kayak, motor in the front, stearing in the rear?

[Pat Smith]

I picked up a Minnkota Endura MAX Freshwater motor this weekend. IT was a bit more of a motor than I wanted but I got a great deal and I wanted the "Max" feature. THis beast is heavy, Kinda thinking I should have gotten the 26lb motor instead.

I had originally though of mounting the motor off the back like a bassyaks would be. Then I was thinking that I have this perfectly good rudder already installed and if I mounted the thing off the FRONT of the kayak it would give me more room.

How do you think the handling would be with the propulsion in the front (not turning, just a straight thrust) and the rudder doing the stearing in the rear. The bigger boats I have seen with the trolling motor in the front were also using the to steer. I would imagine it would cause no end to irritation with the thrust in the front.

I should probably go the whole rear mount with it steering too route.

[Mark]

The drive mechanisms on Hobies and Natives are located past the center lines of the hulls toward the fronts of the boats. They essentially pull the kayaks through the water with steering done by the rudder on the stern. Your concept is similar. But I think your bigger challenge is how you will mount the motor to the bow and then how you will reach the throttle from your seat.

[J.A. Veil]

Be aware of weight balance. You do not want to be bow-heavy, either from weight or from torque caused by a prop. That would give you a less desirable ride, and could be unsafe under large wave conditions.

My center console has a bow-mounted trolling motor. It is fine for steering in low-speed applications along shorelines but I don't think it would work well at a cruising speed, which I suspect is how you plan to use the motor (trolling or travel between fishing spots).

[DOGFISH]

A side mount is still the easiest and works well. If you don't like it, you can still move the motor to the stern. The front idea does not sound so good. All you have to do to off-set the weight of the motor, is to move the battery, a little, in the opposite direction. The motor is nothing in weight a opposed to a deep cycle battery. When the motor is in place, all you have to do is tighten down on the locking screw of the motor, locking it in place. Then you just steer with the rudder.

Keep it simple.

[Pat Smith]

Agreed, the side mount is the easiest and has the benefit of not needing to modify the motor.

My original idea of doing a bass yak type of thing would require cutting the motor and making it permanently unusable by other boats, something I didn't mind when I was planning on a used 30lb $50 motor.