I'm looking to add a trolling motor to my kayak.  I have to keep it under $200.  Currently, I'm looking at the Minn Kota Endura C2 30, the Motorguide R3-40 HT and the Newport Vessel 36lb. Kayak series.  I don't need it to do typical trolling motor duties.  I'm basically just looking for something that will allow me to explore more of a large lake, without wearing myself out.  So it'll probably only be ran a full speed, so I'm not certain that a digital speed controller, like on the Motorguide, would be of any benefit.  I just need something to help me cover larger distances.  I will still use my paddle to move around an area once I've gotten there.  

 

Does anyone have any experience with these cheap trolling motors?  Any advice would be appreciated.

I've got the C2 30 on my canoe and it pushes it along quite well. It's on it's 3rd season and still having no problems with it.

 

Note that at speed 5 it consumes 30amps of power - so a 30AH deep cycle battery will only run it for an hour at top speed.

25 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

I've got the C2 30 on my canoe and it pushes it along quite well. It's on it's 3rd season and still having no problems with it.

 

Note that at speed 5 it consumes 30amps of power - so a 30AH deep cycle battery will only run it for an hour at top speed.

Thanks!  That's the one I'm leaning towards.  It's the cheapest and has the least power draw.  Plus I most familiar with the Minn Kota name.  I'll probably get a 50+AH battery for it.  But I'm not too concerned with battery life.  I'll still have my paddle, should it die on me.  

5 minutes ago, Bankc said:

Thanks!  That's the one I'm leaning towards.  It's the cheapest and has the least power draw.  Plus I most familiar with the Minn Kota name.  I'll probably get a 50+AH battery for it.  But I'm not too concerned with battery life.  I'll still have my paddle, should it die on me.  

draw the battery down too much and you shorten the life and the amount of recharges. paddling against a stiff wind on a large lake is not fun.

3 minutes ago, Bankc said:

Thanks!  That's the one I'm leaning towards.  It's the cheapest and has the least power draw.  Plus I most familiar with the Minn Kota name.  I'll probably get a 50+AH battery for it.  But I'm not too concerned with battery life.  I'll still have my paddle, should it die on me.  

Ya, I've got a 75AH battery in the canoe...rarely run it full out. Also a paddle in clamps for short moves or emergency backup.

 

Just now, wis bang said:

draw the battery down too much and you shorten the life and the amount if recharges. paddling against a stiff wind on a large lake is not fun.

Yep - always keep 15% reserve - so that 50AH battery...don't drain it more than 42AH - so 1.4hrs at top speed for the C2-30.

2 hours ago, wis bang said:

draw the battery down too much and you shorten the life and the amount of recharges. paddling against a stiff wind on a large lake is not fun.

Don't I know it!  

 

2 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Ya, I've got a 75AH battery in the canoe...rarely run it full out. Also a paddle in clamps for short moves or emergency backup.

 

Yep - always keep 15% reserve - so that 50AH battery...don't drain it more than 42AH - so 1.4hrs at top speed for the C2-30.

Yeah, that's why I was thinking 50AH.  And hour is probably all I'd need it for.   I typically don't fish more than six hours, and the idea of spending more than 1/6th of my time on the water riding around doesn't appeal to me.  But we'll see what sizes are available within my budget when the time comes.  50AH is the minimum for me.  I wanna get the motor and mount squared away before I worry about the battery.  

 

And yeah, I still plan on using my paddles and drift anchor primarily.  I'm just looking to add a bit more speed and range.  

I've had one on a 14' boat for 3 years and it's been a workhorse.  It's mounted on the front and I use it like a bass boat.  I do have a big battery, group 27, to run it and also start my 25hp engine.  It has never used more than 40% of the battery in a couple days of fishing.  I also rarely run it @ full speed.

Thanks everyone!  I went with the Endura C2 30 and a 100 AH battery.  The price difference between all of the deep cycle batteries wasn't much, so I went with the biggest they had.

