Fisherman94
Cadet
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2009
- Messages
- 21
Hello,
I am new to the forums and I thought that I would like to tell how I converted my Minnkota 30 pound thrust transom mount trolling motor to a bow mount. First off, I have a 14 foot aluminum Seaking boat with a 2008 Yamaha 8 HP motor.I know you probably think that a small 8 HP motor goes very very slow but it really does not. Especially for my boat. My boat is small and light which makes it go at least 30-40 mph. Anyways, I had been searching the internet like crazy the past week and could not find any bow mounts for a transom mount trolling motor. So I decided, why not make something? I came up with an idea that turned out to work.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that I did flip the head around 180 degrees on the trolling motor.
Here are the pictures. (Only 6 are not links because there is a 6 image limit..)
Only a 30 inch shaft. My boat's height is very low though.
Bungie cord to keep it from bouncing up and down well trailering.
Top view. The bottom of trolling motors are heavy. So, I decided to make the heavy side be on the right because the previous owner's of this boat I bought smashed the boat into a large rock so when it is on the right it will even out the boat.
Right side.
Left side.
http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu296/alexelliott1994/IMG_0733.jpg
Inside right side
http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu296/alexelliott1994/IMG_0734.jpg
Inside left side
http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu296/alexelliott1994/IMG_0736.jpg
Trolling motor off, outside of mount with countersunk carriage bolts. Notice the grid pattern left behind from the transom mount on the trolling motor.
http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu296/alexelliott1994/IMG_0737.jpg
Trolling motor off, inside of mount. I did notice that the bolts are a little crooked but that does not matter too much because it is very sturdy.
http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu296/alexelliott1994/IMG_0738.jpg
Added four washers to each bolt to keep outside of mount straight because the outside of my boat is curved. (Obviously)
Also, I do keep my battery for my trolling motor near the transom. The trolling motor's power cord that connects to the battery is only 5 feet long. I have a 14 foot long boat. So what I did is bought 12 feet of 10 gauge wire in red and black and I am going to wire it to the current cord. I bought a few feet extra just for some slack.
Why did I do this?
Well, the main reason is because I rarely backtroll with it so when it is windy on the lake I usually just troll forward but then the wind blows the bow around making me lose control of the boat when the trolling motor is attached to the transom.
The other reason is because I did not want to spend over $300 for a bow mount trolling motor when this one only cost me a little over $100.
Materials used
Pressure treated wood
Outside block mount, 2 and 1/2 inches high and 4 inches long.
Small square shaped blocks that troller was mounted to, 1 and 1/4 inches high and 1 and 1/4 inches long.
I will have to go check what the width of each piece of wood was.
Hardware
Two 2 inch carriage bolts (countersunk into outside mount) with a 1/4 inch thread
Two 1/4 inch nuts
Eight 1/4 inch washers
----------
Thank you for taking the time to read this thread and I hope this will help you out, too!
I am new to the forums and I thought that I would like to tell how I converted my Minnkota 30 pound thrust transom mount trolling motor to a bow mount. First off, I have a 14 foot aluminum Seaking boat with a 2008 Yamaha 8 HP motor.I know you probably think that a small 8 HP motor goes very very slow but it really does not. Especially for my boat. My boat is small and light which makes it go at least 30-40 mph. Anyways, I had been searching the internet like crazy the past week and could not find any bow mounts for a transom mount trolling motor. So I decided, why not make something? I came up with an idea that turned out to work.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that I did flip the head around 180 degrees on the trolling motor.
Here are the pictures. (Only 6 are not links because there is a 6 image limit..)
Only a 30 inch shaft. My boat's height is very low though.
Bungie cord to keep it from bouncing up and down well trailering.
Top view. The bottom of trolling motors are heavy. So, I decided to make the heavy side be on the right because the previous owner's of this boat I bought smashed the boat into a large rock so when it is on the right it will even out the boat.
Right side.
Left side.
http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu296/alexelliott1994/IMG_0733.jpg
Inside right side
http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu296/alexelliott1994/IMG_0734.jpg
Inside left side
http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu296/alexelliott1994/IMG_0736.jpg
Trolling motor off, outside of mount with countersunk carriage bolts. Notice the grid pattern left behind from the transom mount on the trolling motor.
http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu296/alexelliott1994/IMG_0737.jpg
Trolling motor off, inside of mount. I did notice that the bolts are a little crooked but that does not matter too much because it is very sturdy.
http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu296/alexelliott1994/IMG_0738.jpg
Added four washers to each bolt to keep outside of mount straight because the outside of my boat is curved. (Obviously)
Also, I do keep my battery for my trolling motor near the transom. The trolling motor's power cord that connects to the battery is only 5 feet long. I have a 14 foot long boat. So what I did is bought 12 feet of 10 gauge wire in red and black and I am going to wire it to the current cord. I bought a few feet extra just for some slack.
Why did I do this?
Well, the main reason is because I rarely backtroll with it so when it is windy on the lake I usually just troll forward but then the wind blows the bow around making me lose control of the boat when the trolling motor is attached to the transom.
The other reason is because I did not want to spend over $300 for a bow mount trolling motor when this one only cost me a little over $100.
Materials used
Pressure treated wood
Outside block mount, 2 and 1/2 inches high and 4 inches long.
Small square shaped blocks that troller was mounted to, 1 and 1/4 inches high and 1 and 1/4 inches long.
I will have to go check what the width of each piece of wood was.
Hardware
Two 2 inch carriage bolts (countersunk into outside mount) with a 1/4 inch thread
Two 1/4 inch nuts
Eight 1/4 inch washers
----------
Thank you for taking the time to read this thread and I hope this will help you out, too!
Last edited:
