Thru the deck trolling motor?

[Uncle Dave]

I have been away from this forum for quiet a while. I built a trailerable house boat, then sold it and stayed out of boating for a year or so. Now I have a used fishing pontoon. I saw some on Craigs list that appeared to have a thru the deck trolling motor.
Mine came with a Motorguide with a Gator mount. The whole contraption is in the way when laid down. Can anyone clue me in on the thru the deck possibility? Can this one be modified to operate thru the deck. From looking underneath there seems to be no problem provided it is raised when underway at high speed or loading on the trailer. Anybody?
Thanks, Uncle Dave

 

[belairbrian]

Re: Thru the deck trolling motor?

I think I would look at the motorguide removable mount plate (MGA501A2) first.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Thru the deck trolling motor?

The bow mount is the ideal place to have the motor since the farther back it is placed the less control there is. You certainly wouldn't want in the center. Besides, just about every mount I've seen you can raise the motor straight up and tighten the collar so the motor does not have to tilt into the boat. I see no reason to butcher an otherwise good pontoon.

 

[BobGinCO]

Re: Thru the deck trolling motor?

The "really good" solution costs "really big". I want a Lenco JoyRide system.

 

[Uncle Dave]

Re: Thru the deck trolling motor?

From the front gate to the live well is 3 feet. The gator mount takes all of that space and had to be angled to get past the live well.
And when deployed it actually interfers with fishing and the operator has to reach forward quiet a bit unless you have 4 ft. arms.
Is there such an adaptor that allow thru the deck.
I would think little butchery is involved provided the head will come off the shaft with out too much fanfare. The gator mount and mechanism would not be used.
A small hole can be easily patched .
I would place the hole just forward of the livewell. Thus giving 3 feet of open space and not interferring with the forward gate.
Just planning and wanted to see what available and if any one has done such.

 

[5150abf]

Re: Thru the deck trolling motor?

I don't think you are going to find anything commercial to do that so you are probably on your own here, I personally have never seen such a thing.

Anything is doable if you want to do it just make sure you plan everything out first then start cutting and of coarse pictures are called for.

 

[richard.prince]

Re: Thru the deck trolling motor?

This?

TrollMayte - Home

 

[Uncle Dave]

Re: Thru the deck trolling motor?

Thanks Richard
It seems that would do it , but I have several Q. which I have sent an email to the seller.

PS I hope the forum will not take this as spam or advertising. We are just discussing a product.
U. D.

 

[DavenLC]

Re: Thru the deck trolling motor?

I've had the same issues. So I made my own trolling mount out of steel and a 2x4.
It sits on the front, able to raise it up when not in use, lower it when using. most of the time I just use my foot to steer. the control handle fits between the top and mid rails and works great.


Hope I've given you an idea on how to mount... a trolling motor that is.

 

[gpfishingdude]

Re: Thru the deck trolling motor?

I have the Minn Kota auto pilot on mine and it has the slide in bracket for the bottom plate to slide into. It just takes me a minute to slide it in and tighten the thumb screw. The rest of the time it is slid back on to the deck. Even at that though I have been trying to figure out how to leave it in that bracket and still load the boat all the way onto the trailer. I have thought about adjusting the stops on the trailer so that I have room for the trolling motor to clear if the boat sits back a bit. I like your idea of the through deck mount though.

 

[mike243]

Re: Thru the deck trolling motor?

I have a quick mount that I got from basspro,it has worked fine with a 36lbs trolling motor but just bought a 50lbs & hope to try it out this weekend,I may have to go with a stronger mount but will post the results if the rain holds off

 

[BigMike63]

Re: Thru the deck trolling motor?

Both Minn Kota and Motorguide sell motors with pontoon mounts. They slide up and down. I personally prefer mine to tilt in when i'm running or trailering and modified my mount my switching the lower bolt to a quick release pin. Add a Prokontroll 360 degrees push/pull steering arm and you have a great setup.

 

[Boss Hawg]

Re: Thru the deck trolling motor?

This?

TrollMayte - Home

You have given me a great idea for my next project :watermelon: