I don’t want an outboard motor for the canoe and have seen minkota 30 motors on sportspal 14’.
would a endura 30 work on the wenonah Backwater 15’ square stern or should I go with a traxiss 45
thanks
Trolling Motor
I have a Minnkota Endura 30lb. thrust for 15 years and still going strong.
My new fishing spot is 3 miles one way (straight shot) and a lot of winding around and fishing on the way. Sometimes I run to this spot and back twice during the day.
I recently bought a Minnkota Traxxis 45 lb. thrust , w/digital maximize and have extended my range greatly. I did notice the bracket at point of contact with the transom start to spread as I tightened it down. The metal cups were sliding on the transom and was solved by placing a computer mouse pad on the transom. The 30lb. would wimp out in a high wind, no problem with the Traxxis 45.
The Wal-Mart batteries are good just make sure you get the most reserve amps you can. I was surprised in the group 24 at Wal-mart the most reserve amps I found was 100 so I bought a 140 reserve amps, group 24 from AutoZone for about $10.00 more.
I use a Schumacher XCS15 battery charger from Wal-Mart.
If on a tight budget the Minnkota Endura 30lb. thrust will do. To trim my canoe I put a spare battery in the bow and don’t worry about running out of juice.
Keep the open side up :~)
endura 30
thanks-I bought the 30 endura at Gander mountain and they said I have up to 30 days to bring it back. I did read about the variable 45LB thrust but didn’t know if it was worth the extra money and a lot of reviews I have read said the 30 was enough but money is not an issue and I might as well bite the bullet and get the 55LB variable and now I have to find out if I can go on some lakes in the adairondaks with the minkota as they might put it in the same class as a motor boat.
thanks
-Ok now I just remembered the reason I did not get the 45 or 55 lb thrust minkota.
the shafts are 36" and 45" long
David
you can shorten the Traxxis shaft …
… if you want to customize it for your canoe .
Simple proceedure , you need to cut the top of the shaft , shorten the wires inside the head . There are directions on how to found on the web. , or you can talk with Minnkota for more confidence .
endura 30 on a wenonah Backwater canoe
Hi
Well I returned the endura 30 and bought the Traxxis 55 which Dicks had it for less than $300.
Now I feel better about taking her out in a stiff wind.
The shaft length was 36" which does not look that bad and the handle can come out and down.Nice setup and it has a battery indicator right on it-all I have to do is push the button to see how much remains in the battery.
thanks for any advice.
Now here in NY I have to get a non title voucher for it and bring the receipt showing that I paid good old NY their $120 and a photo of the serial number and then register it as a motorized boat.
yeah , even an elect. motor …
– Last Updated: Apr-01-12 3:46 PM EST –
...... changes the status of a canoe (paddle craft) .
It's now a motorized boat (when the elect. motor is on it) , ain't that some s**t . I think all states are pretty much on the same page with the "show me the money" registration crap .
But hey , it's a 2 yr. registration , right , So that's $60./yr. to have the privilage of an elect. motor powering your canoe .
The motorized boat requiring a registration makes some sense to me , because an outboard motor has an enviromental impact , fossil fuel ... but an electric motor , what is it , battery lead and sulferic acid disposal when retired (??) .
Talking about batteries , as another has already said ... get a big deep cycle marine batt. , 135 anp. hr. would be great (especially with the 55) , and if you get a spare batt. (best idea) sooner or later , the spare doesn't have to be as big as the main batt. if you don't want it to (it's a spare for back-up) .
Just think of amp. hrs. as how much fuel (run time) you got on board , more is better than less is my moto .
You can take your time in deciding if you want to shorten the shaft ... not a problem if you do , just remember you can't lengthen it again nearly as easy as you shortened it .
That 55 Traxxis is going to be pretty fast on your canoe , but nothing says you have to open it up full throtle . Less throtle demand also uses less juice thanks to the Maximizer .
