trolling motor set-up for FND

There are great solutions for mounting a trolling motor on a Fish N'Dive using a milk crate, or center mounted bracket. I wanted my trolling motor mounted on the centerline at the transom. I built a "Y" shaped plywood bracket for the stern of my FND and mounted it to the hull with quarter inch nylon "wing" bolts. I took the head off my Minn Kota trolling motor and spliced-in about five feet of wire. I bought a 3/8 inch control cable to control the steering. I built a remote control unit that controls both steering and speed with one hand. I mounted the remote on the left side where my left hand rests. A 30# thrust trolling motor provides plenty of power. I can paddle when I want and use the trolling motor to cover long stretches or go into the current. Here are a couple of photos of the set-up.

Very slick you got my brain working for my FND could you elaborate on your controll unit is that a standard push pull steering cable, are youafraid of the ply wood swelling how did you mount the throughtle controll I have a 34ld minn kotta endura laying around and im getting a vision

man, after seeing that its really hard to not want to try a trolling motor on a kayak. that is one slick setup and everything looks really well mounted.

if you need to, can you lift the prop out of the water, for example, if there is kelp?

thanks for the nice pics!

john

Thanks James.  The control head is a 4 inch black PVC flange, the two-piece type that rotates, from Home Depot.  It's just big enough to hold the pear shaped rotary switch of the trolling motor.  Pop the head off the trolling motor and you'll see the rotary switch.  It takes a little fitting but you can shim in the switch using wood scraps and epoxy.  The "top" of the control head is plywood, shaped to fit my hand.  It takes a little hand strength to rotate the head, that's why it is as big as it is.  Regarding the plywood holding up, its covered with several coats of marine varnish and hopefully will stand up pretty well.  The control cable is standard marine grade.  It is 7 feet long - a little too long but I got it on sale for $10 so I could not pass it up.   I knocked the 3/8 inch diameter pivot pin out of the trolling motor mount.  The control cable fits smoothly through it.  It is secured on the opposite side with a 3/8 inch bushing. The control horn on the motor shaft is simply two halves of scrap aluminum that overlap a bit, so I can bolt them together.  There are several ways to do the control horn.  The main thing is the control cable travels 3 3/4 inches, so you'll need to mount control horn with about 1 1/2 inch length to give you enough motor rotation.  You'll see what I mean.   You'll need to disable the trolling motor lift lock so the motor can flip up if you hit an obstacle and you can have control of the whether or not the motor is in the water or out of the water (very important).   I use a rope and an open top rope cleat to raise and lower the motor.  I like this set-up because the motor, cable, and control head are all one piece.  It is a snap to mount the motor on the kayak.  I secure the control head to the kayak using the existing snap eyes and some tie-wraps.  I have about $20 in the whole set-up and it greatly increases my range and flexibility.  Good luck.  I'd be happy to answer any additional questions. 

John in Oregon

PS--  FYI, the trolling motor manufacturer has advised me that removing the head off the trolling motor voids the warranty.