FSH trolling motor mount (and shallow water anchor) advice needed

[DrGamecock]

Hello fellow FSH owners. I'm in the planning phase of a trolling motor install on my FSH Sport. I would like to use the Minn Kota "puck" style removable bracket so that the boat still has a clean look for water sports. Here are my questions:

1. What length of trolling motor shaft did you go with?
2. How many pounds of thrust?
3. CoPilot or iPilot? To those with iPilot, was the added expense worth it to you? I'm thinking I would use the spot lock feature to anchor in deep water when striped bass fishing Lake Murray. Otherwise, the GPS would just be an unused feature (unless someone has another use they would like to share).
4. When mounting your puck, did you back it with starboard? Do you think a piece of composite decking could be used to distribute the load?

Shallow water anchor: I have a KingPin shallow water anchor system from my old boat. Do you think this has the stopping power to hold our FSHs? Also, would you back that with a piece of starboard for install?

I know those are a bunch of questions but I need to advice of people who have experience with these things. I think I'm going to do the install myself.

 

[highanddryinco]

1. 54"
2. 80#
3. I-pilot. Yes. Yes, GPS for anchoring is great. Beyond that, at least 90% of the time I'm in both cruise control and directional tracking mode. I love being able to set a speed for casting a straight-ish line bank or trolling in a specific direction without making lazy "S" turns while I'm minding lines or whatever. I've yet to run a course and record it for future use though and while I guess that would be nice for some, I really haven't had the need for it.
4. Yes. I guess you could but...starboard is easy to come by.

Nothing to add on the shallow water anchor as that I don't have...yet. I'll be watching.

 

[Bill Smith]

I used 2 Stick-it-Pin anchors that work very well. Here's a pic from the sandbar last weekend.

 

[jetfisher]

I've mounted an ipilot 80lb 60 inch shaft with the puck style mount on our boat. I like the ipilot for my type of use, it is used for steering aid with trolling. I did add a backing plate to the mount during install for added support. There was a bit of tweaking to the mount to make it work where the shaft cleared the bow. I just reversed the plate and offset it forward.

 

[hellonearth]

Did you go with a 24v trolling motor? If so, do you go with 4 batteries on the boat?

 

[jetfisher]

Yes, 24 volt. Two batteries in the stern port side, two trolling motor batteries in the pocket in the center console under the front deck. Others have mounted the batteries under the front deck further forward also.

 

[Earfixr]

60" 80# 24v Ulterra iPilot on a plate mount. After discussions with the rigger on puck vs plate, the plate won out due to the increased weight of the trolling motor. Its heavy as hell and plate offered a larger footprint and saftey margin. Boat lists 2 degrees to port when its on. Batteries and dual bank charger mounted under front hatches. 5' stainless Cajun anchor for shallow water stake out.

iPilot is awesome. Anchor feature is easily defeated in any decent wind or current. It tries but cant hang. When current and wind are not from same direction it will Crazy Ivan and spin around trying to stay on anchor. I find the autopilot feature better if you can match speed and direction. I use this more offshore under oil rigs. In calm water the anchor works fine.

Good luck with your boat.

 

[Brian Filas]

I went with the Minn Kota Riptide ST w/ iPilot (60" shaft and 80lbs of thrust). I looked at the Ulterra but just couldn't justify the $500 to auto deploy (really the only difference and just more to go wrong). Even though I spend most of the time in fresh water I went with the salt version for more versatility. Same reason I went with the 60" shaft. In fresh water, the 54" would probably be fine, but if you are bouncing around in some chop the 60" will make sure she stays below the water line. This is a 24v system so the batteries are massive. Best option out there were the Duracell 31DTMAGM at Sams Club. I also put in a Minn Kota MK330D charger which does my two trolling batteries as well as my starting battery (I can manually move it over to condition my house battery during the winter).

Regarding mounting the motor. This is the hardest part. After doing a ton of research (which there isn't very much for the 190FSH yet), I decided to build a custom mount for a couple of reasons. First, i just couldn't get the motor close enough to the center line and still get a good bite using the Minn Kota brackets. These motors are heavy and I didn't want it ripping a hole in my hull when we hit some chop. Second, I still wanted to be able to use my anchor locker. The hardest part was laying it all out and building the template. Once I had that, just took it to a local machine shop and had it build out of aluminum. This allowed me to use the Minn Kota quick mount system (mounted puck to bracket). I would fish in the morning then pop off the motor in the afternoon when we were tubing.

