Hi all!

I noticed that there was someone that mounted a trolling motor on their ski. The mounted a plate and screwed to that plate as well as modified the mini transom mounting assembly to fit what they needed. Really awesome!

I am a fresh water person with no plans for salt so my needs are not quite as extreme as some. I was wondering if the battery couldn't be placed in the front storage area or would I lose too much trim? Also, I assume I could create an emergency connection with a breaker on kill type switch from the trolling motor battery to the main ski battery in case of ski battery death (had that happen once and had to paddle about 2 miles to get to where I could summon help - was only supposed to be going to boat launch and left phone in car with wife - needless to say once I reached her she was some upset.)

I will appologize in advance as I seem to need to post 6 messages in order to get into the garage now.

Cheers!

welcome to the site Joe! please excuse the restrictions..

the reason why i would separate the trolling motor battery with the main one is for safety. running 2 motors one 1 battery will certainly drain the power much faster. a better design would be to have 2 batteries, and collect the second one to a charge relay. this allows the second battery to be charged up when the first one is full and your trolling motor can last longer.

hope this makes sense!

Welcome to the site.

I have played with lots of trolling motor ideas and I totally concur with Hawaiianshorts that you need a dedicated battery. I would also recommend something better than a regular ski battery. A ski battery has 25 minutes of reserve at best which means a small trolling motor will last an hour or two at best. That is just not enough battery especially if you only have the ski battery. I would recommend a battery similar to an Odyssey PC925. This will give you more than twice as much reserve time which is needed for trolling. You could try using a regular ski battery in the front storage box but that will require a long run of some 8 gauge wire.

Thanks guys. I was assuming two batteries - I was just trying to see if I could mount in the front instead of hanging something else off the back. I guess I could go the cooler route as I don't usually fish live bait in fresh water. I guess another option would be two coolers side by side in the rack - one for the battery and one for the beverages/bait/catch of the day (as if), etc. turned 90 degrees so the long axis parallels the jetskit long axis. The SeaDoo GTX 4tec I have is a 2002 and doesn't have much rear deck so the coolers would have to be small I think.

Thanks again!

you should have plenty of room for another carry on cooler to put in the front hatch for drinks, food, etc. i would run the extra battery in the back and mount the trolling motor in a way that it can be folded 180 degrees. when you are trolling, flip it vertical so the prop is in the water. when you are moving, flip it upside down and lock it in place so everything is out of the water. i think there's a company that makes it (torqeedo) but they are expensive. there are a growing number of companies now making trolling motor setups for kayaks. i'm sure we can find one that fits our needs.

great

Good Idea.

Thanks for the question. I am wanting to rig also and would like fresh and salt. I am curious how well a ski would handle with a trolling motor for bass fishing and Reds? And I want in the garage.

These are great ideas. I'm glad I don't have to recreate the wheel!

Here's an idea. Wonder if someone who has a shop could fabricate a mount to install a hand controlled trolling motor that can go on the front of a ski ? Just a thought !