Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I have a 45" Ipilot 80# thrust,24V trolling motor, that I took off my previous boat (tracker TXW) I'm in the process of attempting to install it on the pontoon.

Being that it is a shorter shaft, I'm looking for ideas. I don't know if Minn kota will assist me in lengthening the shaft.

From the front deck I have 18" to the water so in theory I should have plenty of shaft in the water, I'm curious if others have done something similar and their results.

I've seen the thread on the automatic one under the deck but I'm open to other Ideas to include mounting it off the Transom.

Thanks in advance,
Mike

I think you should have enough depth, I'm running a 54" 55# and have a good 12" to spare on the slide adjuster, I wish I had a shorter one sometimes but the extra length allows me the see what direction the head is pointed from anywhere on the toon.

We have a 60" Terrova and have plenty of extra shaft. I would try that length to see how it works. The 60" works perfect with our setup/gate arrangement but you may be able to get away with the 45".

Rancherlee and JBO,
Thanks for the replies, I assumed I might be ok length wise (mounted up front). I do know that it will be a serious trip hazard for my old @ss

I may just lay it up there and get a visual. Another concern is were to put the other battery. On my boat there is a corner battery storage up front (starboard) but it look like it will only hold one battery. Not sure if I can rotate the tray and add another one to hold the second battery.

I'm still open for mounting suggestions.

Mike

Can you take a photo of your battery tray area and the front of your pontoon? What size batteries are you looking at? I would probably suggest looking at (2) high amp hour 27 series batteries at a minimum. We have (2) 27series AGM Cabelas batteries and they work well but I wish I had purchased 31 series off the bat. I definitely need to recharge the batteries after a day of use and I'm typically lower on juice than I'd prefer. Not much extra left in the tank.

Edited: Don't mount it on the transom. You should try to get it mounted on the front. It should be do-able.

Example: We used a Minnkota MKA-21 Mount which helped elevate the trolling motor a bit to clear the front trim of the boat and makes it easier to remove. We normally remove the trolling motor for loading/unloading and getting it on and off the trailer.

http://www.minnkotamotors.com/Products/ ... E-BRACKET/

I have an Ipilot with 55 inch shaft and it works well. You do need at least a foot of water above the top of the prop for it to work efficiently in high power and rough water. My motor rarely gets to high power on its own when using the automatic gps control, but there has been times in high wind that it did briefly.

I wouldn't want my troll motor on the transom on a pontoon. Not a good place for fishing control.

A good service center may can help with a lengthening, but there is more to it than just a longer shaft.

mzodarg wrote:I have a 45" Ipilot 80# thrust,24V trolling motor, that I took off my previous boat (tracker TXW) I'm in the process of attempting to install it on the pontoon.

Being that it is a shorter shaft, I'm looking for ideas. I don't know if Minn kota will assist me in lengthening the shaft.

From the front deck I have 18" to the water so in theory I should have plenty of shaft in the water, I'm curious if others have done something similar and their results.

I've seen the thread on the automatic one under the deck but I'm open to other Ideas to include mounting it off the Transom.

Thanks in advance,
Mike

I also have an 80# 24V trolling motor. As mentioned, mount it on the bow. I bought the "quick release" base plate and highly recommend it. It's good to have the option of removing the trolling motor when you have guests on board and won't be fishing. The mount is lockable.

You won't have to lengthen the shaft of the motor.

JBO wrote:Can you take a photo of your battery tray area and the front of your pontoon? What size batteries are you looking at? I would probably suggest looking at (2) high amp hour 27 series batteries at a minimum. We have (2) 27series AGM Cabelas batteries and they work well but I wish I had purchased 31 series off the bat. I definitely need to recharge the batteries after a day of use and I'm typically lower on juice than I'd prefer. Not much extra left in the tank.

Edited: Don't mount it on the transom. You should try to get it mounted on the front. It should be do-able.

Example:

Example.jpg

We used a Minnkota MKA-21 Mount which helped elevate the trolling motor a bit to clear the front trim of the boat and makes it easier to remove. We normally remove the trolling motor for loading/unloading and getting it on and off the trailer.

http://www.minnkotamotors.com/Products/ ... E-BRACKET/

I'll take a pic today as I'm headed out to lake to test a Simon Motorsport tune.

Joetune20,
I like the idea of the quick release bracket, I'll look into it, thanks!

Mike

Had a chance to take a look at the trolling motor batter storage. It appears that I will have to come up with an alternative to what I currently have.


I'm open to ideas on battery storage for a 24v battery storage.

Thanks,
Mike

I have my 2 batterys in the same box as u,put them side ways,i put a 1 inch piece of wood on the bottom under the batterys to lift up to that ledge,it works ,I would post a pic if I knew how.

kenbob62 wrote:I have my 2 batterys in the same box as u,put them side ways,i put a 1 inch piece of wood on the bottom under the batterys to lift up to that ledge,it works ,I would post a pic if I knew how.

I'll give that a try, thanks.

I use photobucket but there are other image hosting sites. Load your picture up and paste the IMG url in the message.

kenbob62 wrote:I have my 2 batterys in the same box as u,put them side ways,i put a 1 inch piece of wood on the bottom under the batterys to lift up to that ledge,it works ,I would post a pic if I knew how.

Did you happen to use the battery trays and did you put 27 series batteries in the storage. I just came from the boat and there is no way 2 27 battery trays will fit side ways.

Please elaborate on your install, pics would be great!

Thanks,
Mike

So there was no way to put 2 27 series batteries side by side, but this worked.



Also got the 80# IPilot mounted, I used the quick disconnect that was suggested here. Worked like a charm.

Few more shots: