installing two transom trolling motors

[shu2kill]

hey. im building an electric only 12 feet tin boat. right now, im moving it with a 24# motor, and it moves decently with 2 persons. the lake is really small, so no need to go faster.

however, after adding a couple of mods, im afraid the boat will get too heavy. i can get a 30# motor for very cheap, so im thinking about installing both of them. but i have a couple of questions.

how do you steer?? i was thinking on adding a bar to connect both of them so they turn at the same time. or, how do you do it? i have seen this on other boats but never really stopped to see how they were installed.

 

[bobberboy]

An obvious question to your question is why not get a 50# instead of adding a 30# to your 24#? If that's not possible then if you are a tinkerer or inventor you should be able to tie the two together with some hardware store parts. Something to keep in mind may be how close they are mounted together. Too close and the prop from one may hit the motor body of the other when making tight turns. You may have to fashion a stop of some sort to prevent that. Also, because one motor is stronger than the other the boat will tend in the direction of the stronger motor. It's like when you're rowing and the boat always turns in one direction because your dominant arm is stronger than the other. Hardest thing to figure out is how to control the speed of both and the on/off. Given you're not sailing off to a distant planet I guess these are pretty small concerns and course corrections along the way will just become part of using the set-up.

I'd start by trying to clamp something to the tiller arm (without affecting the speed control) and go from there. You'll need an arm on each with a point to tie each to a center bar connecting the two. If the speed control is on the tiller it would be cool if you could connect the two with some kind of giant rubber band so that when you turn the one it will turn the other. It's pretty much Tinker Toy science but a fun challenge.

Please post pics if you decide to do it. Good luck.

 

[kofkorn]

As long as the motors don't hit each other when they turn, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to steer with one motor and leave the other one alone. It wouldn't turn as fast as using both motors to steer, but I think you'd be surprised at how quickly it will turn, especially if you use the larger motor to turn. If you need to turn really tight, you probably aren't going that fast and won't be using both motors anyway.

Another suggestion would be to put one on the bow and one on the transom. You could wire an automotive relay in-line with the power lead and then run a small wire with a switch to the back. Leave the speed control set, and flip the switch when you want the bow motor to come on. That will solve the problem with the mismatched motors turning your boat and would make steering from the rear easier.

Good luck!

 

[shu2kill]

thanx for the input!!

well, first of all, i am in Mexico, so getting this type of things here is more difficult and expensive than getting them in the US. as i already have the 24#, and i can get the 30# for the equivalent of $55, i thought about installing both of them instead of going to the trouble and expense of trying to get a 50# from the US....

i wasnt sure if i could steer with one and leave the other one alone, so i was thinking something like what bobberboy said, connect both of them to make them turn at the same time... since the 30# has variable speed (the 24# is fixed), i thought i could adjust the 30# to go at the speed of the 24#....

now, installing one on the bow and the other one at the stern is also an option, i can easily wire it to be turned on from the back. do you think it would be a real advantage over installing both of them at the transom??

 

[kofkorn]

I actually prefer having mine on the front instead of the back. You get more control, and the boat will always go in the direction that the motor is pointing. However, it is usually harder to control the steering from the front as most people prefer to sit in the middle or the rear of the boat.

For this though, it should be fairly easy to try having both motors on the back of the boat first and steer with the larger one. It won't cost you anything, and if you don't like it, you can then try moving one of them to the front instead or add the linkage to have them turn together. No money spent and you'll learn something along the way.

Good luck!

 

[bobberboy]

kofkorn » 49 minutes ago[/url]"]I actually prefer having mine on the front instead of the back. You get more control, and the boat will always go in the direction that the motor is pointing. However, it is usually harder to control the steering from the front as most people prefer to sit in the middle or the rear of the boat.

For this though, it should be fairly easy to try having both motors on the back of the boat first and steer with the larger one. It won't cost you anything, and if you don't like it, you can then try moving one of them to the front instead or add the linkage to have them turn together. No money spent and you'll learn something along the way.

Good luck!

This seems to be a sensible way to start. Doing nothing is generally the easiest and you can always work up from there.

 

[shu2kill]

thanx kofkorn, i think thats what ill do if i end up getting both motors. i also prefer to sit on the rear bench, its bigger and more comfortable, so i would like to drive from the back. but setting one motor on the front with a switch on the rear is no problem...

 

[fakirone]

I would definitely use the smaller motor as a drive unit only and steer drive with the second larger motor. It would take minimal hardware to get the 24# clamped going straight forward and would certainly be the easiest, most affordable option.