Kevin, I just gotta say, you are one lucky bastard! I watch almost all of your videos. Your reviews are extremely helpful. And you are a dynamite fisherman. You are living the dream of a bass fisherman with that kayak. And now you even have a trolling motor handy for you. I love your videos and keep up the great work. Have a good one sir, and thank you!
I have a Big Tuna and mount my trolling motor using a trolling motor mount in the two rod holders on either side behind the seat and use a tiller extension to control speed and direction. The big advantage to this setup is I have speed control. I use a small gel battery used to power a wheelchair and go half a day on it or I can put in the big battery and easily go all day on a single charge. The main reason I get so much more battery life is that I am not running the motor at full speed, which greatly extends my battery life. Your set is quite nicely done. I also saw a guy take the head control and mount it on the side of his float tube so he had speed control. I would take that head and mount it by your seat and you will find that not only will you get a lot more battery life, you also add a lot of finesse to your handling capability.
I agree! Running at 1/2 - 2/3 power will give you endless running time. I really suggest lithium if you can afford it. 50 Ah's weighs all of 14 lbs. You get to use up 100% of the charge with no harm to the battery.
Hi Kevin, Congratulations on a nice clean/neat install. Like the remote. Many thanks for sharing. I also use a manual cable steering system on my kayak as a backup to my linear actuator steering system with tilt and trim. I used round/smooth weed eater cable that is the same size as your stainless steel cable. It is less abrasive and you may look at it as a possible alternative. I am working on a prototype to convert the Minn Kota 5 speed units to variable speed. So far the testing looks good. John
If you can afford this set up, you can afford a boat. My first was a 59 StarCraft 15' runabout that I cut the bow open, added front and rear decks and carpeted them, made a very nice little fishing boat. Total investment, $1100 and a bunch of work. It had a 50 HP two stroke, ran about 45 mph.
I have an old town kayak angler Xl. Has the removable floor so naturally I drilled a hole in it and put rubber grommets in it and slid the motor up through. No leaks at all. Mounted a waterproof box on my right side with a speed controller so perfect for slow moving fishing. Also added a minnkota deckhand anchor with 100 feet of 1000lb coated kevlar rope. And the 80AH battery keeps me out all day
Just remember, if you are in Texas, adding any motor to a kayak puts it under powered boat regulations, meaning your lighting requirements for night time are different and you also have to register the boat and put the registration number and state tag on the bow. Just a tip for any fellow Texans watching and considering this amazing build.
FacepalmDaily....... as far as registration for your boat your sure I have to have a tx number. I thought it was only if the motor was over a certain horse power. I know that a boat over 12ft with a motor exceeding 5hp has to be registered but didn't think a kayak with trolling motor did. But I'll check before I use the motor
FacepalmDaily yes indeed TX does require registration, and to get reg. You must get s title! Know from first hand experience! Pain in the butt, but shure is nice cruising along peacefully.
Yep, you can read the requirements online, they specifically mention electric trolling motors and you know how Texas is, they won't let you get away with anything.
Also you might want to check it a producer called a bull nose(I believe) but it's a rudder that mounts to the shaft of the motor, it helps eliminate the "Pushing" that you get from a trolling motor. I have one on my pontoon boat and it helps a lot.
I know this is an old Post but this is an excellent build man. It's what I want to do. I have an old troller, 20lb thrust but enough for my purposes. I want to take the control head off of it so it isn't way high up advertising itself, then remount the controls and run a steering linkage. Be proud man, well done.
Best set up man,I have exactly the same Kayak and motor(with an extra full back-up battery),but i am an overweight guy,so I needed extra stabililty.I assembeld Two large PVC tubes(filled with foam)with moped shocks...!!!!!.Hawaiian style but on both side,and you could not flip it over ,even if you wanted to,i have 5 hours autonomy(with back up)I fish large lakes and calm rivers,I installed a tubular/fabric shade spot,I have had the best naps on that 'boat',next project is to build something much bigger,with two electric engines,a four people covered sitting table and a tiny BBQ(a fresh perch or trout on the grill is fantastic......
I know this is super late, and probably doesn’t happen often, but if you flip the yak, the weight of the battery will pop your hatch open. I understand that the battery sits upright nice and clean, but you should still consider a battery strap with a simple buckle. Mount it to the wood that you have in there. That way it will keep the battery pulled towards the bottom of the yak if ever flipped. Love the setup man!
I know I am responding to a very old post but I have this setup on my big rig, I did flip and the battery did open hatch allowing rear of kayak to sink. I was able to swim kayak over to area of river where I could stand waste deep and remove battery and motor, then I pulled kayak up on a log and bailed it. A 2 hour ordeal in alligator infested waters. I am currently looking for ways to get battery out of hatch and have quick disconnect. I would rather lose the battery than the whole kayak.
