Trolling Motor Size

[BigWadeS]

I am wondering what size, minimum or maximum I could go with. I have a 1984 Crestliner Nordic 18ft. I am wondering if there would also be a difference in thrust between the bow mount vers. transom mount? Please help

Thanks,

Wade Sand

[marvh]

I had a older 16 ft Lowe alum with bow mounted 34 lb. thurst. (MotorGuide)

I purchased a minkota 36 lb. stern mount and was disappointed because It seemed to only run half as fast. So I returned it and I was told by salesman that it takes more thurst to push boat with stern mount.

Got a 18 ft tracker with 48 lb bow mount now. It's ok, but in windy conditions could use more thurst. So I guess what I'm saying is at least 48-50 lb thurst bow mount.

Or go to 24 volt 70 lb or greater thurst.

[Northlander]

Dont waste your time with anything less than a 24 volt 64# or bigger. You wont need to step up to 36 volt with that boat but you can go as large as the 90's with a 24 volt. I have a 55# on my 17' Lund and I wish I had more.

If your looking at a transom mount I would just go with a 5-9.9 horse gas kicker.

[BigWadeS]

how would you determine if you had enough room for a kicker motor and bracket? Would it be hard to set up that way or just run it as a tiller and have a seperate gas tank for that?

[Shorelunch]

On the bow, the smallest I'd go with would be a 64lb Minn Kota PowerDrive or step up to a 70lb. Make sure you get a 60 inch shaft too or your prop will be coming out of the water with any sized waves.

For the transom, I really like Minn Kota's Vantage. You could probably get by w/the 80lb, but should consider the 101. You definitely want 24v.

[upnorth]

I have a 55# thrust on my 17 foot crestliner and it works OK. An 18 footer I would go up a notch or so.

[MuskieJunkie]

Like James Linder said "buy the biggest trolling motor you can afford, you can always turn the power down" I couldn't agree more.