I'm relatively new to fishing and have only fished off the banks of a nearby lake.  I think i'm going to buy a 10 or 12' jon boat pretty soon so I can access more fishing spots.  I'm not sure whether I should put a small outboard on it or just a trolling motor and a couple of batteries.  It would be much cheaper going with the tm, I think.  I'm just a little concerned with the range I will get.  How long do you think I could troll around with the trolling motor?  Thanks.

My OPINION is, unless you have a burning desire to take the boat up on plane and shoot across the lake at 20mph, or what ever you would be able to go, you would be much happier with a nice higher powered/thrust electric motor. Much more versatile than a gas motor, excluding top speed. A good one with the newer power monitoring system will go many hours on a small boat just trolling along. The more you run the motor at the lower settings, the longer the battery(ies) will last on a charge. I have a Vantage that I put on my 12' V-hull boat. 8-) I wouldn't recommend the Vantage though, I'm not impressed with it. I think a nice wireless, hand held remote, bow mount would be really cool.

I have a 40lb edge on the front of my 1548MV Jon and I can easily fish on the trolling motor alone for at least 7 or 8 hours. I run the big marine battery from wallyworld...think its a group 31.

Thanks guys for the input.  Do you think it'd be better mounted on the bow or transom?  I'm sure it's all about personal preference but I'm interested in hearing the goods and bads of each.

If it is your main source of propulsion, go transom.  On a run across the lake, you have to keep fighting the foot control to stay on a steady course.  Keeping a hand on the tiller is a lot simpler.  Plus, if you have a bow mount and it isn't the MK powerdrive, or the MG wireless series, you will have to be up in the bow too, and in a 12 foot aluminum, the stern sticks up in the air, and is a total bi*** to operate.  If you had a powerdrive like motor and sit in the stern, the weight is distributed correctly, but I have a probably unjust hate for those motors, so you aren't getting an unbiased opinion here.  

Either way you take, you will want to run it from the stern.  Where you fish is a different story, but it is a must to run from the stern.  

Both have their good and bad.

Transom mounts will be just like having an outboard, but you will be able to turn sharper, run nearly silent, and not have to worry about the motor starting. Cost is low and instalation/removal is a snap.

On the bad side, it will be just like having a gas outboard. You will have to use a hand to drive the boat if you plan on moving while fishing. You will be stuck in the back of the boat fishing too. Boat control is not as good as with a bow mount.

Bow mounts have their good and bad points too. Bow mounts will allow you to control the boat better when fishing on the move. You will be able to move around more with the foot control, and move anywhere with the wireless control.

On the bad side, cost is much more. Dealing with the cord on them might not be a good thing all the time.

It is a tough call IMO. If keeping the cost down is important, just get a low cost transom mount. If you want a really great set up, and puting out the extra cash isn't too much of a concern, go wireless bow mount. I know some of the Minn Kota's have 18' cords, so puting the wired control where you want it shouldn't be a problem.

Get the trolling motor first. Enjoy your new freedom of being on the water while you save up for a gas motor in the future.

Mount the trolling motor on the front and devise a ruder in the back. When fishing in any sort of wind the boat is much easier to control with a bow mount and the ruder more than doubles the accuracy of tracking. As Bass Boy said the stern will not be in the water and it will try to walk around on you. The rudder will prevent this.

Yep.  I have a rudder I had made for that reason.  When in the bow, I had it extended a ways down, and going straight, it worked fairly well, but then it didn't want to turn correctly (contact point in the bow, and contact point in the stern, and nothing in the middle - didn't steer well)  When I had the rudder, and was in the stern, it worked absolutely perfectly, but then I was still stuck in the stern, so a transom mount woulda served the same purpose.  

I have a Coleman Crawdad and use a Minn Kota 55# trolling motor on the back.With a big "good" battery I can last all day...Go with the biggest thrust TM you can afford..It is more efficient to run at half power then to use a smaller thrust at full power

It is more efficient to run at half power then to use a smaller thrust at full power

That is only the case with motors that have Maximizer (Minn Kota's term - I don't know what Motorguide calls theirs).  Ya see, on a conventional trolling motor (ie, without Maximizer) the same amount of power is drawn, no matter what speed setting you have.  If on a lower speed, the excess power is just wasted away as heat, which is bad on the brushes.  Now, motors with Maximizer use only the required amount, which means they are more efficient.  But, if you are getting a motor to be used only for heading across the lake at full speed, then fish with a different one, you can skimp, and would be just fine without Maximizer.

Mine dont have the maximizer...but I use to have a 30# TM and it would drain the battery after a day of fishing at full thrust..I switched to the 55# and the battery only drains to about half...Maybe because the 30# was causing to much heat at full is why it was draining the battery ??

It is more efficient to run at half power then to use a smaller thrust at full power

That is only the case with motors that have Maximizer (Minn Kota's term - I don't know what Motorguide calls theirs). Ya see, on a conventional trolling motor (ie, without Maximizer) the same amount of power is drawn, no matter what speed setting you have. If on a lower speed, the excess power is just wasted away as heat, which is bad on the brushes. Now, motors with Maximizer use only the required amount, which means they are more efficient. But, if you are getting a motor to be used only for heading across the lake at full speed, then fish with a different one, you can skimp, and would be just fine without Maximizer.

I disagree with your take on non maximizer trolling motors.  The scenario you are talking about is if a rheostat is used in the controls to slow the motor.  It is inefficient and creates heat.  I took apart one trolling motor and found it to turn on more or less magnets depending on speed selection.  This probably isn't as efficient as the more modern maximizer technology, but it is not nearly as inefficient as the rheostat scenario you described.

I would guess the maximizer technology is Pulse Width Modulation, the electronic modern equivalent of a rheostat but without the heat waste.  It is more expensive though.

The larger the motor the more efficent it is at the same speed. Smaller motors will always use up more battery power. I have used every trolling motor brand, style and size and always found the larger motors to be the most efficient. A bow mount is the best way to go simply because it is much easier to control both when moving and fishing.

It is more efficient to run at half power then to use a smaller thrust at full power

That is only the case with motors that have Maximizer (Minn Kota's term - I don't know what Motorguide calls theirs). Ya see, on a conventional trolling motor (ie, without Maximizer) the same amount of power is drawn, no matter what speed setting you have. If on a lower speed, the excess power is just wasted away as heat, which is bad on the brushes. Now, motors with Maximizer use only the required amount, which means they are more efficient. But, if you are getting a motor to be used only for heading across the lake at full speed, then fish with a different one, you can skimp, and would be just fine without Maximizer.

WHAT???????????

A trolling motor that is run at half speed will have power for twice as long as if it were run a full speed. That's basic electroncs. I don't know where you got that information but it ain't right.

It would depend on how far you would want to go from the boat ramp.  A trolling motor battery will last just about all day and that is even if you use it a lot.  But your not going to get across the lake very fast either.  So if you had 2 deep cycle batteries you could troll all day as long as you wanted to.  

Twin 55's on the back of my z12 comanche

Adding a 101 when the $$ allows.

In my way of thinking, a 10-12 foot jon boat doesn't really belong on a large body of water anyway (for safety reasons).  So, as long as you stick to smaller lakes and ponds, a trolling motor should be sufficient.  Just get one with sufficient power to fight a strong wind.

I'm a little "unconventional" but I bought a transom mount, unbolted the handle from the shaft, spun it around 180 degree's, bolted it back on, and mounted it on the front of my bow of my boat (I can't get used to foot controls).  Anyway, it seems to work fine.