Slowing down

[Scrminbanshee]

Sounds like you got a smokin deal at Cabela's. You will most likely be happy with the trolling plate. Even if your previously drilled holes in the cavitation plate don't line up, redrill and put it on. We all hate to drill holes in our cavitation plates, but the reality is they don't interfere with performance at all. If later you remove the trolling plate and have holes in the cavitation plate exposed, you can fill them with a bolt, or weld them up.

The way you were using the drift sock makes it almost impossible to turn. I used a drift sock a few years back. It worked well the way I had it set up, but still had some drawbacks.
When you connect the drift sock to the transom with a fixed length of rope, either at one side of the transom, or to both sides of the transom. (Like a yoke) The drift sock resists any turn the boat makes.
If you want to turn to port, and the drift sock is connected by rope to the starboard transom, the sock tries to straighten the boat. I had the sock connected by a yoke, to the port and starboard sides. I thought this was going to work, but found that upon turning the inboard side rope would be slack, and the outboard side rope would be taught. So the drift sock would try to straighten the boat either direction I turned.
I solved that issue by attaching the drift sock to the rope with a pulley. This allowed the drift sock to roll along the yoke, and always pulled evenly on both sides, even while turning. This worked great. I had great boat control, and good control of speed.
My drift sock was heavy, so when I would stop trolling to fight a fish, it would sink, and be hanging straight down below the transom. When I would put it back in gear, it would deploy behind the boat, and not get in the motor.
The problem with this set up should be rather obvious, as the sock and the yoke are hanging under the boat, when you are fighting a fish. That being said, I never had a fish get into the sock. I would hate to loose that "big fish" though.

I have used two small socks hung off of amidships cleats. I still use them on my 16' CDory with a 50 etec.
I have a 5 horse kicker, but still find that I get better boat control with the small socks even while trolling on the kicker. It helps with throttle control, as I don't have a TrollMaster on this kicker motor, yet. (I have a TrollMaster on my kicker on my big boat, and love it)
The small socks I have are really small, big end is maybe a 10" diameter? If I were looking for socks again, I would get a little bigger. The socks hung off of the side don't interfere with fighting a fish, as they are on short ropes, maybe 3'. The end of the socks are just forward of the transom when deployed.

As far as an electric trolling goes, the bow mount is the way to go.
It is much easier for a motor to "pull" your boat straight, than it is to "push" your boat straight.
However, it is easier for you to control the motor by hand, on the transom, than by foot peddle, on the bow.
The best solution for the electric is the Auto Pilot, bow mount. It will fight the wind for you, and maintain your heading. It is so nice to troll along with the electric, compared to the gas motor.
How often are you away from an electrical outlet for multiple days? If not often, than you should probably stay with one battery. Is weight and space and issue for you in the bow of the boat? If not, than put two batteries in the bow. The "best" two battery set up is the two 6 volt batteries. You would have to look at cost, charging systems, and weight. It may be prohibitive when you look at all of those factors. You could have a two battery system now by just adding another 12 volt battery, and some wiring.

Look at your boat as a system. If it were me I would not go in just one direction. I would have the trolling plate on the main motor, 2 small socks that I could deploy amidships, and the bow mount trolling motor. For the bow mount motor I would upgrade to multiple batteries, and auto pilot as finances allowed.
Most of my trolling would be done on the bow mount motor. When wind or other issues made the bow mount harder to control, I would troll off of the main motor, with plate down and/or socks deployed.
A lot of trollers with auto pilots are now powering their boats with their kicker at idle and their auto pilot motor taking care of steering, direction. In your situation this would probably only work when you wanted to troll a little faster.

Good luck, and feel free to ask if any of this long winded reply doesn't make sense.

Well thanks for the advise i like the idea of the auto pilot i have the minn kota powerdrive v2 up front and do enjoy using it. No is nice in my face and nice and i love how quite. My question for you is, will the copilot compensate for wind? or is it only the i pilot? The i pilot sure does have some handy features on it. I think that it could be a really nice addition to the boat. Since i bought that trolling plate i think i might give it a try or it will go up for sale before i even use it lol. maybe i can make some money off it haha.

Tater Salad,
Thanks for agreeing with me on the " 2-6 volt batts". I have suggested this a couple of times but have essentially been told that I didn't know what I was talking about.

