Remote Control Trolling Motors

As tech­nol­o­gy con­tin­ues to rev­o­lu­tion­ize every aspect of our lives, the boat­ing world is no excep­tion. One of the most sig­nif­i­cant advance­ments in recent years is the devel­op­ment of remote con­trol trolling motors. They have quick­ly gained pop­u­lar­i­ty for their con­ve­nience, effi­cien­cy, and advanced fea­tures. This com­pre­hen­sive guide will delve into the intri­ca­cies of remote con­trol trolling motors, help­ing you under­stand their ben­e­fits, how to choose the right one, and how to main­tain them effec­tive­ly.

Best Remote Control Trolling Motors

Select­ing the best remote con­trol trolling motor comes down to the com­bi­na­tion of pow­er, con­trol, and inno­v­a­tive fea­tures.

Let’s high­light a few top-notch choic­es.

1. Minn Kota Ultrex Fresh­wa­ter Trolling Motor: Known for its advanced i‑Pilot GPS sys­tem, this motor pro­vides supe­ri­or con­trol and track­ing. Its spot-lock fea­ture keeps the boat sta­tion­ary even in chop­py waters.
2. MotorGuide Xi5 Wire­less Trolling Motor: This trolling motor is rec­og­nized for its pre­ci­sion and reli­a­bil­i­ty. The wire­less capa­bil­i­ty ensures you can con­trol your boat from any­where onboard. The Pin­point GPS sys­tem is a fan­tas­tic bonus for tech-savvy sailors.
3. Rho­dan Marine HD GPS Anchor+ Trolling Motor: Rho­dan is appre­ci­at­ed for its rugged build and excep­tion­al GPS accu­ra­cy. The mod­el is ful­ly remote-con­trolled, allow­ing smooth and effi­cient con­trol of your boat.

Each of these mod­els has unique ben­e­fits, so con­sid­er your spe­cif­ic needs when mak­ing a choice. Look at the type of water you’ll be in, the size of your boat, and how you plan to use the motor. Remem­ber, the best remote con­trol trolling motor is the one that aligns per­fect­ly with your boat­ing lifestyle.

You can check Youtube video we have found that might be help­ful:

Understanding Remote Control Trolling Motors

The remote con­trol can be hand­held or mount­ed, and it gives you the pow­er to con­trol the motor’s speed and direc­tion from any­where on the boat. The major­i­ty of these remote sys­tems use either RF (Radio Fre­quen­cy) or Blue­tooth tech­nol­o­gy to trans­mit sig­nals from the remote to the motor.

Some mod­els of remote con­trol trolling motors have addi­tion­al fea­tures, such as GPS and autopi­lot func­tion­al­i­ties. The GPS fea­ture allows you to save spe­cif­ic fish­ing spots or to cre­ate routes that your boat can fol­low. The autopi­lot fea­ture, on the oth­er hand, can con­trol your boat’s move­ment, allow­ing it to fol­low depth con­tours, go to spe­cif­ic way­points, or fol­low a set route.

Under­stand that remote con­trol trolling motors come in dif­fer­ent thrust pow­ers, which refers to the pow­er out­put of the motor. The right lev­el of thrust depends on the size and weight of your boat. As a gen­er­al rule of thumb, you should have at least 2 pounds of thrust for every 100 pounds of ful­ly-loaded boat weight (peo­ple and gear includ­ed).

What are Remote Control Trolling Motors?

Remote con­trol trolling motors are a type of boat motor that can be con­trolled remote­ly, typ­i­cal­ly via a hand­held device or wire­less foot ped­al. They are main­ly used for pre­cise maneu­ver­ing of the boat, espe­cial­ly in fish­ing sce­nar­ios. The motor pro­vides a steady and qui­et propul­sion, which makes it ide­al for trolling — hence the name. The remote con­trol fea­ture adds an addi­tion­al lay­er of con­ve­nience and flex­i­bil­i­ty, enabling the user to con­trol the boat’s move­ment with­out being phys­i­cal­ly near the motor.

How Do Remote Control Trolling Motors Work?

