trolling motors. need info

[MattInOz]

Hey guys...

I have the oppourtunity to buy a used electric trolling motor and I really know bugger all about them so I'm here to pick the collective consiousness and take advantage of your combined wisdom.

Seller says it's a "Minn Kota RT/AP Trolling Motor" that comes with a 60" shaft, 55lb thrust, Maximiser, cordless remote control, corded foot control, 2 mounting brackets, and an anderson plug.

He's asking $600 for it, is that a reasonable price? What sort of things should I look for/be wary of with a used electric motor? Will it be appropriate for a 4.3m aluminium runabout with a 40hp and 2-3 POB? I'm assuming that doesn't have any of the funky GPS functions like spot lock and autopilot... can they be added? My boat has a two battery system with a 680CCA battery for the engine and a 780CCA battery for the "house" battery (yes I'm aware it's overkill for a house battery, it came with the boat)... could I run the motor from the house battery or would I need a third battery? Oh and what is a "maximiser"?

Something else I'm wondering... due to the design of my boat (windscreen, small bow area, bow rails) it'd be difficult to mount it on the bow, and a pain in the butt to deploy/retrieve. Can these things be stern mounted? I don't have much transom area as my boat has a splashwell incorporated and the outboard takes it all up so I can't use one of their transom mounts but it does have large horizontal surfaces either side of the transom to which I could deck mount the motor and it could lay along the stbd gunwhale when stowed... would this work or would I be going backwards when I want to go forwards? Would the 60" shaft be ridiculously tall on the stern? Can it be shortened?

Thanks in advance for any wisdom you can share.

Matt

[mangajack]

To be honest do not buy that one. Buy one with spot lock.

Spot lock is by far the most useful tool in a trolling motor.

You can "upgrade" that motor to spot lock model for about $1800 so you are far better off buying a 2nd hand I Pilot model second hand for about 1500 to 2k. They are not that uncommon at that price second hand. I see them every other week on Facebook Marketplace.

your 780cca will soon die running the lecky on it, cranking batteries are not designed for heavy drawdown over long durations, they are designed for massive drawdown over a few seconds. It will cook to death within months with a lecky on it.

make your boat work somehow with the lecky mounted up front where they are meant to be, they will not be efficient pulling the boat around from the back.....they are designed to pull the boat not push it. If you can not mount forward then buy a tiller steer lecky and mount on the back.....they are very cheap and sometimes a better option on a boat. 

RT/AP is Riptide (salt water version) AP AutoPilot where you set a direction and the lecky will try and maintain that course....still a good system and is an option in the latest I pilot models.

If you do opt for a transom mount 55lb lecky I have one in the shed that works....been there for years unused.

[MattInOz]

Thanks for the honest advice... it's not what I wanted to hear, but I'd rather an unpleasant truth any day. I'll look further into how to make a front mount work.

[Huxstang]

Sounds like you would be better with a 54” and agree, you want spot lock as a priority.

Something that interfaces with your sounder so you can run a route and then have the leccy run it at whatever speed is also really handy as that way you can just run along a bank slowly casting snags and not have to worry about the controls.  That or you would need to be able to stand and use the foot remote.