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| PA12 Trolling Motor Ideas http://www.hobie.com/au/en/forums/viewtopic.php?f=78&t=53703 |
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| Author: | hobiefan42 [ Tue Jan 13, 2015 4:02 pm ] |
| Post subject: | PA12 Trolling Motor Ideas |
I have two 2015 PA12s that I want to add trolling motors to. I have not bought anything yet and wanted to get the feedback here before I screwed up. I have learned a lot about 12V trolling motors on kayaks from this and other forums but I have no actual experience. Based on my type of use, I have come to a rough strategy for what I need. The odd thing about my use is, I just don't have the PA on a trailer in my garage, then take it to a boat ramp. That would allow me to build a lot of weight into the PA and leave it on there. I use a hoist to load/unload the stripped boat onto the truck roof rack. At the RV park, the boats will be turned on their side frequently to use the Hobie Trax 2-30 Plug In Cart. The cart is never left in except for transport from the water to the campsite. Sometimes the boats are anchored out in the bay overnight. Motor Choice: Minn Kota Riptide Transom 45#, 36" shaft, variable Digital Maximizer. I need a salt water motor. I must have the Digital Maximizer to provide some efficiency because of my small battery. My understanding is that this only provides a benefit when used at mid to lower speeds, so I would mostly use those speeds. The composite shaft can bend and is good for my shallow water situation. Motor Mounting Location: The water is very shallow in parts of the Florida gulf, especially in the bays and sounds that I go that are protected by out islands. A mirage drive mount location is not possible, because it would not kick up when necessary. All of my side tipping to mount the cart seems to make a side mount undesirable. I have chosen a transom mount. The motor would have to be easily removable for travel. PA Motor Mount: I cannot design this exactly until I get a motor, but the general ideas are these. I regularly use a shop that can fabricate stainless steel or aluminum and another shop that does powder coating. SS would be heavy, so leaning toward aluminum. Aluminum, however, would have to be powder coated to avoid pitting. Anodizing is too expensive and limits the kinds of aluminum you can use. A third alternative would be Marine Board (MarinaBoard). This can be cut, screwed and glued into about anything. I have bought custom cut MarinaBoard from this company for cutting boards on my Whaler. http://thecuttingboardfactory.com/products/marine-board.html It may be that a combination of aluminum and MarinaBoard is used. I plan to be very conservative with the mount design. I have seen people remove the rear handle and insert mount flanges, then replace the handle with slightly longer stainless screws. If I did that, I would also have the custom bent plate go all the way up over the entire rear deck area and find several more bolt positions there. Nylon lock stainless steel nuts and fender washers would be used inside the kayak. Motor Steering: I plan to lock the motor straight and not have it turn with any kind of steering device. I only use the motor to go straight to out islands and do not need the maneuverability that one might need if they use the motor while fishing. My assumption is that the existing PA rudder would steer OK in this situation. Motor Controls: The top part of the motor, the controls, will be removed and fixed to a removable H-rail mounting plate that would be used from the seat area. Raising the Motor: I plan to never use reverse. The motor would either be mounted to a hinged, kick-up base or to a fixed base with the existing motor swing-up lock permanently disabled. I would not shorten the 36" shaft as the length would provide leverage for the pull-up rope mounted to the top and secured at a cam cleat usable from the seat. Battery: My style of use means I am going to be constantly installing and removing the battery. I have a back condition and about all I can lift is the 24 lbs of a 35ah battery like this: http://www.bargainshore.com/servlet/the-2992/VMAX857-12-dsh-Volt-35Ah-AGM/Detail This is small for a trolling motor, but if I used the digital Maximizer at mid to low speeds, perhaps it would last. Worst case is, I would use two of them. My style of use is: use it to get where I'm going, then hours later use it to return. This may lend itself to a technique fusioneng (Bob) suggested recently to use lithium 400 ah booster packs to do a trickle charge between uses while out in the kayak. Most likely, I would put the battery in some sort of splash protected box behind the seat. I think I would be removing it too much to weasel it into the hull. Prop: Everyone says the stock props are for heavy boats and do not have enough pitch. I plan to use the stock one first and see how it does. Later I could look into if the 3-blade Torqeedo Trolling Motor Replacement Propeller would help. Some are even trying Model Airplane Propellers. Registration: My state requires registration for this. I plan to contact my dealer for a MSO (Manufacturer's Statement of Origin) and get that process going. thanks for any feedback, Fred |
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