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I WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR ADVISE ...........I'M CONSIDERING PURCHASING A MINN KOTA EM 80 OUT DRIVE MOUNTED TROLLING MOTOR FOR MY 17.5' WANNA BE FISHING BOAT...3.0L WITH ALPHA 1 OUTDRIVE...BOAT WITH EM MOTOR AND BATTERIES ETC WILL WIEGH APPROX. 2400 LBS. WHAT CAN I REALISTICALLY EXPECT FOR RUN TIMES AND TROLLING SPEED IN SMALL WAVES ETC. (ON LAKE ERIE) AND BATTERY PERFORMANCE....ANY ADVISE ON HOW I SHOULD SET IT UP AND WHAT BATTERIES YOU WOULD RECOMMEND....THANKS

Well tim hasn't been around for awhile. heard he moved on to a regular job.

A motor mounted trolling motor is a great tool but you'll still have some steering issues. It's easier to pull a boat than to push one. From my experience you'd be better off with a bow mount with autopilot and bigger is best.

My boat is heavy and my Terrova won't make it all day at speeds over 1.5 and it's iffy even at 1.3 depending on currents etc. Thats with 3 27 class batteries from crown. At 1.0 or less I get a couple days out of the batteries. Anything over 1.3 I use my kicker to power the boat and the autopilot to steer with. On my much lighter Yarcraft I got a lot more run time with an 80 pound 24 Volt MinnKota at least when the batteries were fresh.

I assume you don't have a kicker and use the big motor but it's too fast. The easiest and most economical way to slow you down is to get some bags. Styeering is where the AP shines.

Guess we need a few more details to be more specific. Also Craig at Erie Outfitters understands what you'll need and has some pretty impressive spring prices most of the time.

YOU DID GUESS RIGHT....WAY TO FAST WITH BIG MOTOR...ALSO MY BOAT IS AN OPEN BOW WITH A LARGE PERMANANT SWIM PLATFORM.....THE EM SOUNDED LIKE THE EASIEST WAY BUT I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING ABOUT STEERING....I DON'T LIKE STEERING THRU CHANNELS AT IDLE....WITH THE OPEN BOW IT PRESENTS A MOUNTING PROBLEM....I'VE THOUGHT ABOUT MAKING A SMALL TRIANGULAR MOUNTING PLATFORM IN THE VERY FRONT OF THE OPEN BOW...I DON'T REALLY WANT TO DRILL HOLES THRU THE FIBERGLASS.....I MAY BE UPGRADING TO A REAL FISHING BOAT IN A FEW YEARS...THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT MARC.....I LOOKING AT ALL ALTERNATIVES......WHO'S TIM?

MARC, I TOOK A RIDE OVER TO ERIE OUTFITTERS THE OTHER DAY AND PICKED UP A COUPLE BAGS...CRAIG TOOK THE TIME TO SHOW ME HOW TO RIG THEM UP AND USE THEM, AND WITH MY SIZE BOAT RECOMMENDED A PAIR OF 22 INCHERS....WHAT IS NICE ALSO, IS THAT IF I FIND I NEED A DIFFERENT SIZE HE WILL EXCHANGE THE ONES I BOUGHT AND REFUND THE DIFFERENCE BACK TO ME IF I WOULD NEED TO GO DOWN A SIZE, OR I WOULD ONLY PAY THE DIFFERENCE IF I NEED TO GO LARGER....CAN'T LOOSE OUT ON THAT DEAL, THANKS FOR THE ADVISE.........

Good show. Craig always puts that extra something into his services.

I use bags on my boat at times too. Mostly on long battery draining days or nights. I went with the 28" bags after trying franks 18". It allows me to run some extra RPM's to keep batteries charged. 1.5 is about as slow as I can get with even them.

A secondary effect (that i can't prove) is that I think it slows some of the boat surging in rough water.

I wouldn't sweat over drilling a few mounting holes. they can be filled and fixed at a later date. A bowmount electric motor WITH autopilot is worth it's weight in gold!!! you'll never have to touch your main steering wheel while trolling. no more tangle lines from going in circles!

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I DO PLAN ON INSTALLING A BOW MOUNT BY THE FALL OR BY NEXT SEASON FOR SURE.....MADE QUITE A FEW EQUIPMENT PURCHASES RECENTLY (NEW GPS/SONAR UNIT. COUPLE NEW TROLLING RODS AND REELS ETC. ETC.) AND KIND OF BEEN GETTING THE EVIL EYE LATELY....A GOOD BOW MOUNT AND BATTERIES, CHARGER ETC. IS A PRETTY BIG EXPENDITURE RIGHT NOW AND I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO SLEEP IN THE BOAT! I'VE BEEN INVESTIGATING UNITS AND WAS THINKING ABOUT A 24V TERROVA OR POWERDRIVE WITH THE I-PILOT....WITH THE SMALL BOAT I HAVE (17.5 FOOT) I WOULD LIKE TO BE ABLE TO USE IT ON SMALL INLAND LAKES WHEN LAKE ERIE IS TOO ROUGH....WOULD ONE OF THESE UNITS SERVE MY NEEDS? THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT....