Conference wahoo::fishing-v2

    come on you guys anyone have a motor guide trolling motor?  I really
    would like to know how they perform before I shell out the 300 big
    boys.
    
    Brian

    
    
         FIRE a way !!  gitzit !!!
    
                                                   minn kota

What do you want to know?  I have a brute 750 12/24 volt model.

Rep -.1

Bob,
	Do you mean to tell me you finally got rid of that ratty old
Johnson electric you had hanging off that otherwise beautiful Ranger of
yours?   Miracles will never cease!!!!

Al

    
    	Why thank you Mr. Murphy......My 18 lb thrust had an electrical
    	meltdown in little over a year.  The calls to Customer Service
    	were no help.  I will find out the damage AFTER I send it to
    	Maryland.  Disappointing.
    
    	Gitzit'
    
    	
    
    

    Oh wow you guys are just so witty this morning.  Gosh I can't keep my
    sides from splitting :^).  Anyway I just want to know how weedless the
    ninja blades are compared to the traditional 2 prop blade on the Minn
    Kota's and is the Dura Amp as good as the Minn Kota's maximizer in
    keeping battery usage down.  Ie my brothers maximizer allows us to use
    his battery on the canoe all weekend and still have at least 50% charge
    left.
    
    Brian

    	Stick with Minn Kota.  If you need more power you should look at
    the new Turbo models as they have 36lbs. of thrust also.  After doing
    MUCH shopping/comparing I went with a Minn Kota Turbo w/Power drive.
    I felt that I got much more for my money than with a Motor Guide.  The
    prop on the turbo is a new design from the older Minn Kota models.  I
    think it's about as weedless as you can get and still have some thrust.
    I do know someone who changes from a Ninja prop on his M.G. when he 
    has to fish in a current because he gets more thrust from the old 2
    blade design.
    				B.C.

    I enjoyed my Minn Kota 565M for a few years until a traded it with my
    boat.  I have small MinnKota that I used with the canoe (once) - it
    works fine.  
    
    On my current boat I have an OMC/Cobra.  No major complaints other than 
    the foot control moving around too much.  I like the arrow that lights up 
    on the head that lets you see which way its pointing at night. 
    
    -donmac

    The NINJA is great in the weeds sucks in the wind.  I have used it
    in shit right up to the surface.  It cuts right throught it.  But
    if you are in open water and the wind is blowing..  I have to keep the
    think on full power to stay on the spot.
    
    I now switch between a Daug Hannon prop and the NINJA.
    
    Hay al.  I liked the old Johnsoin better than the MG.  The New Johnson 
    is a 41 lbs but I could not afford the markup becasue it is a johnson.
    
    I did have one problem with the MG.  I had a hard time getting the
    prop off and taped the shaft with a small hammer..  DON"T EVER DO THIS.
    It nocks it off the bushings  I then used iot for 2 more tourns before 
    getting it looked at.  The entire head was shot..  They replaced it 
    free of charge.,
    
    Bob PUihsys
    

    My Nitro has a 41lb MG. I bought a Ninja for it. Love it. My old boat
    had a Johnson, its prop was NOT weedless.. I do miss the light that
    tells you the direction at night. I dont think they make a weedless
    prop for it.
    
    In the Nitro with a Ninja, I never have trouble staying on a spot in 
    the wind. Maybe its the in thrust lbs? I have never thought about 
    or had to think about putting the original 2 blade prop on. I sure 
    wish the foot control was bolted to the deck -- and I might opt for
    different set up entirely. (Example might be foot control turns
    constant on, manual direction on motor...) 
    Ever try to tie a lure/hook on while running the electric. No telling
    where you end up..

    Has anyone ever tried running a 12 volt model trolling motor with
    24 volts ??? A friend and I just purchased a used 18 lb thrust motor
    guide...We'd like more power and thinking of it from an engineering
    standpoint, and experience with 12 volt fans being used in applications
    where they're run at more then 12 volts, we think it might be ok. The
    main problem would be dissipating the additional watts generated, but
    with the motor submerged in water this might not be a problem. Maybe
    24 volts might be to much, but 18 might work just fine, and we'd end
    up with a 50% increase in thrust...Any inputs???
    
