Thank you for your educational videos great job in keeping them informational, trustworthy, and to the point A fun way to combine engineering skills with a hobby.
I love working on the solutions to different problems encountered on my 1946 Alumacraft duckboat riggings also..(Almost) as much as boating itself. Thanks for sharing your ideas! 👌. I now have a bow mounted remote controlled Motorguide GPS XI3..(after 4 other motor mount configurations)..it has solved all my needs, except the amount time I have to go fishing. (I also had to add a skeg because of weather cocking). Now I’ve added a mount for it on my kayak bow, but have yet to test it..more brainstorming ahead, I’m sure! 😂 Love your videos! Have a great week Steve and company!
I like it I bought something made for mounting a motor just like yours and it totally didn’t work. It just fell apart. The motor was too heavy for the rack that I had it mounted to. I like your ideas. A lot of very cool.
I think you've definitely come up with the best method (DIY or factory) for mounting a trolling motor while still keeping the rudder. Since I don't have a rudder (first kayak I've ever owned that didn't really need one) I went with an Island Hopper transom trolling motor mount myself, but I think your way would've worked just as well for me at a fraction of the price and yet still looks good and solid. Great job!
Mines mounted on the stern and I've attached paracord to a pulley on the gusset. The way it's positioned, I can pull the motor assembly completely clear of the water and I haven't had to worry about pulling it forward and hacking the release lever. I don't have a steering system though, so I've had to rig one to my pedals and a steering arm on the motor.
Good Stuff! Always look forward to your videos. If needed you could trim the 2x4 to a 2x3 for another inch deeper. 2x2 if you stagger the bolts and clamps.
You can always set up a simple pulley system if reaching back to the motor becomes an issue. Its what I did for my nucanoe when I used a transom mounted trolling motor and it was really convenient
Also if you hinged the mount it would allow the motor to swing up when it strikes an underwater obstruction. Of course that hinge reduces the power while in reverse but it's a worthwhile tradeoff.
Have you thought about angling the motor mount board at an angle so the prop center moves closer to the center of the kayak and rudder becomes even more responsive when under power.
I had tried the concept of a side/outrigger mount for my trolling motor last year and found it very inefficient for turning and maneuverability. My yak doesn't have a rudder so steering via the motor's tiller handle was always an exercise in inefficiency. I since placed the motor on the stern and added steering cables to the footpads and it really made a difference ... added over a half MPH to overall speed and decreased battery consumption tremendously as the overall propulsion is greatly improved from the new position ... will be putting together a video in the near future of my setup.
When I mounted mine behind the seat it caused my yak to yaw terribly. Had to run with the motor angled to the right about 30 degrees so it bled off energy. I have no rudder
I'm the guy that reworked a schematic for Kevin Dismuke for rewiring a control unit to a control box for the trolling motor rather then the original head still being on the trolling motor. A must for having the trolling motor on the back. I talked with Kevin about you 2 days ago. Feel free to call him any time. He's looking forward to chatting with you about his product. 😁 m.facebook.com/kdkayakmotormounts/
@@KayakhacksFishing you probably have the subscribers to support it I mean it's just free advertising for Old Town I'd give it a try Hope it works out. Always enjoy your videos very informative fun to watch
Love the "Option 3" method. That said, I'm all about trying to make my kayak as light as possible. ( I have an Old Town 106 PDL) Instead of using the heavier wood, I might look into a PVC option or possibly King StarBoard or King StarLite. Your thoughts?
Go get you a piece of angle aluminum plate then take London plate and bend it and have toward you have about 4" on the boat and 4" a sticking up screw that to the boat on the very back of the boat and then you'll have your trolling motor in the very back center of the bow kayak then you'll be perfect
I installed this on my kayak and have a standard 20 pound Newport trolling motor. Right off the get go, it bent the heck out of the angle iron, especially if trying to adjust the angle. Did you do anything specific to reinforce the angle iron so that the weight of the motor doesn’t bend it?
I did not have an issue with that. But... maybe because I did not use it at full power. At any rate, I moved on to Option 4... which is the best solution since you can remove it! ru-vid.com/group/PL8egn41J7Go8ktbwm2npNZtAAJ3izoVmf
I’m thinking of trying it in a rear centre drainage hole? Means I won’t be able to pull motor out of the water, will stick down about 8 inches min below bottom. Should be ok for open water sailing.
…yes, but it could be lined with pvc/metal tube and sealant, to disperse the force over a greater area. However, I had another idea while fitting the motor today that will almost eliminate the lateral torque, which is simple to tilt the shaft at about 25’ so the propeller is under the kayak. At full extension it is only 7 inches away from the centre line. Propulsion will be however horizontal while tracking straight. Sea trials tomorrow in combination with the sail in Bantry Bay tomorrow….
@@KayakhacksFishing the modifications were a success, 10 miles in 3 hours, up to 5 mph with combinations of sail, motor and foot peddles. The motor shaft tilting worked better than vertical, able to steer with the rudder and less of the crab wise tracking and much better turn stability. Was drawing some air into the prop, but I can take the depth bracket off to drop the motor down another couple of inches should then be as good as vertical. Success.
I did that with our 2017 Hobie Tandem. Only trolling motor I found which would work was a Watersnake 24lb thrust. The larger Newport Vessels 36lb motor was too wide. The tandem yak has 3 pedal spots, so we can have motor and pedals the same time (got nearly 10mph at full motor speed, "sprint" pedalling, and full sail, but only able to maintain for about a couple of minutes and it nearly killed us out-of-shape yakkers). Unfortunately, I can't find the Watersnake 24lb anymore, and don't know what others might fit the 3" (ish) width requirement.
@@KayakhacksFishing The conditions were perfect for it, but I doubt we could ever do it again short of dropping off a waterfall. Our normal best maintainable speed is a little over 6MPH. The all-time-fastest was on Watauga Lake in TN (same lake our cover pic comes from); the wind was strong and favorable but since the lake is narrow there was very little wave action (we'd have been swamped on the ocean); and we both pedalled as fast as we could. The side-arm-mount Lowrance transducer wouldn't stay in the water which was a problem, but the real reason we stopped was that our legs felt like they were going to fall off and I was worried about the pedals and mounts breaking (but it was mostly the legs 😋). -- My apologies, my wife corrected me on which motor we used then - it was the 36lb mounted on the side and not the 24lb in the cartridge.
Hi. Did you say you locked down the trolling motor and only use the Jackson rudder? If so, are you using a Newport and how did you lock it down. My nv 45lb series will not lock steering.
There are two toggle screws on the 36lb thrust I got. One locks direction and the other locks height. But, in effect, they both do the same thing. You can see them on the picture - amzn.to/2QJyQ1d
@@KayakhacksFishing same for me on the 45lb. But the top one says it's only height and the bottom is steering tension. When I tighten the steering tension I can still turn it. Newport support said none of their motors will look a 100% is yours turntable at all?
