Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Hey guys. I have a Minn kota 55lb trolling motor. It does fine moving the toon around about half the time. However I have to max it out when the wind is 10 mph. At 15 mph wind, I can make a little headway but as soon as I let off the motor and lose that momentum, it takes a long time for the motor to get the boat moving forward again. It's also pretty slow turning the boat and such even in no wind. It is starting to irritate me a bit.

Question. I'm thinking of upgrading to an 80 lb terrova with spotlock. Will that extra 30 lbs make that much of a difference or am I wasting money? I would like to be able for the motor to hold me on wind blown shorelines in a 15 mph sustained wind without smashing into the rocks. Is that even feasible to think about?

i have the terrova 80 with long shaft, and it does just fine. i don't use it in the 'anchor' feature, because i don't have that. i have simply a wireless remote. since pontoons perform like parachutes, on windy days, i set direction to drift with wind, and use the motor to steer, and control speed...

i never have measured wind speed while using it...

My Minn Kota RipTide 80lb thrust will hold in 15+mph wind. The anchor feature is nice. Do not use the anchor lock under bridges. It needs to receive GPS signal to work properly.