    Marty

    Oh, one more question. Does a deep cycle battery's charge level match
    a specific voltage ? Another words, can I take a volt meter and tell
    what's left in the battery ? What should it be full ? Someone said it
    would read 13.8V ??? Does this sound right ? If it were 50% discharged
    what would one see ? Maybe 11 volts ??? I notice they sell electric
    capacity indicators that appear to be some form of meter that mounts
    in your dash...I assume these must just be a volt meter that has the
    display measured in % charge left instead of volts ??? Thanks for
    any info,
    
    Marty

    Yes, you can tell a batteries charge state by the voltage.  But you
    need a sensitive voltmeter. DVM style which reads to at least 10ths
    of a volt.  I can't recall the cut off voltage when a battery is
    considered discharged.  I can look this up in an excellent lead
    acid battery eng. book I have.
    
    Of course you key to running a '12 volt' motor on 24 is heat
    dissipation.  My guess is 24 volts is pushing it a bit TOO much,
    18 volts I think you could get away with. Why not try 24 volts with
    CAREFUL monitoring of the control head temp and motor temp. 
    

    re -1
    That would be great if you could look up the cut off voltage. Does the
    13.8 volts for a fully charged battery sound right ? That sounds more
    like the alternator output to me...I would think somewhere around 12.8
    volts would be a fully charged battery reading.

    I will look it up.
    

               <<< WAHOO::USER1:[NOTES$LIBRARY]FISHING.NOTE;1 >>>
                          -< Fishing Notes- Archived >-
================================================================================
Note 419.27              Recharging Deep Cycle Batteries                27 of 48
WEDOIT::JOYCE                                        17 lines  26-JAN-1989 10:07
                                 -< use a DVM >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    	Powerboat Reports did a complete report on batteries in their 
    December issue.
    
    	Using a DVM you can determine the state of a battery by reading
    the voltage noload after charging and sitting 48 hours.
                                                                   
    	State of Charge (%)	Voltage
    	
    		100		12.80
    		75		12.60
    		50		12.40
    		25		12.20
    		0		12.00
    
    	Have fun,
    
    	Steve
    

    According to STORAGE BATTERIES  by Vinal who works for the Nat Bureau
    of Stds.  The average cut off voltage on a lead acid battery is 1.75 
    volts per cell.... or 10.5 volts for a 12 volt batt.  That voltage
    is considered the point at which it is discharged to the max point
    which you should discharge it to without damaging the battery by
    overdischarge.  
    
    Jeff

I'm looking at a used canoe that comes with a Minnkota trolling motor.
I'm not a fisherman, so I'm not interested in the trolling motor.
I'd probably sell it if the guy won't split up the package.  I know
nothing about trolling motors.  What should I ask to determine what
it's worth?

Ask the basics...

- What is the brand name and model?

- What is the rated thrust in pounds (i.e. 24 lb thrust)?

- How old is it?

- And most importantly, does it work well.

Once you have this info, pos it and we can give you an estimate of its 
value.

Joe 

    Ok, time to open this note for some new questions.
    
    
    I am almost complete in my boatbuilding project.  An 8ft johnboat for
    small lakes and the chattahoochie river.  I was going to put a small
    outboard on, except for two things.  Certain lakes I want to fish don't
    allow gas motors, and new outboards cost an arm and a leg.  I don't
    want used.
    
    So I am looking at trolling motors.  since I will be fishing still
    water, and a river with a slow current, lbs. of thrust is the question.
    
    Still water, 20 lbs of thrust is fine.
    
