Any ideas on mounting a minn kota on Viking Espri?

[mongrel jack]

Hi all,

I posted the below message on akff but it appears no one over there has the answers I seek and as there are quite a few "yakers" on AFO I thought I would throw the question out there. Front or rear mount would be out of the question (from the mental pictures I have but am open to somebody proving me wrong) but somebody must have done a side mount? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Hi Guys,

I have searched the forum for any info on mounting a minn kota onto my espri with no results. Does anyone have any ideas? or can point me towards an already published article? I would prefer not to have to put holes in my baby but am up for any ideas at this stage. I already have a 34lb minn kota from a canoe I used to own so will be using this. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

[Do$tylz]

mmm... Ray did you end up putting a leccy on your espri??

MJ - maybe call the dudes at Viking and see if they have any info

[apoklyps60]

from looking at your yak you would have to make a motor mount for it and you most likely will be cutting out holes and drilling. try contacting the yak company and see if they make a motor mount solution for you. or you could use the crate method. here is the link for mounting a motor without having a premade motor mount

/>http://www.martialartsacademy.org/quietmanelectrickayak.htm

looks kinda ghetto tho

hope it helps

regards,

vin

[mongrel jack]

Thanks for the responses guys. Wow apoklyps60 thats pretty cool if not a bit primative! If I get no other responses at least I now have a cheap practical solution but i would have to look at reorganizing myself as I have one of those heavy duty eskies that fits snugly in that spot and I don't think a milk crate and battery are going to have the same cooling qualities :laugh: . Thanks again - if anybody else has any ideas post them please!

Cheers.

[apoklyps60]

mongrel jack wrote:

Thanks for the responses guys. Wow apoklyps60 thats pretty cool if not a bit primative! If I get no other responses at least I now have a cheap practical solution but i would have to look at reorganizing myself as I have one of those heavy duty eskies that fits snugly in that spot and I don't think a milk crate and battery are going to have the same cooling qualities :laugh: . Thanks again - if anybody else has any ideas post them please!

Cheers.

glad to be of a little help. try mounting it on the esky then. just reinforce it with aluminum. make an aluminum frame around the esky mount the motor to that frame. also mount the battery under the hull

[Bommie]

found this on the web, once its painted it doesn't look to bad

/>http://www.kayakcorner.com/makekayakelectric.htm

[Bommie]

and this

[Bommie]

have a look through all five pages of this, there also stainless props & bimini for a yak :laugh:

/>http://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/showthread.php?t=410471

[mongrel jack]

apoklyps60 wrote:

mongrel jack wrote:

Thanks for the responses guys. Wow apoklyps60 thats pretty cool if not a bit primative! If I get no other responses at least I now have a cheap practical solution but i would have to look at reorganizing myself as I have one of those heavy duty eskies that fits snugly in that spot and I don't think a milk crate and battery are going to have the same cooling qualities :laugh: . Thanks again - if anybody else has any ideas post them please!

Cheers.

glad to be of a little help. try mounting it on the esky then. just reinforce it with aluminum. make an aluminum frame around the esky mount the motor to that frame. also mount the battery under the hull

Thanks everyone - some good ideas here but I'm thinking the milkcrate is winning at this stage :silly: such a simple and cheap idea, but I may incorporate the esky - I will make a trip to the hardware store in the morning. I would still like to here other suggestions and even from someone that has done it as my main concern with the milkcrate is that it is slightly (approx. 20mm) larger than the well it needs to go into so will need modifying and I am slightly hesitant about "modifying" a perfectly good esky

[Keen-as-fisho]

I don't know if you saw how I had mine mounted on tuesday morning, off the right hand side beside the seat.

Works well. To keep it straight I just extend the handle and lodge it against the rod poking out of the rod holder, then just use the paddle to turn. Its very effective for trolling (and when I get tired )

[fishingnut]

strippersonline hey? did you "stumble upon this site? lol

[rayke1938]

Henry mine is a nemo and I did pit a leccy on it but I was able to use rudder mount.

If the milk crate is too big it is easy just to make a box out of 12 mil plywood to suit the yak.

Cheers

Ray

[mongrel jack]

Keen-as-fisho wrote:

I don't know if you saw how I had mine mounted on tuesday morning, off the right hand side beside the seat.

Works well. To keep it straight I just extend the handle and lodge it against the rod poking out of the rod holder, then just use the paddle to turn. Its very effective for trolling (and when I get tired )

yeah I saw it on your pimped my yak post - absolutely perfect and is exactly what I would have liked to have done. Unfortunately mine is too wide in that area to clamp it so really need some sort of mounting bracket.

As for the stripersonline website, I thought the same thing - what are Bommie's surfing habits? Bet there are some adult entertainment operators out there that would love to get hold of that domain name. Good site though, some good ideas there.

Cheers.

[Bommie]

fishingnut wrote:

strippersonline hey? did you "stumble upon this site? lol

:laugh: nah its stripersonline one p, as in striped bass

[apoklyps60]

you can get ideas from here also..

/>http://www.bassyaks.com/

[mongrel jack]

Hi All,

Thanks to everyone that offered assistance with this little project. I thought I would give an update on what I have decided to do. I have gone with a custom version of the milkcrate idea as in the pic below. I have cut the holes in the ply to try and knock some of the weight out of it as the 16mm ply is quite heavy and give pleanty of ventilation for the battery. All I need to do now is hinge the top of the box, carpet the whole thing and attache the turnbuckles and mounting gear which should come in tomorrow. All up it's cost about $20 and a couple of hours work. Still don't know what i'm gunna do about the esky :S I'll post a photo of the finished job whenever that may be.

cheers.

[ellicat]

I reckon the birds are gonna love that. It'd be like nesting in a townhouse complex :laugh:

Just jokes, looks like it'll do the trick. Looking forward to the end results pics.

[apoklyps60]

lookin good cant wait to see it completed. also try using a good acrylic paint instead of carpet. hopefully it will keep the wood from rotting. carpet = water logged

[EMP]

ellicat wrote:

I reckon the birds are gonna love that. It'd be like nesting in a townhouse complex :laugh:

Just jokes, looks like it'll do the trick. Looking forward to the end results pics.

Reall funny Ellicat. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Mongrel Jack, thanks for bringing your project up to the crew. I shall follow your progress as I would like to do the same to my Gemini Feel Free Tandem kayak.

EMP

PS Ellicat, you are one funny man. lol