43 minutes ago, Bankc said:

Thanks everyone!  I went with the Endura C2 30 and a 100 AH battery.  The price difference between all of the deep cycle batteries wasn't much, so I went with the biggest they had.

Sounds like an all-day thing to me. I go out for 4-5 hours a trip and my 75AH is less than 1/2 drained at the end of it.

19 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Sounds like an all-day thing to me. I go out for 4-5 hours a trip and my 75AH is less than 1/2 drained at the end of it.

Yeah, it's big enough that I'll probably hook my fish finder up to it as well.  I have a little 7AH battery for it and I was planning to continue using it to preserve the trolling motor battery, but it looks like that won't be an issue.  I'll still keep it for some of the smaller lakes and ponds.  There's not need for a trolling motor or messing with that heavy battery for them.  Paddling them won't wear me out.  But on a 3,000 acre lake it becomes pretty useful.  Especially with a lot of these local lakes that are surrounded by dense trees or have poor shore access for other reasons that limit the number of places where you can launch from.  There are areas in some of these lakes that I've never even seen!

Just now, Bankc said:

Yeah, it's big enough that I'll probably hook my fish finder up to it as well. 

If you do that - make sure to have 'protection'.

I have my battery in a MinnKota Power Center box. The TM runs off the main terminal connection - 50amp circuit breaker. The two accessory ports have built in 5amp circuit breakers. From one I have an accessory plug with a 5amp fuse running to a switch to which my sonar is connected - with it's supplied fuse installed between the switch and the sonar...triple protection.

I've got the other accessory port hooked through a switch to a dual USB port where I plug in my camera and tablet...again, the built in 5amp circuit breaker and a 5amp fuse in the accessory plug for protection there.

23 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

If you do that - make sure to have 'protection'.

I have my battery in a MinnKota Power Center box. The TM runs off the main terminal connection - 50amp circuit breaker. The two accessory ports have built in 5amp circuit breakers. From one I have an accessory plug with a 5amp fuse running to a switch to which my sonar is connected - with it's supplied fuse installed between the switch and the sonar...triple protection.

I've got the other accessory port hooked through a switch to a dual USB port where I plug in my camera and tablet...again, the built in 5amp circuit breaker and a 5amp fuse in the accessory plug for protection there.

Always!  

On 7/31/2020 at 12:07 PM, MN Fisher said:

Yep - always keep 15% reserve

Repeatedly discharging over 50-60% is damaging it

7 minutes ago, Smalls said:

Repeatedly discharging over 50-60% is damaging it

Look down a little further - I've rarely gone below 50%.

Just now, MN Fisher said:

Look down a little further - I've rarely gone below 50%.

I read that backwards, as in you drain 42ah out of it. It made sense, a lot of people think that because deep cycles are designed to draw down to 15-20% if needed, it’s ok to do it every time.

I'm not too worried about damaging the battery.  I've got 100 AH to play with, and probably won't run it for more than an hour per trip.  That leaves me about 2/3rd left in the battery.  Plus, I can't get a car battery to last longer than three years, so if I get two out of this one, I'll be happy.   

 

Also, any idea why this Minn Kota suggests a 50 amp fuse for this motor?  That seems really high for a 30 amp motor.  All of their recommendations for their other trolling motors only go about 8-10 amps over the normal max draw.  I'm gonna try a 40 amp fuse and see how it works.  I've got a bunch of them already anyway, so that would save me a trip to the store and a few bucks.  And if it doesn't work, then I know how to fix it.  It just seems odd to me, unless the actual draw is actually a good bit higher than what's published.

FYI around here (southern new England) there are none around,  Even bass pro shops said they don't plan on any for a while,

   I went on Dick's sporting goods and put my email in for an In Stock notification. Two days later I got an email and I ordered one at the normal price. got it pretty quickly Lots of price gouging going on.