Remote con­trol trolling motors oper­ate using a wire­less con­nec­tion between the motor and the con­trol device. This con­nec­tion can be based on radio or Blue­tooth tech­nol­o­gy. When the user gives com­mands via the con­trol device, these sig­nals are received by the motor and trans­lat­ed into move­ment. The motor’s pro­peller then gen­er­ates thrust in the water, pro­pelling the boat in the desired direc­tion.

Benefits of Using Remote Control Trolling Motors

Using remote con­trol trolling motors presents a vari­ety of ben­e­fits, enhanc­ing your boat­ing and fish­ing expe­ri­ence. Here are a few key advan­tages:

1. Increased Maneu­ver­abil­i­ty: A remote con­trol trolling motor offers excep­tion­al con­trol over your boat’s move­ment. You can adjust the speed, change direc­tion, and nav­i­gate through waters seam­less­ly. This pre­cise maneu­ver­abil­i­ty is espe­cial­ly handy when you’re try­ing to posi­tion your boat in a par­tic­u­lar fish­ing spot.
2. Free­dom of Move­ment: With a remote in your hand, you can con­trol your boat’s motor from any­where on the boat. This means you’re not con­fined to one spot and can move around freely — whether you’re reel­ing in a big catch or adjust­ing your fish­ing gear.
3. Qui­et Oper­a­tion: Trolling motors are known for their qui­et oper­a­tion. This allows you to move around with­out scar­ing away fish, which is cru­cial when you’re out on a fish­ing trip.
4. Hands-Free Nav­i­ga­tion: Some advanced trolling motors come with autopi­lot and GPS fea­tures. The autopi­lot func­tion lets your boat fol­low a set path or spe­cif­ic depth con­tours, while the GPS func­tion lets you save and nav­i­gate to par­tic­u­lar coor­di­nates or routes. This hands-free nav­i­ga­tion leaves you more time for fish­ing.
5. Ease of Use: Despite the advanced tech­nol­o­gy, remote con­trol trolling motors are sur­pris­ing­ly user-friend­ly. The con­trols are often intu­itive, mak­ing it easy even for novices to oper­ate the boat.
6. Effi­cient Pow­er Use: Trolling motors are designed for effi­cient pow­er use, which means they can run for extend­ed peri­ods with­out drain­ing your boat’s bat­tery quick­ly. This is par­tic­u­lar­ly use­ful for longer trips.

In short, a remote con­trol trolling motor can sig­nif­i­cant­ly upgrade your fish­ing expe­ri­ence, pro­vid­ing con­ve­nience, enhanced con­trol, and the free­dom to focus more on your fish­ing and less on boat nav­i­ga­tion.

Convenience and Flexibility

The main advan­tage of remote con­trol trolling motors is the con­ve­nience and flex­i­bil­i­ty they offer. With these motors, you can move around the boat freely with­out hav­ing to man­u­al­ly oper­ate the motor. This free­dom is par­tic­u­lar­ly use­ful when fish­ing, as it allows you to focus on cast­ing and reel­ing in your catch.

Precise Control

Anoth­er ben­e­fit of remote con­trol trolling motors is the pre­cise con­trol they pro­vide. These motors often come with fea­tures like speed con­trol and GPS-guid­ed autopi­lot, which allow you to nav­i­gate the boat accu­rate­ly. This pre­ci­sion can be cru­cial when nav­i­gat­ing through nar­row chan­nels or when posi­tion­ing the boat over spe­cif­ic fish­ing spots.

Choosing the Right Remote Control Trolling Motor

Choos­ing the right remote con­trol trolling motor requires con­sid­er­ing sev­er­al fac­tors to ensure it meets your spe­cif­ic needs. Here are a few key fac­tors to guide you in your deci­sion:

The first thing you need to look at is the motor’s thrust pow­er, typ­i­cal­ly mea­sured in pounds. The size and weight of your boat large­ly deter­mine how much thrust you’ll need. For every 100 pounds of loaded boat weight (includ­ing pas­sen­gers and gear), you need at least 2 pounds of thrust.

This is anoth­er crit­i­cal fac­tor, as it should be suit­able for the height of your boat’s bow or stern, where you’ll mount the motor. If the shaft is too short, the pro­peller might not be ful­ly sub­merged, and if it’s too long, it may be dif­fi­cult to man­age.