I have never rigged this way before do you have a pic? should my deep cycle battery last longer than say 6-8hrs when i run my trolling motor at half speed? Never seems to last any longer. Im not often far away from home so charging every night isn't a huge deal but how long can i run with this set up? If i am far away i camp so i can get a camping spot with electricity.

 

[Scrminbanshee]

I have used one for years. More often than not it is in a partial block vs. full lock position. It all depends on the water conditions and time of year if I need it for kokes or not. For macks it was a must have.

My only concern is that it will cause a bit more drag on the boat and reduce its cruising speed. did yours do that any?

 

[Tater Salad]

Hey Scr,
Minn Kota has 2 styles of motors that will compensate for wind, or hold a heading. They are auto pilot, and I pilot. Co pilot just replaces the foot control with a wireless hand control. So, no, co pilot does not compensate for wind. The hand control maybe easier to use than the foot pedal. But with a co pilot upgrade to your motor that is all you would gain. Co pilot costs 150.00 or so.
I don't believe you can "add" an auto pilot module to your motor. I did some quick searching on the internet, and could only find an upgrade to auto pilot available for Terrova and Riptide motors. There may be an upgrade for your powerdrive, but I am not sure.
Find your closest Minn Kota factory service facility, and they can tell you for sure. I am 99.9 % sure you can add I pilot to your motor, but costs is considerably more. 450.00 dollars and up. Here is a link to cabelas for your upgrade: http://www.cabelas.com/bow-mount-minn-kota-i-pilot-gps-trolling-motor-control-system.shtml
I do not have a picture of a 6 volt set up. It would be very easy to do a internet search for wiring two 6 volt motors in series, or similar search, and get a schematic. However, I don't think you are going to go with 6 volt batts. They are much bigger / heavier, generally, than 12 volt batts, and much more expensive. West marine has them from 350 ish on up, and you need two! Your boat is not that big, and you probably don't want that weight / size in the front of your boat.

If your asking "what I would do", then I would further inquire about upgrading to auto pilot for my motor. If no auto pilot available then I would go with the I pilot upgrade.
I would install the trolling plate. Even if you don't always use it, you will find situations that you will want it. And you got it cheap!
I would put another 12 volt battery up with your current trolling motor battery. This would double your run time.
6 to 8 hours on your batt. may be normal. Not sure what group size your battery is, but also check the condition of your batt, if it is taking a full charge etc.

I would be very curious to see what your lowest speed was with the trolling plate down. If it is low enough, and you have upgraded to Auto or I pilot, you will have the best of all of them. Becasue the bow mount would keep you on course, it would run at a slower speed, (saving battery), while running your main motor at idle with trolling plate down.

Hope all of this helps you to envision how to set up your "system" for boat control.

 

[SilverBullets]

The last idea is to buy a kicker. I am not to fond of this idea as i am on a budget but if there is no other way then looks like i better start saving. I also wonder how i put this on the back of my boat as there isnt allot of space back there. Anyways heres a pic of the boat for reference.
View attachment 5760View attachment 5761

How many inches do you have between the main motor and where the transom begins to slope up on the port side?

 

[SuperD]

The kicker solution is no solution at all. There isn't a gas kicker out there that I know of that will give that particular boat speed control down to .5 mph.

Scriminbanshee, a properly mounted outboard will have the cavitation right at or very close to the surface when on plane. If your shaft is totally buried while cruising, your motor is too deep and working through unnecessary drag already.

 

[Scrminbanshee]

Hey Scr,
Minn Kota has 2 styles of motors that will compensate for wind, or hold a heading. They are auto pilot, and I pilot. Co pilot just replaces the foot control with a wireless hand control. So, no, co pilot does not compensate for wind. The hand control maybe easier to use than the foot pedal. But with a co pilot upgrade to your motor that is all you would gain. Co pilot costs 150.00 or so.
I don't believe you can "add" an auto pilot module to your motor. I did some quick searching on the internet, and could only find an upgrade to auto pilot available for Terrova and Riptide motors. There may be an upgrade for your powerdrive, but I am not sure.
Find your closest Minn Kota factory service facility, and they can tell you for sure. I am 99.9 % sure you can add I pilot to your motor, but costs is considerably more. 450.00 dollars and up. Here is a link to cabelas for your upgrade: http://www.cabelas.com/bow-mount-minn-kota-i-pilot-gps-trolling-motor-control-system.shtml
I do not have a picture of a 6 volt set up. It would be very easy to do a internet search for wiring two 6 volt motors in series, or similar search, and get a schematic. However, I don't think you are going to go with 6 volt batts. They are much bigger / heavier, generally, than 12 volt batts, and much more expensive. West marine has them from 350 ish on up, and you need two! Your boat is not that big, and you probably don't want that weight / size in the front of your boat.

