Noel Mascarenhas, from Texas, put his design engineering skills to action, and came up with this excellent solution for motorizing his W500 fishing kayak:
-”Problem solved with the trolling motor steering. I rotated the handle 90 degrees outward, turned around in my seat, so now the trolling motor is in the back. With this setup, you can turn at will, see the (cellphone) pics & video.”
-”My son Rainier also took it out for a spin and he’s very comfortable with it too.”
-“Also getting more used to the weight/balance of the boat; standing is almost natural now and the boat does not feel tippy, unless I take my son in it with the trolling motor mounted. It then becomes a little top heavy. 1 person is best with the motor/battery mounted.”
Needless to say that when the motor is running, the propeller should be lowered so that it is lower than the bottom of the hulls, or else it could not be used for steering…
-”The motor mount consists of a 2 ft long treated wood, 1×6 base & a 2×4 upright mounted with stiffening brackets from Lowes. Used 4x 1/4″-20 bolts x 3″ long with fender/spring washers/nut. Drilled 4x 3/8″ holes in the hull to allow for flex, then bolted from inside using another piece of 4″ wide 1×6, thus sandwiching the thickness of the HDPE hull between the pieces of 2×4. This, I hope, will prevent the holes in the hull from tearing out. I’ve run aground twice so far at the bank at v. low speed and it held without any problems or getting loose.”
-”Check out the anchor mount quick release set up, I don’t fish shallow water so this comes in handy. I don’t usually let the anchor hang as shown in one of the pictures, as it creates additional drag; I just pull it into the boat; it’s a 3.5 lb folding anchor.”
-”For the paddle holder, I took closet hanger wire and bent it to fit, it works great; simple solution.
Noel”
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