bow mount trolling motor

[fishfearme]

My lovely wife bought me a new trolling motor. It is a bow mount Minn Kota Riptide motor. I have a 17.5 ft Aquasport Osprey. If anyone has any suggestions about how to mount it, the bow area is small and the deck is not flat. Is there any type of shim I may use because there is about 1 inch of curvature in the deck in the length of the motor mount. Also I am considering an onboard charger,any advice on that. I am going to install a dedicated 12 v battery for the trolling motor. If anyone has any ideas, pictures, or comments feel free to post. I am very particular about my boat, and want to mount this thing correctly. For some reason drilling holes in a boat make me a little nervous. Anyway I welcome any and all comments. I live and fish North Florida ICWW, and if it was up to me i would work 2 days and fish 5.

 

[sprithunter]

Re: bow mount trolling motor

Hey fish, I just mounted my own tolling motor and got alot of advice on the suject. First thing is you will and have to drill holes in the boat unless you want to spend some extra bucks on a removablable mount. I have a 72 sea sprite and tried to find a removable mount for mine. No luck. As far as the mounting area take some measurements and check to make sure you won't drill holes through the hull beneath the water line, you will either have to have a mounting extension made or make one yourself. or Minn Kota does make a clamp type mount but available only on the smaller motors. Hope this helps. If you need ideas send me a picture of the mounting area to spirithunter@charter.net.

 

[edgewater]

Re: bow mount trolling motor

I think Spiritwater is confused....<br />You have a "Bow Mount" trolling motor and Minnkota makes a Quick release mount. The price varies depending on the mount you have. If you have the autopilot model, the mount is about $40. The "sissor style mount is about $70. www.cabelas.com or www.basspro.com has what you need.<br />When mounting this motor to the bow, you'll want to "measure twice, drill once". Be damn sure you have clearance for deployment.<br />When the motor is deployed, it should be as close as possible to the center of the bow, otherwise it will tend to pull harder in one direction than the other. <br />Here's a couple of sites to visit:<br /> http://www.motorboating.com/motorboat/boatkeeper/article/0,12696,435903,00.html <br /> http://www.smithmarine.com/q_a.htm <br />There is a lot more info you can get on line. Just type in your browser:<br /> bow mounted trolling motor installation

 

[Merc4ever]

Re: bow mount trolling motor

I had a problem with my rounded bow with rails my soultion is:

1. Get 2 rectangular pieces of aluminum or stainless around 1/16 thick. Borrow or have someone in a metal shop bend the angle on either side from a tin template of your hull so you can bolt it to the sides of the bow and have a flat edge of the slab level with the top of your bow.

2. Cut a triangular piece a size that will overlap and bend down about an inch over top of the above 2 then bolt them together with 3 Stainless Steel bolts on each side. Have to go back to the shop when you get the triangle marked where the bends need to be.

Now you have a nice big flat shiny deck you can drill and bolt any motor or mount to.

 

[Don S]

Re: bow mount trolling motor

March 31st, 2003

Bet he hasn't set around for the last 8 years waiting on an answer.