Trolling motors are pow­ered by bat­ter­ies, and they usu­al­ly run on either 12, 24, or 36 volts. High­er volt­age means more pow­er and longer run time, but also requires more bat­ter­ies. So, con­sid­er your boat­ing needs and the amount of space you have avail­able for bat­ter­ies.

Look for a mod­el with fea­tures that make it easy to oper­ate. This could include speed set­tings, a dig­i­tal­ly con­trolled motor for increased effi­cien­cy, or an easy-to-use remote. Some mod­els may also include an autopi­lot or GPS func­tion for more effort­less nav­i­ga­tion.

Power and Thrust

The pow­er and thrust of the motor are cru­cial fac­tors to con­sid­er when choos­ing a remote con­trol trolling motor. These attrib­ut­es deter­mine the motor’s abil­i­ty to move the boat. The right pow­er and thrust depend on the size and weight of your boat, as well as the typ­i­cal water con­di­tions you’ll be boat­ing in.

Remote Control Features

The remote con­trol fea­tures of the motor are anoth­er impor­tant con­sid­er­a­tion. These may include the range of the remote con­trol, the type of con­trol (hand­held device or foot ped­al), and any addi­tion­al fea­tures like speed con­trol or autopi­lot. Your choice should align with your boat­ing needs and pref­er­ences.

Maintaining Your Remote Control Trolling Motor

Main­tain­ing your remote con­trol trolling motor is key to ensur­ing its longevi­ty and opti­mal per­for­mance. Reg­u­lar clean­ing should be at the top of your main­te­nance check­list — after each use, wash off any dirt, grime, or salt­wa­ter with fresh water. This will help pre­vent cor­ro­sion, espe­cial­ly cru­cial if you’re using your motor in salt­wa­ter envi­ron­ments.

It’s also vital to reg­u­lar­ly check for any signs of wear and tear, such as frayed wires or loose parts. Bat­tery care is anoth­er impor­tant aspect; make sure to recharge it prompt­ly after each use and store it prop­er­ly when not in use to pro­long its life. Lubri­cat­ing the motor shaft occa­sion­al­ly can also help pre­vent rust and keep it run­ning smooth­ly.

Regular Cleaning and Inspection

Like any oth­er piece of boat­ing equip­ment, remote con­trol trolling motors require reg­u­lar clean­ing and inspec­tion to keep them in opti­mal con­di­tion. Clean­ing helps remove any debris that might hin­der the motor’s per­for­mance, while inspec­tion helps iden­ti­fy and address any poten­tial issues ear­ly.

Battery Care

Most remote con­trol trolling motors are bat­tery-pow­ered, so prop­er bat­tery care is essen­tial. This includes reg­u­lar charg­ing and avoid­ing over-dis­charg­ing, which can short­en the bat­tery’s lifes­pan.

Additional Features of Remote Control Trolling Motors

Remote con­trol trolling motors often come equipped with a range of addi­tion­al fea­tures designed to enhance your boat­ing expe­ri­ence. Advanced mod­els may incor­po­rate GPS func­tion­al­i­ty, allow­ing you to nav­i­gate to spe­cif­ic coor­di­nates, mark pro­duc­tive fish­ing spots, or even cre­ate and fol­low cus­tom routes. This is a game-chang­er for seri­ous anglers who want to revis­it prime loca­tions.

Some motors even offer an autopi­lot fea­ture, where the boat can self-nav­i­gate fol­low­ing the con­tours of the water­body’s depth, free­ing you to focus sole­ly on your fish­ing.

GPS Enabled Autopilot

Some remote con­trol trolling motors come with a GPS-enabled autopi­lot fea­ture. This advanced fea­ture allows you to set a par­tic­u­lar route or coor­di­nates for your boat to fol­low. This can be espe­cial­ly use­ful in fish­ing sit­u­a­tions, where main­tain­ing a spe­cif­ic course or return­ing to a pro­duc­tive fish­ing spot can be cru­cial.

