Advice for a trolling motor?

I'm gonna be getting a trolling motor for my 12' Lowe, just wondering what size to get. Here's my boat.


I've been looking at the Minn Kota Traxxis. How much thrust should I go for? I was thinking the 33 or 45. We are usually fully loaded in the boat with me, wife, dog, fishing gear and cooler (about 450 lbs). And of course the 9.9 Merc and fuel tank.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Since you have the 9.9 already you do not need to much on the TM - unless you are going to fish some electric only lakes?

take a look around for a used TM - I use 2 35lb motors on my 16 foot V boat and they work just fine. I picked them up for next to nothing (well one I "borrowed" from a buddy so it was nothing)

Cool, good to know. I was thinking the 33 but the 45 is only $50 more. Oh well, I'm goin to the outdoorsman/fishermen show next weekend. Hopefully I can get a good deal from there.

Go with the biggest size you can get - no matter if you are using your 9.9 or not.

If you want to go slow, use a lower speed on a 55 and that battery will last you twice as long as a 34lb motor on high

bigger is better like Russ said you can turn the bigger motor down and get the speed of the smaller motor and use less amperage.
then on a windy day you have the extra juice/power t o keep on fishing with good boat control

russ010 said:

Go with the biggest size you can get - no matter if you are using your 9.9 or not.

If you want to go slow, use a lower speed on a 55 and that battery will last you twice as long as a 34lb motor on high

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I agree - it is just a matter of cost. Never hurts to have too much power and not need it then not enough power and really need it


My point was that if money is a factor then you can get buy with a smaller TM as it is not your main source of power. I will run my gas engine to within a short distance of the fishing spot and use the TM for positioning and such

True Captn.... On my 1232 jon, I just have a 30lb motor, and I can fish pretty much all day with it, but I sit in one spot on that certain lake pretty much all day long.

I can troll around ok, but near the end of an 8hour day, it's dragging pretty hard

Awesome advice guys, thanks for bringing up the wind factor, I wasn't thinking of that. It does get pretty windy at my favorite lakes.

What else will I need to get? Battery and battery case, charger? I just want to factor in those costs before I set my motor budget.

russ010 said:

Go with the biggest size you can get - no matter if you are using your 9.9 or not.

If you want to go slow, use a lower speed on a 55 and that battery will last you twice as long as a 34lb motor on high

Click to expand...

I agree with russ.

ForkliftJeff said:

Awesome advice guys, thanks for bringing up the wind factor, I wasn't thinking of that. It does get pretty windy at my favorite lakes.

What else will I need to get? Battery and battery case, charger? I just want to factor in those costs before I set my motor budget.

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I would go with a deep cycle.. you don't need a cranking battery if your motor is pull start. I would also stay away from the dual purpose. I have one (well several) of the 29 series Everstart Maxx Marine batteries from WalMart. I also have them plugged up 24/7 to onboard chargers, and they stay strong.

on the other hand, I am using a 24 series Deep Cycle from Auto Zone - it's nearly 6 years old and only gets charged the night before I use it at my parents house.

But if you plan on moving a lot, go with more battery than you need. I go with the largest battery I can get away with because most of the places I fish are electric only lakes, and it's a long row back to the dam should by battery die.

You can get a case, but that's basically made to catch any acid that would come out of the battery should it flip over. I've got my batteries sitting on a piece of plywood with a D ring on each side with a bungee cord holding them in place

look at the reserve capacity mins the higher that number the longer you can stay on the water a battery case is a personal choice if you can secure the battery in place so it doesn't bounce around that is all you will need.
Get a quality charger be it an on board or portable. a trickle charger will NOT to the job you need at least 5 amps to get a solid charge. The charger I use has 15amps and will charge my batteries in a few hours so i am ready to go the next morning.
One the to remember is NEVER but your battery away without charging it first..

So I'm thinkin I'm gonna need a portable charger since I never find myself at a dock with power. What's a good brand to look for in a charger? I was just at the Minn Kota site lookin at the 10 amp one.

I have a dual pro on my boat.
I have the mminkota 2 bank charger at my cabin that i use to charge my jon boat battery it has done a good job for me

I run a 40LB on my 14'er and it gets me around nice, but on some windy days a little extra would be nice.

Hey, I'm new here but I have a 1236 or 1232 too. I just bought the Minn Kota Endura 50lb Thrust 42" shaft for mine. $200 shipped to me. I gotta wait till it's nice out before I can put it to use though

I got a traxxis 40 lbs thrust at gander mountain during the winter sale for 150 bucks. It pushes my little 1432 great.

In a couple weekends I'm staying down in Tulalip for the weekend for my wifes birthday and on the way back I'm picking up a Traxxis 45. I just paid for it, now I just got to pick it up. I can't wait.

Just got back the other day with my new Traxxis 45lb motor. I got a smokin deal on it and customs didn't even hassle me about it. Sweet! I got it from Valley Sports & More in Burlington, Washington. It's an online store he runs out of his house. Very nice guy, very good deals.