Trolling motor for duck boat?

bluesclues

bluesclues

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I recently bought a used 12 foot alluminum V hull boat. The boat is great but, didn't come with a motor. I am looking to use this boat fishing with the family in the Trent river and duck hunting a large pond.

I have noticed that Canadian Tire has electric trolling motors for reasonable prices - $119-250 minus battery - and was hoping that one of these would work for duck hunting.

The pond is 5-6 feet deep in the center but does have areas that are only 2-3 feet deep and has logs and sea weed scattered throughout. Any experience using a trolling motor in these conditions?

Plus, in late season, when hunting divers off of a large lake, can one of these motors be used to take me out a couple hundred meters and back even if the wind picks up, meaning 1 foot or so waves?

Thanks for all the information you can provide.
 
you could also RAISE the height of your transom by bolting a piece of wood to it so that the motorhead itself is just below the surface of the water- you don't need that big skeg or shaft hanging down b/c it's electric- i have a 55 pound thrust on my canoe( you know how little water that displaces) and my head is about 6 inches below my keel- sure, i have reach up to change speed and direction, but it's not that much of a stretch-the ones on sale at tire are very bottom of the linetypically- mine was about 320 a couple of years back and is a minnkota- you want at least about 30 pounds thrust depending on how you weigh your boat- you can also get a prop shield for your conditions which i would - it's cheaper than a new prop, which can be expensive- that would take care of any "strainers" as we canoeists call them
 
Dude for the money you are looking to spend on an electric, I would go for a small gas engine. Keep your eyes open on Kijiji, you will find some good deals. My buddy and I were out on his 10ft John boat with an electric motor on the Trent, and we had a hell of a time controlling her in the current. A nice 5hp will suit your needs and your budget.
 
I have a 35 thrust Motor Guide on my 14' Lund I use once in a while for the smaller lakes when my 30 hp Yami is on the back end.
This electric motor has adjustments up and down and I can pivot it to and fro as well.
My recommendation is if you go this route, get bigger than you need if wind is a concern.
They don't have the umph that a gas one has.
You can't beat the electric for quiet though.
I take an empty five gallon bucket with me and if it's windy, I fill it with water and stick it
up front to keep the bow down. The wind seems to get under the bow and pushes me around
without the added weight up front.
My buddies go to shore and place rocks in the bow of their boat. I just think this is a waste of
fishing time. When I'm done, I just toss the water overboard.
 
mvarley84 said:
Dude for the money you are looking to spend on an electric, I would go for a small gas engine. Keep your eyes open on Kijiji, you will find some good deals. My buddy and I were out on his 10ft John boat with an electric motor on the Trent, and we had a hell of a time controlling her in the current. A nice 5hp will suit your needs and your budget.
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i've got a small gas ESKA 5 hp 2 cycle runs good/ REALLY need to watch the BALANCE - that thing ADDS 33 pounds right over the tail- plus, there's almost 2 feet of skeg so you need at least 2 feet of depth without figuring how deep your draft is - not to mention that those models go out of production fairly quickly-and it DEPENDS ON THAT WATER FOR COOLING- those models go out of production fairly quickly and parts become unavailable unless it's a johnson , evinrude or omc- so i wouldn't touch it- plus, i can position my battery pack to take care of any balance problem- now, in a duck pond, or in a river, you have a LOT of junk floating and you don't have a lot of depth, so that draft plus the length of your skeg becomes VERY IMPORTANT- unless you like paying for props, driveshafts, crown gears, etc
 
Battery gets weaker as temp drops, I use a small gas outboard for waterfowl duty. But electric is quiet and easy to start.
 
mvarley84 said:
Dude for the money you are looking to spend on an electric, I would go for a small gas engine.
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Small gas engines are expensive and usually garbage if you buy used. Guys bag the #### out of them, run them at full throttle full time and service them every 10 years whether they need it or not. New gas motors prices are retarded. I bought a 2.5 merc for $1000. I use an electric Minn Kota on my boats and they work well. In shallow water you can tilt the motor up and run in less then a foot of water. They call their props weedless but their not. I constantly have to reach out and pull crap off the blades and almost got stuck good once. (I swear the weeds around here are made of rope) The part of the electric that's nice is there is no pull starting, no noise and no fumes. The batteries are expensive and heavy and you can't use standard car batteries. You'll need a deep cycle, and probably a pair would be better. I can fish for 6 hours with the small battery running mine most of the time on setting 1 or 2. I'll use top speed to scoot along for a few minutes here or there but if you do that all the time you'll suck the juice right out. I've never drained the big battery yet.
 
