Bow Mount Trolling Motor?

[Gianeye]

First time posting, hello to all!

 

I was looking for some advice about a bow mount trolling motor. I own a Lund tiller 16'3" long. Would a 55lb thrust 12V motor be enough power?

 

Also does anyone have any recommendations on what to buy? I had the MinnKota powerdrive in mind. Any comments are appreciated.

[taper]

First off welcome. I have a Minnkota power drive and love it, I had an all terrain on my old boat and it worked well but for me the power drive is much better. A 55 should push your boat in normal conditions, if you can up size do it you can never have too much power especially trying to fight the wind. Also if you can manage the second battery and you expect to use the motor a lot go 24V, they last a lot longer. The auto pilot feature on the power drive is awesome for long trolls down a weed or shore line.

[Greencoachdog]

I have a 17' Tracker Deep V with a 55 lb. 12v wireless Motorguide on it and absolutely love it!!! The speed control is variable (much better than the 5 speed Minnkota) and you can operate it from anywhere in the boat with the wireless control. It has plenty of power for those windy days and is very easy on the battery, I can run it all day and only use 40% of the battery power.

 

Minnkota's are good motors, but I like the Motorguides better!

[Rattletrap2]

The 55 ponds should be plenty, but I would suggest going to 24 volt and 65 pounds if you can. Make sure the one you buy has a long shaft. Nothing worse than having the prop break water all the time when it gets a little windy out there. Always better to have more power on occasions when it gets real windy.

My personal preference would be a Minn Kota Maxxum in 65 pound thrust. It has the infinite speed control, rugged cable drive steering, and built in power maximizer. Motorguide also makes an excellent product, but I have no personal experience with them.

[RangerGuy]

I had a 24volt MinnKota Powerdrive 40lbs (my old).. It was enough power for easy fishing conditions but no good for high winds or current.

 

I replaced it with a 80lbs 24volt Terrova. Which is more than enough motor for my 17' Ranger Tiller. I pulls my boat at almost 3mph (gps) with 2 guys and all our musky gear + a full tank of gas

 

If you can do it have a 24volt set up.. I did a 4 day trip on the may 24 and was dragging bottom bouncers and trolling for most of those 4 days and still had 1/2 battery power left when I went home. I was shocked at the difference in battery longivity from my old power drive.

 

12volt will be fine if you don't do crazy Sun up to Sun down fishing weekends but 24volt is much better in my opinion

 

Hope that helps

[Sinker]

I've got a 55lb power drive on a 16 fter, and its fine. I can fish all day and then some on one battery......and more than enough power. If its that windy, you don't want to be out in it anyways.

 

Sinker