Trolling motor top speed?

[scugpg]

Just curious - what do you guys get for top speed with your bow mount? With no wind I get about 4.5km/h on GPS full tilt with a 40lb on 14' aluminum. To me that seems slow, but curious what the rest of you guys see when using it to move quick across the water at times. Let me know your speed and boat size.

Edited May 7, 2009 by scugog

[Jackie]

I'll get about 2mph, with no wind, on my 55lb PowerDrive on my 17' aluminum with a few passengers.

[Guest gbfisher]

I've never called the front positioning motor a trolling motor myself but my 9.9 trolling motor pushes my boat at 6 mph....

[Sinker]

I get around 4mph out of a 55pd on a 16ft tiller.

 

Sinker

[Dara]

I get 37.6 mph out of my 55 lb mounted on a skateboard with the wheels removed and a good coat of marine wax on the bottom

[scugpg]

I'm going to try it with the outboard out of the water and see if its faster, but I'm surprised my 40lb doesn't push it faster as the boat is so light. Although the longer the boat the faster it would go in theory.

[charlesn]

Trimming the outboard up makes your boat more susceptible to the back end wandering, I'd leave it trimmed down to act as a rudder/keel somewhat. I think the drag is fairly insignificant, you're not going to gain a bunch with the motor up. I've tried it myself and noticed very little difference other than the back end wandering making it a little more work to go in a straight line.

 

I'm not sure exactly what the top speed is, maybe 3-4 mph, but I have a 101 lb MinnKota Maxxum and a Champion 198 and I would guess it's not much (if any) better than what you are getting.

 

If you need to go faster than that, you're probably better off just cranking the big motor and idling over. Just remember to lift the troller if you're going to do anything much more than a fast idle. Yes, I am speaking from experience... twice.

 

Charles

[outdoorguy61]

Guides on Maligne Lake in Alberta use 101 Pd thrust- 36V, on square freighter canoes. I forget the speed, but it was faster than one might expect.

 

outdoorguy61

[POLLIWOGG]

Google "hull speed formula" that will tell you how fast you can expect to go without plaining the boat .

[boatman]

I think I get about the same as you, Scugog, with a 41 ft/lbs bowmount trolling motor on a heavy 14' tin boat.

 

Sorry, I miss read your post, Scugog. I thought you posted mph. I get somewhere near 10 kph.

Edited May 9, 2009 by boatman