What size trolling motor for 18ft bay boat?
 

I'm picking up a 18ft Nautic Star bay boat on wednesday and it has no trolling motor. I've been looking at the MK Riptides and they are pretty pricey but I have heard good things about them. What lb thrust would be good enough to chase the birds and keep up with them? 24 or 36volt? 18ft bay boat, 7.5ft beam, 90hp outboard

And also, how long of troller?

I got an 80lb 24v on mine and it is plenty. I can fish all day with a live well and a gps running and be good on power. 36v is nice but you gotta have that extra battery so you need more space to keep the batteries

I have a 19ft Kenner

24V, 80lb, 50-60 inch will work.

Yes, what they said! I just bought a 18' Blue Wave with a 90 and it has a 55lb thrust, i mean it does the job but i wish i had an 80 to do the job better

southeasttexas.com has two forsale right now that would work great on your boat.

80lb 24 v and you will be able to fight the wind all day w/ no problem.
Plus, If you get a smart azz fishing buddy on the back deck just wait till he aint paying attention turn the speed to high turn the motor 90° and hit the on switch.
Look it's super man. LOL

I have the 1810. I use the mk 24v 80 lb. It's a beast. Long shaft so u don't have to be bent over all day.

:eek:

Quote:
Originally Posted by longcast I have the 1810. I use the mk 24v 80 lb. It's a beast. Long shaft so u don't have to be bent over all day.

:eek:

ahhh lol just caught that

Man I should proof read my post. Sorry. I'm not gonna live this one down.

Guess I need the long shaft so I dont have to bend over lol. So I'll be keeping my eyes open for a 24v 80lb and if I can't find a deal on one soon, Im just gonna get a new one.

Anyone have the remote control for the MK? Im just not sure if I want a hand tiller or remote. I have a foot control right now and I dont really care for it.

Remote is just another thing to break.. Just my .02

i run a 36v motor guide on a 20 ft boat , it sounds like a bit of a overkill but trust me that extra 12v is sweet to have if you got some potlickers movin in on your drift or spot! plus it stays charged all day. i had min kota b4 and i hated it i broke the shaft twice. if you hit something with a motor guide shaft it will bend but at least you can fish the rest of the day

$859 for a new Minn Kota 80 im looking into getting one soon 55 gonna cut it much longer
foot control is poo GO Tiller

Where are they for $859?

Edit: I just found it.

thats cause you forgot to pick it up huh...:p I hit things with my MK 80 all the time and have never had a problem

DEW IT!:smokin:

Naw 2 thanksgivings ago fritz n I were fishing in 30 mph winds in fourchon drifting canals ..... More like setting land speed records due to the current/ wind and it bottomed out between the rollers and spun around the hit a ledge on the bank....... I was to busy fishing to stop the boat..... Snapped it

When there are rollers in the fourchon canals you probably dont need to be fishing:rotfl:

The remote takes a long time to get used to. Sometimes it is better sometimes not. you don't have to be in the front of the boat to control it. and when you are trolling a bank if you have auto pilot it is nice to set it and go. Or around a rig it will keep you going in same direction or hold you on a spot pretty well. But if you are fighting a fish and need to move away from the bank/rig a tiller is better beacause you can just nudge it with your knee. Also can't spin it around as fast as a tiller. The remote one does not bounce nearly as much when stowed because the top is basically just a plastic housing, so it doesn't weigh much. So all in all it comes down to personal preference. Sometimes I think it is the best invention in the world and others I want to throw it in the water.

we have the 19ft nautic star and have an 82 motorguide/24v and if you fish A LOT and stay out ALLL day then you'd want a 36v, but if your just the average fisherman the 80lb should be plenty. If ours would break I'd get a 36v though. Just nice to know you can chase birds all day if you gotta lol O and I don't know how long ours is, but whatever it is I'd like longer so get a long shaft one

I have the 80 Minkota 24 volt and have no issues.
It lasts all day if needed, but I only fish till noon.
If I go back in the evening, it still has some juice left.
I like the built in battery indicator that tells you how much juice you have left in the batteries.

yeah im pretty sure the minnkota is way better than the motorguide...;) I have fished 10 hrs straight with my minnkota 80

I appreciate everyones feedback on trollers. I went by gander mountain today but they didnt have anything larger than a 55 in stock. I might go by cabelas soon if I can't find a good used 80lb MK.