    Now the river, is slow moving, and I was wondering if I bought a
    36-40lb thrust trolling motor, does it eat up more juice from the
    battery faster than a 20 lb?  I want to go upriver, and drift down.
    The boat will weigh about 100 lbs, and me, tackle, icechest, battery,
    and partner should bring the TOTAL weight to about 600 lbs.
    
    Since the boat is small, with a close to flat hull design, I think
    that I would have no problems with a 36-40 lb thrust.  It's just the
    current that I am thinking of.  Going upriver in a trolling motor,
    would it really eat up the battery bigtime?
    
    fire away
    
    bob
    

    Bob,
    	The higher the thrust the more battery power you'll need, and thus use
    faster.  If you plan to go any higher than 35lbs of Thrust, your probably
    going to have to go to 24 volts and daul batteries.  Some Trolling
    motor maufacturers make their motors with special circuitry that tries
    to prolong the battery life.  I personally don't know how effective they
    are.  My guess is you probably don't need much more than 25 lbs of
    thrust to do the job you described.
    
    							Gary

    I have the Motor Guide Stealth 2000 that rates 40 lbs.  I use it in the
    crawdad and you guys have seen me and my brother and all that tackle I
    cart around plus a portable livewell, so it's pretty heavy.  I can fish
    a whole day puttering about on a deep cycle delco battery.  However,
    taking it on a river with currents is a different story.  If you do that you
    better be sure you carry two batteries and that the current is not
    really too fast.  We tried the lower part of the the merrimac in my
    brothers canoe using a min kota 32lb with maximizer and we burned the
    battery  out coming back against the current it was a two hour walk
    along the shore line home.  My stealth has Dura Amp which is the
    similar as the Maximizer and it does extend the life of the battery 
    considerably.
    
    Brian

    Well I would opted for the highest rating (before needing 24volts)
    .. Its a matter of amps, how much you use. If your just 'strolling'
    your not using anymore amps than the next guy. If you NEED the 
    power, its there. I guess you hav e to figure what you want. I would
    put the bigger thrust moter on. Just be careful of where you have
    to come 'all the way back' from. 
    

    How far do you plan on going "upstream". I would figure, with even 
    
    1 big battery, fully loaded that you could go quite a ways upstream
    
    leaving say 1/3 to 1/2 charge on the battery and fart around for days
    
    on the return trip. Like the previous noter said, go as big as you
    
    can afford, then only use what you need. If you need a bunch..it's
    
    there too.
    
                                    Jeff

    thanks for the responses.  I will probably go with a 34 lb thrust.
    As for the river bit, I'll probably go upriver, and driftfish back to
    the truck.
    
    Mainly going to be used for lakes.
    
    bob
    

    Does anyone have the current price of the Minn Kota 3hp and 4hp
    trolling motors from LL Bean?  I have not found them in their catalogs
    and they have been unable to locate any prices over the phone.  Do
    they still sell trolling motors?  Does anyone have last years prices?
    
    Thanks
    Dave

    Dave,
    
    I don't know about L.L.Beans but the Bass Pro which I have in front of
    me has them listed anywhere from $329.95 to $354.95. The price is
    broken down by horsepower and shaft length.
    
    Just a side note. I bought the 43lb. thrust Turbo Minn Kota last year
    and I love it. Not only does it push my crawdad around at a good pace
    if need be. It also last 3 times longer than my 10 year old Minn Kota.
    
    Hope this helps.
    Bob M

    Dave
    
    LL Bean will be a lot more than BPO.  By the way Northern Bass which is
    only an hour from LKG sells the Motor Guide Stealth ST2000 which is
    40HP with maximizer for $299.  You could drive down there and save
    shipping costs.  The MG pushes my crawdad around just nifty too.
    
    Brian

     My problem is with my MINN KOTA 65 trolling motor.
     This motor has 5 forward speeds and 3 reverse.

     Last year I had to replace the plastic casing on 
     the upper part of the motor. As I was required to 
     unplug the wire connectors inside the housing I was
     wise enough to draw a little diagram of what color
     wire went where. Apparently I was not wise enough to
     draw the diagram correctly!!!

