Noel put his design engineering skills to action, and came up with this perfect motorized 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.”
-”Sorry about the video quality, will have to do better…
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.”
-”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”
NEW: read more about motorizing fishing kayaks >>
Nice!!!
Marco
Looks perfect. An elegant piece of engineering.
Great job!
FW
Sweet, Great job on setting up the trolling motor.
The trolling motor will come in real handy when you are fishing
and it’s windy, or in currents.
Tight Lines
Rox
Thank you all for your comments, as you all know, it is a lot of fun rigging this kayak! Can’t wait to take it to Galveston bay..
Noel, I picked up one of those anchor mounts with quick release.
I want to thank you for the detailed picture on where you attached it.
I also fish deep weed lines, so this will come in very handy!
Tight Lines all
Rox
it looks like alote of fun i want to buy one…
if you dont mind me asking how much it was for the boat alone???
Harrison,
The W500 kayak goes for $1,098 – $1,238 depending on the number of flush mounted rod holders and side flotation modules it comes with.
Yoav