Do I need spacers to level my Terrova Trolling Motor to an angled down bow?

[hedp]

My friend just brought up the fact that he was driving down the road and noticed how far the front bow of a Crestliner Fishhawk angles down and that the trolling motor of that boat was angling down.


I have a 2000 Crestliner Fishhawk and the front also dips/angles down quite a bit. Not sure if this is the case with the newer ones.


He said I might need to use spacers when I mount my 80lbs. Terrova to bring the motor level.



Is that the case? Do I need to use spacers when I mount the Terrova so it sits level and will be level when it's in the water?

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Do I need spacers to level my Terrova Trolling Motor to an angled down bow?

Seems to me to be a matter of personal asthetics. The TM will have a reverse tilt to it but I wouldn't loose any sleep over it. To me it's no different than a boat with a bow designed for big waves that flares up....just different direction.

Mark

 

[NYBo]

Re: Do I need spacers to level my Terrova Trolling Motor to an angled down bow?

The TM will be more efficient if it's parallel to the water surface.

 

[hedp]

Re: Do I need spacers to level my Terrova Trolling Motor to an angled down bow?

The TM will be more efficient if it's parallel to the water surface.

I guess it's supposed to be level as possible.



Hmmm.....I wonder what's a good way to raise it up.

 

[Ray1958]

Re: Do I need spacers to level my Terrova Trolling Motor to an angled down bow?

I am using stainless threaded rod under my mount hardware. I ut the level on the mount plate and work each independantly until level is achieved. It did take some fine tuning once on the water. The attitude of the boat changed slightly from on the trailer to floating. My auto pilot requires level for the internal compas to function propperly. For my little 14 ft aluminum 1/4 x 20 works fine.

Ray

 

[sublauxation]

Re: Do I need spacers to level my Terrova Trolling Motor to an angled down bow?

How far does it dip down? I like Ray's threaded rod idea. I only had to raise mine up about 1/4" in front so I used a stack of refrigerator magnets (with a hole drilled in the middle for the mounting bolt to go through) because I had them handy and they shouldn't/haven't rotted or become nasty.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Do I need spacers to level my Terrova Trolling Motor to an angled down bow?

How often is a boat level when it's on the water? I'm not sure that my boat has ever been level on the water for more than a few seconds at a time.

Maybe it gets close to level when it's up on plane, but I sure don't have the trolling motor in the water under those conditions.

I'd say as long as you have the TM mounted flat on the deck and the shaft is at a 90* angle with the gunwale when it's deployed, you're good to go.

Hand levels are pretty much useless when it comes to boats, because they never set level in the water.