cheap trolling motor whats the catch?

[polk county]

Bass pro shopps has a 55lb thrust trolling motor for 200 bucks. What?s the catch? How can they make this thing 200 cheaper than anything else? What did they do to it? The mounting bracket and hardware are solid metal as well as the shaft. The more expensive models are almost all flimsy plastic.
I?m tempted not to buy it because its so inexpensive. I wonder what they did to it.
Any ideas?

Part two
What makes a salt water trolling motor salt water ready? Will it last twice as long in fresh water?

Thanks

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: cheap trolling motor whats the catch?

different seals, and parts. the motor is a loss leader. they sell them at a loss to get you into there store, hoping you will buy more. very common in retail, when they put there own name on it. and i bet they are not loosing much on them.

 

[John_S]

Re: cheap trolling motor whats the catch?

I believe you are talking about the Prowlers, that look like they are made by MotorGuide. You can get an equivelent MotorGuide or MinnKota for about $230-$250. Given they are made by MotorGuide, there may only have cosmetic differences, but they may also have internal componet differences. Since it is BassPro brand, warrantee may have different clauses.

 

[JB]

Re: cheap trolling motor whats the catch?

You have a PM, PC.

 

[polk county]

Re: cheap trolling motor whats the catch?

so whats up with digital trolling motors? Whats the advantage?

 

[jtexas]

Re: cheap trolling motor whats the catch?

digital T/M use pulse width modulation to control speed, vs speed coils. The speed coils have the same (or nearly the same?) current draw at low speed as at high speed. PWM uses pulses to drive the motor, so at say, 50% power setting, the motor is only on half the time. Way more energy efficient.

That $200 motor...is it by any chance foot-control?

 

[JB]

Re: cheap trolling motor whats the catch?

The digital motors use pulse modulation to control the power. The result is much longer battery life except at top speed.

 

[polk county]

Re: cheap trolling motor whats the catch?

That 200 motor is a transom mount. I just though that I could flip the head around, mount it to the bow rail and buy one of those big foot handle extensions.

The digital motors use pulse modulation to control the power. The result is much longer battery life except at top speed.

So does that mean that a digital and analog motor use equal amounts of energy at top speeds?

 

[John_S]

Re: cheap trolling motor whats the catch?

Here is my experience of using a MotorGuide transom mounted trolling motor on the bow:

Using a MG transom mount on the bow, is problematic. I did this with my MG HVT3700, which has 37lbs of thrust. I turned the head 180 degrees, and clamped it to the boat (14' lite alum) (added plywood mount pad). It will work great until you contact a stump or rock with the trolling motor. When you have it on the transom, the latch bar will pop out. In the reverse position the shaft takes all of the force. I was alone in the boat, with minimal gear, speed set 2 or 3, and it bent the shaft. The motor is still workable, but you have to work at sliding it up and down. I won't bother with that experiement again.

I would seriously reconsider, especially with the added torque of a 55lb thrust motor.


Quote:" So does that mean that a digital and analog motor use equal amounts of energy at top speeds?"

Yes, but you seldom use full speed, and if you do, battery won't last that long.

 

[roscoe]

Re: cheap trolling motor whats the catch?

I just did a quick scan of trolling motors and found several in the $189 - $230 price range, 46-55 # thrust.

They are all old style, old technology, and some are even several year old stock