Trolling Motor Help

[Cloonkeen]

I have a 19 foot Key West and want to put a bow mounter trolling motor on it. There is a high bow rail on it and I would like to keep it. I think if I extend it a couple of inches I think it may work.
Has any one done this?
Also any preference between Motor Guide and Minkota. The Motor guide is much cheaper. Anyone use the wireless? Any problems with it.?

Thanks in advance for any ideas comments.

[DaleH]

One poster on this board or another kept their bow rail, but terminated the ends on either side of the trolling motor. I don't think their's was a 'high' one though, as otherwise you'd lose lateral strength ...

[Poppr]

Something else to consider is shaft length of the trolling motor vs depth required for proper propulsion. Maintaining a drift or working a weed line on a fresh water lake under minor wave conditions is one thing.....fishing a rip on the flats in any type of a swell with wind is another. The front end of the boat pitches more than you would think and the longer the shaft the better.

I have a 17' CC with a Motor Guide gator mount saltwater series setup. A GWB67-24V on a 50" shaft... that gives me 67lbs of thrust. I went with a tiller control motor after I had numerous problems with two different "wireless" models. Fast forward 5 years and they still can't get the remote unit to work if the reviews I found on Basspro are to be relied on. That setup does fine on the flats without too much wave action and can pull the boat along at about 3-5 knots for a few hours with a full charge.

I had sufficient footprint for the mounting bracket and it does not change the profile of the boat significantly when up or down. I store it down when the motor is not installed.

The two extra 12v deep cycle battries and onboard charger add a few pounds to the boat as well and their placement can be a challenge if the boat was not designed to have a trolling motor.

If I had a 19' boat and $$ I would go with a 36V setup and 109lbs of thrust on a 60" shaft if you plan on using it on anyting other than the flattest of water. Of course that would mean 4 12V batteries (3 for trolling motor/ 1 for cranking engine). A good amount of extra weight and space on any boat but it would not dissapoint you on being able to hold a drift in any rip under most "sane" fishing conditions.

[hosenfeffer]

Would definitely go with the longer shaft as mentioned.
Have used the minnkota wireless for two years and other than leaving remote on wrist and picking fish out of the water no problems. The new ones are supposed to be completely waterproof not water resistant.
I can control the boat from anywhere and the auto pilot is really neat on some drifts.
If bottom fishing I can come awful close to no drift at all offshore or run along a line with ease. Really choppy seas can disrupt auto pilot, usually if that rough it ceases to be fun anyway.
No experience with motorguide
Buy decent batteries and ones up front can take a beating so well mounted is a requirement. I opted for the agm for vibration purposes with no problems.

[spitfisher]

I too have a keywest 186cc with bow rails, and yes they're about a foot high off the deck. I have read on other forums of a gentleman claiming the motorguide will work on his KW, fits without removal or cutting of the bowrail. It's the saltwater wireless model.
I enquired to him about getting some pictures, but no such luck.

I thought about buying the trolling motor, and making a small 3inch wide cut in the bow rail, finish it off with plugs or rubber caps. Found some a home depot that would work for ( rubber caps for chair legs) another idea was to make the cut and have a sleeve that could slide right over the cut and be held in place by friction.

One thing is for sure, if you will be in any waves, you'll likely have to go a 60 inch shaft.

[Cloonkeen]

Thanks for all the imput guys.
Splitfisher, I also saw the posting on the KW site and was also unsuccessful on reaching the gentleman.
I may just take a chance and buy the wireless motorguide and see what happens.

[spitfisher]

Thanks for all the imput guys.
Splitfisher, I also saw the posting on the KW site and was also unsuccessful on reaching the gentleman.
I may just take a chance and buy the wireless motorguide and see what happens.

good luck, post back with your results, take some pics,