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From: (no name) (no email)
Date: Mon Oct 04 2004 - 23:26:14 EDT
Bob Austin writes:
<<I own both the small Shakesphere 15 lb thrust ($79) and a "Great White"
Salt water trolling motor (Motoguide) 54 lb thrust ($450). Which are used
primarly for fishing and the 54 lb to power my 12 foot alumium skif around the
bayou. There is no comparison between the trust of the 15 lb cheapie and the 54 lb
thrust more expensive motor. In comparison the Vetus bow thruster I put on a
30 footer generated 121 lb thrust. I believe that the cheapest Minn Kota is
28 lbs thrust. (the Walmart $99 special)>>
No argument Bob. I'm not claiming that a trolling motor will substitute for a
dedicated bow and stern thruster system. But it works fine considering its
limitations.
A number of years ago I bought a small trolling motor to use on my canoe.
However, I found other uses for it on my small trawler. I don't really need a
stern thruster for docking assist. To get my Willard 30 into boat length sized
spaces at the fuel dock. I simply nose in and have the dock boy or my wife cleat
down a bow line, then pivot the boat around a strategically placed fender
using the prop wash against the boat's oversized (for a trawler) rudder.
Where the trolling motor really comes in handy is maneuvering the boat in a
crowded marina with all those closely spaced finger piers. Like most single
screw boats, the Willard 30 exhibits definite prop walk when backing. In my case
the stern swings to starboard. It is not until we gather sternway that the
rudder has any real control over direction. Sometimes starboard is the direction
I want the stern to go and everything is OK. Sometimes a starboard swing will
get me in deep trouble and I have to back and fill until the boat is faced in
the right direction. The trolling motor lets me gently back out of the slip
and move the stern in the direction I want just as easily as if my trawler was
powered by an outboard or stern drive. The top speed of the little MinnKota
motor, pushing my 17,000 lb boat is about 1.5 kts. It takes some time to reach
that speed. This is about as far from a "shot out of the hole" water ski boat as
you can get. Still, the speed is adequate for the marina. It also comes in
handy for maneuvering in the locks of the Erie Canal. However be warned that a
small trolling motor cannot control the boat if the wind is strong enough to
blow out a candle.
The trolling motor is mounted on the port side of the swim platform. Because
of the helm location, I usually dock starboard side to the pier. This keeps
the trolling motor prop out of the way of dangling lines. If I anticipate using
it as a docking assist, the motor is lowered and locked in the athwartship
direction. The handle controller is set at its highest speed. From that point on,
all control is by the helm mounted switch. Incidentally, I have noticed very
little difference in thrust between forward and reverse motion of the trolling
motor prop. When cruising, I take the whole thing off and stow it in a
locker. It weighs less than 20 lbs.
To provide electrical power I use a big two prong low voltage plug and r
eceptacle I got from an RV dealer some years ago. I think its original purpose was
to connect a truck electrical system to a storage battery on a trailer and/or
to supply power to electrical brakes. Fuzed #4 wires connect the socket to the
house battery. I suppose any reasonably meaty electrical connector would do.
Even a 50 amp AC Hubbell connector provided you put a sign on it suggesting
that it not be used to connect 110v. power to the boat. The fuzes would blow
with quite a bang.
For switching I use a big DPDT knife switch I bought from an electrical parts
store for about $10. It sounds pretty primitive but the switch acts as both
an ON/OFF switch and lets me reverse polarity on the motor to change direction
of thrust. Actually the switch isn't very big. Its just about 4" long, about
the size of a mouse trap, and hides almost out of sight beneath the edge of the
steering console. I suppose I could cobble up a better and more sightly
arrangement with relays and a joystick control but I haven't gotten around to it.
Of course my motor is one of the smaller ones, about 35 lbs. thrust. But you
can get them with up to 150 lbs. thrust. A friend of mine drives a 21' bass
boat at about 5 kts with a single electric trolling motor. Then again, if you
were content with short duty cycles, you could "hot rod" the motors by doubling
the voltage. Most bow and stern thrusters are used for less than a minute at a
time, giving ample opportunity for the motor to cool off. The reason I'm
stressing this point is that a high volume production consumer item like a
trolling motor offers a reasonable solution to a stern thruster problem at a small
fraction of the cost of a custom installation. Of course if money is no object---
My other main use for the trolling motor is just for plain fun. We use it to
power a 15' Grumman canoe for just tooling around our mooring or sneaking up
on water fowl. It gets the canoe up to hull speed, slightly better than 5 kts,
and definitely faster than I can paddle. And it's dead quiet. All you can hear
is a slight burble of the prop churning away underwater. A battery charge
lasts for four hours of high speed goose chasing.
Imagine, all this utility and fun for less than $100 at WalMart.
Larry Z
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