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[keithr]

I'm thinking of putting an electric mortor on mine--it would let me keep a rod in my hand instead of oars.  Anybody done this?  How did it work out?  And how about electric motors?  Do they make littly bitty ones?  Any opinions about such a project would be appreciated.

[troutbreath]

http://www.shipstore.com/SS/HTML/SEV/SEVSBM.html

[DionJL]

I've got an 8' Waterskeeter RiverRunner mounted with a 27lb Minn Kota classic. It works great. I find its great for getting me across a lake or to my fishing spot quick but it can be hard to control. At slower speeds it's better. The problem i find is the battery is soooo heavy it puts the boat up "chopper style". Which can be a pain in the my friend.

[troutbreath]

You can use a small 12 volt battery like for a motorcycle etc. They just don't last as long. But if your not trolling for hours there good to go. I've been using 12 volts from the alarm system at work and get close to 1 hour of full power on a 36lb thrust Minn Kota.

[DionJL]

Hmmm. There is a spot i go to that takes atleast 30 minutes each way without wind. So the big battery is nice there. Maybe i'll look into a smaller one too

[keithr]

thanks for the link(which I just checked out) and the information.  I also wondered about all the added weight.  According to the people who made my boat, you can adjust for this somewhat by moving the frame foreword (I think) on the pontoons.
I'm thinking of going with a smaller battery and adding a solar panel . . .

[James]

my dad put a 30lb thrust minn kota on the back of his 8' pontoon , you may have to modify the battery placement so that there is more balance to the boat .
He also went to Sea-run tackle store ( i think) and bought the " lever action" steering device . works good . But after you add all your motor/ battery / charger / steering component / and mounting hardware(if needed) --- the price rivals a 12' alluminum boat setup . But you still have more portability with the 'toon boats , no trailer either .

[THE_ROE_SLINGER]

I had a 55lb thurst on my 9 foot fishcat.. Got me from A to B

[keithr]

Hi James, portability is a big issue with me.  I  hate pulling a trailer, and I'm usually going long distances.

This is a little off topic, but how do you know when you have all the air you should have in those pontoons?  My boat came with some cautions about sun and altitude, but there was no real clue as to how to know when enough was enough on putting in air.  I went with, "well, that feels pretty hard."

[Rieber]

I've got an 8' Waterskeeter RiverRunner mounted with a 27lb Minn Kota classic. It works great. I find its great for getting me across a lake or to my fishing spot quick but it can be hard to control. At slower speeds it's better. The problem i find is the battery is soooo heavy it puts the boat up "chopper style". Which can be a pain in the my friend.

You need to slide your seat forward when you put a marine battery behind you to balance your load on the boat.

The Minn Kota 27 is what I used on my Fishcat 9 - it moved the boat just fine.

for easy trolling control I replaced the footpegs with the motor bracket and mounted the motor in front of me. I then removed the screw that secures the motor head and reatached it 180 degrees so the motor conrtol faced me and I still had the 4 foward speeds. The drawback was because I'm a big guy the front of the boat became too cluttered for casting and fish landing. I was about to add a swivel seat base to the boat but never got to it because I sold the boat.

Also you didn't want forget your feet in the water when you turn the motor on.