Overall very nice job, a few pointers though.... 1) Your motor needs to be a bit lower in the water and as close to the kayak side as possible while still able to turn fully. Or you could lock it straight and use your rudder for turns. You may also need to upgrade to a metal rudder as the stock plastic one flexes a ton and is not very good. 2) Never have your PDL drive down while using the trolling motor. You're drastically increasing your drag/resistance, and your risking hitting something with both the trolling motor and the PDL. 3) Also never hold the PDL stationary while you're using the trolling motor, your massively increasing drag/resistance/battery drain. 4) When using the trolling motor, pull the PDL drive up and use a block off plate in the drive hole (Either make one or buy Navare's). 5) Your double decker rail, take the top part you added and add it to the bottom of the long rail instead. This way your motor sits lower in the water. You may need to invert the long rail instead of the way you have it now. Also, if you hit anything under water with this setup, you will bend/twist it for sure, maybe even rip your mounting holes out of the kayak. That is the major downside of these types of setups. All in all you did a great job with this!
Interesting. I have a hobie mirage drive, do you think using the bungee to set the fins into the 'shallow water' position whilst trolling will be adequate or still remove the drive while on motor? I have a 2020 compass with 180 mirage drive
@@pissywilly Hobbie fin drive has a lot less mass and surface area facing forward. So it has much less drag. I would say it makes little difference here, but some tiny bit yes as anything in the water makes drag. For example I can clearly feel the drag of my yakattack switchblade transducer arm and garmin transducer on the boat when peddling with it down in the water. Same with dragging a trolling bait while pedaling. I probably wouldn't worry to much about your fin drive if pulled up in shallow water mode. Pedal drives are much bigger and bulkier with a propeller facing the water which makes huge drag.
@@riverpirate1022 yeah I see the forward motion is turning the prop here and the pedals are moving. The mirage fins pretty much flatten to the hull in the stowed position. Now for a decent mounting solution and an expensive lithium 100ah battery. All said and done way cheaper than a bixpy system and more thrust
Yep, the weight of my MinnKota 45lb Thrust that comes with the OldTown 120 Auto Pilot is 25 lbs. It has a shorter overall shaft and also some mounting assembly attached, plus the electronics for the Auto Pilot and the upper motor to rotate the motor using and additional motor. Just subbed.
Sweet operation. If your Kayak feel like its listing to one side due to the trolling motor weight, shift your battery to the opposite side to act as a counter weight. It'll make the craft tract better and feel better cruising.
I sold the original predator I had mostly just because I wanted something new after using it for almost 4 years. I sold the Sportsman 120 PDL because no matter what I tried to do to make it faster, I just couldn't handle how slow it was. Just wasn't for me.
Which hand do you cast with? Cause that's gonna be in your way if your right handed. Have you thought about mounting it right next to the rudder, with just enough room for clearance. It might give you a bit more speed less lean and similar steering.
I took rods out and casted quite a few times. It was fine. I even tried to hit it a few times. I wanted to be able to reach the throttle without having to do a bunch of stuff to get the steering and throttle right.
That unistrut twists, probably. That might cause you to be "out of plane" with the up and down direction of the motor/prop line. (Think "Tilt-Adjust" on an outboard...!). Just a random thought...
It did ok. Honestly I don't have that boat any more. And the biggest draw back was when the motor was down and you were pedaling, it was so much drag and made it go really slow.
@@tangoindiamike9189it worked as advertised. If you wanted to use the pedals, you had to raise the motor or it would drag a ton. I kinda got tired of having to raise it up and down just to use the pedals and it was quite a bit heavier hanging off the side than I had hoped.
Kyle you should check out Steve at Kayak Hacks Fishing he has a hack I think you might like with you TM setup. Its Aug 26 2020 - Kayak Motor Mount - Quick Remove! (Motor Mount ty setup
Overall very nice job, a few pointers though....
1) Your motor needs to be a bit lower in the water and as close to the kayak side as possible while still able to turn fully.
Or you could lock it straight and use your rudder for turns. You may also need to upgrade to a metal rudder as the stock plastic one flexes a ton and is not very good.
2) Never have your PDL drive down while using the trolling motor.
You're drastically increasing your drag/resistance, and your risking hitting something with both the trolling motor and the PDL.
3) Also never hold the PDL stationary while you're using the trolling motor, your massively increasing drag/resistance/battery drain.
4) When using the trolling motor, pull the PDL drive up and use a block off plate in the drive hole (Either make one or buy Navare's).
5) Your double decker rail, take the top part you added and add it to the bottom of the long rail instead. This way your motor sits lower in the water. You may need to invert the long rail instead of the way you have it now.
Also, if you hit anything under water with this setup, you will bend/twist it for sure, maybe even rip your mounting holes out of the kayak.
That is the major downside of these types of setups.
All in all you did a great job with this!
