I am going to add a trolling motor to my toon. I am also going to put a graph on it. I was wondering should I run them on seperate batteries or from the same battery. Why or why not?

I was thinking of just running the transducer and temp to the trolling motor. I see that you guys do them seperate is that because you are not allowed to run a trolling motor at your tournaments or is there another reason?

Do you guys think you will ever allow the use of a trolling motor in your events? I have a bad back and can not row all day. I would love to fish an event or 2 with you guys if you ever did.

I have the ODC 816 can you tell me what graph will fit and what ones to avoid. I am not going to get the top of the line unit something in the 80 to 150 range should work great for me.

Thanx for any help.... Rodger

Hey Rodger, your on your way now! Here's my thoughts on your questions.

>I am going to add a trolling motor to my toon. I am also
>going to put a graph on it. I was wondering should I run them
>on seperate batteries or from the same battery. Why or why
>not?

I think you should be able to run them both on the same battery. A graph really doesn't use that much juice. I can run mine for several days on an 8AH battery and it still doesn't need a charge.

>I was thinking of just running the transducer and temp to the
>trolling motor. I see that you guys do them seperate is that
>because you are not allowed to run a trolling motor at your
>tournaments or is there another reason?

Yep, that's probably the main reason. I hadn't thought of it that way before! Another reason I have mine on a shaft that I can pull out of the water is... I like to get up in the stuff sometimes and anything in the water will foul with trash and weeds. If you were to use a TM all the time I don't see a reason why you couldn't mount it there.

>Do you guys think you will ever allow the use of a trolling
>motor in your events? I have a bad back and can not row all
>day. I would love to fish an event or 2 with you guys if you
>ever did.

I don't think the use of trolling motors is something we (BnT)are planning in the near future. We would like to stay as close to our float tubing roots as possible so it's human power only at tournaments.

>I have the ODC 816 can you tell me what graph will fit and
>what ones to avoid. I am not going to get the top of the line
>unit something in the 80 to 150 range should work great for
>me.

I'm sure any fish finder in your price range would work. I had some bad luck with a Hummingbird Piranah that went dead in a little rainstorm. In Hummingbirds defense though it was a 2 year old unit that worked fine until I got it wet. I now have an Eagle FishMark 320 and love it.

If you search the float tube forum you should find many answers and opinions on everything you are asking about.
I did a search for fish finder. here is just one of the results I got.
http://www.calfishing.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=6&topic_id=35769&mode=full

Hope to see you on the water soon :7

MT

Thanx for the great info. I may do a seperate mount of the transducer for transport purposes. You know it could be pain not being able to take the trolling motor off if everything is zip tied to it.

Have you guys ever considered fishing lake Natomas. This is the lake that is below folsom dam. there are no gas motors allowed and it has some great facilities. The lake is barely fished but has some monster bass in it. It is not a small lake and I have even caught 2 smallmouth over 6.5 pounds this year from the shore.

Rodger

While a graph does not draw that many amps it is usually a good idea to run them on their own battery. When running a graph on the same battery as your t-motor there is a strong possibility that you will get interference on your graph while running your t-motor. A lot of the guys run their graph off of small 12 volt batteries like this one from Cabelas, it is what I use on my boat.



http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/6175-bat.jpg

Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what have-yous

Attachment #1, (.jpg file)

Hey John I did some research to find those batteries and I found them her in sac at Batteries Plus for 25.00 which is 5.00 more than Cabellas. They even have the automatic charger that will shut off when the battery is charged. Does the charger from Cabellas shut off automaticly?

I built my pontoon last night. I am going to do my rod holder tonight and as soon as my motor mount is done I am headed to tap plastics to have them cut out my deck.

I am going with a side rod holder system as I plan to throw a lot of swimbaits and dont want to much behind me.

Also if anyone is ever looking to add the swivel to the chair they sell the Swiveleze brand at Wall Mart for $4.00. Dont forget like I did to get the ne bolts while your there I needed 4 nut and bolt combinations as well as to shorter bolts to attach the seat.

Rodger

The charger does not shut off as far as I know, but then I have only had to use the charger twice in the year and a half I have been using it. They work great and it is cool that you found them locally, you probably saved money when you consider the shipping charges.

Let me know if you ever want to hit up the local lakes or delta.

Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what have-yous

Once I am set up going to head to Natomas and then some Folsom action will be in order especially with the speed limit restrictions. I will let you know.

I have been thinking of starting a club here in sac to have some fun with these. What do you think? I would allow trolling motors of course as I have to have one with my back and all.