I have an 18ft astro (says on the website it should be about 1300 lbs i dont know if that is with or without trailer (I'm very inexperienced in this, as this is my first boat, picture in signature) Currently I have a piece of sh*t motorguide (very low thrust) that is loud, and I must have it on highest setting, not to mention i dont think it was even meant for the bow, it just came with a bow mount (the handle was on backwards when I got it, so the prop is on the front now, if i were to troll through grass it would be the prop that gets hit not the little bullet nose part cone thing). It cannot even pull my boat in 12 mph winds. Knowing this, what is the best option for me? Never used a foot pedal, and cannot have a recessed spot for one, but I want to have one with a foot pedal because bending over to move it, is going to cause me to fall in the water one day. I almost fell in the other weekend about 20-25 times within an hour. I do not have a preference of minkota > motorguide, and I have no problem drilling new holes as long as I dont have to patch up the old ones. I do have (I think 12v not sure) a plug at the front of my boat that connects to my battery. I dont exactly WANT to take it anywhere to get it installed, but I'm not against it. Any suggestions welcome, I will only fish about 15mph winds or less, so I dont need an insane one that costs an arm and a leg.

EDIT, all I know is that the current one is a motorguide x3 model. No idea what the thrust is, but it was cheap and has a handle.

I would suggest as much TM as you can afford. I had an 18 foot Ranger and when I traded it on my current 20 ft. BassCat, I had just put a new Minnkota TM on it. Same size as the MG on my BassCat. I wish I had the dealer switch em out. For my money the Minnkota is far superior. Quieter by a long shot.

I was looking at this one, http://www.minnkotamotors.com/Products/EDGE-55-LB-45-INCH-SHAFT-FOOT/ the price is fine for me. Has anyone had a similar one, and what kind of rig was it on?

You want at least a 24 volt and even a 36 would be ok if you had room for the batteries. I have a 18.5 ranger with a 36 mk. You can have too little power but never too much same as a. It motor. You can find a good deal on s used one if you keep you eyes open. I got mine for 650 used, new it was about 1100. Hope this helps

do you really think I need that much power? maybe a 24 volt 70lb thrust would be more worth it? http://www.minnkotamotors.com/Products/EDGE-70-LB-45-INCH-SHAFT-FOOT/ only 600, is fine by me. I have problems buying anything used, so I dont want to go that route.

Minn Kota Fortrex 24 volt 80 thrust 45 in shaft FC/BM. I'm thinking you will not be happy with that Edge 55 the 70 may work if your looking to save some cash.

Power is not the only consideration. When you move up to 24 or 36 volt systems, you also get longer battery life during the day. You can stay out longer on windy days even at high thrust levels. I'm not sure but would imagine this also translates to longer battery life due to less stain on one battery.
All that said, you really can't have too much power!

and this is why I ask, because I do not know ANYTHING about these, thats why i have one that is not enough power.

+1 on 24 Volt 80 lb, you might look at maxxum over fortrex save you some money, both good Minn Kota products, have had both.

I may have said price isnt a big deal, but this just went from thinking i was gonna pay $400, to now $1000-$1200. Is there really a $600 difference from a 70-80? I only plan to keep this boat for another year, and then im selling it as is (taking the hds-7 off) but ill keep the TM on it.

Then I would deal with what I had for another year and make sure the next boat had the proper equipment. Upgrades are way to pricy to do for a year worth use. I just updated a lot of items on my boat but plan on using her for another 5 plus years.

Thats not an option. Not being able to fish in 10+ mph winds in texas is not acceptable.

I'm pretty sure I have like a 36lb thrust. Something to power an inflatable raft.

What he said. I've never heard anyone say their TM was too much for their boat. Not possible.

The best advise advise that you received was to buy a used trolling motor and put it on. Yes you can do out yourself but it is possible that you might have to run heavier gauge writes to it.

I understand you not liking used but the boat is used and you only want to keep it a year. Why not get more bang for your buck and enjoy the year of fishing and it might make the boat easier to sell in the future. An experienced person will see out is under powered and take that into consideration when looking at your boat to buy.

It isn't all about power. A 24v or 36v system will not only provide more power but will give you a full days worth of battery power to fish. You cheap out and go with a small 12v TM then you will find you will start having low batteries and cut your fishing days down to partial days.

If the boat were an aluminum rig I would say the 24 volt is plenty. However, any glass rig 18ft+ needs a 36 volt system. You can NEVER have too much TM. Never.

I'll sell you a used Minn Kota Maxxum 101 36 volt for $300 new steering cables and pull rope. Go to Wally World get some new batteries and you will have plenty of power.

hot damn. If you have it in a couple weeks then I'll grab that from you. Cant do anything today though, I'm out of state for a bit.

