Decreasing thrust of a trolling motor

[Jon Stewart]

I have an unusual problem with my trolling motor - it's too powerful. I
have a 12' aluminum John boat and bought a 30 lb thrust12 V Minn-Kota.
Nice motor, but even on the slowest setting it moves the boat too fast,
especially for plastic worm fishing. Using the reverse setting (and
turning around the motor) works a little better, but it's still too fast
unless the wind is very strong. What I would like to do is cut the
speed by a factor of 2 or 3 on all settings. I had thought about
cutting off part of each prop blade to decrease the efficiency. Any
other ideas?

Jon Stewart

[Airbrush4u]

Jon,
Does Minn Kota still sell the "Maximizer." I have one mounted on my Bass
Tracker and can set the speed from 0-maximum thrust with a knob. Might be worth
checking into.

Mike
G. Loomis, Shimano and Maxima for me
Remove the "NoSpam" to reply in e-mail

[Kelly]

How about a 6 volt battery?

In article <19990518224448...@ng-ca1.aol.com>,

[Airbrush4u]

Kelly said:
>How about a 6 volt battery?

I am not sure about that. Sometimes you can ruin electric motors by not having
enough voltage as well as too much. I would call the trolling motor
manufacturer.

Mike

[news.odyssey.com.au]

You can ruin an electric motor by reducing the voltage - it will work too
hard and the engine will try to pull too many amps out of the battery trying
to compensate the lack of voltage and resulting in a flat battery 3 times as
fast. Maybe you could put the motor in reverse and troll backwards!! - just
a thought
let us know your soultion - if you find one.

Airbrush4u wrote in message <19990519201434...@ng14.aol.com>...

[Bob Redding]

Stop by your local electronics store (and I don't mean Radio Shack) or
electrical supplier. Take your trolling motor with you. They should be
able to help you find the correct resister that will allow you to decrease
the amount of voltage going to the motor. (The speed adjustment is just a
variable resister.)

-- Go fishing. And may your fish be as big as your tales!

Jon Stewart <jd...@chem.ufl.edu> wrote in message
news:373EC5F5...@chem.ufl.edu...

> I have an unusual problem with my trolling motor - it's too powerful. I
> have a 12' aluminum John boat and bought a 30 lb thrust12 V Minn-Kota.
> Nice motor, but even on the slowest setting it moves the boat too fast,
> especially for plastic worm fishing. Using the reverse setting (and
> turning around the motor) works a little better, but it's still too fast
> unless the wind is very strong. What I would like to do is cut the
> speed by a factor of 2 or 3 on all settings. I had thought about
> cutting off part of each prop blade to decrease the efficiency. Any
> other ideas?
>

> Jon Stewart
>
>

[Kelly]

Yes, but the coils of the resistor are wraped around the motor, that is under
water, for cooling. The resistor might work (not burn up) if it is used only
on the lowest setting of the motor.

Maybe he should try a foot switch and just turn it on and off as needed?

On the other hand, I have a 15 pound thrust sigma motor i used with a canoe
i no longer have. I picked it up used for $35.00.

In article <upV3WDro#GA.140@cpmsnbbsa02>, "Bob Redding"

[Bill Linn]

You need more load! (If you have to stick to the same motor and boat, I've
seen people drag a bucket when they needed to go a bit slower than their
motor would allow.)

One of the posts includes a subtle suggestion that a smaller, used trolling
motor shouldn't cost a lot..

Keep your hooks sharp!

Regards,
Bill Linn

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[Bob Redding]

The coils (wire wrapped around the armature) of a trolling motor is under
water. Don't know about the trolling motor you are using, but the variable
speed unit I use has the switch on the foot pedal. Changing the 'pot' or
rheostat might work.

--

-- Go fishing. And may your fish be as big as your tales!

Kelly <kan...@erols.com> wrote in message
news:7i227m$r1c$1...@autumn.news.rcn.net...

[Paul Emmerich]

Angling the shaft so that it is not exactly perpindicular to the
surface of the water would also work.

[Roger]

I missed the original post, and hope I'm not speaking out of turn, but sounds
like someone wants to slow a trolling motor down. I'm not an expert on trolling
motors but I know a little about electronics, and if you try to slow it down with
a resistor, you're talking about dropping 20 amps across that thing. That's a
damn big and spendy resistor. Not to mention the fact that, if you could do that,
it would also effect all speed settings. Motors are normally controlled in one of
two ways. Either multiple tapped field windings on the motor or electronically
pulsing the d.c. to vary the length of time that the power is actually applied to
the motor. I have built a variable speed control for a small trolling motor using
a variable resistor for a friend, and it wasn't a pretty sight and cost around
$100. Go with the smaller motor or get one with a continuously variable control
like the Minn Kota 765 with power drive.
fish ON!
Roger

[Russell Wiegand]

Try dragging a bucket behind the boat. Works just like a drift-sock only cheaper.

