Electric Motor for new Outcast Pontoon

Hi,
I have been fly fishing, in the west, for several years. We travel
full-time in an RV so we can visit almost any fishing venue. (If it
wasn¡¦t for the lack of a national fishing license ƒº)
I decided a pontoon boat would be good to explore small lakes and
rivers. I have ordered an Outcast 900FS, a one man, 9 foot pontoon
with a 400 lb capacity. It has a motor mount in the center of the boat
behind the seat.
Question: I would like to get an electric motor for the pontoon but I
don¡¦t know what motor to buy. I need some advice from folks with
experience with these motors on pontoons. Brand, model, thrust
required without over powering the boat. Since the motor will be
mounted in the center, how will I control the speed/direction? Thanks
much for your advice/opinions.
Sincerely, Jerry Thomas

On Wed, 1 Oct 2008 20:09:50 -0700 (PDT), royal coachman
wrote:

Hi,
I have been fly fishing, in the west, for several years. We travel
full-time in an RV so we can visit almost any fishing venue. (If it
wasn¡¦t for the lack of a national fishing license ƒº)
I decided a pontoon boat would be good to explore small lakes and
rivers. I have ordered an Outcast 900FS, a one man, 9 foot pontoon
with a 400 lb capacity. It has a motor mount in the center of the boat
behind the seat.
Question: I would like to get an electric motor for the pontoon but I
don¡¦t know what motor to buy. I need some advice from folks with
experience with these motors on pontoons. Brand, model, thrust
required without over powering the boat. Since the motor will be
mounted in the center, how will I control the speed/direction? Thanks
much for your advice/opinions.
Sincerely, Jerry Thomas

Looking at the AIRE web site (manufacturer of the Outcast series)
http://www.outcastboats.com/outcastb...e.cfm?boatid=4
the motor mount appears to be well astern, so the effectiveness of steering
with a trolling motor should not be a problem. Whether you could comfortably
swing the tiller arm of a trolling motor full left and right from the seat
might be an issue if you are short, but the motor will be in the best place
for steering. You might have to locate the frame as far forward as the
attachment points allow to counter the stern weight of the motor and battery,
lest you ride bow high.

Anyway...A 12v Minn Kota or Motor Guide short shaft transom mount with 30 to
40 pounds of thrust ought to be plenty. For Minn Kota, an Endura 30 (30lb, 30"
shaft, 5fwd/3rev speeds) would fit the bill inexpensively, has a composite
shaft (nearly boink proof) and comes with a tiller that can extend an extra
6", which might prove helpful. The comparable Motor Guide model is the
Thruster 30 HT (30lb, 30" shaft, 5fwd/2rev speeds), but it has a metal shaft
and no tiller extension. Both can be had for roughly $110. Both have speed and
direction control by the tiller grip, so if you can reach it, you can control
it.

fwiw, I've been using a Minn Kota on my canoes for nearly two decades now, and
as it has never ever had an issue, I'm a fan...

/daytripper

On Thu, 02 Oct 2008 03:13:51 -0400, daytripper
wrote:

On Wed, 1 Oct 2008 20:09:50 -0700 (PDT), royal coachman
wrote:

Hi,
I have been fly fishing, in the west, for several years. We travel
full-time in an RV so we can visit almost any fishing venue. (If it
wasn¡¦t for the lack of a national fishing license ƒº)
I decided a pontoon boat would be good to explore small lakes and
rivers. I have ordered an Outcast 900FS, a one man, 9 foot pontoon
with a 400 lb capacity. It has a motor mount in the center of the boat
behind the seat.
Question: I would like to get an electric motor for the pontoon but I
don¡¦t know what motor to buy. I need some advice from folks with
experience with these motors on pontoons. Brand, model, thrust
required without over powering the boat. Since the motor will be
mounted in the center, how will I control the speed/direction? Thanks
much for your advice/opinions.
Sincerely, Jerry Thomas

Looking at the AIRE web site (manufacturer of the Outcast series)
http://www.outcastboats.com/outcastb...e.cfm?boatid=4
the motor mount appears to be well astern, so the effectiveness of steering
with a trolling motor should not be a problem. Whether you could comfortably
swing the tiller arm of a trolling motor full left and right from the seat
might be an issue if you are short, but the motor will be in the best place
for steering. You might have to locate the frame as far forward as the
attachment points allow to counter the stern weight of the motor and battery,
lest you ride bow high.