Spot-Lock Technology

Spot-lock tech­nol­o­gy is anoth­er impres­sive fea­ture found in some remote con­trol trolling motors. This tech­nol­o­gy allows you to “lock” your boat in a spe­cif­ic posi­tion, regard­less of wind or cur­rent. The motor will then auto­mat­i­cal­ly make adjust­ments to keep the boat in that posi­tion, allow­ing you to focus on oth­er tasks.

Considerations When Installing a Remote Control Trolling Motor

When installing a remote con­trol trolling motor, sev­er­al key con­sid­er­a­tions come into play. First off, you have to decide on the motor’s mount­ing posi­tion. Bow-mount­ed motors offer bet­ter maneu­ver­abil­i­ty and are most com­mon­ly used, but tran­som (stern) mounts could be more suit­able for small­er boats. Ensure that the cho­sen spot pro­vides enough space for the motor to oper­ate with­out inter­fer­ence.

The part of the shaft between the motor and the pro­peller needs to be long enough to keep the pro­peller sub­merged in dif­fer­ent water con­di­tions, but not so long that it becomes unwieldy. The gen­er­al rule is that the top of the motor sec­tion should be sub­merged about 9 inch­es.

Instal­la­tion of the bat­tery is vital. Remem­ber, the bat­tery needs to be as close as pos­si­ble to the motor to pre­vent volt­age drop, which can affect per­for­mance. Make sure you have enough space for the bat­tery or bat­ter­ies and that they’re secure­ly installed to pre­vent move­ment while sail­ing.

Mounting Location

Deter­min­ing the best loca­tion to mount your remote con­trol trolling motor is an impor­tant con­sid­er­a­tion. The loca­tion can sig­nif­i­cant­ly impact the per­for­mance of the motor and the maneu­ver­abil­i­ty of your boat. Trolling motors can gen­er­al­ly be mount­ed on the bow (front) or tran­som (rear) of the boat, and the choice often depends on the size of your boat and your spe­cif­ic needs.

Installation Process

While the instal­la­tion of a remote con­trol trolling motor can often be a DIY task, it is impor­tant to care­ful­ly fol­low the man­u­fac­tur­er’s instruc­tions to ensure the motor is prop­er­ly installed and func­tion­ing opti­mal­ly. If you are not com­fort­able han­dling the instal­la­tion your­self, it might be best to hire a pro­fes­sion­al to do it for you.

Understanding Remote Control Trolling Motor Regulations

Under­stand­ing the reg­u­la­tions around remote con­trol trolling motors is essen­tial for main­tain­ing safe and legal boat­ing prac­tices. While these reg­u­la­tions can vary by loca­tion, most regions require that any motor­ized boat, includ­ing those with trolling motors, must be reg­is­tered and dis­play valid reg­is­tra­tion num­bers. This often applies regard­less of the size of the boat or the pow­er of the motor.

Licensing and Registration

In some areas, you might be required to license or reg­is­ter your remote con­trol trolling motor. It is impor­tant to check local reg­u­la­tions to ensure you are in com­pli­ance.

Usage Regulations

Usage reg­u­la­tions can also vary by loca­tion and may dic­tate where and when you can use your remote con­trol trolling motor. These reg­u­la­tions might also include speed lim­its or restric­tions on the use of cer­tain fea­tures, such as GPS-enabled autopi­lot.

Remote con­trol trolling motors have rev­o­lu­tion­ized the boat­ing expe­ri­ence by offer­ing a lev­el of con­ve­nience, flex­i­bil­i­ty, and con­trol that was pre­vi­ous­ly unheard of. Whether you are a recre­ation­al boater or an avid angler, these motors can sig­nif­i­cant­ly enhance your time on the water. By under­stand­ing their fea­tures, instal­la­tion con­sid­er­a­tions, and applic­a­ble reg­u­la­tions, you can make the most of this excit­ing tech­nol­o­gy.

Conclusion

In con­clu­sion, remote con­trol trolling motors offer a host of ben­e­fits for boat­ing enthu­si­asts, par­tic­u­lar­ly those inter­est­ed in fish­ing. By under­stand­ing the fea­tures and con­sid­er­a­tions of these motors, you can make an informed choice that enhances your boat­ing expe­ri­ence. With prop­er care and main­te­nance, a remote con­trol trolling motor can be a reli­able and valu­able addi­tion to your boat.