I have a Minn Kota 101 on my 17.5 ft boat. It came with a one battery 55 Minn Kota but I would kill the battery. I put a second battery in parallel and soon upgraded to a to a 74lb Minn Kota. When the opportunity came along to upgrade again I went to a 101lb. I get about 3.5 mph on the gps on high. Ain't no such thing as too much trolling motor.

Thank everyone for the feedback!
Also, I'm not all about speed, mostly just enough power to go through the wind. Hopefully me and Reinke can make a deal soon! and I guess, if I spend the money now, when i sell the boat I can just put the current TM back on there. I dont plan to get much for the boat maybe $4000-$5000, because it can go pretty damn quick. (75ish if youre alone and the weather is right)

I have a MK Edge 70 on my 18ft Ranger and love it!

I have a similar size and style boat with a Minn Kota Edge 55, and it is not powerful enough. I'll be upgrading for sure. I have access to a Maxxum 65, but I'd like to know that will be powerful enough before swapping them out. I'm not so sure it will be.

70 will be plenty 80 would be nice but not needed. 36v on that size rig is nuts you're going to add a ton of weight to the boat then you gotta find room for three batteries and a three or four bank charger which is also very heavy. Probably talking hundreds of pounds there. I like the longer shaft tm's if it gets real nasty you wont be blowing the prop out over every wave.

You would do well with a 36v or 24v Minn Kota or Motorguide whatever you can find. I do have a question. You said that the prop was facing away from the boat to go forward. I'm wondering if you are running the TM in reverse rather than forward thrust. This would cause a serious power loss. Also, if you are running in forward with the prop out in front that means that your battery is hooked up backwards.. They are just DC motors.. hooked to a battery one way it spins one way and will spin the other way when you switch the wires on the battery..

Just checking you might look at that before spending anything. That is an older boat and it worked for quite some time with that TM before.

Jody

Yeah I re-read that sounds like the previous owner had it on right and you reversed the head back to the transom mount.
Prop should be facing the same way your big motors is.

the tm that came with it did not work. i bought a new one which was apparently a transom one but came with a bow mount, had i not moved the handle i would have to use reverse to go forward.

That Makes more sense. Sorry, that wasn't clear in the original post. Logic is sometimes wrong.. LOL
Hope you find a TM that will work for you. I would get a 24v 80 - 82 lb thrust for that boat.

Good Luck


Jody

I'll have to respectfully disagree with that. I have an 18.6' Triton (TR186) and I have a 24V, 82 lb Motorguide and it has plenty of power. He can get a 5 speed for probably not too much $$, even a used one. John with jonestrollingmotors could probably help him out, and give good unbiased information.

I just purchased this one a few weeks ago. Its working out great so for for my 19' Sprint.

Its a 24V / 65 thrust. I run it on setting #2 or #3 most of the time and rarely #4 in wind. #5 is pulling the boat all over the place and is almost uncontrollable. Im pretty sure this particular model is a BPS exclusive and is $500. It is not listed on Minn Kota website.

http://www.basspro.com/Minn-Kota-Edge-65/45-FootControl-BowMount-Trolling-Motor/product/1311141532/


The 70lb /24 V is $630 w/ a $70 mail in rebate through June 1. making it $560.

I couldn't justify paying $130 more upfront for the additional (5)lbs of thrust.

I would put a 80 or 82 on it. You won't regret it

Do you guys not remember running brute 56 lb thrust trolling motors on 20 foot bass boats 20 years ago and doing just fine?

OP for what you are looking for a good 24 volt system is all you need. 80-82 pounds of thrust is more than enough

Good luck

http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbt...ntrolled#UNREAD

You guys are funny sometimes.... 36 volt 1200$ TM on a 18' 4k boat???

The one above is 200$....install some big foot buttons on the deck at 10 and 2....you'll be safer until you get some water time....peace

But a Minn Kira Terrova 24v 80# w/ I-Pilot
You will never regret it.
Size
Power
Longevity
Extra Systems
Anchor lock
Track back
Great trolling motor

I have the same size ProCraft. Just bought on line from Walmart an 70 maxxum that does a great job. If your going to sell it next year a 65 or 70 alteran( sorry about the spelling)can also be found at walmart. they shipped it to my front door in 3 days. Just my 2 cents.

get a used 24v MK max 70, 74, or 80 - tried & true on boats that size. 74's you don't see too often, i don't think they retailed them but dealers used to rig them on new boats quite a bit.

oh yeah and this is very important - you will need to upgrade your circuit breaker and (maybe) power line. Circuit breaker 50a for 70# or 60a for 74# to 80#. Power line should be 6 gauge min, wouldn't hurt to go 4awg.