Trolling Motor on Vintage Boat?

[mtboatin]

I have a '56 Deep C that currently has a '74 50hp Evinrude with cable & pully steering on her. I recently picked up a '46 5.4hp Zephyr thinking it would make a sweet little trolling motor.

Has anyone installed a troller of this size next to there main power plant and made it work smoothly? I mocked it up for a quick look last evening and it looks like it would just work with the 50hp in the transport position while using the Zephyr. It does somewhat limit the swing of the Zephyr but not by much. The problem I'm seeing occurs when swapping units used. With the 50hp being used, if I swing the Zephyr up and out of the water it interferes with the steering cables.

 

[saltH2Odeprived]

Re: Trolling Motor on Vintage Boat?

Here is a '56 Johnson 3hp next to a 35 hp on back of my 1960 Alumacraft FD. Mine is positioned far left. When the 3 is not in use, I turn it to the left and secure the fold down handle to the hand hold on the boat corner with a velcro strap. Works great. I have even used the 3hp to get me back to the ramp when my fuel pump went out 6 miles up the river. I have the steering friction set tight enough on the 3 so I can set the motor straight ahead and use the 35 as a rudder, steering it from the console.

 

[mtboatin]

Re: Trolling Motor on Vintage Boat?

Nice clean rig you have there. Thanks for the info. I'm excited to see it being done.

My 5.4 hp and my 50 hp may be taking up more room than your units. If I could just figure a way to keep my 5.4 hp out of the cables when tilted up I think all would be good.

I would think that running your 3 hp with your 35 hp still in the drink would cause a lot of unwanted drag unless your just going for that super slow trolling speed.

I wonder if a guy could make a steering cable setup that would allow a quick disconnect from the main engine to the troller? Then you could steer from console with just the troller?

 

[saltH2Odeprived]

Re: Trolling Motor on Vintage Boat?

Look at the jack plate on my 35, maybe you could make something similar to set the motor further back.

 

[mtboatin]

Re: Trolling Motor on Vintage Boat?

I thought the main function of a jack plate was to add additional height so a longer shaft OB could be used? I may be way off base. Is this something you purchased or did you build it your self? It may give additional needed space but I would think it would be going in the wrong direction with the steering cables interfering with the tilted up trolling motor when not in use.

 

[mtboatin]

Re: Trolling Motor on Vintage Boat?

I guess I could find something that would set the 5.4 out back further to help with the cable interference. It would make for a longer reach to the tiller arm.

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Trolling Motor on Vintage Boat?

Sure, you can add a little trolling motor. I have an ugly, little 3 hp air-cooled Gamefisher kicker to go along with my 20 hp main motor. It's kinda loud, but works well enough. Just make sure you still have full range of motion with you main motor and you should be good to go.

 

[vspeedster]

Re: Trolling Motor on Vintage Boat?

They make small setback jackplates for kickers like this, but like you said, tougher to reach tiller handle.

Jackplate For Kicker Motors

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Trolling Motor on Vintage Boat?

+1. Those little adjustable kicker mounts are sweet. Most of them can hold up to a 20 hp too. Not to worry about the handle, you can just add a bit of PVC to the tiller to make an extender. I made one for my 20 hp in the pic above and it works great. Best of all it was only about $5 and you can slip it on/off in about 30 seconds

 

[mtboatin]

Re: Trolling Motor on Vintage Boat?

Thanks a bunch for the help. This is the way I'll probably need to go. That is a nice set up and would work great in most situations. My needs would be simpler and it would be nice to keep the weight down to a minimum. I don't need the power lift option so I hope I can find a more basic stationary unit for less then the hole boat cost me I might even try and fab something up myself from aluminum.

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Trolling Motor on Vintage Boat?

They also sell fixed motor mount/transom risers that may be more what you're looking for. They just bolt on to the outside of the transom and give you a nice solid place to clamp the kicker. They can also give you a couple inches of set back and/or lift should you need it. You can also make one out of a few pieces of aluminum angle too. I made a fixed transom riser for my main motor to get it to a better operating height. Just be sure to use a bit of 3M 5200 on any hardware that goes into/through the transom.

 

[mtboatin]

Re: Trolling Motor on Vintage Boat?

With your help and some additional searching found a couple of what I had in mind. I'm not sure if I would be better off with a fixed version of a kick bracket or one that allows vertical adjustment as well.

Outboard Motor 2 Stroke Kicker Motor Bracket Panther 55 0022 | eBay

New Outboard Motor Bracket Kicker for Boat Up to 25HP | eBay

 

[mtboatin]

Re: Trolling Motor on Vintage Boat?

So I bought a nice used OMC kicker bracket that is rated for 15 hp, locks in up and down position, and has a lift cylinder to aid in raising it. I don't think I can make this work though. Holding up and eyeballing it I won't get full swivel on my main OB because the kicker plate moves the troller far enough back that they contact.

I'm now considering making an extension on my main OB to lower the point where the steering cables attach. This may fix my problem of the troller getting into the cables when tilted in the up position. It's still going to be tight.

If this doesn't remedy the issue I may look into a jack plate to place the main OB further back. I'm afraid the trade offs for doing this may be too much weight and leverage to far back on the boat.