Trolling motor recommendation

[TheDuke'sBack]

I have a Stratos 201(20ft) its a heavy S.O.B.. Currently I have a 70lb trust Minn Kota trolling motor...It seems very under powered. Im usually in speed 4 or 5. 3 on days with no wind, and days with wind Im struggling on 5. Does this sound right? I recently topped all my batteries(on there second year) and cleaned all the connections hoping I would see more power, but havent.

What trolling motor size do you guys recommend for a big 20 footer? Besides craigslist, where could I buy a used one in good shape? I cant afford to fork up cash for a new one...who knew these darn things where so expensive.

 

[TN Larry]

I would buy either a Minn Kota Maxxum or Fortrex with at least 80 lb thrust and variable speed. There will sometimes be some used ones on localsalesnetwork.com. Sometimes Cabelas has refurbished ones for cheaper than a brand new one. I would personally steer clear of a Motor Guide and buy one of the Minn Kotas mentioned above.

 

[TheDuke'sBack]

Thanks for the input. After I posted this I asked a fellow angler at work and he said 84 minimum...im sure 80 wouldn't be a noticeable difference.

Care to explain why to steer away from Motor Guide? poor QA?

 

[TRIGGER]

I recently put a Minn Kota 80 lb on my 21' Aries. I had a 70lb Minn Kota on it prior. The 80 lb is plenty for me. If the wind or current are up too much for the 80 I'm not going to be fishing anyways. 80 is the highest 24 volt you can get I believe.

 

[JimFromTN]

Motorguide makes an 82lb thrust. Not sure what the issue is that others may have. I have had both minn kota and motor guide and have had issues with both in the past. Niether one seems to be better than the other. It really comes down to which brand and model you choose, rather than just brand. I had a 65lb thrust minn kota all terrain that was complete garbage. I hated it from day one and finally bought a used motor guide off of someone on here and tossed the minn kota in the alley for the scappers to hall away.

As far as where you can get a used one, try some of the bass fishing forums. I have bought several items off of www.bbcboards.net.

 

[TheDuke'sBack]

I recently put a Minn Kota 80 lb on my 21' Aries. I had a 70lb Minn Kota on it prior. The 80 lb is plenty for me. If the wind or current are up too much for the 80 I'm not going to be fishing anyways. 80 is the highest 24 volt you can get I believe.

Can you tell a big/ noticeable different between the 70 and 80?

 

[fishboy1]

This is old info so add salt....

The salt water series Motor guides in the early 2000's were junk. Critical components were not sealed and others would corrode with astonishing speed.
The salt water Minn Kotas were WAY WAY better. Had one on a 21' bay boat for 5 years with no problems until a Hurricane took the dock box we stored the motor in.

Not sure about the current line up of fresh water trolling motors. I just figure if the old Minn Kotas were so good, why risk it by switching to a different brand?

 

[TRIGGER]

I recently put a Minn Kota 80 lb on my 21' Aries. I had a 70lb Minn Kota on it prior. The 80 lb is plenty for me. If the wind or current are up too much for the 80 I'm not going to be fishing anyways. 80 is the highest 24 volt you can get I believe.

Can you tell a big/ noticeable different between the 70 and 80?

Yes a noticeable difference. I thought seriously about going to the 36 volt 112lb thrust but didn't want to add another battery and charger. Glad I didn't now.

I was on KY lake during the triton owners tournament it was windy and rough as I have ever fished and it did fine.

 

[TN Larry]

Thanks for the input. After I posted this I asked a fellow angler at work and he said 84 minimum...im sure 80 wouldn't be a noticeable difference.

Care to explain why to steer away from Motor Guide? poor QA?

I have never personally owned a Motorguide but know many people that have had them. All are hard core fisherman, and I don't know any of them that liked them at all. It very well may be fixed now, but if I remember correctly, the big issue was noise that the motor made along with the trolling motor mount not being very good allowing it to be loose and make even more noise. I currently have an 80lb Maxxum on a 19.5' boat with no issues. My next one will be an 80lb Fortrex.

 

[TheDuke'sBack]

Ok guys thanks for the info guy, I think ill try and find a used 80lb when ever I have the money. I just didnt want to buy something and be disappointed.

Also do you guys know anything I could check on my trolling motor besides batteries and battery connections for a weak motor? Out of the water the blade just doesnt seems like its spinning as fast as it should, The only thing I can compare it to is my minn kota 50lb on my aluminum boat. Out of the water you can feel a breeze of the propeller blade, If I remember correctly I couldn't feel as much breeze on the 70. The motor its self might be getting ready yugo the bed

Does 900 bucks for a used 80lb fortexx(2008 model) sound right? Its been refurbished I believe.

