Variable speed question

[pstone]

Can the switch on a 5 speed trolling motor be changed for a variable speed switch?

[slabbandit]

Not exactly, you have to be careful how you do it or you will burn up your motor. The best thing for you to do is to do a search on E-Bay for a Minn-Kota Maximizer.
They haven't made these for about 15 years but you can still find them new in the box or like new. Just mount between the battery and the trolling motor somewhere. Be prepared to pay between 130.00 to 170.00 for one though.
Here's a pic of mine...the last one Minn-Kota had at their warehouse 10 years after they quit making them.( They figured out that they could make more money offering trolling motors with them built in.)



Here is a pic of a brand new one in the box we recently found on E-Bay for Crappie.com member CrappieKeeper.

[PanMan_VA]

Can the switch on a 5 speed trolling motor be changed for a variable speed switch?

You can put the switch on 5 and add a pulse width modulation (PWM) speed control. Cane Pole posted a circuit on the board a few months ago that will accomplish this.