Anyway...A 12v Minn Kota or Motor Guide short shaft transom mount with 30 to
40 pounds of thrust ought to be plenty. For Minn Kota, an Endura 30 (30lb, 30"
shaft, 5fwd/3rev speeds) would fit the bill inexpensively, has a composite
shaft (nearly boink proof) and comes with a tiller that can extend an extra
6", which might prove helpful. The comparable Motor Guide model is the
Thruster 30 HT (30lb, 30" shaft, 5fwd/2rev speeds), but it has a metal shaft
and no tiller extension. Both can be had for roughly $110. Both have speed and
direction control by the tiller grip, so if you can reach it, you can control
it.

fwiw, I've been using a Minn Kota on my canoes for nearly two decades now, and
as it has never ever had an issue, I'm a fan...

I'd agree and add that I've had both over the years (probably 3-5 of
each), and I never noticed a difference. IME, they are both decent
products. We've had one failure that I can recall, and I can't remember
which brand it was, but I can say that I don't remember thinking, "Man,
that didn't last..." IIRC, currently, we have 4 trolling motors - 2
MotorGuide Sal****er Series, a Minn Kota 36 volt foot-controlled, and a
Minn Kota 12v tote-along for dinks and canoes, and if any went out
beyond repair and barring huge price differences, I'd probably replace
it with the same kind.

Whatever you buy, I would recommend Wal-Mart's house brand of
_deep-cycle_ battery - it's got the best, easiest warranty and the best
price I've found. Whatever you go with, make sure you use a
_deep-cycle_ battery, not a regular "car" or even marine _starting_
battery, and if you don't have one, get a decent charger.

TC,
R

/daytripper

"royal coachman" wrote


I need some advice from folks with
experience with these motors on pontoons.



Don't spend the money too soon = Larry's advice . For several seasons I
traveled with the extra crap required to avoid a little, healthy, rowing ...
remember you have to have a heavy battery(ies) and good way to charge it on
top of the motor, itself ... and don't forget how important space is in
full -time RV life ... pontoon+motor+batteries+charger = lots of storage
needed. I found that I seldom used the motor, got ZERO fishing advantage
( i.e. I ain't going to really troll with a fly rod, it was only to avoid
rowing, which is good for me and will help keep me out fishing years longer
;-), and actually enjoyed the relaxing rowing ( often less total work than
hauling a heavy battery/ motor to/from the water ) My MinnKota has
stayed in Ca for many years during my summer trips and has never been
missed.

http://www.torqeedo.com/us/hn/home.html

http://www.torqeedo.com/us/hn/products/travel.html

I bought a Torqeedo for the lean, mean, muskie chasing machine
(an 18 ft Grumman canoe) and it's a sweet piece of equipment.

I don't know diddly about pontoons but I can recommend the
Torqeedo without reservation (well, other than it's pricey).

--
Ken Fortenberry

On Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:30:18 -0500, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:

http://www.torqeedo.com/us/hn/home.html

http://www.torqeedo.com/us/hn/products/travel.html

I bought a Torqeedo for the lean, mean, muskie chasing machine
(an 18 ft Grumman canoe) and it's a sweet piece of equipment.

I don't know diddly about pontoons but I can recommend the
Torqeedo without reservation (well, other than it's pricey).

$1500! Holy crapola! You're certainly correct about that!

/daytripper (who remembers when a new car sold for less ;-)

daytripper wrote:
Ken Fortenberry wrote:
http://www.torqeedo.com/us/hn/home.html

http://www.torqeedo.com/us/hn/products/travel.html

I bought a Torqeedo for the lean, mean, muskie chasing machine
(an 18 ft Grumman canoe) and it's a sweet piece of equipment.

I don't know diddly about pontoons but I can recommend the
Torqeedo without reservation (well, other than it's pricey).