After my first full week on the water, I only noticed a few things i would do different. I put one battery under each jump seat. When you add up the staring, house, trolling, and charger on one side, she sits a little heavy on the port side. Not horrbile, but would have put the charger on the starboard side. The only place that made sense backed up to the live well so didnt want to drill into that. Will probably move it this winter. For the same reason, I probably would have mounted the motor on the starboard side. Again, just for weight distribution. Second, with the motor on the mount you cant use the navigation lights (they sit to low). To fix, I plan to install an aftermarket post that will raise it up over the motor.

Short of that, the motor is fricking awesome. Loved the anchor feature. Just hit the button and it stays in the spot (takes a minute or so to figure out wind and current). I also loved the "record" feature. We found a line of grass we wanted to fish. We just hit record, steered using the remote, and hit stop when we got to the end (about a 1/4 mile). Then all week we could go back to that spot and fish it either way (start or end) by hitting play. Even allowed me to fish by myself off the swim platform (when the kids didnt want to get up early).

With all of this, just dont think you need a shallow water anchor (the motor will keep you on your spot). I like what bill did with the stake out poles. Probably all you need.

I will try to post a few more pictures of my install later (when I do my 10 hour service). Here are a few for now.

 

[DrGamecock]

I like that setup but I think I might go a little further towards the side (and probably starboard) since I'm getting SeaDek delivered this week from the group buy (thanks @JetBoatPilot) and I think I'll have a little more room over there to put some decent backing under the puck. Cabela's has the Minn Kota Terror on sale for $1,299 right now. I figure I could get that and start the install after deer season. Then I'll have time to pick up some decent batteries on sale and mount them in the flat area in the front part of the changing station. Thanks to all for your advice.

 

[Billy Marlin]

24v Riptide ST with 60" shaft 80# thrust and iPilot so far really pleased installed batteries in the front just under seat post.
Do want to get the smaller remote the big one has too many buttons and I hit the stupid North direction button on accident too often.
Spot lock features are great I can drive around a structure marking areas I find fish then just hit the go to button. While its heading to that point I can get my pole out and ready to fish. Love being able to fish brush piles off the back of the boat and still control the motor with the remote.

Spot lock is great too when you don't want to get bumpers or rope out when pulling up to a dock. I just hop off use my remote to drive the boat out just a few feet from the dock hit spot lock and get my truck.

I have the helix 9 the GPS is internal so no need to mount a puck.

Tracking on the boat not that great even with the Thrust Vectors and like someone else said if the current and wind are not the same the spot lock can be a bit squirrely. However when I take it on the ocean I find its much better than fooling with the anchor for every stop.

I wish mine was mounted like @Brian Filas

 

[jrsmitty0519]

I used 2 Stick-it-Pin anchors that work very well. Here's a pic from the sandbar last weekend.
View attachment 46783

View attachment 46782

Does the boat hold in place with the two poles in the rear? Is there a need for the bow anchor?

 

[Bill Smith]

Does the boat hold in place with the two poles in the rear? Is there a need for the bow anchor?

Depends on conditions. Calm flat water will hold just fine. Any wind or current it use both.

 

[Drew Zok]

I went with the Minn Kota Riptide ST w/ iPilot (60" shaft and 80lbs of thrust). I looked at the Ulterra but just couldn't justify the $500 to auto deploy (really the only difference and just more to go wrong). Even though I spend most of the time in fresh water I went with the salt version for more versatility. Same reason I went with the 60" shaft. In fresh water, the 54" would probably be fine, but if you are bouncing around in some chop the 60" will make sure she stays below the water line. This is a 24v system so the batteries are massive. Best option out there were the Duracell 31DTMAGM at Sams Club. I also put in a Minn Kota MK330D charger which does my two trolling batteries as well as my starting battery (I can manually move it over to condition my house battery during the winter).