     All last year I put up with a motor that did what it
     wanted. Some reverse speeds were forward- fast speeds
     were slow, slow were fast...

     Well I decided this year would be different & I'd try
     to open it up and fix it- problem is without a wiring
     diagram it's an exercise in futility. As I bought this 
     motor used I didn't get the paperwork with it.

     Does anyone have the wiring diagram for this motor. Running
     off a copy for me would leave me eternally grateful.

     chet

     P.S. I know I can take it to a dealer for repair
          but I'd rather put the money into a new 
          motor if it came to that! 
  

    If I understand your problem I think I have a solution that will work
    for you.  First draw a diagram of the throttle control as shown
    below:
    
    				 +----- Stop
            			 |
    			     -1  0  1
    			  -2           2
    
    		reverse	-3               3 forward speeds
    		speeds
    			               4
    			            5
    
    Now, run your motor (submerge the motor when running, never run out of
    water) and notice the ACTUAL operation at each of the 9 positions of
    the throttle.  Add this label information on the original diagram. 
    Your new diagram would now look something like this (just an example):
    
    				[4]
    		       [1]   -1  0  1   [-2]
    		   [0]    -2           2    [2]
    
    		  [-1]	-3               3  [5]
    
    			               4  [3]
    			            5  [-3]
    
    Where the ACTUAL speeds are shown within []'s.  This then is your
    wireing diagram.  simply place [-1] at -1 and [-2] at -2, etc, etc...
    
    This should do it.  Let me know if this is a help.
    
    jim
    

    Minn Kota has recalled their 524 Turbo Pro.  They're replacing the
    momentary switch and rewiring the pedal. As a registered owner I got a
    certified letter informing me of this. 
    
    If you, or someone you know, has one (and did not send in the warranty
    card) you may want to call 1-800-779-7870 and ask about repair options.
    
    -donmac

    Anyone happen to have experience with the 4hp MinnKota?  I'm setting up
    a Rangely Guide boat and considering a big electric as the sole means
    of propulsion.
    
    -donmac

The wife gave me a Minkota 865 for my birthday late last month. I've used
it four times now. One word describes it: awesome. The AutoPilot is the
greatest thing since sliced bread.

This motor replaced a Minkota power drive that I've had for about five
years, and the mounting holes lined up perfectly. I have it bow-mounted
on a 14-1/2' Sea Nymph. 36lbs of thrust gives me plenty of oomph. Both
the steering motor and the drive motor are a great deal quieter than my
old motor. The literature says they've redesigned the motor to use much
less current, and I believe it. On my last two times out I've fished for
five hours each time, making heavy use of the trolling motor (including
moving between shoals on Wentworth at the "10" speed setting), and my
Sears DieHard has only gotten down to 11.2 volts both times.

But the greatest thing is the AutoPilot. Line up along a shore line, flip
the "constant on" switch, speed set to 2 (crawling), and just cast your
way along the shore. When you catch a fish, you kill the motor, work the
fish, and when you click the motor back on it remembers the course you
wanted along the shoreline. If the wind tries to blow you off course the
AutoPilot makes corrections and keeps you in a straight line. If you
touch the steering pedal and point the motor somewhere else, that becomes
your new course for the AutoPilot to steer.

Just for the fun of it we used the trolling motor on AutoPilot to take us
back down the channel from Wentworth, and cast surface plugs as we went
(caught a nice smallie in the channel, too!). The AutoPilot went cuckoo
when we went under the bridge. The steel I-beams under the bridge must do
bad things to the earth's magnetic field.

Art

    Art,
    
    Does this Auto pilot work off of Depth, Shoreline Distance or just a
    pointed Direction. Now you are making me regret the new Johnson I 
    had put on the new boat. I actually let the boat dealer talk me into
    it and I hate foot pedals.
    
