I am looking to purchase a trolling motor for my Old Town Predator C160. I have already bought the side mount from LLBean. Any suggestions on lbs of thrust and type of trolling motor would be much appreciated.
Variable
Get a motor with a variable speed control intead of a stepped speed control. They are much more efficient at lower speeds and your battery will last much longer. Also consider 2 smaller deep cycle batteries instead of 1 big one. Batteries are heavy and smaller ones would be easier to handle.
Get at least 30 lbs of thrust. Though
not variable speed, Minn Kota makes one for under $80-90. The variable speed may be useful if you are going out for long periods of time and will be using the motor exclusively. But, it its out for maybe an hour, anchoring or landing, then returning, its not as important. A trolling motor of less than 30 lbs thrust isn’t very effective in wind or moderate current. Consider mounting the motor toward the bow, pulling trolling motors seem to work better and give better control. Minn Kota as well as others make tiller handle extensions that don’t cost much and are useful from a seating standpoint.
I have the same boat
Mine is and earlier 160 but the hull is the same. We flipped ours in Pamlico sound and the weight of the trolling motor and battery sank the canoe. It was a long underwater drag to get to shore. And they it was a long row to get back to camp.
My advice is to skip the whole idea and to learn to row better. You’ll go father in a day rowing and feel better for it.
If you are dead set on a trolling motor, then get one with 30 pounds of thrust and secure float bags into the boat. If you turn the trolling motor quickly the boat may want to tip so you might want to get outriggers available from SpringCreek. Once you have the float bags outriggers and trolling motor, you’ll find that you’ve spent more than the cost of a jon boat for less of the usefullness. At least that is what I found.
Did I mention that with a few minor tweaks that the 160 is an excellent row boat?
I need an extension for a trolling…
…motor handle, and found an aluminum vacuum cleaner wand at Goodwill that fit perfectly. The motor has a soft rubber handle that prevented the wand from sliding.