TROLLING MOTORS

General Fishing Discussion
1

CAN ANY BODY GIVE ME AN IDEA HOW LONG A FRESHWATER TROLLING MOTOR WILL LAST IN SALTWATER IF IT IS PROPERLY CLEANED AFTER EACH USE?

2

Slap some zinc on it and go for it. Clean it well with fresh water when your finished. Should give you a few years of service. Also if you can store inside that IMO helps about anything, the sun can be a beast.

3

I’ve used a brand new Minn Kota Endura Max, three times a month (roughly) with a zinc anode for over a year now, no problems EXCEPT that the mounting screws (the large thumbscrews) which you tighten to mount it to your transom have some corrosion. I clean them up with WD40 every month or so.

I wash the motor off very well at the Goose Creek Reservoir after every trip, and I hose the topside portion off fairly well with the garden hose.

Zinc anodes are usually $10 shipped and take 3 minutes to install (takes 2 minutes to find my wrenches lol).

… The Cross of Christ is the anvil upon which the hammer of evil wore itself out.

4

Not much of a price difference between the two.

5
quote:
Originally posted by willtim

Not much of a price difference between the two.

really?

boeshield t9 (west marine) sprayed on a clean tm will help. there’s something similar at ace hardware. has parafin in it to fight corrosion.

6
quote:
Originally posted by willtim

Not much of a price difference between the two.

I’m not sure which models you are comparing, but the saltwater version of my trolling motor is more than 3X the price.

For me it was definitely the difference between getting the trolling motor, or not getting it. No way was I going to dump nearly $900 on a 55lb thrust motor that I used two to four times a month.

Freshwater version, $280 on Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Minn-Kota-Transom-Mounted-Trolling/dp/B009YT0UNK

Saltwater version, same features (electronic speed control), $845 from Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B001M5TTHM/ref=dp_olp_new_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=new

… The Cross of Christ is the anvil upon which the hammer of evil wore itself out.

7

sometimes there isn’t much difference in price.

MotorGuide VariMAX 24-Volt Saltwater Hand/Bow Trolling Motor, 75-Pound Thrust, 50-Inch Shaft, 20.8 Mount is $747.71 and the
http://www.amazon.com/MotorGuide-VariMAX-Saltwater-Trolling-75-Pound/dp/B0032MSBL8/ref=sr_1_11?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1404654367&sr=1-11&keywords=bow+mount+trolling+motors

      MotorGuide VariMAX 24-Volt Freshwater Hand/Bow Trolling Motor, 75-Pound Thrust, 50-Inch Shaft, 20.8 Mount is 679.98.

http://www.amazon.com/MotorGuide-VariMAX-Freshwater-Trolling-75-Pound/dp/B003A1YT1W/ref=sr_1_12?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1404654367&sr=1-12&keywords=bow+mount+trolling+motors

  • I’d rather be a free man in my grave than living as a puppet or a slave.

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8

In that case I could understand buying the saltwater version, except that it’s Motorguide lol. I know they are capable of making a great, long lasting motor, but they definitely have lower rating and history compared to Minn Kota. Minn Kota was the only one I would personally consider unless the Motorguide was absurdly cheap. That’s all personal preference though, I’m not trying to bash Motorguide.

… The Cross of Christ is the anvil upon which the hammer of evil wore itself out.

9

When I purchased my Minn-Kota, the price difference was about $75.00. Well worth the difference.

10

Have a Minn Kota riptide 40 on my 14 ft Jon boat. Ran the crap out of the first one for over 6 years. Then it crapped out, good thing I bought a spare (same kind) from my neighbor’s yard sale. Going on 3 years on that one. Decided to tinker with the froze one yeasterday. It will only take $20.00 in parts to get that thing running again.

Moral of the story. Go Minn Kota, Salt Water version. Money well spent.

A wise man once said “Do as I say not as I do” Good advice when I tell you that.

11

I had an old minn kota hand control on a jon boat in the marsh weekly during summer for about 4 years. Washed it throughly after every trip and it was still going strong when I sold the boat. My last Minn Kota purchase was a much more expensive Maxxum about 3 years ago that I put on my flats boat. I was living upstate and since most of my fishing was going to be for bass in lakes boat docks (with the occasional trip to the salt), I wanted a foot pedal with a steering cable for quick reaction. I’ve since moved closer to the coast and have made more frequent trips to the salt but am still running the freshwater Maxxum. The only thing I worry about is the foot pedal so I’m flushing it and spraying it down with anticorrosion spray. That steering cable on the front deck gets in the way sometimes, but I can’t justify dropping the $$$ on a new motor, so I’m planning to use it till it dies and my next one will likely be an iPilot unit.

16’ High Tide Flats (Green) w/Yamaha 90

12

THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP. WILL GET SOME ZINC AND GO FOR IT.

13

Been using both min kota and motor guides for 13years no problems other than rusty bolts. Buy a can of pb blaster marine with corrosion stop and spray bolts and screws it will be fine

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