    Bob M

It works off an electronic compass - mounted on a circuit board in the
head of the motor. Electronic compasses like this were over $1k just a
few years ago, and the price has obviously come way, way down (like PC
memory and disk drives). 

I was afraid that the boat would drift sideways and hence not activate
the autopilot, but that doesn't appear to happen. Whenever it drifts,
either the bow or stern moves off, which is an angular movement, and the
autopilot senses it and makes a steering correction. I was making perfect
passes up and down the shoreline, staying the same distance from the
beaches and docks all the time - and never touching the foot pedal at
all. 

Art

I don't recall who the mfgr was, but I do remember one model of elec. trolling 
motor that incorporated similar technology, but also had the ability to follow
a specified depth.  That way, if fish were hanging or suspended at a certain
depth, the autopilot mode would follow the bottom contour assuring that you 
maintained the proper depth.  A little different than just holding a compass 
direction.  I am still trying to figure out how the motor knows whether there
is sideways drift of the boat if the bow remains pointed in the right
direction.  Something else has to be in play here.

Won't be long before they incorporate differential GPS into these motors as
well!

-joe

I am looking at buying a trolling and would like
any pro-cons on what I want to do, plus an tips
on mounting etc.

 
I have a 12 ft boat and would like to have the following:
 12 vdc
 transom mount
 variable speed
 30 + lb of trust
 $500 or less.
 ease of use 
 extended battery life.

I have been looking at two models

  1)
  	Motor Guide RF Motor 37# Thrust but have heard that the
 	wireless control pad is hard to use as  it is very light weight
  	and keeps moving around.

  2)
	Minn Kota AutoPiolt 36# Thrust, about $50 more expensive.
	Does the AutoPilot work?


  3) 
	Other ???

  
    Would I be better off with wireless control on wired... I was thinking
    about using it for the main driver and if I did that I would like to
    move the conrol box around, otherwise I guess it is  a dont care
    option.
    
Thanks john




    

I have a MinnKota 36# AutoPilot (model 865MX, I think). I think it's
great. However, I think you'll have a difficult time mounting it on your
transom. It's designed to be installed on the bow of a boat, when the bow
is decked over. The base plate *must* be horizontal within a few degrees,
and it's about 4" wide by 20" long. 

Now, I suppose you could construct a mounting base that attaches to your
transom, but it would have to be very rugged to withstand the force of a
36# thrust motor. It kicks pretty strongly when you set it to full speed and
step on the pedal.

Art

    If it is your primary propulsion and you don't want to spend a lot of 
    cash, get a MK Turbo Pro, 42lb thrust, variable speed with maximiser, 
    tiller handcontrol, between $3-400 I think.  When you want to fish,
    just turn the head, tilt the arm up, and go backwards.  Looks stupid.
    Works great. Been there, done that. 
    
    After selling my Ranger I used a small boat like that, with that motor,
    for 18mos.  Now I have the same motor on the transom of my Lund (next 
    to the 75hp) with the foot control bow mount verson of the same motor 
    up front.  
    
    I think it's tough to beat the Turbo Pros for value.  I had the 24V 
    48lb thrust version on the bow of my Ranger.  
    
    I've owned a bunch of MKs, an OMC, an Eagle and a Mercury Thruster,
    plus have used nearly every other brand out there.  I think the high
    end 24V MotorGuides ($!) are really nice, but haven't been impressed 
    with the lower end models.  Other than that IMHO MinnKotas are tough to
    beat.
    
    -donmac

    They sell a mounting block  for the bow of my boat  so that you can
    mount a standard 4" by 21"trolling motor bracket. I am not sure if it
    can take the thrust without moving a few degs.
    
    They said I could order the bow mounting block and if it does not
    work out I can send it back. I think I will do that and give it
    a try as it is much cheaper the buying a trolling motor.
    
    
    On my 8ft jon boat I did use the trolling motor in reverse as the 
    main motor and I agree it works great. It was a demo model and it came
    with a extended handel.
    
    
    thanks john