Trolling motor on my 20' Fish n Ski
So I finally tried a trolling motor on my boat yesterday. And only because Wilhelm North is electric only. I have a 55lb jobber that I bought for my not_really_a_kayak tub, and accompanying gigantic agm battery. This thing has to go on the transom, since my boat has a 5" lip running the whole way around. That isn't terribly convenient, but it is doable. The leads aren't long enough to get to the floor though, so the battery went on the splash well. A bit sketchy, but it weighs 700lbs so it isn't like it was going to jump out.
All in all, I really liked having it. Which shocked me a bit. Also shocking is that it moved my big boat full of equipment and two big guys at 3mph once it got going. The 20 horse only pushes me mid 7mph so that's not too shabby. Now of course it has no hole shot and you can't stop in a hurry, but it's a trolling motor. It does what you'd expect.
The down side is carrying that heavy battery around and the motor itself. Plus mounting and unmounting it is an extra chore coming and going. There's no good way to mount one on the front of my boat if I wanted a traditional setup. That small flat surface has the anchor cleat and a rod holder. And even if I was willing to give those up I'd either need to disconnect the thing each trip anyway, or figure out some other cover situation.
Anyway, not really looking for a solution. Just posting my experience in case anyone wondered if a 12v trolling motor would move their big boat. Because I came and looked before my trip.