Trolling Motor Question
 

For anyone who has a trolling motor on their boat.
I have already decided on a new Minn Kota Instinct trolling motor for my Sea Hunt Gamefish 25. Trying to decide between a 87” inch and 100” shaft length. The distance between my bow and waterline is 43” so the 87” should suffice. Just wondering if anyone else with a similar size boat has an 87” shaft and is it able to stay in the water in 3-4 ft seas? Not concerned with the price difference between the 87 & 100 but more about losing some forward seating area due to the longer shaft. Any experiences with boat owners who have an 87” shaft would be appreciated.

Re: Trolling Motor Question
 

No first hand experience but saw this chart online and it says to add 6 inches to shaft length for rough water so it looks to me like your 87 inch shaft should suffice. However, thinking this through further you'd need to add another 36 - 48 inches to the numbers in this chart to allow for the bow rise in 3 to 4 foot seas and still keep your prop in the water.

For what it's worth, I just spoke to a friend who has the 26 Sea Hunt gamefish and he just had one professionally installed over the winter and it's the 87 inch shaft. He hasn't run it yet so hard to say what it will do in 3 to 4 foot seas. I would imagine the longer the better but I doubt even the 100 inch shaft will be effective in 3 to 4 foot seas. ...

Hope this helps

Re: Trolling Motor Question
 

Thanks Gerry!

Re: Trolling Motor Question
 

My pleasure Tog... Just out of curiosity what volt system are you gonna use and what kind of batteries?

Re: Trolling Motor Question
 

36V with a PPC portable super capacitor charger. Didn't want to waste the space on my boat with 3 acid batteries and did not want lithium batteries on my boat either.

Re: Trolling Motor Question
 

The lithiums do sound good on paper but I've heard they can be finicky...

Re: Trolling Motor Question
 

Ive had the 96 Rhodan on mine and love it. Would like to get a super capacitor at some point to reduce the weight of the 3 group 31 AGM's. I would personally not go with the Lithiums.
It depends on how often you are out there in rougher seas I guess. The 100 inch one would be a no brainer to me.