where to mount a bow trolling motor on a 1542

So I got my 80# MK terrova this week and I'm trying to figure out the best place to mount it on the bow of my tracker 1542, the instructions say to mount it as close to the center line as possible but I've noticed that a large amount of builds on here have the TM mounted to one side or the other and it deploys on that side instead of the center line, is there an advantage to this versus mounting the motor in the middle of the bow? won't the boat pull to that side if the TM isn't in the center?

The boat will not pull to one side as long as you keep your engine's foot in the water straight to act as a rudder.

I do not have a trolling motor on my Jon but my SeaPro has a motor guide wireless that is on the left side that drops over the bow onto the right side of the boat. It goes straight as an arrow as long as you keep the motor trimmed down enough to provide rear drag.

It's of to one side and it still tracks straight because of the motor being in the water acting as a rudder, I hope this helps

hmm, the issue is the front of my boat is flat, and I don't have the gas motor on it yet and probably won't keep the motor on it as most lakes around here are electric only.

Well then make a clamp on fin for the rear to give it drag and keep the boat straight, shouldn't be too hard to make

Leelatt said:

hmm, the issue is the front of my boat is flat,

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i can't see the issue. you simply mount your TM so it drops down at the front, offset to port or starboard...
you may have the impression that TMs on pointy boats are mounted to side, but the reason for it is the hassle of mounting dead center....the tip/center of the bow could have a cleat, nav lights, bow/anchor line, a hatch, etc. etc...... a lot of stuff happening at the bow, so most boats have the TM mounted off center, where it doesn't interfere with anything.....

if an electric motor is your main propulsion, it's better to have a transom mount....you'd see most electric only boats have two motors.. one at the back for motoring, one at the front for fishing.....

I have mine off to the starboard side on my flat bottom 1648 and also had it that way on my previous Tracker 1436, and both are electric only rigs. I never had any problems with keeping it in a straight line so maybe it's just an issue for V hull boats.

well I tested it out with it offset to the starboard side, with the motor pointed straight, the back of the boat swings out to the starboard side and the boat moves forward at an angle compared to the direction I'm moving. If you look at it like a clock, I'm moving in a straight line at 12 o clock but the boat is pointing at 1 o clock. I tried to correct for this by turning the motor the other direction, it lessens the angle of the boat but creates a lot of chop.

Create drag on the rear of the boat and you will fix that problem.

Get a piece of aluminum and clamp it to the transom dead center and you will create drag. All you need is 5-7" past the bottom of the hull and it will act as a rudder to keep the hull straight

decided to use my 55# endura on the transom as well, going to keep that locked forward and have a big foot switch for it as well.

the issue I ran into now is that my 2 batteries are 6 months apart, can I still use these for the 24 volt system? I thought I had read somewhere that you should use 2 batteries that were manufactured at the same time. also, 1 says 125 amp hours and the other says 122 amp hours, they're the exact same battery; everstart marine, group 29 DC. the labels are both identical except for the amp hours, any thoughts on this?

I always mount my troll motor on the left side to provide more room to get in and of my boat. My last 5 boats have all been semi-vee models with exception of 1.
I use the hand operated fold out bracket model with big foot switch mounted on the floor. With the hand operated model I don't have the foot pedal and all the extra wires to fool with. Beside the hand operate model is about $100.00 less than the foot operated model. I bought an extension handle that is adjustable that slide off and on when you don't need it;
See pics below, just click on pics and they will get bigger.

Sorry to kinda hyjack this thread but does that big foot switch just work like an on/off switch for the TM?
I'm thinking of going back to a tiller TM,the waters I fish are tea stained,rocks sneak up on me in a hurry and a tiller would be quicker then a foot control.

Zum said:

Sorry to kinda hyjack this thread but does that big foot switch just work like an on/off switch for the TM?
I'm thinking of going back to a tiller TM,the waters I fish are tea stained,rocks sneak up on me in a hurry and a tiller would be quicker then a foot control.

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Yes, the big foot switch is an off and on switch you can mount anywhere. Just cut you negative/black wire from the troll motor to the battery and I use HD squeeze connectors and coat with liquid rubber. See my drawing below, just click on the drawing and it will get bigger. Hope this helps.

Thanks,thats what I figured...

soo took the boat out today, everything seemed to be working great until about a few minutes of full speed the motor ripped off the front of the boat, luckily I was quick enough to kill the power and grab it, but had to row back to shore.

the motor is mounted on the MK quick release bracket + puck, the puck ripped right out of the wood. it's screwed down with 4x 3inch #14 screws into 1 and 1/2 inch thick wood. any suggestions on a better way to mount the motor so this won't happen again?

I can't get under the motor, as there is a bench under where it mounts but no access to the inside of the bench, so bolting it down won't work.

Glad to hear you saved the TM.
Shame you can't get underneath and bolt it on,try googling isolator bolts or well nuts.
I've read mixed reveiws on them though so maybe some members can give you some first hand experience...sorry I can't,bolted on.

The next time you install the puck put a nice coat of JB weld on the bottom before you screw it down.

I was thinking about using the JB weld but the issue is the platform is carpeted, didn't think it would hold as well.

if I were to remove the platform and epoxy a steel plate to it, then bolt the puck to the other side through said steel plate, then re-screw the platform down, do you think this would be enough to stop the puck from ripping up again?

Not steel because of galvanic corrosion

Put aluminum plates on both sides and you'll be set!

well I got the aluminum plate under the platform and above it as well so the wood is just a filler, seems a bit more stable, tried pushing on the motor when it was deployed on the trailer, didn't feel like it would rip out but it does pull up a bit, the problem with the quick release bracket is that the puck is in the middle of the motor base so there's nothing holding the back portion of the motor base from lifting up, it's not a great design but I can't leave the motor on the boat 24/7 as someone already tried to steal my #55 endura c2 off the boat when I got it the first time last year, luckily having a very loud dog scares people away.

the issue I'm facing now is that the boat is still pulling driving at an angle, I have the motor mounted at the center line, it deploys dead center, but when I have it pointing forward trying to drive straight, the boat rides with the bow at 1 o'clock and the transom at 7 o'clock while moving towards 12 o'clock. I have the #55 endura c2 on the transom locked at 12 o'clock to act as a rudder as some of you have suggested but it's not working it seems. (also serves as an emergency motor if my bow one decides to rip off again, it was not fun paddling 100+ yards back to dock.)

is there anything else that could be causing this?
and for the suggestion of clamping a piece of metal to the transom to act as a rudder, does anyone have pictures of one they've made?

how far down off the bow should the motor be? I had it about 8 inches under the surface of the water but the boat didn't seem to be moving all that much faster than when I used to use just the #55 motor to drive the boat. I figured the #80 TM would be much more powerful and faster than the #55, was this a misconception? I know I added about 100lbs of aluminum and wood to the boat but it should still go faster should it not?

and finally, is there any bonus to running both the bow mount #80 terrova + the #55 endura at the same time? like have the 55 locked in the forward position at all times to propel the boat while the 80 pulls the boat and steers?

hoping to figure this all out as these problems have put a downer on how proud/excited I was about how good the boat looks after the decking modifications.