If I want to have a MK on-board charger for 24v worth of trolling batteries, is it common to run a 3bank charger so that you can have it hooked up to 2trolling batts and 1starting batt? Is it normal to run the on-board charger to the starting batt or should I just not worry about it?

I have mine hooked up to all three of my batteries although i dont think you have to but better safe than sorry

Check these dual pros out...http://www.dualpro.com/store/items/9/22/

they are factory reconditioned so cheaper than buying the brand new and same price as the mk 345... I was gonna buy another minn kota when my last one burned up then i read all the positive reviews about dual pro out there

Going to Cabelas tomorrow (Friday). Not sure what all I'm gonna get but I plan on checking out the bargain cave to see what gps's they have. If I don't get one, at least I will be able to play with all the ones available so I'll know what to add to my Christmas list. Checking out the trolling motors too:D

101 only because there is not a 150

agreed!

what you end up gettin ricky?

Minnkota makes a 160lb thrust you mount on your engine. :D http://www.minnkotamotors.com/produc...saltwater.aspx

Well, I had told myself all day and along the way to cabela's that I was coming home with a trolling motor. I got there and did see any riptides in the bargain cave so I said ok, I'll just pay full price for the 80lb tiller handle troller. I walked downstairs and told the saleman what I wanted and he said they don't stock anything over 55lb! It was 8:30pm at this time and I was thinking, I just drove 2.5hrs for nothing. So I played with the GPS's and went back to the bargain cave to see the discounted GPS's. As I was browsing around more, I noticed a MK Riptide box under the shelf so I pull it out and it said 80LB. I unboxed it and it was the Autopilot, long shaft(60"), 80lb with the remote. My eyes lit up until I looked at the top of the troller. The top was kinda of smashed but I though it might just be cosmetic. Not knowing where the sensors, or circuit boards, etc are, I took apart the top piece on the troller and noticed it was only wires were there. So I got them to discount it more and I only need the bottom shell piece of the top of the troller to make it look brand new. We didnt get home until past midnight so I tested it this morning and it works perfect. To me, its an easy fix and I got it for a great deal. Im happy, now I just have to hook it up to the boat and install my batteries/wires. I'll post a pic later.

LUCKY! Son of a Beach! Thats awesome man i need to come across something like that!

Got my trolling motor and batteries hooked up today. Works great! Im lacking on pics but I'll try and get some tomorrow.

Also, got my amp installed today and should be starting on the fiberglass enclosure to hold my 4 6" speakers overhead hopefully tomorrow.

Awesome! Post some pics fool!

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The bottom half of the top casing needs to be replaced so I taped a plastic bag over it in the mean time. The replacement part is fairly cheap so thats a good thing.
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I got my amp mounted, now I need to make a mount for the speakers
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Also, the TM is mounted pretty far off the boat but that's just how it is. When deployed, the TM shaft is suppose to be 1.5" away from the boat. It worked great and I like the remote control.

thanks for the info Salty Shaw i have an 18 ft. bluewave been anchoring for 2 years now time for me to get off some of my money so matress will be level and get a trolling motor

get on it podna! i plan on upgrading to an 80 and a powerpole as soon as my motorcycle sells!

looks good ricky! What kind of boat is that? i wish i had all that space under my console but i have a hughjass gas tank there.
What size speakers are you going with?

Yea, the space under is nice. It's an 18ft Naughty Star. Puttin 4 marine Kicker 6" speakers in there running off a marine amp. I already had them on my aluminum boat so I am still in the process of building an overhead speaker box to hold all 4 speakers. Here are some in process pics. All thats left is to spray it in bedliner and run the speaker wires. There is a good 3 layers of fiberglass and its pretty solid but light.

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The pics don't show the contour lines too good but hopefully I'll finish up here soon and it will be white so you will be able to see the curves alot better. Gonna try and find someone to spray it in white bedliner.

Hell yeh man that dont look bad at all!

But let me shine some light on this bed liner thing, white colored spray on bed liner is poo! The white will turn yellow before you know it, now what i did in a show truck i built a few years ago is Spray the bedliner and let it dry once dry and untouched spray a base coat/ clear coat on it and you want have to worry about any fading or dulling out it will stay nice and shiny white! It holds up a little better than you would think ill try to find a pic of my truck bed somewere.

Here ya go the fuel cell and side rails are done like I explained above, hope this helps!
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