5200 marine sealant is the best to seal any holes with

Is it possible to pair 2 deep cycle batteries that are both seperatly enclosed in a minn kota trolling motor power center?

Or

Is it posible to pair 2 deep cycle batteries with 1 enclosed in the power center and the other external to it so the power center feeds off both batteries?

 

I am wanting to keep a spare battery in the boat for the just in case moments, might just place 1 in front and 1 in rear to split the weight.

 

My concern is that my motor is a minn kota 55lb and I get the impression it drains batteries faster than the 40's and 30's. True?

You have to stay 12 volt so watch this. If you do it backwards you'll get 24 and your tm is a 12 volt so you don't want that.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqmm2JgsO48

Since the Bass Raider 10e comes prewired front to back, is that just for trolling motor to battery or do the wires come in handy for anything else such as fish finders?
Im clueless on fishfinders and transducers, mounting etc....
My guess from reading descriptions of different ones would be that I can mount the part that does the sonar stuff (is that the transducer?) directly to the rear mount trolling motor so it is deep enough as long as the motor is in the water...
Im looking for a good solution that does not require me to drill holes.

Also is there a reccomended fish finder thats not more than say 150ish? I was looking at hummingbird but I really know nothing about them... I do know that when I go fishing I almost always catch nothing more than a sunburn.

 

Thanks

Finished!

Is it possible to pair 2 deep cycle batteries that are both seperatly enclosed in a minn kota trolling motor power center?

Or

Is it posible to pair 2 deep cycle batteries with 1 enclosed in the power center and the other external to it so the power center feeds off both batteries?

 

I am wanting to keep a spare battery in the boat for the just in case moments, might just place 1 in front and 1 in rear to split the weight.

 

My concern is that my motor is a minn kota 55lb and I get the impression it drains batteries faster than the 40's and 30's. True?

yes, but if you wire them in parallel, both will feed the TM resulting in the same power for a longer duration, but no spare when the batteries go dead. (BTW - It is never recommended to take a battery to that point, causes severe longevity issues)  

 

Weight dispersal up to you. You more than offset the weight of batteries and trolling motor (unless you are very small or the batteries/TM combo is extremely heavy).

 

True, more thrust, the higher the rate of power consumption.

Lost-My-Bait,

This is what I, and many others, have found to works best. Put your battery in the rear. Trolling motor in the front (purchase and splice on a plug that matches the female plug in the front to the trolling mother wires). A 45 pond thrust motor seems ideal. You will eventually want to put a clamp on DIY rudder on the back that you'll leave in a parallel position to cut down on the boat spinning around.

Your correct that the the transducer is the sonar pick up of the fishfinder. Most people purchase the clamp to put it on the trolling motor. By having the transducer in the front you will see what's under your boat as you move along. If you attach it in the rear ie. to the rudder, you will see what you've already past.

Lost-My-Bait,

If you decide to put the motor in the front, be shure to adjust the head of the motor to allow the prop to be facing to the rear and also allowing the control head to be facing towards you as well. I have a Minn-Kota and it describes how to to do this in the owner's manual.

Good Luck.

Lost-My-Bait,

To add to this, I have my minn kota 30lb on front, head turned as described and also have the plug mentioned above to utilize the built in wiring. I have the fuse for the trolling motor at the battery in the back. I have a fishfinder i put on a mounted piece of metal on the right rod holder and spliced the power into the plug in front. i put the inline fuse for the fishfiner on the wire going to the plug. I have not had any problem with the "main" fuse since adding the FF. I was afraid to just rely on the "main" fuse for the FF because it requires a lesser amp fuse. Spare fuses are kept in a prescription bottle(emptied) that I keep inside the battery case. 

I made a rudder out of pvc and even made a fishing buddy one.

If you have old trolling motor to use the bracket and shaft from this is a quick rudder that works great.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/301679249656?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

If you have old trolling motor to use the bracket and shaft from this is a quick rudder that works great.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/301679249656?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I like that. I have been keeping my eye open for an old broken trolling motor but have been unlucky so far. I will try to remember this if I locate the trolling motor. I like the idea of being able to just raise the rudder if needed instead of removing it as we do now.

I like that. I have been keeping my eye open for an old broken trolling motor but have been unlucky so far. I will try to remember this if I locate the trolling motor. I like the idea of being able to just raise the rudder if needed instead of removing it as we do now.

I even popped the bar out of the bracket.  That way if I hit a stump it will lift up over it and drop back down.  Its a pretty slick set up.