The batt. life light indicator on the motor head is a neat thing ... just remember , the motor has to be "not running" to get the "accurate read" . If you test it while it's running you'll get a surprise "low" reading , even on fully charged batts. , lol .
If running in rocky rivers or chance of shallows where motor pod can contact river/lake bottom or high rocks , I always suggest you rig the motor tilt lock to stay "un-locked" . That way you have the best chance for the motor pod to bounce off the object as opposed to getting hung on it and spinning your canoe ... you understand what I just said , don't you ?? The more powerful the motor , the faster you can go ... the faster you go , the more severe a pod hang will affect a canoe . The motor will jump a little in reverse if you gun it and don't lock it first , just something to keep in mind .
Two bank charger for two batts. , 1 bank for single batt. ... each bank should have 10 amp. charging output , less just won't take good care of your batts. , they have to be heated up real good on initial hot charge cycle , this is the word from the all the learners who came before you and found out the hard way .
The 55 is almost 25% more power than the 45 , and you can see it in the pod size difference too .
Don't forget to add "wings" to your canoe now before take-off . Have fun and let us know how it's going . Better yet , tell us a fish story !!
All this just to catch a fish , crazy ain't it !!
traxxis 55 on a Wenonah 15’backwater
finally after all the baloney from the DMV I took the canoe out with my son on canadice lake.
It was windy as all heck and had whitcaps all over the lake and large swells in the middle of the Lake . We crossed to the west side of the lake.
First it did not break any speed records and Yes a gas 2.5 hp will be a lot quicker but let me tell you.
My son sat in the back and he is a 6 footer weighing 320 lbs plus the 55 motor weighed quite a bit also.
I sat in front with the 65 lb battery behind me and I weigh 215.I figure there was at least 700LBS in the canoe.It handled like a dream. We had no problem moving along with the speed setting on 4 and moving it to 5 created a wake. Quiet and strong-What a setup for trolling on the lake. My son was so impressed-we cut back diagonally on 5 into the wind and big swells and took some water over the bow but very little and the boat was as stable as a rock.What a canoe for fishing.
I would recommend this setup to anyone.The only problem is with the motor mounted on the stern makes for a backache if you do it for a long time.
I want to see if I can rig up something. There has to be someway of doing it so you don’t have to twist yourself to steer it. Anyway-my son and I loved it and was shocked at how stable the canoe was. Look up the wenonah backwater and see how sharp the front is and I stood up in front of the front seat and had no problem keeping my balance
hope this helps somebody
glad you like it …
– Last Updated: May-07-12 8:59 AM EST –
...... how does the battery hold up , does it seem to have enough distance and duration (time) for what you need ??
How many hours run time do you think you have ??
I know you can always get a spare batt. to take along for longer time needs .
Just curious why you didn't choose the maximizer variable speed model Traxxis 55 . I know it cost about 100. more , was that thwe reason .
traxxis 55
When I bought the battery from advantage auto or whatever-I measured the voltage and it read 13.8 volts.
We were out on the lake for a few hrs and ran it on 5 across the lake and also on the way back. we trolled a little on 2. I didn’t get the digital and it was not the money at all.
I doubt if I would be trolling all day on a low setting. This 55 with the 36"shaft is really nice. when we got it home after fishing I checked the voltage and it read 13.6-I went out today for two hrs and it really got windy all of a sudden and I had to get off the lake-voltage read 13.2.I read somewhere you can charge it up to 14.4 volts but I just put it on the charger and brought it up to 13.9.
I think you can use this all day and be ok.Run it on five to your destination and then a low number like 2 to troll. Fish were not hitting today.
I just had worms and also cast for a little while.
I could see the fish in the water clear as a bell but they would not hit.They would come right up to it and sometimes nudge it but not take it.Two small pickeral on a mepps spinner was all I caught
battery
tomorrow we will be out all day on the lakje and I will see how long the battery lasts-I found a good way to mount the fishfinder transducer inside the canoe and I can take it out everytime and put it back in without any marking to the bottom of the canoe.
I had it mounter to the back of the min kota but this is much better.
David