Trolling motor power

[spooled]

I have a 17ft crestliner. I am going to buy a bow mounted trolling motor for it. How much thrust power do I need? 55? 65? 75? Also is the auto pilot feature worth having? What brand do you reccomend? Thanks

[REW]

55 or better is great. 24 volt system is great also for duration.
If you want to go with a 36 volt system with a 101 lb thrust - you can almost water ski behind it. (just kidding).
As many folks have said in the past - it is tough to compete with power, and you can never have too much.

In general the 55 lb motor will seldom be used above 1/2 power - except for blipping from spot to spot.

It is nice to go bigger - simply to have the reserve - if you happen to get into big waves, or you need to perform an emergency maneuver.

If you tend to drift a lot - run big flats - work relatively straight break lines - by all means get the electric steered auto pilot.

If you need to hover on a spot - if you work lots of structure, if you need to back troll - or be very ver precise in maneuvering - then you should get a transom mounted motor so that you could back troll - or a cable driven bow mounted trolling motor - so that you have instant response, that you can't get with a motor driven motor.

Many many infrfequent fisherman - who tend to drift a lot - who tend to work the larger flats of some of the larger lakes would never trade in their electric steered auto pilots.
Also, there are many folks who have cable driven bow mounted trolling motors that are trying to ride high waves and are getting thrown around, because they need to keep their foot locked on the pedal to maintain headway - wish that they had an electric steered auto pilot.

There are also fisherman - who are trying to work precise structure - with an electric steered bow mount auto pilot - and who would give their eye teeth for a cable steered bow mount - or better yet - a hand steered transom mount motor.

Every thing has a trade off - and you need to get that works with your style of fishing - and the way that you are going to use your boat the most of the time.

Obviously the best would be a bow mounted electric on one side, a cable steered electric steered on the other side, a transom mounted electric on one side, and a t-8 kicker on the other side. I think that should cover all of your bases in one boat. Of couse this would need to be about a 25 foot boat - to hold the weight and clutter - of all of the aux. power.

Buy the 55 lb auto pilot and enjoy your boat.

Take care
REW

[JimmerAB]

As usual, not much to add to an REW reply. Just wanted to say that I also own a 17 foot Crestliner, and have a 24 volt 65 PD/AP on mine. Never have lacked for power, and can run it all day without running low on juice. Personally, I love the Autopilot. Especially when fishing with my kids. It allows me to tend to them without fear of running up too shallow, or getting turned around in the wind. And if you decide to, a flip of the switch to turn off the AP, and it's just a regular motor. Cheers.


Jim

[EricCO]

Motorguide has the Excel series that combines the best things of electric steer with that of cable drive.

"Hunting 'eyes in the Three-O-Three"

[punch1]

Spooled,

I, as well as many others here on WC, went with the recondtioned Minn Kota from Cabelas. I went with a 24V 65AP 54" version for $499 plus $12 shipping. The recondtioned unit I received looked like new. It has a 1 year warranty versus the 2 year warranty given on the new ones. Here's the link:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/index/index-display.jhtml?id=cat21452&navAction=jump&navCount=1&parentId=cat21408&parentType=subcategory

[punch1]

Spooled,

Sorry, I belive they are out of them. At least they are not on the page that I had linked here from my bookmarks.

Pat

[perchjerker]

Guys, someone on the board called Cab's and they said they are going to get more in, the price was upped to $519 also. You might want to call.

[spooled]

Punch

Thanks for the info. The 24v 65ap is the motor I'm leaning to. The reconditioned ones sound like a good deal. Saves a couple hundred bucks.