I want to add a trolling motor to my 17’ Grumman but don’t want to invest in more thrust than I need for slow, flat rivers and lake paddling.
I’m looking at the Minn Kota Endura 50lb, thrust,$200 at WalMart
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5297227
and also looking at the Motor Guide Thruster T34
with 34lb thrust for $100
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4016522
My typical trips are river camping, two people,
average gear, small ice chest, motor’s battery, etc.
A total of about 400lbs maybe.
My question is, will the 34lb thrust be sufficient
to handle my upstream, flat situations in 1-3mph currents, average winds, etc.
on the 17’ Grumman or would paying twice as much for the 50lb MotorGuide be advisable.
I also plan on building a set of outrigger
floats for stability when motoring but the setup shouldn’t weigh more tha 20-30lbs??
thanks
jerry
Jerry
You might get a better response on the Fishing from Kayaks and Canoes board. I’m watching because I have the same question !
garyg
Thanks Garyg
I took your advice and did that.
jerry
I recommend a 30 pound
Jerry: I have a 30 pound thrust trolling motor for my 17’ ski boat. I tried it once on my 15’ canoe and it really cruised. I don’t know a real lot about canoes - but I think I was limited by displacement speed more than by thrust.
The 30 pound motors usually have a shorter shaft than the 36 and up motors - they may actually be too long.
Bottom line is I think 30 pounds is all you need.
Jeff
Shorten Shaft
Depending on what motor I buy I imagine that I will
need to shorten the shaft so a few days ago I did a search on it and found several good sites on how to
shorten the shaft. The sites were usually bass fishing sites and with the step by step descriptions it appears to be easy to do.
One canoe site,
http://www.ecanoe.org/how_to_shorten_your_trolling_motor_shaft_.htm
30 lb. is bare bones minimum …
It’s a canoe, use a paddle.