Adapting a Trolling Motor to Kayak

rdinatal

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I have a kayak with the pedal drive. Always wanted to adapt a trolling motor to make getting to spots easyier.

After picking up a used motor I decided to document this.

Took the head off and disconnected the speed control.

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Made the mount to fit the pedal drive hole. Made some measurements and cut the shaft. :eek:

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Put a plastic T on it from Lowes. Left the resistor wires in the shaft, uncut. Ran the main power wires out. Decided the variable speed control units were in the budget so I picked up a 60a unit for $18. This included a fwd/Rev switch and the speed potentiometer. Stuff it in an area with airflow and covered it with a thick plastic.

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Waiting for some 40a connectors and a 40a circuit breaker.
 
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Interesting project, where did you get your variable speed control unit?

Amazon.

UCTRONICS Stepless DC Motor Controller, DC 10-50V 60A, Motor Speed Controller with Ajustable Potentiometer, Forward-Brake-Reverse Switch

There are many listed. This one had 60amp peak, 40amp continuous.

Because the motor won't be using two resistor packs in the motor enclosure as speed control (voltage bleed) the battery should last ~3x longer. Or I can use a smaller battery...
 
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Amazon.

UCTRONICS Stepless DC Motor Controller, DC 10-50V 60A, Motor Speed Controller with Ajustable Potentiometer, Forward-Brake-Reverse Switch

There are many listed. This one had 60amp peak, 40amp continuous.

The motor won't be using two resistor packs in the motor enclosure as a current bleed. The battery should last 3x longer, or I can use a smaller battery.

Thanks, I put one in my wish list. I've been playing with a trolling motor on my dinghy mine was really cheap cause it didn't come with a control head so in my infinite wisdom I wired up an "up down" winch control handle to it for forward full speed, reverse full speed, if I like using it I may get one of these I'll just have to figure a way to keep saltwater off of it.
 
What kind of paperwork is involved to get a kayak registered. I had thought about rigging a trolling motor on one of mine but then realized it would have to be registered like a boat so I passed on the idea.
 
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He did ask about getting it registered... Not keeping it registered.
I regged a 10ft Pelican once so I could use it with a trolling motor on city lakes, and my county and town sent me a $50 tax bill. I paid $50 for the boat, so I let the reg lapse and took my chances with the lawdogs.
SC and FL don't care as long as I wear a PFD :D
 
I had some down time at work Wednesday and today so I get some "kayak time".

The SLA battery came Tuesday afternoon. Wednesday it was installed in the rear box and the power cable was run to the motor mount area. The power cable was going to be a PITA until I thought "hot glue". Easy to do, flip the kayak over and glue the cable inside the gunnel every 6".

To keep the battery from sliding around I was going to make a 'filler' that it could sit in. Since the width was perfect with no extra space I only need to keep the side-to-side movement from happening. I found an old solid noodle so it's going to be cut into 4 pieces and placed (2) on each side, easy to remove and put in. You're just able to see the automatic 60a breaker.

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I put some foam tape at the opening for the mount to rest on. Seems the peel back adhesive objected to do it's job. A little RTV, done. (@Mirac) You can see how it's mounted with J bolts, one on each side (might need two more on the rear position?). The black block by the connector is a battery charge indicator.

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A final check of clearances, good to go. The motor can be swiveled left/right for extreme maneuvering. Also it can be raised it into the "tunnel" area for more clearance (flip down the lever in the front or pull it totally into the motor well). Keep in mind this setup will only be used for large rivers/lakes. For shallow fishing venues I'll just use the pedal and/or paddle. (obligatory coffee cup at left :D)

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I'm hoping to test it out this Saturday!!!
 
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Slick slick !
That yak is going to move out...


Did that cup make it into the thread?
 
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