Trolling Motor only goes 2mph on 14' v-hual - Is that good ?

[MtnDew]

I recently bought a 14' semi v-haul that came with a transom mount Motorguide 38lb trolling motor with a 3-blade machete prop. It has 5speed forward, 2 reverse. Boat is 1990 .. not sure year on trolling motor.

At full speed it only pushes me to 2mph with me, 15hp outboard, gas tank, battery in the boat.

Does that sound like the right speed for a 38lb thrust ?

The motor feels smooth and appears to run okay, not sure if that is all a 38lb can do, or if this is an old motor and has lost any power ...

I would like to get closer to 4 mph ..

Would a 2 blade prop go faster ?

Would a 55lb 12v newer minkota push me much faster then my old 38lb ?

does anyone have a trolling motor on a similar sized boat that goes 4mph ... if so what size is it ?

thanks .. just trying to decide if it is worth upgradeing to a bigger 12v, not really wanting to goto 24v.

Here is a pic of boat

 

[fender66]

Seems a little slow to me but I'm guessing. I'd look to make sure all your connections are good along with your battery(s). Also pull the prop off and make sure there is no fishing line or crap preventing it from spinning freely.

YES...a 55lb. will work much better.

Let us know what you find......if anything.

 

[rickybobbybend]

Good advice from fender. A fishing buddy of mine had the same issue with his TM. He discovered the battery wasn't being kept at full charge. And he found that by tilting his OB out of the water he almost doubled his speed by reducing drag. Not a particularly convenient solution but if was easy on the budget.

 

[TNtroller]

a 55lb'r would increase your speed maybe to 3mph (swag). I have a 55lb MK Terrova on my PT175 with a 60 2smoke on the back, boat has full carpet, raised platforms with fishing seats, 3 seats at the console area, etc., not a heavy boat but not a featherweight either. The Terrova will pull mine at 2.7/gps when on high but with it being 12v it won't maintain it for very long. If you plan on trolling at 4mph for extended periods, you should go 24v, if the desired 4mph is just to get from one spot to another, you'll probably still need to go 24v 80lb or more to get that speed. I can troll at .5 up to 1.5 mph/gps for hours with my set up and use the TM on high to scoot across a wide cove if I want.

 

[MtnDew]

I would think my 14' is much lighter then yours Tntroller. It has partial wood floors and that is it.

Not sure if transom mount vs bow would effect speed, I don't see how it could.

The reason for the speed is to go faster when scanning for schools of fish using the TM, . The 15hp 2stroke is noisy, and cause more interference with my sonar. I have to manually tilt it up using the flip down shallow drive bar and I can then go about 4mph and get a decent sonar.

So my plan would be to use the 15hp to get to a spot and then use the trolling motor to work it over at 3-4mph looking for bait or fish on the bottom etc. Once I found them I would either let the wind drift troll me or slow way down with the TM to troll.

How long do you think your 55 would last at 3+ mph ... 1 hr etc... I have a new large deep cycle now.


I have not always pulled the 15hp up out of the water, makes sense the drag would not be helping.

 

[redbug]

a bow mount motor will give you more speed if it was me i would go with the 24 volt motor up front
you will get more time on the water with 24 volts

 

[dougw181]

I fish a local electric motor only lake in my 14' Valco with a 55# 12v motor and I can push 3.1 mph with myself and a buddy. I will go through a group 27 battery in 1-2 hours on high speed. If I back off and go to speed 3 or 4 I can get 4-5 hours out of the battery at
1.6-1.9 mph. I have learned to be patient and use the lower speeds to extend the battery life. I carry 2 batteries, and this will get me
through a days fishing, but both are spent at the end of the day. I recently purchased a bow mount 55# motor in hopes to become more efficient and get more out of my batteries. I want to be able to go camping for the weekend and fish and charge the batteries with
my small generator so the more efficient I can get the better.

 

[MtnDew]

Thanks Doug, that was just the kind of info I needed.

not sure what I am going todo now .. but it sounds like I will keep using the outboard for searching and scooting from spot to spot and the current TM is good enough for trolling and controlling my drift, until I can save up for a 24v rig or at least a big 12v and two batteries.

-rob

 

[muskiemike12]

Why is your gas motor causing interference with your sonar? That is something I would investigate. There is no reason that you can't scan structure with your gas motor running at a speed of 5 - 7 mph.

 

[MtnDew]

My guess is the interference is that the HB transducer is 7" long and the gap between my outboard and transom is 4-5". The side image picks up the motor a bit and the prop wash. I get lines up and down all the sonars when I kick the speed up on the outboard.

I did find today that I get lines but if I get to 6mph and let it go for a second it will start reading clear.. but 4-5 mph is like a dead zone.

-rob

 

[TNtroller]

I could probably get 2 hrs of trolling time on high with my set up. If you are getting interference on the SS/SI unit from your 15hp, I would check your electrical connections first. Maybe a vibration & loose connection but one never knows. I would also try moving the xducer, or adjusting it a bit if possible before doing anything else like a bigger TM or more batteries.

It's not unusual for the lower unit to block the SI beam, and lots of people have to raise the OB a bit to resolve that issue, you can try mounting a "mounting block" on the transom so you can experiment with TD locations without drilling a bunch of holes in the hull.

If the interference clears up at 6mph, then its a water flow issue (distrubance/air bubbles) and moving the TD to smoother water should help. You could try raising or lowering the TD in its bracket a bit if all possible to find smoother water.

 

[sawmill]

Is your transducer set so it is flat to the bottom of the boat? If it is you can tip it so the back of it is angled toward the front of the boat just slightly. This will direct your beam more under the boat and lose some of the interference from the motor, and eleminate any air bubbles

 

[MtnDew]

Thanks for the info guys.

I keep playing with the transducer .. kind of a pain to go out, go back to trailer etc.. I am trying to find the balance between the rooster tail, getting depth on plane and being able to use outboard to scan.

I went to a smaller less busy lake today, and left the trailer at the ramp and just kept going in and out making small adjustments. BUT THE one thing I was not changing was the angle of the unit. It is parallel to the hull with maybe a slight tilt towards the boat so the rear of the unit furthest from the transom is a tad lower then the front.

I may try one more click to tilt it.

thanks again, I had gotten focused on up and down.