Thread: Too big a trolling motor on a small boat?

Get all the powwer that you can afford and make it variable speed. You cant have too much HP!

Be careful in this rig. A man drowned here over Christmas when his capsized.

Originally Posted by wasabi

I'm getting a 8' plastic mini pontoon boat. Weighs about 130, add another 300 with my lard butt, battery, trolling motor and gear. I can mount the trolling motor on the front or back, and I'm inclined to do it up front.

The boat will be transported in the back of my truck. Gear will be removed, boat drug a short distance to the water, then the gear put in the boat. I'm OK making a couple trips for my gear and trolling motor/battery. That is how it is and I'm Ok with it.

I'm gonna fish 2 types of water. One is a small pond maybe 5 acres. I'll never need to crank it up to max thrust on this pond, instead just using lower settings to slow troll minnows or make brief adjustments to my location. The other water is a reservoir where I could conceivably need to travel a good 20+ minutes from ramp to where I want to fish. I see most of my fishing being on the pond.

I know a cheap 30 lb. thrust motor will move the boat "OK" on the pond. This would also be the lightest trolling motor and easiest to handle. My gut says get the 55 lb. thrust model though so I have the power when I need it. A friend suggested the 55 model would be 'heavier' but the extra power more than makes up for it. Any other factors I should consider? I can't decide whether to get a small, medium (like 40 lb thrust) or large (55) model.

i have a basstracker 8ft in front i have my eletric and in back a 5hp that weighs in at 27lb!!! i only use the outboard to get from spot to spot. and it moves quick ! i have a extra outboard 225.00 shipped to your door.if your boat will handle it.