Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Is it possible to power my 20 foot boat with a 55lb thrust trolling motor and steer with a dead 60hp outboard? I know it won't get me up stream on the river here but it might get me down stream to the next ramp in an emergency. Just wondered if the outboard would be enough to steer it with. I have no room to mount it on the front and the foot pedal won't reach inside the boat from the back so I would have to stationary mount it on a toon. Anyone tried it?

I am just using tiller style with a plug in by front gate.. plug in and clamp on for using and unplug and store under seat when not in use ...its a little bit of work but only takes about 2 min and your good to go

I was just thinking about mounting it on the back since I don't have much room to store it. I was wondering if the 60hp next to it could be used to steer the boat. Just trying to come up with a plan "B" just in case the outboard someday broke down. I figured someone here might have tried it at one point.

you could always make a linkage to steer the TM off the main engine

Didn't think of linking them. Would have to be something quick and easy. Wouldn't like to be drifting down the river again with a towboat and 15 barges coming at me.

This may be what you need
http://www.minnkotamotors.com/products/ ... water.aspx

I think that steering with a dead outboard is like dragging your hand in the water. Without power you have very, very little control.

The more I think about it, it doesn't sound possible. I'll have to mount the trolling motor on the back of one of the toon and come up with some kind of clip on linkage. Just something to give me enough steering to stay out of the channel away from barges and drift to the next boat ramp. Maybe REALLY BIG oars?

I haven't tried it with a pontoon but it worked fine with an 18' SeaRay I had. The trollng motor was a 7 hp tiller that I just set it to go straight then controlled the course with the helm and dead 135 main engine. I don't know if it would be different in a river but on a lake it was easy to go wherever I wanted.

I could see it with a 7hp. I just don't think I could get enough speed with a 55lb thrust trolling motor to make it work.

I have 78lb in the front,

I have and do run it with just the trolling motor from one end to the other,
going against the wind takes forever. I have gotten up to like 2-3mph just with the trolling motor. But going fast will kill your batteries fast, I run a 24v setup with 2 batteries
-bb