Interesting. I have a hobie mirage drive, do you think using the bungee to set the fins into the 'shallow water' position whilst trolling will be adequate or still remove the drive while on motor? I have a 2020 compass with 180 mirage drive
@@pissywilly Hobbie fin drive has a lot less mass and surface area facing forward. So it has much less drag. I would say it makes little difference here, but some tiny bit yes as anything in the water makes drag. For example I can clearly feel the drag of my yakattack switchblade transducer arm and garmin transducer on the boat when peddling with it down in the water. Same with dragging a trolling bait while pedaling.
I probably wouldn't worry to much about your fin drive if pulled up in shallow water mode. Pedal drives are much bigger and bulkier with a propeller facing the water which makes huge drag.
@@riverpirate1022 yeah I see the forward motion is turning the prop here and the pedals are moving. The mirage fins pretty much flatten to the hull in the stowed position. Now for a decent mounting solution and an expensive lithium 100ah battery. All said and done way cheaper than a bixpy system and more thrust
That’s awesome, glad it worked out. Your going to zoom zoom to your spots.
*GASP* - you are motorized now!?!? Sweet!! Thought about adding a Bixpy to mine, but haven't gone for it yet.
I don’t know what to think quite yet
Yep, the weight of my MinnKota 45lb Thrust that comes with the OldTown 120 Auto Pilot is 25 lbs. It has a shorter overall shaft and also some mounting assembly attached, plus the electronics for the Auto Pilot and the upper motor to rotate the motor using and additional motor. Just subbed.
Appreciate the sub! Good luck in the autopilot this season.
Old Town, send this man a AP 120 for his videos. Thanks for the video.
This was super helpful video. Especially for someone who’s trying to be powered on a budget. Thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
Sweet operation. If your Kayak feel like its listing to one side due to the trolling motor weight, shift your battery to the opposite side to act as a counter weight. It'll make the craft tract better and feel better cruising.
I sold that boat and got a Hobie. But I did do what you said and it worked before I sold it.
Good job Kyle. Not sure about the sweatshirt choice, but good video!
Why did you sell the Oldtown PDL ? What was that you didn't like? Don't have a kayak yet hence the question. I might learn something.
I sold the original predator I had mostly just because I wanted something new after using it for almost 4 years. I sold the Sportsman 120 PDL because no matter what I tried to do to make it faster, I just couldn't handle how slow it was. Just wasn't for me.
Which hand do you cast with? Cause that's gonna be in your way if your right handed.
Have you thought about mounting it right next to the rudder, with just enough room for clearance. It might give you a bit more speed less lean and similar steering.
I took rods out and casted quite a few times. It was fine. I even tried to hit it a few times. I wanted to be able to reach the throttle without having to do a bunch of stuff to get the steering and throttle right.
Great video! Would you mind sharing a specific parts list for the hardware or links to the materials from Amazon? Thank you.
To be honest I don't even own that boat anymore. But I'll see if I can dig up my order and post the stuff here.
Very informative. Been looking into getting a trolling motor for my old town. Just subbed :)
Thanks for the sub!
So how did you like the Vessels trolling motor??
I liked it ok. If you try and pedal when it's down, it really adds way more drag than I anticipated. But it sure was nice when I got sick of pedaling.
That unistrut twists, probably. That might cause you to be "out of plane" with the up and down direction of the motor/prop line. (Think "Tilt-Adjust" on an outboard...!). Just a random thought...
Yeah I’ve barely tried it. I’m sure it’ll need some adjusting.
Another great video man! 👍🏼
If you raise the pedal drive out of the water you may get the higher speed on the motor alone.
Okie engineering. Atta boy.
How does it make turns? Would you recommend have a side mount trolling motor?
It did ok. Honestly I don't have that boat any more. And the biggest draw back was when the motor was down and you were pedaling, it was so much drag and made it go really slow.
@@kylelongfishing good to know thanks. Think i might just pull the trigger on the rear mount version.
How is the landing gear holding up?
I actually sold that boat so I don’t know. Sorry.
Or you could put a swing arm on it, there is a guy on you tube that made one for his motor its really nice !
Did you go with the 36 or the 55lb thrust?
55
I would think that your pedal drive is creating a drag when you're not doing pedal assist.
It wasn’t what I’d hoped it would be. Now I have a Hobie and an NK180 and it’s amazing.
@kylelongfishing Were you disappointed with the motor, or just the overall setup? Curious, because I just ordered the Newport 55 lb. last night.
@@tangoindiamike9189it worked as advertised. If you wanted to use the pedals, you had to raise the motor or it would drag a ton. I kinda got tired of having to raise it up and down just to use the pedals and it was quite a bit heavier hanging off the side than I had hoped.
Kyle you should check out Steve at Kayak Hacks Fishing he has a hack I think you might like with you TM setup. Its Aug 26 2020 -
Kayak Motor Mount - Quick Remove! (Motor Mount
ty setup
I had never seen that video. Crazy how similar it is.
I made a custom Bigwater 132 pod motor with a newport nk180 you can see it on my video of lobster with kayak
Oh and boomer Sooner 👊🏻
In the same process with my 2020 hobie compass. Trying to figure out the best mounting method. Good video thanks
Good luck!