Nice video Kevin! Yes you can be proud of this work, all the facilities are integrated very well in the kayak. I'm motorising my own kayak this time, and you gave me some ideas. Your mistakes are usefull for me :-). Happy you did some :-). So thanks to you.
That’s just awesome and exactly what I want to do to my Kayak now. Mine has a rudder system on it but I think I might be able to retrofit the pull cables setup to turn the motor shaft. I’m mostly impressed with the mount you made to fit the transom to. Great work. Instead of just the one forward and reverse speed I think I’d like to build a speed controller to adjust speed in forward and reverse from A control knob where I’m sitting. Love you’re work, well done 👍
Kevin I have a similar setup but on a non description Future Beach fishing yak. I didn't have the remote. I place the control head in a rod holder next to me. I steer with a push pull stick until I can set up foot pedals. I also included a release mechanism and a tilt rope. Works great. Nice work. Very professional.
I did a system very similar to this one, I used an adjustable type spring made from hardware from home depot on the pedals to give it power stirring of sorts. That way if I wanted to straighten out I would be fighting left leg against right leg to get it right. I just let off one side of the pedal. The spring straightens the pedals / motor out for me. and it's alot less work.
I like the set up. I think I'll use bicycle brake or gear shift cables and route/ mount them on the exterior. Also use or fab the trolling motor mount out of aluminum.090. An upgrade would be 2 lithium batteries in parallel.
I HAVE A BIG RIG ALSO.... WITH MOTOR ALSO.... THESE KAYAKS ARE HARDER TO USE THEN MY OTHER . BUT WE GET THE STABLE STANDING FISHING..... SO I LOVE IT....
Nice set up! You should youtube etc. research how to add an inline variable speed option to your motor setup so that you don't lose that capability. You can control it from your seat (I would miss not being able to troll at variable speeds.) Also there is a simple way of flattening out your motor shaft to aid in launching your kayak with the motor installed and not scrapping under the prop...then lowering it once you are in the kayak and in the water. I have seen both of these features documented on youtube. Thanks for posting all you vids! I have learned a great deal from your efforts!
Also, I thought the white and yellow wires controlled the speeds. Am I wrong? At the moment, I'd like the ability for variable speeds, but am questioning if I really need that. If that's the case, the remote setup would be ideal.
This is a smarter setup than the horizontal transversal wooden motor holder design people do for cheap. The only downside is that you will need two guys to put in in the water if you launch from a steep terrain. Itherwise you have to carry this setup one by one and assemble it on the water. i do that on mine
Now to do this in Florida you need... -Title the kayak as a boat (requires builders certificate/proof of ownership paperwork, which most people don't even have) -Register the kayak with the state after getting title -Boater ID card since you're operating a motor boat -Flares (or other signaling device) if operating in salt water, and noise signal (whistle is fine) in addition to your PFD
+Kevin Bullington How do you troll then? if you want to, cause I wouldn't want to troll 3mph or can you set the speed however fast or slow you wanna go?
Thanks for the video. Are you able to lift the motor when in shallow water? I want to do the same setup to my big tuna kayak but I always beach launch and I need to be able to launch with the motor up and then lower after the break. Can you also elaborate a little more on the electrical part? And last thing can you please list the remote control name or amazon link?
Add a couple smaller Solar Panels above your battery box slightly angled down toward the trolling motor from the back of your seat, and you could essentially increase your range and operating time indefinately, during the day time anyway.
You could add a line from one pedal up to the front around to the other pedal and make it a push pull system, with an extra attachment to hook to your foot and make it a one foot control
Kevin, great! Just a thought that what you might do is leave the set of foot pegs that are attached to the cables running back to the TM, just leave them on and push them all the way forward when not it use, then leave the non-attached second set on behind them. I suppose this could be done in the other order depending on leg length and how far forward you have to set the pegs up for paddling. But, this way you wouldn't have to replace them, remove hardware and so on. Brad
I'd love a set up similar to this...but even easier. I'd like to just have the trolling motor mounted straight, without any steering. I'd have no problem using my paddle to get me turned in the right direction and then just flip the motor on to move me forward. I think it'd be pretty easy to steer while moving using my paddle. Super cool set up, though. Congrats.
That is such a cool setup. I don't trust myself though. Im looking into buying my first kayak and i'd love to be able to using a trolling motor with it.
Hi Kevin, just watched your video your a cool guy, I’m impressed with your set up very professional. I am considering buying a kayak to use here in the UK, but there so many available it’s hard to know which one to choose, I don’t want to spend a lot until I know it’s going to be something I will keep doing. I look forward to your next video 👍
Dam! Good job ! One of the cleanest set ups I have seen here on youtube !!! and seriously ,thank you for stoping and putting the information on each part you have changed out or highlighted . I am a sub now because of that! Looking forward to the next one. Stablelized pontoons video next?
