Hello everyone. I’m new to this site, which looks great. I’m looking forward to learning from many of you.
Last summer, I bought a used Coleman Scanoe with 2 seats (no center seat). I bought a really nice 55lb thrust Minnkota Maxxum transom trolling motor to go with it. Today, I took this set up out for the first time and I noticed it was extremely uncomfortable to fish/control the boat.
I have 2 issues/questions:
Does anyone have a scanoe and can recommend a removable middle seat – something non-permanent that I can install and uninstall quickly without tools? Today, I had my wife so balance (bow and stern) was ok but if I fish solo, I think I want to sit closer to the middle.
My second issue is a little more complex and it has to do with the motor mount. Now the reason I bought a scanoe in the first place was b/c of its square stern – in other words, no need for a motor mount. But I found it extremely uncomfortable on my body to try to sit forward while reaching back to try to control the motor. I came home and started to do some research on canoe motor mounts. I found out that there are a lot of motor mounts out there for mounting an electric motor off the side (port or starboard) of the canoe. Thing is, it looked to me like the mounts I’m referring to were meant to be used in the stern. My question is this. Can you mount one of these mounts towards the bow and use it to have your motor pull rather than push your boat? Is this preferable or more efficient? Does the motor mount necessarily have to be near the bow or stern? In other words, what would happen if you mounted it closer to the middle so one could sit in a middle seat, look forward and control your motor? Would this mess up boat control?
get an extention Minn Kota sells handle extentions for around $20.- 18 inches long if I remember correctly. You could probably make your own by splitting some pvc pipe and using sea clamps to tighten around the original handle.
scanoe problems. First let me say that the square stern is put there for a reason,use it for that,placing a motor
up front on one of those mounts will kill the purpose of the square stern to begin with,the handle idea is the best,jon boat users have delt
with this problem for years,also with a outboard tiller motor,its just how you have to use them.
Second,middle seat,old town makes a dropin seat,but check width of your canoe.You can do what i plan to do now since i couldnot sell my canoe.I plan on buying seat hangers and hardware
and having a carpenter fab a cane seat minuse the cane and replace that area with a pedestal seat base and use a removable padded boat seat in it.
pulling motor rather than pushing one Your trolling motor will do just as well pulling your scanoe as pushing it. Look at bass boats, the trolling motor is mounted on the bow,it pulls, not pushes the boat. As for your scanoe and the problems you’ve encountered, though it would be less efficient power wise, you could just turn around in the seat, assuming enough room (I haven’t seen a scanoe in years, so don’t remember how much room there is behind the stern seat) and fish facing the stern. A trolling motor that size should give you no noticable difference in power used that way.
BOW MOUNT I HAVE A RIVERHAWK FIBERGLASS SCANOE 14ft. WIN I BOUGHT MY MINN KOTA TROLLING MOTOR.THEY SOLD A BOW MOUNT FOR THEM.DONT KNOW IF THEY STILL SELL OR MAKE THEM.BUT THE EXTRA WEIGHT UP FRONT HELPS LEVEL MY BOAT.HAVE A HONDA 5hp fourstroke ON THE TRANSOM .BOW MOUNT FOR TROLLING IS THE WAY TO GO.
up front mounting Your going to want to go all the way up front or leave it on the square back. If you go all the way forward then you’ll have to be able to reverse the top portion of the unit so it is facing you, or sell it and buy one made for bow mounting. You won’t have any control from the middle, so that is out of the question. Leave it on the stern is your best choice. I’ve seen an extension handle somewhere that was offset to make it easier on the body. Also remember the longer the handle the more side to side movement it takes to turn your craft. I would mount the unit as far to one side on the stern as possible and find/or manufacture an offset handle.
Extension handles Extension handles for trolling motors, especially Minn Kota, can be found at the big sporting good stores. Boat dealers may stock them too. I don’t know about off-set handles. Check Bass Pro Shops on-line. You can probably get a price idea there.
As for turning the control head around on a trolling motor, thats usually no problem. On my Minn Kota, there’s one screw.
Checked Bass Pro catalogue Bass Pro Shops has several choices for handle extensions, including one pretty funky and expensive one. The handle that may suit you best isn’t the cheapest, it over $40, but has a U joint in it that allows for multiple positions.
motor woes I take it you did not get the foot controller for your motor. That would clear up alot of the problems you are having now. Other than that I used a wiffle ball bat and cut the end opposite the handle (the handle usually contains some sort of a grip) slide over the trolling handle and clamp tightly. To sit in the middle I would put a cushion on my cooler because I never leave w/o my cooler full of sandwhiches and beverages. BTW those coleman steel coolers really do keep beverages on ice for over 5 days even in the back of a vehicle on 80 degree days. I’m impressed!
foot controllers I’ve had a foot contol trolling motor. Prefer the hand control, better control over where the boat is going. A foot control would be difficult to use in the low seat position in a canoe. Of course, you could devise a way to set it at an angle, I guess. The bat idea is a good cheap solution, will have to try it. Are the metal coleman’s really that good? Igloo and Rubbermaid now make what they claim are 5 day coolers, but out of plastic.
I went to all the trouble of signing up on these message boards just to answer your concern, even though it is so old. I read all the answers you had and it was obvious they didn’t know the correct answers even though they were responding as experts.
The Coleman Scanoe is a unique beast. The squared off stern is a great idea, but you are right, it doesn’t work so well in practice. But it is still my favorite canoe for fishing of all time. The way to mount the motor is to the side of the driver. To the left if you are right handed or to the right if you are left handed. Cut two pieces of hardwood plywood, 1/2" or 3/4" x 6" x 10". Fit these right up against the gunwale, about half way between the rear seat and the aluminum stiffener/rib that goes accross the scanoe, one inside the scanoe and one outside. Use 1/2" bolts to bolt them together and voila, motor mount. I was concerned that the scanoe wouldn’t track straight if I side mounted the motor, but with it’s length and the “keel” this is no problem. Plus, it helps move the weight forward. If I put the battery forward of the stiffener/rib I can comfortably fish by myself and I weigh 300 lbs. I might throw the second anchor in the bow (a serious fisherman should always have two anchors with a scanoe/canoe), but other than that it’s no problem. I hope you get this response and I hope it helps. I can send you photos to show you how it works if you need.
try a foot mount if you are on a river that poses no to limited threat of tipping, get a foot mounted trolling motor. hands free! you control by lightly tapping a foot control similar in size to a brake pedal on a car. this is how solo anglers fish while on the move.