Garmin just upped the game with their Garmin Force Current kayak motor. Here are the highlights:

 

• It's both an outboard and a trolling motor that mounts on the back of your kayak.
• With a 12V battery it has 30 lbs of thrust. With a 24V battery it has 50 lbs of thrust.
• It has anchor lock (spot lock)
• It can stow and deploy
• Here's the big one - hands free wireless steering and throttle
• Wireless integration with Garmin chartplotters
• Wireless man overboard tag
• Handheld remote with the ability to turn via motion sensor

 

But let's talk about the big one - the wireless foot pedals. These are rocker pedals that allow you to steer, move forward, and move backward. In combination, you can make a tight turn or even pivot the kayak. They even have programmable buttons (actually a toe plate on the side) that you can program to do things like engage / disengage spot lock and lock course.

 

The price tag - a cool $3,600. That's a pretty big investment.

 

Along with the wireless foot pedals, I'm intrigued by the increased thrust with the 24V battery. Paired with a kayak with good hull design andsome weight considerations I'm wondering what kind of speed you can get with this motor.

 

I have to say, I'm intrigued. Is anyone interested in buying a used Old Town Sportsman AP 120? 😀

 

It is certainly a very awesome piece of engineering.  Using it like a trolling motor going down the bank with rear steering would be weird to get used to at first, but if you’re sitting in a kayak I can see it working.  They are definitely going for the high end tournament angler with it.  I would wager that depending on the hull it will do 4.5-5 mph at full power.  

26 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

It is certainly a very awesome piece of engineering.  Using it like a trolling motor going down the bank with rear steering would be weird to get used to at first, but if you’re sitting in a kayak I can see it working.  They are definitely going for the high end tournament angler with it.  I would wager that depending on the hull it will do 4.5-5 mph at full power.  

You wouldn’t even need to steer. You could plot your track on your Garmin unit and just have it follow that track.

 

I’m seriously considering selling my AP120 and buying an XTR 130 as well as this motor.

 

But I am most definitely not an impulse buyer. I’ll think about it for 4-6 months first.

3 hours ago, Kayak Koz said:

XTR 130

I've been eyeballing those myself. Looks like a nice boat. 

9 hours ago, Kayak Koz said:

You wouldn’t even need to steer. You could plot your track on your Garmin unit and just have it follow that track.

 

I’m seriously considering selling my AP120 and buying an XTR 130 as well as this motor.

 

But I am most definitely not an impulse buyer. I’ll think about it for 4-6 months first.

 

sure, but pushing from the back means actively steering unless there is a separate heading sensor in the front of the boat (a rear mount might be possible).  Let's say you're going along in a straight line, motor aiming for a point via it's own navigation.  The nose of the boat starts to turn a little to the right, but the motor doesn't know that.  It keeps it's path aimed straight for the destination point.  The nose will keep swinging around to the right as the motor keeps aiming straight.  Next thing you know you're sideways, and then running backwards.  There needs to be steering correction to keep the boat pointing towards the destination and since steering is from the rear that means the trolling motor has to make constant corrections if it is doing all of the navigation.  I'm sure they have worked it through, but I'm curious how they do it.

 

it is a similar scenario for running down the bank and fishing.  With a front mount motor, you point it the direction you want to go.  With a rear mount, everything is flipped.  

It's definitely the motor to have on a kayak, but the price...

10 hours ago, Kayak Koz said:

I’m seriously considering selling my AP120 and buying an XTR 130 as well as this motor.

Have you demo'd a XTR130? The casting deck looks sick and all, but I've been hearing from a lot of people lately that since it's at the front of the boat, it gets incredibly tippy and kind of makes it more of a gimmick than a practical application. And if that's true, that completely changes the kayak for me.

20 minutes ago, Boomstick said:

It's definitely the motor to have on a kayak, but the price...

Have you demo'd a XTR130? The casting deck looks sick and all, but I've been hearing from a lot of people lately that since it's at the front of the boat, it gets incredibly tippy and kind of makes it more of a gimmick than a practical application. And if that's true, that completely changes the kayak for me.

If you're putting a 50 lb thrust motor and 100Ah of 24V lithium in the far back it just might balance out.

6 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

If you're putting a 50 lb thrust motor and 100Ah of 24V lithium in the far back it just might balance out.

It's not a front to back issue as more of a side to side issue that would make it get tippy

     I love that Garmin came out with a new motor for Kayaks.  The thing I don't love is it is kinda weak in the pounds thrust area. 50lb with 24V and 30lb with 12V.  The 3,600 price tag with no battery kinda takes your breath away. I'd be a bit more excited if the Garmin had 80lb thrust or better.     

     The NK300 and the Torqueedo are both 3hp or 155# thrust.  The NK180 is 24V and 1.8 hp which I'd guess to be in that 80lb thrust range.  But no spot lock. I want my cake and to eat it too! It is also very expensive considering it doesn't come with a battery.  The Torqueedo 1103 runs about 2,700 - 2,900  (with battery).  The Newport NK300 runs about 1,500 no battery and it is 36V. So you'd need either three 12 volt batteries or a 36 volt battery.  