Super awesome set up! I will be using the same motor on my Vibe SeaGhost and installing it very similar to that. I want to keep the variable speed for trolling though. Havent decided if I will mount the head from the motor up near my seat or make a new box with on/off switch and potentiometer for the speed control or not. Need to figure that out. Looks great though and very professional install!
Really sweet set up one thought that could help by a small solar trickle charger for the battery mount it on the lid of the battery box . While you are fishing you can recover some battery life .
Great job, nice clean set up. New sub I have a large kayak a beast to paddle ,was thinking of selling it but I think going this way should be better and cheaper that a Peddle kayak.
There are some pretty important parts left in the top part of the trolling motor. By keeping those important parts, your battery life would be pretty good, by discarding them, a good deep cycle batt. Will only last about an hour max.
Just an observation I had: With the steering cables attached below the pivot point on the motor shaft, if the motor hits ground or something hard underwater there will likely be damage. If the cables were attached above the pivot point then hitting something would cause the motor to flip up out of the way and avoid damage.
what's up Kevin, so I got the Field & Stream Eagle Talon 120 Kayak. if you don't mind checking it out and giving some pointers on where to mount a trolling motor.
I do my battery the same way but I if I have no room I use gorrilla duct tape believe or not it works to keep stuff slideing the down side it doesn't distrubite weight I also use it for my keel nice setup keep up the good work ,
Did a nice clean job. I have yet to see anybody use tension springs at the motor control wires, if you were to step on both petals for some reason the springs would take up some tension and possibly save something from breaking.
Hey Kevin, I was wondering how you rigged the steering linkage on the trolling motor shaft. What is the round piece you used to thread the "eye bolts" through to secure it to the shaft? I have my motor mounted on my kayak but been looking at several ideas for the linkage. Looks simple and was wanting to do the same thing to mine.
This is beyond impressive. I have a cheap dolphin closed top kayak and I feel like it already sits too low in the water to be able to make a system like this. Maybe I should consider an open top instead. I'm not much of an angler but I do enjoy watercraft and being out on the water. so something like this would be amazing
You should look into Nissan Leaf Li-On cells. They are the best Cells for DIY kayak projects. You need at least two at 64Ah , 7.4V each. You get more power for about 1/4 of the weight of the battery you have installed. I have 4 cells for a total of 1KWh on my setup, for what it seems like endless power...
Kevin, just to echo so many others, this has to be the cleanest install I have ever seen! Thanks for sharing. Can you please advise where you purchased the collar to install the two eye-bolts. Vendor and part number information would be greatly appreciated.
a kayak is still a small boat that will capsize easily. A motor does not change that. And Ultimate series from Native Watercraft has a double hull and and not be turned over in any normal use (sitting or standing).
Kevin , don't forget to filled on the most important detailed about having a MOTORIZED kayak ! Any MOTORIZED MOTOR / ENGINE / OUTBOARD MOTOR / TROLLING MOTOR ON A kayak/boat/watercraft/jet ski ETC..ETC.... WILL REQUIRE A STATE REGISTRATION ! ALL MOTORIZED WATERCRAFT IS BOUND BY LAW TO BE REGISTERED TO ALL 50 STATES ! ......I KNOW THIS BECAUSE MY BUDDY GOT 2 TICKET ON HIS KAYAK FOR HAVING A TROLLING MOTOR ON IT ! .......HOPE THIS HELP !
Also something else is you could rig something up to where you hit shallow water and you can pull the motor up to horizontal, so you can skim if you want. Looks like it does come up, just find a way to pull that pin manually and a pulley system to pull the motor up
Kevin, please provide more information on the switch. Also have you thought about a variable resistor to control the speed? Outstanding video and craftsmanship on your modifications.
Just a suggestion I wouldn't use that remote thing for your trolling motor because you can't control your speed because since you did the controller thing it's now one speed forward and one speed backward and sometimes when your going into a cove you might just want to go really slow into the cove and fish it for a little while instead of Turing it on forward and the it just guns in so just a suggestion
So I guess it would be silly to suggest perhaps "quick ON" then "quick OFF"? Just because you turn it on doesn't mean you have to go full speed. He also mentions it will "stop on a dime" going from forward to reverse. Great setup and the fob is a nice touch.
I completely agree. You really should use variable thrust. I have a big tuna with variable power and its a freaking dreamboat. Also, you can use reverse to stop, but you need to let the motor have about 1 second to recover before switching or it won't respond and its life may be shortened.
Hi Kevin. I recently added a trolling motor to my kayak and am very pleased. I was wondering if you could explain how you managed to get the brass fittings to stay in place for your steering cable so as not to wear out the rubber tubing? Also, what are those fittings called so I can find them in the store. Thanks. Any info would be appreciated.
