Bellyboat with Minn Kota powerdrive 55lbs or Terrova 55lbs? (spotlock/autopilot/drift etc)

[Ferio]

Is there anyone who's fishing with a belly boat and have attached a powerdrive 55lbs or terrova 55lbs with Ipilot? (spotlock etc?)

I'm currently owning a FP1 belly with their own motor, but I'm constantly correcting myself when there's bigger wind (3+ beaufort), current from a river and also since I have livescope and sidescan etc it's pulling more to one side due the drag when moving. I have to always correct this drag, as it's always there. Shorter to say it does take away the relaxing moment of fishing and can be a pain to stay above a fish or spot.

With a minn kota, neither of above problems exist, since everything is done automatic with autopilot, spotlock or the upcoming drift feature.

The downside is... weight... while the FP motor is about 6kg with a battery pack, the minn kota is 19kg with 9kg 105ah battery pack, adding a total of 24 kilograms extra to the boat. The new boat I'm looking at is from 12BB Jumbo S.

I'm looking for some experience, did anyone tried a setup like this? If so, how was it?

Thank you!

 

[Johnnyw]

I think the Weight isnt the only Problem, you also have the Point of weight all in the back and u Need to Build a Platform to attach it to the bellyboat this Point and also ist way bigger and Really a pain to get it on and off the belly…. If u want to Stay on a Spot on a Windy day i would say better get a Anchor

 

[Tiefenrausch]

Du kannst mit dem Terrova nicht ins Wasser gehen. Selbst wenn du die kurze 115cm US-Variante nimmst, ist der Schaft so lang, dass du das Belly beim Einsteigen ca. 1m erhöhen musst und dann brauchst du beim Gehen noch 1m lange Beine.
Wenn du dagegen erst im Wasser ins Belly einsteigen willst, muss das Wasser mind. 1m tief sein und dann komme ich nicht mehr ins Belly, ohne dass die Hälfte des Angelgeräts ins Wasser fällt.

 

[Trawar]

I saw one mounted on the Zeck Bellycat and it worked properly but nevertheless i would go with the MinnKota Powerdrive with 45lbs. It has a weight of 11Kg which is quite light so that you should have no Problems. Couple of weeks ago I had the same idea it was really annoying on due to the horrible wind and decided to sell my Bellyboat at the end and switch to a dinghy. It is easier to modify a dinghy then a small Belly

 

[Ferio]

Du kannst mit dem Terrova nicht ins Wasser gehen. Selbst wenn du die kurze 115cm US-Variante nimmst, ist der Schaft so lang, dass du das Belly beim Einsteigen ca. 1m erhöhen musst und dann brauchst du beim Gehen noch 1m lange Beine.
Wenn du dagegen erst im Wasser ins Belly einsteigen willst, muss das Wasser mind. 1m tief sein und dann komme ich nicht mehr ins Belly, ohne dass die Hälfte des Angelgeräts ins Wasser fällt.

It's quite easy to modify, you only need to take off the head, measure and cut carefully the shaft. During transport it's flat on the bellyboat.

I saw one mounted on the Zeck Bellycat and it worked properly but nevertheless i would go with the MinnKota Powerdrive with 45lbs. It has a weight of 11Kg which is quite light so that you should have no Problems. Couple of weeks ago I had the same idea it was really annoying on due to the horrible wind and decided to sell my Bellyboat at the end and switch to a dinghy. It is easier to modify a dinghy then a small Belly

Yep, just saw there's a 45lbs powerdrive too with Ipilot. Minn kota said there wasn't any and it's also not listed on their website. Perhaps it's a modified version only for Europe?

I think the Weight isnt the only Problem, you also have the Point of weight all in the back and u Need to Build a Platform to attach it to the bellyboat this Point and also ist way bigger and Really a pain to get it on and off the belly…. If u want to Stay on a Spot on a Windy day i would say better get a Anchor

12bb has motorframes developed for haswing or minn kota, so that's not an issue. I think the weight won't be an issue either, since you have your own weight more up front and the boat can carry 250kg. Also saw there's a powerdrive 45lbs with a weight of 11 or 13kg (unsure as I can't verify it).

 

[dietmar]

Smaller and lighter Version

https://www.motorguide.com/us/en/xi3-kayak.html

 

[Ferio]

Smaller and lighter Version

https://www.motorguide.com/us/en/xi3-kayak.html

Is this available in europe?