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Canoe trolling motor battery? #12279234 06/05/17 02:54 PM
Joined: Jul 2014
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DARC8man Offline OP
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Hey, i just bought an old town saranac 146 canoe. I also got a minn kota endura max 40lb thrust trolling motor to mount on the canoe. I am not sure which battery would be best(around $100) i am thinking about getting the everstart maxx 29 dc. Does anyone have suggestions on batteries they have used with a similar set up and how much usage/time you get out of a battery? I have seen many ways to mount the motor I am thinking one that basically clamps a 2x4 to the 2-3" lip on the side(which is very sturdy feeling). Can anyone suggest any specific way to mount or not to mount? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Re: Canoe trolling motor battery? [Re: DARC8man] #12279958 06/05/17 10:37 PM
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Brad R Offline
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I paddle now most of the time but I registered my Meyers Sportspal S-15 when I first bought it 2 or 3 years ago and it has a 55 lbs. thrust Minn Kota and I use an Optima Blue Top battery. It really is an excellent battery but I never found it to have a particularly long charge period. I guess I got around 4 hours running it at 50%. I'd stay with one of the more generic brands I think.

As regards the TM mount, my S-15 has a flat transom so I can mount mine off the back. But, many other canoes use 2 by 4s mounted to the gunwales and off to the side (near the back) and within reach for easy operation.

If you live here in the D/FW area, Kevin Dismuke is one of the "go to" guys for aluminum fabrication. I've never heard anyone say a bad word about his work, so he is well thought of. He could mock you up something I would imagine.

I love fishing out of my canoe. If it weren't for the fact that they don't hold position as easily as pedal kayaks can, I'd likely fish out of it more than a kayak.

Brad

Re: Canoe trolling motor battery? [Re: DARC8man] #12280104 06/06/17 12:33 AM
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IslandJim Offline
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What most people don't consider is that trolling motors and their props are designed to push(or pull) around a fishing boat that may weigh 1500 to 2000 pounds. For that duty, you need a powerful, wide prop and a hefty battery. When you put a trolling motor on a kayak or canoe that might weigh 350 pounds total, the total thrust doesn't need to be as beefy. I got a 40 pound thrust trolling motor(free) to put on the side of my Pescador 12. Some guys on this forum, or the Texas Kayak Forum, had posted about using a model airplane prop on the TM. They said they didn't get more speed, but used about 1/3 of the power(amperage) that the TM prop used. I went to the RC/Model airplane shop in Corpus and bought a 12" plastic prop, and adapted it to my TM. I cut an inch off each tip to match the skeg depth on my TM. I bought a plastic wine glass at a thrift store, cut off the stem to a point, and mounted it over the prop, as a prop spinner, to provide a smooth transition of the water past the prop. It worked like a charm! Since I was using a much more efficient prop, pushing a light load, I wouldn't need as big a battery as a bass boat uses. I shopped online for sealed, deep cycle AGM batteries, and found a 35 amp-hour Wheelchair battery that only weighs 27 pounds, as opposed to 60+ pound marine deep cycle batteries. The vendor mailed it to me, as they are sealed, for about $65.00. It worked great on the kayak, but I didn't like or need it enough to go through the title/registration/numbers/sticker hassle. I put it on my 12-foot Low Tech Poling Skiff, my Dad's 1959 flat-bottomed aluminum rowboat. I use it all the time in the marshes and flats. It pulls the 350-pound skiff just fine, and I have never come home with less than 12 volts in the battery. I usually get at least two trips before I charge the battery.
Bottom line: If your boat is light and efficient, like a canoe or kayak, you don't need a lot of brute power and nearly such a big battery. I couldn't make myself put a 60-pound battery in my 60-pound kayak!
Good luck, and don't be afraid to try something untraditional!
IslandJim


I'm an Eighth Day Adventist. On the Eighth Day, God went fishing!
Re: Canoe trolling motor battery? [Re: DARC8man] #12280514 06/06/17 11:11 AM
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Brad R Offline
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IslandJim makes some good points. In the end, I'm not all that big about electric power, any power other than my arms and legs, to move from one place to another. But, it doesn't take much TM size to do it. A 30 lbs. thrust moves these canoes and kayaks along pretty well.

Tony, down in Houston, makes TM packages for Hobie PAs and he uses a very small TM to push very heavy Hobie PAs around with speeds comparable to larger TMs.

What is missing from the market? Not a power form of propulsion, so much, but something that would literally be about the size of an electric egg beater, that would require much, much lighter batteries, with a designated role of doing nothing more than "holding water."

As little as the thrust is to move a canoe across a lake at a good clip, can you imagine how very little a device could be, how little energy it'd consume, with an objective to simply hold a canoe statically, in place?

Ahh! The issue might be politicians salivating over it as yet another source of tax revenue, registrations. It is possible that such a device would get around these other silly codes that affect TMs perhaps under the rationale that they wouldn't be actually used to propel or move anything. Actually, it would be the opposite: a small battery and a set-up to . . . NOT MOVE. It could be operated with a small joy stick.

Most of us actually like to pedal and paddle and we chose canoes and kayaks for this reason. What we don't like is blowing around on water once we arrive at our fishing destinations which is a particular problem for canoes and some kayaks.

Brad

Re: Canoe trolling motor battery? [Re: DARC8man] #12280652 06/06/17 12:46 PM
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Jimbo Offline
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It's time for kayaks and canoes and other small craft to be exempt from having to register in my opinion.
With the new trolling motor pods that manufacturers are coming out with you can't tell from a distance unless you see someone not using a paddle.
The technology is already there with TM's that hold you in place using GPS, along with smaller power supply.
TM's are nothing more than another electronic fishing aid same as fish finders or power poles....Ooops, probably shouldn't give them ideas!
Unfortunately our politicians have a tight death grip on our wallets and won't dare give in for fear of losing a dollar.

Last edited by Jimbo; 06/06/17 12:50 PM.

Just one more cast!

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