 

[KENBOB10]

I recently put a Minn Kota 80 lb on my 21' Aries. I had a 70lb Minn Kota on it prior. The 80 lb is plenty for me. If the wind or current are up too much for the 80 I'm not going to be fishing anyways. 80 is the highest 24 volt you can get I believe.

Can you tell a big/ noticeable different between the 70 and 80?

Yes a noticeable difference. I thought seriously about going to the 36 volt 112lb thrust but didn't want to add another battery and charger. Glad I didn't now.

I was on KY lake during the triton owners tournament it was windy and rough as I have ever fished and it did fine.

If you go with the thirty six volt, make sure it ain't on high and pointed sideways. It'll sling yo hiney right out the boat.

 

[JimFromTN]

A battery charger with a built in desulfator can make a world of difference As far as getting the max power out of your trolling motor. My onboard charger has a built in conditioner/desulfator.

 

[TN Larry]

Ok guys thanks for the info guy, I think ill try and find a used 80lb when ever I have the money. I just didnt want to buy something and be disappointed.

Also do you guys know anything I could check on my trolling motor besides batteries and battery connections for a weak motor? Out of the water the blade just doesnt seems like its spinning as fast as it should, The only thing I can compare it to is my minn kota 50lb on my aluminum boat. Out of the water you can feel a breeze of the propeller blade, If I remember correctly I couldn't feel as much breeze on the 70. The motor its self might be getting ready ****** the bed

Does 900 bucks for a used 80lb fortexx(2008 model) sound right? Its been refurbished I believe.

I'm not sure what to check other than batteries, but the 70 should definitely be faster than the 50. $900 seems too much to me for a used, refurbished Fortrex. Cabelas has the 45" shaft, 80lb for $1,219 regular price.

 

[ADR]

May be stating the obvious, but if you haven't taken the prop off it might be worth it. I have seen line spun on the shaft create problems, especially braid

 

[TheDuke'sBack]

First thing I checked was under the prop, no line. Now that you mentioned it I have a rather worn looking bass pro brand onboard charger, 3 bank. I just purchased a new 2 bank minn kota charger for my aluminum boat and it seems alot better quality, it goes through 3 different stages of charge. I was told the minn kota are way better than the ProMariner.

I think ill start with a new charger first, then see where I need to go from there.

 

[AlexDad]

Before you junk your old Bass Pro one check the inline fuses. The last two outings my Motor Guide died within 10 min. Even at the start on 5 I barely moved. My Bass Pro charger is about 4 years old but has been great. Thought maybe a line was loose. Went out Monday and my Dad and I had no TM. I did a bit of research and the starting battery lead has a glass inline fuse on the positive side and the TM lead has one in the positive and one in the negative. My starting battery was fine but the negative on the TM side had a busted fuse. $3.92 inc tax and I got 5 at Adv Auto and the charger is like brand new again. TM has power to spare.

I bought the big name brand charger back in about '09, think they're made in Smyrna? In their show room they have a charger in an aquarium submerged and running. I got caught in the rain and my boat did have a bit of water from rain being towed behind the truck. It was no where near submerged but it died at about 9 mos old and they wouldn't warranty it. My Bass Pro charger may be older than 4 yrs but it's been great.

 

[sll]

Have you checked the voltage on your batteries after charging them? Let them settle for a while after you unplug it and check them. If the voltage doesn't read at least 12.6 volts you either have bad batteries or the charger is not working properly.

 

[TheDuke'sBack]

Well I got the old motor to run nice and fast, with minimal expense.

I Bought a new Minn Kota 3 bank charger and hooked her up. The Minn Kota shows you the charge of each battery, so you know what stage each individual battery is in. My old Bass pro did not do this, It just showed that all of them where charging, and when it was done. First thing I did was hit the lake and drained the batteries a little, then went home and hooked her up. I noticed right away one of the trolling motor batteries was completely topped off, and the other had been drained. I have a 24v trolling motor, and it was obvious at that point it was only drawing 12v. Whoever had the boat before me had the batteries running parallel, but the wires on the plug end where hooked up to be ran in series. So I just hooked the batteries in series and bam! knocking you out of the boat power.

Im thrilled to say the least, 160 dollar charger saved me.