I'm going electric with my Fish N Dive. It's a great yak for stability and carrying capacity but it doesn't move very quick. To compensate for this I've added a 55lb thrust Minn Kota I had laying around. Here are a few pics of where I'm at so far.



Additional Photos...
http://s1176.photobucket.com/albums/x338/Pat_Henderson/Trolling%20Motor/?albumview=slideshow

I'm waiting on a waterproof plug kit I ordered off ebay to arrive so that I can finish the wiring. I also ordered some waterproof led's in red, green, and white that I'm going to install to allow for early morning launches.

I'm still undecided on the steering system. Due to the nature of the Fish N Dive foot-control was not an option. I'm might leave the cables as is or possibly route them through the hull and mount a directional handle through the front hatch.

Only three holes where drilled into the top of rear cargo area to attach this system. I used rubber booted nuts that compress when the screw is turned to attached the plate over the cargo area. These nuts act as insulators and shock absorbers in addition to securing the plate. If this system works the wood will be exchanged for aluminum box and painted. All other holes are in the front hatch which is easily replaced if I decide against this in the future.

Three steps left after the lights and plug arrive are: convert a screw-lid bucket to live well(as seen on yakangler.c0m), install a bilge pump in the hull, and mount my paddle clips.

I'm going to install my paddle clips such that the blades of the paddles will be positioned to deflect bow splash from powering through waves.

After that I'll need to register this thing.

55#
That aught to get ya moving along. Think there is a kit for the back of our fish n dives to mount it solid. Don't know how much $ though. So far I've been content to paddle.

and paddle and paddle and paddle and paddle! ZoMbie is a beast!

Hey Zombie does your Fish N Dive look all crazy warped on the bottom? What finally decided me on adding the motor happened about a week ago. I was pushing along across Lewisville and I noticed that every time I'd stop paddling to make a cast the yak would pull to the right. I checked each time to make sure I wasn't dragging a spare bit of rope or something but couldn't find anything. I'd noticed this tendency before but it seemed particularly bad that day.

While trying to find the centerline of the yak to mount the motor plate I had to rely on a string pulled tight from the tip of the bow to the rear, as no two elements of the yak seemed centered. Indeed I found that if I measured from the centerline to any element in the design of the kayak, they weren't exactly mirrored. Here is a photo looking down into a scupper in the cargo area, notice how the top isn't aligned quite correct to the bottom?



I've found other forum posts from Fish N Dive owners on the web that have found similar problems. Must have been a poor mold or assembly process a few years ago. This yak is about 4 years old now.

Just a quick question to keep you out of trouble. Where are the TPW registration numbers?

havent notice. mine didnt pull last time out though. how do you store yours. did you buy it new?

Thank you, however may I suggest that you read the entire post please.

I store mine upside-down on two pool-noodle covered cross-bars. I traded for it with another TFF member.

I have a 50-pound thrust Minn Kota Endura that I mount on the transom of an old 14-foot aluminum boat. I want to make a couple of observations and raise a couple of questions about your project.

First the observations: My trolling motor is pretty heavy. Something like 26 pounds. Also, at some of the higher speeds, it twists pretty hard on my transom.

Now the questions:

1) Will the kayak plastic that you are mounting to take the forces? You will want to spread the forces out as much as possible. It might be a good idea to check out the mounting kit that Fish Zombie mentioned and maybe get a look at the specs for it. Even if you don't buy it, maybe you can steal some concepts and/or get an idea of the upper weight/force limits.

2) Will the motor stay mounted to your kayak? My interpretation of your system is that the motor will try to pull itself off the back of the board. It looks like you are depending on friction to keep the motor attached to the board. Is that enough? With the plastic Minn Kota mount, you can only get the screws so tight. You might want to construct some kind of lip at the end (and sides?) of your board to help keep the motor from sliding backward into the water. Just in case.

Disclaimer -- I have no experience attaching things to my kayak, and I can't see your system that well, so I could be completely off base.

Good luck with your project, and let us know how things work out!

brian i like your tadpole.