If your asking "what I would do", then I would further inquire about upgrading to auto pilot for my motor. If no auto pilot available then I would go with the I pilot upgrade.
I would install the trolling plate. Even if you don't always use it, you will find situations that you will want it. And you got it cheap!
I would put another 12 volt battery up with your current trolling motor battery. This would double your run time.
6 to 8 hours on your batt. may be normal. Not sure what group size your battery is, but also check the condition of your batt, if it is taking a full charge etc.

I would be very curious to see what your lowest speed was with the trolling plate down. If it is low enough, and you have upgraded to Auto or I pilot, you will have the best of all of them. Becasue the bow mount would keep you on course, it would run at a slower speed, (saving battery), while running your main motor at idle with trolling plate down.

Hope all of this helps you to envision how to set up your "system" for boat control.

Well i ran down to cabelas today to pick up a new Chartplotter/sounder! but anyways while i was down there i was talking the guy who sold me on the lowrance and he said that you cant add the auto pilot so tater you are correct. He also recommended the i pilot to me and they run $450 but he told to hold off till bout marchish when they have a big sale and i should be able to pick one up a bit cheaper due to some big sale that they are going to have. I know that they came out with a new auto pilot and it runs about 800 bucks a bit to rich for my blood. I often fish by myself or just with my dog this little device could help me out quite a bit not having to worry with steering sure would be nice. I think that for my main purpose this is the way to go. Now to only find one for a decent price. I looked into some of the 6volt systems and your are correct that is a bit to much weight and money to shove in the bow of my boat. Anybody want a trolling plate for a decent price?

 

[SilverBullets]

I've got a Minnkota on the bow but only use it to move around when jigging... for trolling the battery doesn't last. It looks to me like you have plenty of room next to your main motor for a kicker. I like them just for the fact that if i ever have an issue a 2nd gas motor will get you back... no problem (and they troll down for slow speed.) I've got a 15' Smokercraft Alaskan with a 25hp Yamaha 4 stroke. The 4hp/4stroke Tahatsu and 6hp/2stroke Yamaha kickers are a tight fit... but do-able.

 

[Scrminbanshee]

Well i went to mount the plate today and its a no go. i thought since i had it it would be worth seeing how it worked. I know it said it was for my motor but the spread on the plate was to wide. I do like the look of your setup silver bullets but man that i pilot seems so nice: quiet, steers for ya, and is cheap when compared to the kicker. When your running can u get your kicker all the way out of the water? How slow can you troll with the 4hp? Any noticeable difference with that kicker hanging on back there?

 

[SilverBullets]

Well i went to mount the plate today and its a no go. i thought since i had it it would be worth seeing how it worked. I know it said it was for my motor but the spread on the plate was to wide. I do like the look of your setup silver bullets but man that i pilot seems so nice: quiet, steers for ya, and is cheap when compared to the kicker. When your running can u get your kicker all the way out of the water? How slow can you troll with the 4hp? Any noticeable difference with that kicker hanging on back there?

We leave it down even when running the 25hp and have never had a problem (10 mph speed limit on the lake.) The kickers will troll down to around 1.2 mph (best i've found for most lures) but because i mainly use apex's i stay between 1.4-1.6 mph.

edit: also have had other kickers sitting next to that 25hp Yamaha over the years with no fittment issues (4hp/2 stroke Evinrude and 4hp/4 stroke Yamaha.)

 

[MackPrince]

My only concern is that it will cause a bit more drag on the boat and reduce its cruising speed. did yours do that any?

When at speed the plate actually flips up and helps to stabilize the boat. I haven't noticed any loss in speed. With my little 8hp I can cruise at 11-12mph , and on my boat the plate lines up nice with the bottom of the hull and doesn't drag while on plane.