$1500! Holy crapola! You're certainly correct about that!

/daytripper (who remembers when a new car sold for less ;-)

Yeah, it's not cheap but you don't have to buy and recycle a
$200 deep cycle marine battery every other year. Besides, it's
a cool, new gadget and I'm a total sucker for cool, new gadgets.

--
Ken Fortenberry

On Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:04:29 -0500, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:

daytripper wrote:
Ken Fortenberry wrote:
http://www.torqeedo.com/us/hn/home.html

http://www.torqeedo.com/us/hn/products/travel.html

I bought a Torqeedo for the lean, mean, muskie chasing machine
(an 18 ft Grumman canoe) and it's a sweet piece of equipment.

I don't know diddly about pontoons but I can recommend the
Torqeedo without reservation (well, other than it's pricey).

$1500! Holy crapola! You're certainly correct about that!

/daytripper (who remembers when a new car sold for less ;-)

Yeah, it's not cheap but you don't have to buy and recycle a
$200 deep cycle marine battery every other year. Besides, it's
a cool, new gadget and I'm a total sucker for cool, new gadgets.

$200? Must've been cool, new - and gold plated ;-)

The last group 24 deep cycle battery I bought - in 2007 - cost $70 after the
credit for returning the battery it replaced. And I usually get 3 years out of
them by keeping them on a float charger in my basement work shop, and minding
the electrolyte level.

Otoh, if I was into honest to god wood strip canoes, I *might* also be tempted
to drop $1500 on a trolling motor - although I gotta say that combination
sounds sacrilegious ;-)

/daytripper

daytripper wrote:
Ken Fortenberry wrote:
daytripper wrote:
Ken Fortenberry wrote:
I bought a Torqeedo for the lean, mean, muskie chasing machine
(an 18 ft Grumman canoe) ...
$1500! Holy crapola! You're certainly correct about that!
Yeah, it's not cheap but you don't have to buy and recycle a
$200 deep cycle marine battery every other year. Besides, it's
a cool, new gadget and I'm a total sucker for cool, new gadgets.

$200? Must've been cool, new - and gold plated ;-)

The last group 24 deep cycle battery I bought - in 2007 - cost $70 after the
credit for returning the battery it replaced. And I usually get 3 years out of
them by keeping them on a float charger in my basement work shop, and minding
the electrolyte level.

Otoh, if I was into honest to god wood strip canoes, I *might* also be tempted
to drop $1500 on a trolling motor - although I gotta say that combination
sounds sacrilegious ;-)

That combination *is* sacrilegious, I would *never*, *EVER* put
a trolling motor of any sort on my cedar strip canoe. My 18 foot
Grumman is a 95 lb beast of an ancient aluminum canoe bequeathed
to me by my grandfather. It's now known as the lean, mean, muskie
chasing machine and portable, traveling duck blind. I cannot
believe I used to heave that thing on my shoulders and portage it
all over the Boundary Waters/Quetico. It now lives on a trailer,
has detachable pontoons, a casting/shooting platform and a Torqeedo.
I thought about adding a depthfinder but you gotta draw a line
somewhere. ;-)

--
Ken Fortenberry

On Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:04:29 -0500, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:

daytripper wrote:
Ken Fortenberry wrote:
http://www.torqeedo.com/us/hn/home.html

http://www.torqeedo.com/us/hn/products/travel.html

I bought a Torqeedo for the lean, mean, muskie chasing machine
(an 18 ft Grumman canoe) and it's a sweet piece of equipment.

I don't know diddly about pontoons but I can recommend the
Torqeedo without reservation (well, other than it's pricey).

$1500! Holy crapola! You're certainly correct about that!

/daytripper (who remembers when a new car sold for less ;-)

Yeah, it's not cheap but you don't have to buy and recycle a
$200 deep cycle marine battery every other year. Besides, it's
a cool, new gadget and I'm a total sucker for cool, new gadgets.


$200?!?! Every other year? Jeez, the Wal-Mart batteries I recommended
are about $65, and have either a two or three-year free replacement
warranty, prorated after that. Don't Torqeedos use batteries?

TC,
R