I purchased a Minn-Kotta trolling motor adjustable clamp, just like the one the comes with their trolling motors. I then cut a pvc pipe to desired length, slid it into the opening and attached a piece of plexiglass into a slot that I cut on the back side of the pipe. Drilled two holes and attached with screw bolts, lock washers and nuts.

Here is my simple rudder/skeg, and I HIGHLY recommend a 7" riser for the seat. Academy is cheaper on the riser than wal mart.

Here is my simple rudder/skeg, and I HIGHLY recommend a 7" riser for the seat. Academy is cheaper on the riser than wal mart.

Love the use of the clamp there.

I have a Minn kota power center battery box with the built in breaker, one day my fuse holder melted, I think it got bent and lost connection and arced. Luckily my sister was with me and was able to hold it just right till we got to the ramp. If you have a separate breaker I'd recommend cutting the factory inline fuse out to avoid this risk. And always have an emergency paddle. I have the little telescopic one from wal mart.

Thanks chicken, it's 1/2" cpvc so very flexible. I was going to rig a spring loaded hinge in the pipe but have used it this way most of last summer and all of this summer. I've scraped it on bottom so many times and no problems. It flexes plenty. I drew a line with a sharpie on the pipe and carefully cut the slot with a circular saw for the plexiglass, which I bought at Lowes, it's precut. 8x12" I think.

Oh and that clamp already has the holes in it so I just had to drill through the pipe.

I have a Minn kota power center battery box with the built in breaker, one day my fuse holder melted, I think it got bent and lost connection and arced. Luckily my sister was with me and was able to hold it just right till we got to the ramp. If you have a separate breaker I'd recommend cutting the factory inline fuse out to avoid this risk. And always have an emergency paddle. I have the little telescopic one from wal mart.

Which fuse holder melted? The one that is in line with the boats wiring or the one e. built into the battery box?

I purchased a Minn-Kotta trolling motor adjustable clamp, just like the one the comes with their trolling motors. I then cut a pvc pipe to desired length, slid it into the opening and attached a piece of plexiglass into a slot that I cut on the back side of the pipe. Drilled two holes and attached with screw bolts, lock washers and nuts.

I had thought about going this route also. I really did not think it would be this hard to find an old broken transom mount trolling motor but boy was i wrong. i am about ready to pull the trigger on the minn kota mount and do like cdemarse to make it "bounce" over objects.

For decoration purposes, does anyone know of a clear sealant that could be placed over stickers (much like the ones placed in vehicle windows - vinyl I think) that would keep them protected and embossed to the boat?

Took the boat out for the first time last night with the wife. We had a blast. I love the simplicity of this thing and caught some nice bass that pulled me around lol. The hardest part was loading it back in my truck. I'm thinking that using a cart to wheel the boat up to the level parking lot would actually be easier than me trying to load it on a ramp. All the weight wants to work against me when I get the front of the boat up on my tailgate.

Also, thanks Atomic for the step by step process. Funny thing is I got to gabbing with some other guys at the ramp and they all helped me unload the boat. This thing seems to peak everyone's interest.

Just got home from academy, could not be happier.

They had 1 bass raider 10e left (dark green) marked 549.00.

I asked if they had any sales or offers going on and the guy said this boat was on clearance because it was the old color, the new ones are the tan ones...

So I got my brand new BR10e for ... 279.00 !!!

I was floored to say the least -- happy happy happy.

Now to start the mods lol.

Since the Bass Raider 10e comes prewired front to back, is that just for trolling motor to battery or do the wires come in handy for anything else such as fish finders?

Im clueless on fishfinders and transducers, mounting etc....

My guess from reading descriptions of different ones would be that I can mount the part that does the sonar stuff (is that the transducer?) directly to the rear mount trolling motor so it is deep enough as long as the motor is in the water...

Im looking for a good solution that does not require me to drill holes.

Also is there a reccomended fish finder thats not more than say 150ish? I was looking at hummingbird but I really know nothing about them... I do know that when I go fishing I almost always catch nothing more than a sunburn.

 

Thanks

 

Here is a picture of what I commented on earlier.

 

Notice the spliced in wire to the trolling motor connection. My transducer is attached to the trolling motor. The extra wires, power and transducer cable, are still rolled up and stuffed into the rod holder behind the electronics. You can cut the power cable without harm but not the transducer cable. I chose to not cut anything in case i wanted to sell it later. 

 

I do not travel with the electronics attached. I put them on at the ramp or side of pond and remove them before heading home.