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Bow Mount Trolling Motor ideas for Sakonnet
ChasePowell	#1  Posted on 01/22/15 - 11:39 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 3 Comments: 0 Joined: 01/22/15	Hi Guys, I am new to the thread and am looking for help. I have a 1970 Sakonnet and I am interested in putting a bow mounted trolling motor on it. The gunnels are too skinny to mount a bracket, so I was wondering if anyone on here has come up with a good solution. Please let me know if you can help. Thanks, Chase Powell
SeaLevel	#2  Posted on 01/23/15 - 3:16 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 193 Comments: 0 Joined: 05/03/09	Take a look at my personal page photos "It's just a forty eight year old Whaler but it's all mine" Joseph R Palmieri
todd12	#3  Posted on 01/23/15 - 8:13 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 220 Comments: 0 Joined: 07/27/06	You can check my personal page and link below. The link below is one of my whalers that I redid. http://neworleans.craigslist.org/boa/...66191.html Todd
bradsc	#4  Posted on 01/25/15 - 4:54 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 118 Comments: 0 Joined: 01/15/11	Chase, It will be important to get the trolling motor on the center line of the boat. We do a good bit of inshore fishing and use the trolling motor about half the time. If it is not centered you will be constantly adjusting to get you boat to go straight. I made a plywood pattern and played with different angles. I am not sure of your front railing but those will come into play also. I made my plate from 1/4" stainless and had it powder coated. I used the holes for the bow light/chock and then cut a hole to get a through bolt on the back of the plate. I did loose the cool classic bow light and had to but the running lights on the side of the console. I have a buddy who works with fiberglass/gel coat patch the hole. You may get by with just heavy screws and 5200. I ran 8 AWG wire to a plug on the center console and keep the deep cycle battery under the console. Check my personal page and I will try to get a few more pictures added of the plate. Edited by bradsc on 01/25/15 - 4:56 AM
Whalerbob	#5  Posted on 01/25/15 - 5:59 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 311 Comments: 0 Joined: 12/07/06	I disagree with the comment above, mine isn't mounted on the center line and it tracks straight as can be. You just need to keep the main engine down and the wheel straight so it acts like a keel.
msd58	#6  Posted on 01/25/15 - 9:25 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 115 Comments: 9 Joined: 04/08/06	Whalerbob wrote: I disagree with the comment above, mine isn't mounted on the center line and it tracks straight as can be. You just need to keep the main engine down and the wheel straight so it acts like a keel. +1
bradsc	#7  Posted on 01/26/15 - 5:05 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 118 Comments: 0 Joined: 01/15/11	A crab walks "straight" even though he does not think he is going sideways. It is all relative. You are looking at options and each one has it's trade offs. Looking at personal pages from above, you can simply screw the plastic mounting block to your boat to building a cool matching wooden frame. Also consider where and why you want to troll. If you want to slow troll live herring for stripers on the open water of Lake Lanier, mounting your trolling motor off to the side will work. If you go to Savannah and want to chase Reds and go up little creeks and inlets on a falling tide, you better mount it in the center. The trade offs I looked at were, I wanted to keep my front rail, we do go "offshore" every now and then. I did not want the trolling motor sticking out past the gunnel. I wanted to keep my bow open to fish and I wanted to go against a sometimes pretty strong current. We do not stay out past dark often so relocating the running lights was not a big deal. We do anchor between the Charleston jetties sometimes, so losing the chock was a trade off but we fish for Reds far more than we anchor fish. If you have 10 coats of Awlgrip on your Mahogany and Teak, and want to keep your boat stock you may need come up with some kind of removable custom mounting plate.( I think that is what your post asked!! LOL) I bet there are local businesses who can cut out parts on a water jet, tig weld and powder coat. Todd12 has a cool simple set up. Since you do not have the front step area, you could curve your plate to match the boat's gunnel and bolt through the rub rail lip. I did that using the holes where the bow light/chock were and with my down rigger mounts. Good luck on your search! Edited by bradsc on 01/26/15 - 6:16 AM
ChasePowell	#8  Posted on 01/26/15 - 6:33 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 3 Comments: 0 Joined: 01/22/15	Thanks for all of the input guys. I recently uploaded pictures to my personal page so you can all get an idea of what I am referring too. We keep the boat down in Beaufort, SC so it is rarely ever in Atlanta. We have a large platform from the center console to the bow, which is why a lot of the ideas I have seen on the site would not fit the boat. Thank you for the idea about mounting it as close to center as possible. I did not know this was a major issue, but we definitely get some major tides down there. A typical tide swing is in the 7 foot range. Our flood tides in the summer will reach almost 10 feet, so you can imagine this will play into the mount.
Whalerbob	#9  Posted on 01/27/15 - 3:17 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 311 Comments: 0 Joined: 12/07/06	I kept my Montauk on Lake Lanier for 3 years and trailered to coastal GA and SC several times but not sure why it matters. My motor is mounted about 12" off center and it tracks straight wherever I use it, even in FL and the Chesapeake too. I suppose if you were to launch in Key West a lot however all bets would be off... Edited by Whalerbob on 01/27/15 - 3:19 PM
bradsc	#10  Posted on 01/27/15 - 6:10 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 118 Comments: 0 Joined: 01/15/11	silly bob............lakes don't have tide changes and strong currents!
Whalerbob	#11  Posted on 01/27/15 - 6:55 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 311 Comments: 0 Joined: 12/07/06	Yea, I suppose I had that one coming... I just got a chance to look at your personal page, love the boat but did you remove your bow light in order to mount the motor like that? Whoever told you the motor needs to be center mounted on a Montauk to track properly either wasn't speaking from personal experience or didn't know to put the main engine down.
bradsc	#12  Posted on 01/27/15 - 8:44 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 118 Comments: 0 Joined: 01/15/11	Bob, I did remove the bow light/chock to get the trolling motor centered and to keep the bow platform unobstructed. I bought a burnt out 16' bass boat back in the 80's. I bought a transom mounted trolling motor and found some terrible quick release bracket to mount it to the bow. It was not centered and to me, it was hard to track straight. I either went too far one way and then too far back. So when I decided to put a trolling motor on the Montauk, it was important to me to have it centered. I do not keep the motor down because over the years, the oyster shells ate the paint off of the skeg on the old 90 Yamaha. So, when I weighed it out, the trades offs were acceptable and it was important to me to center my trolling motor. I, like I hope most of us do, is research, research, and research. So when fellow whaler owners ask for advice, I try to share my experiences and opinions on how I solved an issue. By no means is the way I did something the only way. So, if your trolling motor is off center and your boat tracks straight, it may not be as important as I think. We can just give our advice and hopefully our fellow whaler owners can make the right decision for them. Bob, I look forward to reading your future post and happy boating!