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I had my new pram out yesterday, the first time with the new trolling motor. After years of rowing and kicking it was kinda like a guy getting his first car after riding a moped!
First of all, it hauls ass on the highest speed. But more importantly it moves the boat along smartly at even the lowest speed. I was concerned that the additional weight of the motor and battery would upset the balance of the boat and it would float tail down. So I didn't make a mount for the battery yet but just sat it on the floor and moved it around to see where it would work out the best. It turns out that even with the battery right against the transom the boat still rides perfectly level so I won't have to mount it under the seat and glass in the conduit as I had planned. Just build a small box and mount it on the floor at the rear and feed the cables into it.
The wheelchair battery only weighs about 25# and is pretty small. I used it hard from 10:30 to 3:00, probably harder than I would normally use it just to see how well it lasted. When I got home and put the meter on it the charge was only down by 1/3. That indicates at least a full day of use under normal conditions. I think this is an ideal battery for pontoon boats compared to the usual monster deep cycle batteries. While I was on the lake I met a guy that had a Creek Co. pontoon boat with a front mounted trolling motor between his legs and a full sized battery at the rear. The boat was clearly overloaded with the rear end dragging low in the water. It looked like a submarine that was just surfacing.
I'll try the motor and battery on my South Fork next week but my gut feel is that with the motor mounted aft and the battery forward the boat will be very little changed from normal. It will simply be like a 230# guy in the boat instead of a 170# guy. Should be ok but a helluva lot faster than kicking!
Ive
First of all, it hauls ass on the highest speed. But more importantly it moves the boat along smartly at even the lowest speed. I was concerned that the additional weight of the motor and battery would upset the balance of the boat and it would float tail down. So I didn't make a mount for the battery yet but just sat it on the floor and moved it around to see where it would work out the best. It turns out that even with the battery right against the transom the boat still rides perfectly level so I won't have to mount it under the seat and glass in the conduit as I had planned. Just build a small box and mount it on the floor at the rear and feed the cables into it.
The wheelchair battery only weighs about 25# and is pretty small. I used it hard from 10:30 to 3:00, probably harder than I would normally use it just to see how well it lasted. When I got home and put the meter on it the charge was only down by 1/3. That indicates at least a full day of use under normal conditions. I think this is an ideal battery for pontoon boats compared to the usual monster deep cycle batteries. While I was on the lake I met a guy that had a Creek Co. pontoon boat with a front mounted trolling motor between his legs and a full sized battery at the rear. The boat was clearly overloaded with the rear end dragging low in the water. It looked like a submarine that was just surfacing.
I'll try the motor and battery on my South Fork next week but my gut feel is that with the motor mounted aft and the battery forward the boat will be very little changed from normal. It will simply be like a 230# guy in the boat instead of a 170# guy. Should be ok but a helluva lot faster than kicking!
Ive