Regarding mounting the motor. This is the hardest part. After doing a ton of research (which there isn't very much for the 190FSH yet), I decided to build a custom mount for a couple of reasons. First, i just couldn't get the motor close enough to the center line and still get a good bite using the Minn Kota brackets. These motors are heavy and I didn't want it ripping a hole in my hull when we hit some chop. Second, I still wanted to be able to use my anchor locker. The hardest part was laying it all out and building the template. Once I had that, just took it to a local machine shop and had it build out of aluminum. This allowed me to use the Minn Kota quick mount system (mounted puck to bracket). I would fish in the morning then pop off the motor in the afternoon when we were tubing.

After my first full week on the water, I only noticed a few things i would do different. I put one battery under each jump seat. When you add up the staring, house, trolling, and charger on one side, she sits a little heavy on the port side. Not horrbile, but would have put the charger on the starboard side. The only place that made sense backed up to the live well so didnt want to drill into that. Will probably move it this winter. For the same reason, I probably would have mounted the motor on the starboard side. Again, just for weight distribution. Second, with the motor on the mount you cant use the navigation lights (they sit to low). To fix, I plan to install an aftermarket post that will raise it up over the motor.

Short of that, the motor is fricking awesome. Loved the anchor feature. Just hit the button and it stays in the spot (takes a minute or so to figure out wind and current). I also loved the "record" feature. We found a line of grass we wanted to fish. We just hit record, steered using the remote, and hit stop when we got to the end (about a 1/4 mile). Then all week we could go back to that spot and fish it either way (start or end) by hitting play. Even allowed me to fish by myself off the swim platform (when the kids didnt want to get up early).

With all of this, just dont think you need a shallow water anchor (the motor will keep you on your spot). I like what bill did with the stake out poles. Probably all you need.

I will try to post a few more pictures of my install later (when I do my 10 hour service). Here are a few for now.
View attachment 47003

Brian, how long is the bracket? I printed it off and it came out only 10-5/8" long, please help,

Drew

 

[j_shoe99]

Drew,
I made my own from Brian's template pretty much. I just measured my CAD file, and it's about 22" x 9".

 

[Drew Zok]

Ok, thanks! Your puck looks like its actually, the corner of it is actually flush with the outside edge of the boat correct?

 

[j_shoe99]

I'm guessing it sits just beyond the outside rail of the boat. I don't have any photos from above.

 

[Brian Filas]

@Drew Zok ...j_shoe99 is right, it comes out to be about 22 inches long. The bracket was to big to put on one sheet of paper, so make sure you are printing both sections and lining them up. Also, make sure your PDF reader is not trying to scale the image to a smaller size paper (that is usually what happens). Regarding the puck, it does end up sitting slightly over the bow (but not much).
@j_shoe99 puck is also different (not sure what model it was too). Mine is much smaller (and the template has the wholes marked for the Minn Kota puck i used). With that said, his mount looks great (and I see he also powder coated it). Nice work @j_shoe99

 

[Drew Zok]

@Drew Zok ...j_shoe99 is right, it comes out to be about 22 inches long. The bracket was to big to put on one sheet of paper, so make sure you are printing both sections and lining them up. Also, make sure your PDF reader is not trying to scale the image to a smaller size paper (that is usually what happens). Regarding the puck, it does end up sitting slightly over the bow (but not much).
@j_shoe99 puck is also different (not sure what model it was too). Mine is much smaller (and the template has the wholes marked for the Minn Kota puck i used). With that said, his mount looks great (and I see he also powder coated it). Nice work @j_shoe99

Tried to print and yes its way small, maybe I can send it to A&E REPROGRAPHICS In Prescott Valley, how wide is it?
I got 9" X 22" X 5/8" thick 6061

Thanks Brian!!!

 

[Drew Zok]

Tried to print and yes its way small, maybe I can send it to A&E REPROGRAPHICS In Prescott Valley, how wide is it?
I got 9" X 22" X 5/8" thick 6061

Thanks Brian!!!

I guess j shoe says 9" x 22, I guess I missed that, I'll try to make yours print correctly, tried twice and will have to keep trying I guess unless I get something else, thanks again.

Drew

 

[Roof]

Depends on conditions. Calm flat water will hold just fine. Any wind or current it use both.

Just curious, do you still use these poles and did you contemplate one on the bow and if so what was the final decision for 2 in the back based on.
I am, probably, doing this as well.