for a battery, i've got a c/t nautilus gel marine battery pack- i MAY get a second one if i can get a good price- the big heavy one with the kompressor and lights -i run it forward in the centre on the canoe- it weighs about 40 pounds , with a set of booster cables to make the lines long enough- the cheap light ones with the ends clipped off- the lines on the minkota aren't long enough - besides, you can usually get those for free if you watch the ditch- some putz will drive off and they'll drop off, usually with one clamp borken off- same deal for extension cords- flying down the deerfoot, dragging his lawnmower cord behind him,b/c he just took off without unplugging
 
the COLLAR on my minkota slides up and down so you can regulate the length of shaft - i.e. i don't have to tilt it
 
Yup, I think most trolling motor you can adjust it for a "surface drive" experience.

Love the trolling motor for fishing small lakes in the summer, still prefer the power of the gas for fall, especially when hauling loads of gear. It's not that it goes much faster, but it got the umph to drag 10 doz dekes, a limit of ducks, guns, bag, blind and me back in a head wind.
 
pharaoh2 said:
Small gas engines are expensive and usually garbage if you buy used. Guys bag the s**t out of them, run them at full throttle full time and service them every 10 years whether they need it or not. New gas motors prices are retarded. I bought a 2.5 merc for $1000. I use an electric Minn Kota on my boats and they work well. In shallow water you can tilt the motor up and run in less then a foot of water. They call their props weedless but their not. I constantly have to reach out and pull crap off the blades and almost got stuck good once. (I swear the weeds around here are made of rope) The part of the electric that's nice is there is no pull starting, no noise and no fumes. The batteries are expensive and heavy and you can't use standard car batteries. You'll need a deep cycle, and probably a pair would be better. I can fish for 6 hours with the small battery running mine most of the time on setting 1 or 2. I'll use top speed to scoot along for a few minutes here or there but if you do that all the time you'll suck the juice right out. I've never drained the big battery yet.
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All i said is for the $400-$500 he is going to spend getting set up with an electric, you can get a decent 5-6hp gas motor. Seeing as I am familiar with the water he plans on using the boat on, I would definitly not venture out on the Trent River with an electric motor. The current is far too strong.

For the small duck pond, absolutely an electric will do great...but for a fishing application on the Trent River, or even duck hunting on the Bay of Quinte or Brighton Bay, I would recommend a gas engine to help get you and your gear safely to the blind and back.
 
funny how you quote 4-500 for a 5 hpgas motor and pharoh quotes 1k for a 2.5 - something's not right- or are you quoting used?if used, then the 7.5 2 stroke is far more common and probably available for much the same money if not less-dimensionally, there's not much differece in weight between the 3, 3.5, 5 and 7.5 if we're talking 2 stroke
 
t-star said:
funny how you quote 4-500 for a 5 hpgas motor and pharoh quotes 1k for a 2.5 - something's not right- or are you quoting used?if used, then the 7.5 2 stroke is far more common and probably available for much the same money if not less-dimensionally, there's not much differece in weight between the 3, 3.5, 5 and 7.5 if we're talking 2 stroke
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I was quoting used...see my original post.
 
mvarley84 said:
I was quoting used...see my original post.
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I'm not picking on you, don't take my post the wrong way.

Used motors are crap when you get them. Their abused, worn on heaps of crap when they go up for sale. And sadly yes, I did pay $1000 for my 2.5 Merc, $1020 actually. A 2 HP Honda was going for around $1200, a 2.5 Yamaha around $1150. I died when I saw the prices for 9.9's, $3000! :eek:
 
pharaoh2 said:
I'm not picking on you, don't take my post the wrong way.

Used motors are crap when you get them. Their abused, worn on heaps of crap when they go up for sale. And sadly yes, I did pay $1000 for my 2.5 Merc, $1020 actually. A 2 HP Honda was going for around $1200, a 2.5 Yamaha around $1150. I died when I saw the prices for 9.9's, $3000! :eek:
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I didnt take it the wrong way, I guess my response came accross kind of snarkey, sorry about that.

There are some deals to be had out there, and for the applications he wants to use it, the OP would be stranded using an electric. His money is better spent on a gas motor.
 
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