Transom mount trolling motor options

I'm going to buy a transom mount trolling motor for my jon boat and mount it to the bow with the control head turned around.

My question is for a 14 ft Tracker Topper aluminum jon boat what lb thrust does everyone think is best. Im thinking around 40lb.

Also I know of Minn Kota and Motorguide but that's it. What other brands are out there that are quality but not overly expensive. I dont need fancy or bells and whistles. Just something that won't leave me stranded paddling back to shore!

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There have been a few other makers out there but what they offered never made any impact on the market. I had a Water Snake that lasted less than a year. I needed a part for the clamp - no luck. Stay with the big two.

A 40lb Minn Kota will do you fine.

Although if you're putting it on the front, I think the extra money is worth it to get a bow mount. It'll be a lot easier to deal with. There's a lot of used ones on the market that aren't too expensive.

You can make a transom motor work, but with the added time of building a bracket, there isn't much savings.

I used a Haswing off Amazon for about 5 years. It was still a great TM when I sold it.

I did exactly what your considering but; mounted a 55 lb thrust Minn Kota on my Tracker 1236 Jon boat and it works great! you will really enjoy having variable speed it will save battery life too.

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Originally Posted by Atimm693

A 40lb Minn Kota will do you fine.

Although if you're putting it on the front, I think the extra money is worth it to get a bow mount. It'll be a lot easier to deal with. There's a lot of used ones on the market that aren't too expensive.

You can make a transom motor work, but with the added time of building a bracket, there isn't much savings.

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There isn't deck space to mount it to. I would have to fashion some sort of deck to mount it to, so a bracket seems cheaper and less work. Also when i looked for the same lb thrust, transom mount was way cheaper.

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Originally Posted by moecarama

I did exactly what your considering but; mounted a 55 lb thrust Minn Kota on my Tracker 1236 Jon boat and it works great! you will really enjoy having variable speed it will save battery life too.

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I definitely want variable speed. My step dad has a 12ft jon boat with a transom mount on the bow and after using his, variable speed I couldn't live without!!

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Originally Posted by BAFishBarn

There isn't deck space to mount it to. I would have to fashion some sort of deck to mount it to, so a bracket seems cheaper and less work. Also when i looked for the same lb thrust, transom mount was way cheaper.

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I had one rigged like you want. It worked well, but it always stowed at kind of an odd angle, and was not real easy to deploy. Those transom.mount motors will not tilt all the way down like a bow mount.

They are more expensive, but there are plenty of used ones out there.

I eventually made a quick deck plate out of plywood and mounted a proper bow mount, which worked much better.

This is how I made my bracket out of scrap piece of angle iron and 2x4.