1. Welcome to the Canadian Fishing Forum! If this is your first visit, please go ahead and sign-up to become a member! (Many threads and comments are visible only to Members who sign up with a VALID email address.) Do not hesitate to contribute and interact with fellow members.

Transom mount trolling motor on the bow

Discussion in 'Fishing Tips, Tricks, and Hacks' started by Slimchance, Nov 7, 2022.

  1. Slimchance

    Slimchance Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2019
    Messages:
    44
    Likes Received:
    110
    Trophy Points:
    33
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Baldur
    I am retiring my trolling motor modification that I have used for several years, but thought I would share what it looked like before it gets mothballed. (I just bought an iPilot so am pumped to start using it). A few years ago when the kids were small and my fishing budget was near zero, I bought an inexpensive transom mount trolling motor (88lb 24 volt from the Queens daughter's car parts warehouse) that was on a blowout. I mounted it on the back of my 19' fiberglass boat and tried to use it that way; epic fail. It required constant turning and the configuration at the back of the boat made really hard to fish and reach the tiller handle at the same time. Fast forward a few years I had a different boat that came with a bow mount Motorguide (45 lb 12 volt). It worked better but soon burned out when it got caught in some weeds. As my fishing-budget hadn't improved, I discussed my issues with my machinist buddy who owns a welder and we came up with this:
    upload_2022-11-7_11-34-11.jpeg

    The first thing we had to do was undo the set screw on the tiller handle and twist it around 180 degrees. Not all models are capable of doing this but luckily this one did. Then we designed the bracket and mounted it to the base that the Motorguide came with the six bolts that you see. After several tweaks, it has worked fine for many years. We had to do several adjustments to where the screws hold the motor to the "front transom" we made, as the torque produced in rough water was more than it could handle. It almost fell off once. It had a few drawbacks: Not long enough shaft to work unless I was sitting in the bow; had to remove/install it every time as the boat cover wouldn't fit, needed almost constant handling of the tiller. But overall it was a great addition to our fish/ski boat. Poverty is not a hindrance to success!