     The discontinued Motorguide XI3 was 12V, 55lb thrust and had spot lock for under 1,500.

Waiting to see what comes out next.  Glad to see the manufacturers are taking kayaks seriously!!!  Now bake me a cake!

Fishingmickey

I saw an OLD TOWN blast past me.  I caught up eventually and asked.  he said he was nervous of being undermanned and bought the NK300 for his 12foot kayak.  he was so fast!!

 

I have the 180, and my speed record was 6mph..  for fun.

 

for real life, I go 50% juice and still kick with my feet.  5mph all day lone.

 

the new Garmin is rarified air for me.  $4500 all in with a fancy battery is a non starter.

 

that is where I say..(hahha). "why not just buy a boat?"

2 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

 

sure, but pushing from the back means actively steering unless there is a separate heading sensor in the front of the boat (a rear mount might be possible).  Let's say you're going along in a straight line, motor aiming for a point via it's own navigation.  The nose of the boat starts to turn a little to the right, but the motor doesn't know that.  It keeps it's path aimed straight for the destination point.  The nose will keep swinging around to the right as the motor keeps aiming straight.  Next thing you know you're sideways, and then running backwards.  There needs to be steering correction to keep the boat pointing towards the destination and since steering is from the rear that means the trolling motor has to make constant corrections if it is doing all of the navigation.  I'm sure they have worked it through, but I'm curious how they do it.

 

it is a similar scenario for running down the bank and fishing.  With a front mount motor, you point it the direction you want to go.  With a rear mount, everything is flipped.  

It does have heading lock.

1 hour ago, Boomstick said:

It's definitely the motor to have on a kayak, but the price...

Have you demo'd a XTR130? The casting deck looks sick and all, but I've been hearing from a lot of people lately that since it's at the front of the boat, it gets incredibly tippy and kind of makes it more of a gimmick than a practical application. And if that's true, that completely changes the kayak for me.

I have not. I talked to a few early adopters and they seemed satisfied.

 

I’m going to sit back and relax and let everyone else experiment with kayak combinations for this motor.

 

That’s too big of an investment for me to gamble on the right combination. I’ll let the outfitters and the factory anglers figure that out.

16 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

that is where I say..(hahha). "why not just buy a boat?"

 

I started reading this thread and that's the first thing that popped in my head.

 

I fish from a kayak, but it was only like a grand or something several years ago. Don't even remember.

 

The only way to go forward or back is by the paddle in my hands.

 

A $3k boat with a $3k motor, not to mention all the other stuff, why not just get a boat?

 

The only thing I can think of is much less storage space. Can still get away with a 2 stall garage probs.

 

I've thought about getting a pimped out kayak but my next purchase is 100% going to be a boat.

32 minutes ago, Kayak Koz said:

It does have heading lock.

 

 

Not just heading lock, it needs to have a heading sensor.  The autopilot has heading lock without a sensor because the motor is mostly up front and just pulling the kayak behind it.  A heading sensor (which I think you have on your AP to allow jog) means the motor knows the angle the boat is pointing.  Without that, the motor could be keeping on a line, but the boat is at any angle- forward, sideways, etc.  

1 hour ago, Fishingmickey said:

 

     The discontinued Motorguide XI3 was 12V, 55lb thrust and had spot lock for under 1,500.

Waiting to see what comes out next.  Glad to see the manufacturers are taking kayaks seriously!!!  Now bake me a cake!

Fishingmickey

 

that's now the Minn Kota kayak terrova.  same spec.  same price.  

1 hour ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

 

I started reading this thread and that's the first thing that popped in my head.

 

I fish from a kayak, but it was only like a grand or something several years ago. Don't even remember.

 

The only way to go forward or back is by the paddle in my hands.

 

A $3k boat with a $3k motor, not to mention all the other stuff, why not just get a boat?

 

The only thing I can think of is much less storage space. Can still get away with a 2 stall garage probs.

 

I've thought about getting a pimped out kayak but my next purchase is 100% going to be a boat.

I’ve been back and forth about buying a boat. But there ongoing and compounding costs with a boat.

 

I also enjoy the kayak tournament scene. Competitors are actually friendly.

10 minutes ago, Kayak Koz said:

But there ongoing and compounding costs with a boat.

 

 

 

Very true.

 

My problem is that I don't know a thing about engines etc.

 

I'll be like "Yeah, ummm I think I need to change the spark hemi on the bearing filter".

Out of my price range.. With battery, it would cost 7000 cad.. Which costs 1000 more than what I paid for my autopilot 120...not sure what kind buyers they have in mind for this.. 

Won ICAST 2025 best in category ward. 
Tom

On 7/17/2025 at 12:39 PM, Kayak Koz said:

I also enjoy the kayak tournament scene

Cant fish in a yak tournament with a boat.

 

And vice versa.

I'd like to see if you can mount it on the front of a kayak. it says you can flip the steering modes of the foot pedals 180. and you can still stow and deploy. Might look funny but there's a few kayaks that have the bolt pattern in the front and the back and you might be able to just go back-and-forth depending on how you want to fish. someone will try it