Lund Rebel 2000: Bow Trolling Motor, Thrust, Shaft Length Recommendations

[TroutYammer]

Hello: I am looking to get a bow electric trolling motor for the front of my 2000 Lund Rebel 16Ft boat. I mostly fish smaller lakes (less than 400 acres) and never go out when the wind is above 15mph...so not worrying about waves too much or the front end bouncing too much.

I am thinking of getting the following:

Terrova with I-Pilot (can't afford integrated IPilot)

55 LB Thrust and 45" Shaft.

Anybody have a similar setup? Any drawbacks to this setup or other recommendations?

[pinkfloyd4ever]

I have an 09 rebel, did some research and went with a 55lb 48in V2. Haven't installed it as the boat is still in storage, but from what I read it should be good and I fish similar sized lakes you are talking about. I figured a little more thrust is better than sizing down to save a few $

[marine_man]

You should be fine with what you're proposing

marine_man

[RebelSS]

I have a Minnkota 55lb Powerdrive with a 48" on my Rebel, and it's plenty.

[DooWap]

I think that unit would do you just great for you. The only thing I could think of would be if you could take one step up and get into the 24v units you would get some much better run time out of your batteries. Of course, then you would need to have room for two batteries, not sure if that's an option on your boat.

[TruthWalleyes]

A 55# on a 16' boat will work great for you. (That's what i have)

I run 3 batteries in parallel and have a switch to run it on just 2 batteries instead of all 3. My guess is that if you don't fish in wind over 15mph you're not worried about run time anyway.

Good luck.

[DooWap]

Truth,

Just curious, is there an advantage to running a 12v unit with two batteries in parallel vs a slightly bigger 24v unit with two in series? Besides the fact that the 24v is going to cost a couple bucks more up front that is?

[TruthWalleyes]

Truth,

Just curious, is there an advantage to running a 12v unit with two batteries in parallel vs a slightly bigger 24v unit with two in series? Besides the fact that the 24v is going to cost a couple bucks more up front that is?

I spend upwards of 100hrs at a time in the boat on several occasions through the seasons. Many more 48hr trips....I NEVER run out of juice!

I also run a lot of electronics off of the same batteries and do not currently have a motor that charges the batteries.

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubb...yle#Post2836729

[delcecchi]

I spend upwards of 100hrs at a time in the boat on several occasions through the seasons. Many more 48hr trips....I NEVER run out of juice!

I also run a lot of electronics off of the same batteries and do not currently have a motor that charges the batteries.

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubb...yle#Post2836729

You mean like in the boat for 4 days continuously? If so, that's hard core.

[TruthWalleyes]

YUp. Longest trip 108 hrs. Step onto shore for gas or to use a restroom.

Sleep on the front deck under the stars.

Mainly sturgeon and flathead trips

[Fish Head]

YUp. Longest trip 108 hrs. Step onto shore for gas or to use a restroom.

Sleep on the front deck under the stars.

Mainly sturgeon and flathead trips

Holy cow. Now that's a fishing trip!

I suppose sleeping in the boat is better than a muddy ditch?

[Fish Head]

Hello: I am looking to get a bow electric trolling motor for the front of my 2000 Lund Rebel 16Ft boat. I mostly fish smaller lakes (less than 400 acres) and never go out when the wind is above 15mph...so not worrying about waves too much or the front end bouncing too much.

I am thinking of getting the following:

Terrova with I-Pilot (can't afford integrated IPilot)

55 LB Thrust and 45" Shaft.

Anybody have a similar setup? Any drawbacks to this setup or other recommendations?

I know you said you don't go out in the wind, but I would still go with the 48" shaft. It can't cost much more if anything and now you have options. I have a 60" shaft on my 19ft Alumacraft and it still can come out of the water on real windy days.

[TruthWalleyes]

Muddy ditch is a term used for the Minnesota river....

[TroutYammer]

Awsome! Thanks for the feeback everyone. Now I just gotta go shopping. Do these Minn Kota Terrovas ever go on sale?

[delcecchi]

I don't thing terrovas go on sale exactly, but sometimes there seem to be incentives. More points on your cabela's card, a cash back thing, like right now they have a mail in rebate, along with a financing deal with club. no interest for 12 months. Plus you get points worth 2% or 5%

Looks like the rebate is available anywhere. 80 bucks on the 80 lb model.

[chanfish]

Hey Muddy. I went to school down there and fished that river and it was awesome. That was way back in the 80's. My brother lives in kato too..So you would just sleep in your boat on the river instead of going home? How in the heck would you avoid all the bugs down there?

[TruthWalleyes]

Hey Muddy. I went to school down there and fished that river and it was awesome. That was way back in the 80's. My brother lives in kato too..So you would just sleep in your boat on the river instead of going home? How in the heck would you avoid all the bugs down there?

Majority of my sleeping in the boat is when i'm 2+hrs from home. But i've pulled some weekends on the MN R too, However...

Those bugs will drive a person MADDD...But that's the way it goes on the Minnesota River in the summer. Brings lots of bug spray and pray for heavy fog! (Even though nagavating through fog is not much fun it's better than being covered in bugs)

Wasn't much water in there this year though.

To the OP, Unless you plan to add AutoPilot or ILink in the future, you could look into the PD versions for less cost and they have copilot.

[gunner55]

You could also look into a refurbished 1.We have bought a couple of them & had good luck.I think Minn-kota used to sell them(not sure they do now) & there was another place(The Bobber Shop?) in Mankato that had some different models of them.Try a search for them

[pinkfloyd4ever]

keep searching the name brand stores for prices and then strike when the price drops, I would imagine most stores are nearing the gearing up for open water. I had gift cards to GM but FF had the troller I bought listed $50+ cheaper. GM price matched it on the spot

[TruthWalleyes]

Gander has a Pd 50# for 500.

[delcecchi]

I used to have a PD and now have the terrova and like it much better. The PD was a pain to stow and unstow. The terrova is much easier for me to work. Also, the autopilot seems to work better.