-russ-

Airbrush4u wrote:

> >I have an unusual problem with my trolling motor - it's too powerful. I
> >have a 12' aluminum John boat and bought a 30 lb thrust12 V Minn-Kota.
> >Nice motor, but even on the slowest setting it moves the boat too fast,
> >especially for plastic worm fishing. Using the reverse setting (and
> >turning around the motor) works a little better, but it's still too fast
> >unless the wind is very strong. What I would like to do is cut the
> >speed by a factor of 2 or 3 on all settings. I had thought about
> >cutting off part of each prop blade to decrease the efficiency. Any
> >other ideas?
>

> Jon,
> Does Minn Kota still sell the "Maximizer." I have one mounted on my Bass
> Tracker and can set the speed from 0-maximum thrust with a knob. Might be worth
> checking into.
>
> Mike
> G. Loomis, Shimano and Maxima for me

> Remove the "NoSpam" to reply in e-mail

--

--
Russell Wiegand
Onvoy Tech Support
www.onvoy.net
612-362-5890

[rb608]

> >I have an unusual problem with my trolling motor - it's too powerful. I
>> >have a 12' aluminum John boat and bought a 30 lb thrust12 V Minn-Kota.
>> >Nice motor, but even on the slowest setting it moves the boat too fast,
>> >especially for plastic worm fishing. Using the reverse setting (and
>> >turning around the motor) works a little better, but it's still too fast
>> >unless the wind is very strong. What I would like to do is cut the
>> >speed by a factor of 2 or 3 on all settings. I had thought about
>> >cutting off part of each prop blade to decrease the efficiency. Any
>> >other ideas?

It will also slow you down if you simply go backwards. Push the blunt end
first instead of the pointy end.

Joe

[wrh]

If you have any luck finding a maximizer, please let me know where you found
it. I've been looking for one.
Bill

Russell Wiegand <rwie...@onvoy.net> wrote in message
news:37667DB1...@onvoy.net...

> Try dragging a bucket behind the boat. Works just like a drift-sock only
cheaper.
>
> -russ-
>
> Airbrush4u wrote:
>

> > >I have an unusual problem with my trolling motor - it's too powerful.
I
> > >have a 12' aluminum John boat and bought a 30 lb thrust12 V Minn-Kota.
> > >Nice motor, but even on the slowest setting it moves the boat too fast,
> > >especially for plastic worm fishing. Using the reverse setting (and
> > >turning around the motor) works a little better, but it's still too
fast
> > >unless the wind is very strong. What I would like to do is cut the
> > >speed by a factor of 2 or 3 on all settings. I had thought about
> > >cutting off part of each prop blade to decrease the efficiency. Any
> > >other ideas?
> >

[LoansharkX]

Consider also using "bursts" to move you along.

Turn the motor on for a second and shut it off.... you will drift along
slowly.

rb608 wrote in message <7k6ab1$5h9$1...@bgtnsc02.worldnet.att.net>...

>> >I have an unusual problem with my trolling motor - it's too powerful. I
>>> >have a 12' aluminum John boat and bought a 30 lb thrust12 V Minn-Kota.
>>> >Nice motor, but even on the slowest setting it moves the boat too fast,
>>> >especially for plastic worm fishing. Using the reverse setting (and
>>> >turning around the motor) works a little better, but it's still too
fast
>>> >unless the wind is very strong. What I would like to do is cut the
>>> >speed by a factor of 2 or 3 on all settings. I had thought about
>>> >cutting off part of each prop blade to decrease the efficiency. Any
>>> >other ideas?
>
>

[oksan...@gmail.com]

On Sunday, May 16, 1999 at 12:00:00 AM UTC-7, Jon Stewart wrote:
> I have an unusual problem with my trolling motor - it's too powerful. I
> have a 12' aluminum John boat and bought a 30 lb thrust12 V Minn-Kota.
> Nice motor, but even on the slowest setting it moves the boat too fast,
> especially for plastic worm fishing. Using the reverse setting (and
> turning around the motor) works a little better, but it's still too fast
> unless the wind is very strong. What I would like to do is cut the
> speed by a factor of 2 or 3 on all settings. I had thought about
> cutting off part of each prop blade to decrease the efficiency. Any
> other ideas?
>

> Jon Stewart
HOW ABOUT BUYING SMALLER PROP OR CUTTING THE EDGES OF YOUR PROP.
THAT IA WHAT I WILL DO.
HAVE SIMILAR PROBLEM
ED

[Bob La Londe]

Find an old 12V MinnKota Maximiser speed control, and just leave the
trolling motor on high. The Maximizer is a square wave DC speed controller
so at less than full speed it uses less battery than the built in speed
control..

Alternatively find a DC square wave speed controller that will handle the
voltage and current and cobble up your own setup.




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