Bow electric

[merseybluenose]

Read a little already about bow mounted electric and it seems to be minn kota is the brand to use.
Would be using on my newly purchased 4.1dory, it has a 70ltr onboard fuel tank as well as 50ltr live bait tank, would normally fish with at least 2 in the boat as well so am wondering what size motor to go - 55lb or 80lb, and whether the ipilot feature is worth the money?

Don't have oodles of money to throw at this (hopefully around $1500 as I have a mate who works in the biz), the boat has a battery on board as it is electric start, it does recharge as the motor runs but I know little else, I'm assuming I might need to upgrade the battery and charging system but don't know how or what brands to use. Treat me like a novice please.....

[NAGG]

If you are into lure casting - you wont know yourself once you have a leccy. It seems that Minn Kota have improved reliability issues over the last couple of models ...... thankfully. They are not the only choice but they certainly offer the most features & are well served by BLA.
OK .... what motor ? - The 55lb would be ideal, If you can afford IPilot - get it ... everyone that I know who has it , raves about it! . ....... I would also get a foot pedal as a back up = specially if you plan to go away for holidays with the boat.
Battery set up ....... Firstly - You cannot have too many amps !!!!! - some will tell you stories of a 80amp battery lasting days (blah blah blah) - Just so you know , a 55lb Kota draws around 50amps / hour when run on full speed .......... so an 80amp deep cycle (lead acid battery) will be in the danger zone in 1 hour. If you troll in good conditions (little wind or tide) you'll get a couple of hours.
From my experience over the last 5 years - 100amp is the minimum (120amp is ideal) . I know you mentioned cost restraints but try to get the best battery you can get - for a leccy my starting point would be a Trojan 120amp lead acid battery ( somewhere around $250) = these are a robust long lasting battery & if well maintained (charged after using with a quality multistage charger) ...... you'll get many years out of it.
My personal choice is a AGM battery simply because they take a real pounding , maintenance free .... no acid to deal with . When I had my 24 volt system I had a pair of 100amp absorbed power AGMs which did nearly 4.5 years faultlessly & i'm still using them to run my engel when away camping. These cost about $400 each. ........ There are other choices like Remco , fullriver , lifeline etc . The downside is that the AGMs are expensive ..... so most people end up with only 100amps.
My new boat will have a 200amp running my 55lb MK ...... big battery (& costly) .
When it comes to charging ....... you can get an auto electrician to rig a Voltage Sensitive Relay (VSR) ... which basically switches the charge from the motors alternator to the leccy battery once the starter battery has been charged. From the research that I have done though - you need a big motor with a high output alternator & then be doing long enough runs to get the benefit - so dont bother. Just get a good 10-15amp multi stage charger like a Ctek & charge your battery after a days fishing. I have a 25amp C Tek as it pumps alot of charge in quickly ... which means I dont have to run a generator for half the night when I'm away and camping away from 240 volt power .

So that's about it ...... I'm sure you'll love the MK

Chris

[Apollo]

From my perspective, which brand you use depends on the features you want. If you want a basic bow mount electric that does all you need, then save the money and buy a watersnake. They work fine and there are a hell ove a lot of them around and doing the business. If you like the idea of an IPilot, then go the minnkota. Agree with Chris above regarding size of motor and batteries.

Steve

[merseybluenose]

If you are into lure casting - you wont know yourself once you have a leccy. It seems that Minn Kota have improved reliability issues over the last couple of models ...... thankfully. They are not the only choice but they certainly offer the most features & are well served by BLA.
OK .... what motor ? - The 55lb would be ideal, If you can afford IPilot - get it ... everyone that I know who has it , raves about it! . ....... I would also get a foot pedal as a back up = specially if you plan to go away for holidays with the boat.
Battery set up ....... Firstly - You cannot have too many amps !!!!! - some will tell you stories of a 80amp battery lasting days (blah blah blah) - Just so you know , a 55lb Kota draws around 50amps / hour when run on full speed .......... so an 80amp deep cycle (lead acid battery) will be in the danger zone in 1 hour. If you troll in good conditions (little wind or tide) you'll get a couple of hours.
From my experience over the last 5 years - 100amp is the minimum (120amp is ideal) . I know you mentioned cost restraints but try to get the best battery you can get - for a leccy my starting point would be a Trojan 120amp lead acid battery ( somewhere around $250) = these are a robust long lasting battery & if well maintained (charged after using with a quality multistage charger) ...... you'll get many years out of it.
My personal choice is a AGM battery simply because they take a real pounding , maintenance free .... no acid to deal with . When I had my 24 volt system I had a pair of 100amp absorbed power AGMs which did nearly 4.5 years faultlessly & i'm still using them to run my engel when away camping. These cost about $400 each. ........ There are other choices like Remco , fullriver , lifeline etc . The downside is that the AGMs are expensive ..... so most people end up with only 100amps.
My new boat will have a 200amp running my 55lb MK ...... big battery (& costly) .
When it comes to charging ....... you can get an auto electrician to rig a Voltage Sensitive Relay (VSR) ... which basically switches the charge from the motors alternator to the leccy battery once the starter battery has been charged. From the research that I have done though - you need a big motor with a high output alternator & then be doing long enough runs to get the benefit - so dont bother. Just get a good 10-15amp multi stage charger like a Ctek & charge your battery after a days fishing. I have a 25amp C Tek as it pumps alot of charge in quickly ... which means I dont have to run a generator for half the night when I'm away and camping away from 240 volt power .

So that's about it ...... I'm sure you'll love the MK

Chris

And that's why I asked!! Great response, thanks heaps!