Hey guys, I recently purchased a 12ft tracker topper jon boat. specifically the 1236, the wide model I believe. I am looking to mount an electric trolling motor to the front. i’ve been looking at the minn kota edge debating on if it’s worth the foot pedal version or the hand control one. sometimes i’ve heard that the foot pedal can be a bit “much” for a 12ft jon boat since it does weight more. just wanted to see if anyone had any experience with this. thanks! 

Great question.  I have been vacillating back and forth between foot control and hand control trolling motors all my life.  This depends a lot on your fishing style.  A foot control motor is heavier and you have the cable and pedal to deal with.  A hand control motor is lighter and cheaper but it's less convenient.  On my large bass boats, I used a hand control with a tiller extension and foot buttons. This worked well when stand up fishing.   When sitting to fish, you have to be able to reach the buttons and turn the motor, so a foot control worked better for me.  Hand control motors are cheap and easy to find used.  Why don't you borrow one and see what you think before investing in an expensive foot control motor?

 

I have a 24 volt Minn Kota Edge foot control on my Ranger RT175 and I have no complaints.

For a boat that size, I would probably go with the hand control version.  I have a friend who has a 16 foot fishing boat and he has a 12 volt hand control on the bow.  It works pretty darn good with a small aluminum boat.

I prefer a hand controlled with floor switches. Nothing in the way on the deck & I don't have to stand one one foot.

I had a hand controlled TM on my first boat and loved it.  It worked great for the way I fished then.  Spot lock, autopilot,  and the hand held remote on my Ultrex have mostly eliminated the need to keep one foot on the TM.  I would love to have a second boat for fishing shallow water.  It would have a hand controlled TM.

I had a couple of hand controlled trolling motors.  PITA for me.  I’ll quit before I have another one.

I prefer foot control over hand control but...

 

I have used hand control in one jon boat and really didn't have a problem.  In a 12 foot jon I would go with a hand control over the foot.

Can you easily stand on one foot in the jon boat?  I'd take the boat out and practice putting your weight on just one foot and see how stable you are.  You don't have to raise the other foot completely off the boat, but get most of your weight off it and wiggle it around to see how you get along.  That should tell you if you can work a foot controller.

 

I'd go with a foot controller if you can manage it.  It would keep your hands free, after all.  But if it's going to turn into a circus act to do it, then a hand controller is the answer.  And only you can determine what's possible for you.  Everyone fishes in different waters with different conditions and has a different body.  What one person may say is easy, another might deem impossible.  

I've owned both and much prefer a foot control trolling motor. That said, the one bow mounted hand control model was on a 12' jon. While it was a pain, with limited floor space, I can see the need. I've owned several Minn Kota Edge trolling motors, now and in the past. They're great, never had the first problem from one.