motor mounted trolling plate

[CK14]

i just got a new boat about a month or two ago and i have a 25hp mercury on it. and i found out that it's slowest speed isn't slow enough for good trolling. i was wondering if anyone has one of these trolling plates on their motor and if they work good and are worth the money?

thank you for any advice

[J White]

I've been using a homemade one for three or four years now, it works
well enough. I haven't seen one of the store-bought ones except in
catalogs. I did have to experiment quite a bit to find the right size for
the plate - ended up around 10 x 10 1/2 inches. I wouldn't be surprised
if you had to do a little trimming on one, especially with a 25 horse - I
would think you shouldn't be much too fast to begin with. Just curious,
is your motor a four stroke? I have one, and like it, but they have a reputation for not idling down as slow as a two cycle of the same size.

[Speck]

I have a Yamaha 90 hp four stroke. It has a 13" 17 pitch prop. The slowest I could get it to troll was about 3mph. I put a Cabelas Hydro Troll trolling plate on it. With the trolling plate engaged, I can troll as slow a 1.3 mph. With the plate in the up position, it makes a pretty good hydrofoil. The only thing I don't like about it is everytime I'm finished trolling and want to open the big motor up, I have to shut the motor off and raise it out of the water and lock the trolling plate in the up position by hand. It says that you can release the pin and put the boat in gear and the plate will lock up, but I havent been able to get it to do that yet. Otherwise, I love it. Speck

[SnakeCharmer]

OK, stupid question....what is the advantage over just using an electric trolling motor. Do bad things happen from idling you gas motor around like that all day? Just wondering.

[CK14]

j white, i have a 2 stroke so thats probably why it doesn't troll slow?
snakecharmer, i don't like to use the trolling motor because i have a bow mounted one, and it's kinda a pain to troll with.
thanks for the info. i think i'll get one.

[Carl Palmer]

There is a chance (or so I've always heard) that your motor, especially if your mixture isn't right, that you could foul out the plugs by idiling all day. Don't know if true or not but never wanted to chance it. Could be old wives tale, but ??

[J White]

[QUOTE=CK14]j white, i have a 2 stroke so thats probably why it doesn't troll slow?
QUOTE]

The deal, as I understand it, is that four strokes will troll all day without
fouling plugs or "loading up" BUT they won't idle at as low an rpm as a
two stroke, and thus won't troll as slow. This is mainly the newer fuel
injected motors - my old Honda, with a screwdriver, I can idle it down low
as I want, but I have been told you do this at your own risk, as it takes
a minimum rpm to turn the oil pump fast enough to keep things happy.
I have no tach, so don't know how many rpm's I'm trolling at - but the oil pressure "idiot light" says I have oil pressure, so... :D

[Speck]

OK, stupid question....what is the advantage over just using an electric trolling motor. Do bad things happen from idling you gas motor around like that all day? Just wondering.

I used to troll cranks with my trolling motor. Mine is also bow mounted. It worked pretty good except that a few times,I guess when I made turns, the lines wrapped in my outboard propeller. It was a pain in the %&# to untangle that mess. I've found it much easier to troll with my outboard. I can put out more lines and my fishing partner can sit next to me instead of 18 feet behind me.