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Permalink Reply by Mike Dearing on April 14, 2009 at 5:22pm

I've ran a 38" shaft Minn Kota 50 pound thrust motor on my 17' Tatman before. Now I don't know if this shaft length is optimum or not, but it does work. I used it to push the boat through some long very slow section on the Williamson. I'm not a fan of motors in general, but at times they do have there uses.

Mike

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Permalink Reply by mitchell on April 15, 2009 at 5:45am

http://www.steelheaduniversity.com/drifter.html

the link shows what many consider the best way to electric fit your drifter. I set my boat up with 71 pound thrust. I find it a bit under powered for a couple of things. First, getting back up river in current more than 1600 cfs. Second, Crabbing in Tide Water. I still use it for crabbing but I keep an eye on the tide swing and won't go with the swing over 6 feet and only crab on the incoming. Always be sure to stay above your put in dock.

If your going to just use your electric in smallish lakes you can get by with less power yet. I've got a 30 pound thrust also. It does fine putting around.

General thought when going electric is to get as much thrust as you can afford. There are a couple of places you can look to try and save you a little cash. Cabela's Bargin Bin(online) and Ollie Damons store in Portland. Both would be reconditioned. I purchased reconditioned from Ollies and my motor is going on it's forth year.

I would also suggest that if your going to use your motor at all in salt water that you get a riptide version of the minn kota. It's built with salt water resistant parts.

The shafts are adjustable but of different lengths on different motors? It's been awhile since I've been in touch with that issue. Get the longest shaft transom model they sell. I've also heard that some folks who used the minn kota model Vector consider it squirlly/hard to control.

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Permalink Reply by mitchell on April 15, 2009 at 6:03am

forgot to add that I did install my motor as shown in the steelhead university's article minus the onboard charger and also minus the gel batteries. I use group27 deep cycle marine batteries and only recharge on a trickle 2amp charge. I remove the batteries from the boat and recharge on my work bench one at a time. There is a way to charge both at once (i think) but that's over my head. My batteries have lasted 4 years so far.

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Permalink Reply by mitchell on April 15, 2009 at 7:41am

I bet this thing would fly http://www.ifish.net/board

would fly but you would have to manage ...

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Permalink Reply by Joe Palanuk on April 15, 2009 at 1:49pm

I have a Minekota Model 112 42 pound thrust and it is great for ferrying across a lake during a wind storm! It is ideal for the Williamson or Wood for instance going up the back slew or back and forth to the mouth of the lake.

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Permalink Reply by Karl Mueller on April 17, 2009 at 12:24pm

I have a Minn Kota Riptide 24v 80# thrust that I use to troll tidewater during salmon season. I don't use an onboard charger. It'll push my 16 pretty well but normally I troll all day at about 25% or so. I'm not trying to get anywhere fast and I just soak my bait longer than the guys on step chasing the hot bite! No complaints and like others say, the shaft is adjustable.

Also, I always carry a spare set of batteries. Some will say it isn't worth the extra weight but a trolling driftboat is a poorly balanced beast so I just set them up front under the fly line deck. It help with balance and peace of mind.

If the weather changes quickly late in the day you might want to push it exactly when you are getting low on juice. There are worse things than rowing five or six miles to a takeout through whitecaps with a sustained headwind of 30 mph and gusts to 60 mph but not many. Don't ask me how I know! :)

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Permalink Reply by Richard on April 19, 2009 at 6:32pm

Thanks for all the input as I now have a pretty good idea on shaft length.

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