boat? Obviously I would need to have my cover modified to fit and I would probably have to put bracing under the aluminum, but not having a motor in my hand to eye it up makes it difficult to pull the trigger and buy a motor.

As far as sizing, if I have a 16' deep V with a 50 hp Merc, I'm thinking 40# or more??

Here is what I'm dealing with:

 
  #2  
Old 10-31-10, 08:56 AM
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My 16' Tracker Deep V w/60 hp has a 54 lb Motorguide, which seems very adequate in power. I just replaced the 48 lb this yr. Regarding mounting, the shaft has to clear the gunwale by 3" or more to operate properly. Looks like that bow lite may be in the way. If you can access under your bow plate to thread on nuts and maybe fender washers, it should go smoothly. On mine I had to get some blind metal nuts that expand. I first tried the blind nuts that are embedded in rubber. They proved worthless. Tracker had used the rubber ones at the factory and the mount was so flimsy that the motor looked like it might tear off on high speed. FWIW.
 
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Old 10-31-10, 02:26 PM
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It is open under the bow, it's no problem to get to bolts underneith. I was thinking about replacing the bow light anyway, you have to unscrew it and tilt it up when you use it. A flush mount light might fit my needs better.

On another subject, where would you mount the battery in this case? Would you run the wiring back to the rear? There is no compartment in my fishing deck.
 
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Old 10-31-10, 04:18 PM
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My battery is in the stern with the cranking battery. That seems to work well. If you do that use at least #10 stranded wire and generally a 40 amp in line fuse is recommended. I have tried to save a buck with solid wire, but had corrosion/connection problems. You have enough time and money in this project that the bucks for stranded are not an issue. You probably knew all of this anyhow. That is a nice looking boat and '53 in the background.
 
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Old 10-31-10, 04:57 PM
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The '53 kind of took a back seat to the boat project this year, I put zero miles on it this season... Thanks to Advance Auto and their P.O.S. parts!!! But that's a whole other story. It sits in the garage with the wheels off but I plan to put it back together this week. Time to dust it off and put it back in storage. I was also helping a friend build a '66 GTO over these last 2 years and its FINALLY done!

I guess I could run a couple stranded #8s tucked up under the rail.

I hated to even post that picture because of the truck parts and boat parts leftover in the garage. As soon as my truck and boat go into storage it's major cleanup time!

BTW, I did get my rear seat mounted this weekend, it's missing in that pic.
 
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Old 11-01-10, 09:12 PM
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If the bow is just the thin aluminum you should put some plywood as a backer to even out the load.

Would the batt fit in the bow?

I would go with a 54 motorguide or a 55 minnkota, they are as big as they get in a 12v motor. You might get by with less trust if you get a deal but we put 55's on all new boats.
 
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Old 11-02-10, 02:45 PM
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I could probably cut in some sort of a compartment in the deck although I hesitate to do that structurely. There is kind of a no mans area between the deck and the console that would probably fit a battery. I'm sure that excessive lead length of running to the back with that kind of a load would not be my friend.

I think that I probably have enough deck, especially for the Mihe Kota type. Under the deck is open except for the bow light wiring and a 2 x 4 that crosses.
 
 

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