Floatation pods and trolling motors?

looking into a new boat and one that caught my eye has Pods on it. something that i like but i do have one question. since this will be a hunting/fishing boat i would like to throw a trolling motor on it as well. how would i do this with the pods? right now it has a 50hp pump and i want to add a 9.9 trolling motor. any special brackets?

anyone got any pictures of this done? i haven't been able to find any.

Re: Floatation pods and trolling motors?

what do you mean, pods?

50 HP pump?

Re: Floatation pods and trolling motors?

Home Cookin' said:

what do you mean, pods?

50 HP pump?

Click to expand...

Flotation pods: http://www.explorebeavertail.com/flotationpods.html (to offset weight of heavy outboards, maybe allow you to use a larger then intended motor?)

50hp pump I will assume means a jet pump outboard.

to the OP: maybe you could mount the 9.9 to one of the pods? Not sure how that would effect the boats balance being so far outboard though.

Re: Floatation pods and trolling motors?

I'm not a fan of pods, they add a leveraged weight to the transom that it wasn't designed for. I'm sure they'll add problems to the transom as the boat ages. Pods also add weight and drag to a boat making it slower on the water, I'd say you'll be lucky to get a blistering 20 mph out of that boat with the 50 hp jet.

You should check below deck if you can, some of the uh... less than educated use pods to compensate for waterlogged floatation foam.

There's a reason this person is selling this boat, but I don't think they'll tell you what it is... but you'll find out after you buy it.

Re: Floatation pods and trolling motors?

jigngrub said:

I'm not a fan of pods, they add a leveraged weight to the transom that it wasn't designed for. I'm sure they'll add problems to the transom as the boat ages. Pods also add weight and drag to a boat making it slower on the water, I'd say you'll be lucky to get a blistering 20 mph out of that boat with the 50 hp jet.

You should check below deck if you can, some of the uh... less than educated use pods to compensate for waterlogged floatation foam.

There's a reason this person is selling this boat, but I don't think they'll tell you what it is... but you'll find out after you buy it.

Click to expand...

He says it's a new boat, but I'm not sure if he actually means new, or new to him. If it's new, of course waterlogged foam is not a concern. I agree the rig sounds dicey at first blush, but the fact is we really don't know anything about it. Spare, all you've told is you want to add a kicker to some sort of boat with some sort of flotation pods and some sort of jet propulsion. We need a lot more info to give you any sort of useful opinion (if there is such a thing around here.)

Re: Floatation pods and trolling motors?

Those pods are going to get in the way of a transom-mounted kicker/trolling motor....maybe an electric trolling motor up front?

Re: Floatation pods and trolling motors?

lncoop said:

... I agree the rig sounds dicey at first blush, but the fact is we really don't know anything about it. ...

Click to expand...

Agreed. As an example, G3 (Yamaha) sells new boats with jet motors and pods.

The pods can be quite an advantage in certain situations (such as for holeshot in extremely shallow water - eliminates transom dive).

Re: Floatation pods and trolling motors?

mrdancer said:

Agreed. As an example, G3 (Yamaha) sells new boats with jet motors and pods.

The pods can be quite an advantage in certain situations (such as for holeshot in extremely shallow water - eliminates transom dive).

Click to expand...

Yep. They also make good steps for dogs and fat guys in waders.

Re: Floatation pods and trolling motors?

Pods or sponsons are used in conjunction with off-shore style platforms. The most common reason is to eliminate the splash well area, open up the interior of the boat and provide more interior space. The design is modeled after the off-shore platform that is used to keep a motor in clean water while transitioning swells. The recent adaptation to inland waterway pleasure boats and fishing boats has become a popular way of getting more from a smaller boat or making it easier to fish from.

When done correctly, they do not add stress to the transom but therein lies the problem that jigingrub is talking about. A lot of times the sponson is left off or just randomly sized without any real thought or calculations. Assuming that this one is done right, there is no reason that a remote control trolling motor couldn't be mounted there with a properly installed bracket but if we are talking about an electric, the best place to mount it would be up on the bow because as a puller you would have a much greater degree of control over the boat.

Re: Floatation pods and trolling motors?

being a shallow water boat he used the pods to get more flotation for running in shallow water. and to help then the boat is loaded with hunting gear. these are the pods on the boat

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Beav...atation+pods&WTz_l=Header;Search-All+Products

Re: Floatation pods and trolling motors?

Home Cookin' said:

what do you mean, pods?

50 HP pump?

Click to expand...

They're square aluminum box-like structures welded onto the back of aluminum boats to provide additional floatation in the transom area...some duck boats, fishing/jon boats have them. Pods also can provide a step for folks or dogs climbing into the back of boat. 50 HP pump is just a jet drive foot, also preferred by shallow water/duck hunters, etc.

Re: Floatation pods and trolling motors?

Definitely look at a bow-mounted trolling motor. I don't see how you can mount one one the stern. Maybe you could bolt a transom-mounted trolling motor off of the gunnel?

I'm also not sure why you want to add a 9.9hp kicker. A 50hp will dial down to slow speeds just fine and if you need to go slower, use the trolling motor.

Re: Floatation pods and trolling motors?

Just from looking at their pics I can tell the pods cover most of the transom, which means the only place for a kicker would be directly over the drive or on one of the pods. Mounting it on one of the pods seems like a good way to lose a pod and a kicker, but that would really be a question for Beavertail, not us. Not sure if hanging it over the drive would cause any issues, but again, unless I missed it we still don't know if this is a jet drive boat or simply a converted outboard with a jet foot, in which case a kicker on the transom would absolutely be out of the question. Also, you didn't ask about this, but I saw two questions regarding the efficacy of the pods on a jet driven boat and I never really saw an answer. I think you really need to visit with someone at Beavertail, but before you do make sure you know everything you need to about this rig. Hopefully you do and just haven't mentioned it all.

Re: Floatation pods and trolling motors?

lncoop said:

Just from looking at their pics I can tell the pods cover most of the transom, which means the only place for a kicker would be directly over the drive or on one of the pods. Mounting it on one of the pods seems like a good way to lose a pod and a kicker, but that would really be a question for Beavertail, not us. Not sure if hanging it over the drive would cause any issues, but again, unless I missed it we still don't know if this is a jet drive boat or simply a converted outboard with a jet foot, in which case a kicker on the transom would absolutely be out of the question. Also, you didn't ask about this, but I saw two questions regarding the efficacy of the pods on a jet driven boat and I never really saw an answer. I think you really need to visit with someone at Beavertail, but before you do make sure you know everything you need to about this rig. Hopefully you do and just haven't mentioned it all.

Click to expand...

it is a outboard with a jet shoe. pods are there to help with low water running. ill give beavertail a call and see what they think


as for the reasoning to adding a trolling motor, is the main is a 2 stroke, but dont want to listen to it all day or waits the gas it will burn. with a 4 stroke 9.9 i can run a 5gal take for a week and now have to worry about gas.

Re: Floatation pods and trolling motors?

sparelink said:

it is a outboard with a jet shoe. pods are there to help with low water running. ill give beavertail a call and see what they think


as for the reasoning to adding a trolling motor, is the main is a 2 stroke, but dont want to listen to it all day or waits the gas it will burn. with a 4 stroke 9.9 i can run a 5gal take for a week and now have to worry about gas.

Click to expand...

Gotcha. I figured it would be a jetfoot conversion. I understand your reasoning, but I'm doubtful that you'll be able to pull that off. If you really want the rig you could always just remove the pods and sell them on CL. Don't know how big the boat is, but it would probably run in some pretty skinny water even without them.