Roger,
The variable five speed reverse motor was actually developed by the Swedes for
their tanks prior to WWII, but never put to use, being a neutral country.
Hope that helps.
Swede
Quoting Roger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
Just curious. Why would you want 5 speeds backwards?
Roger
----- Original Message ----- From: "Sean Grier" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, May 23, 2005 4:17 PM
Subject: Feedback on trolling motor choices for pontoon boats
A few months ago, I asked for recommendations for a replacement
trolling motor for my 8' pontoon boat. I ended up seeing a pretty
good sale at Bass-Pro Shops for a MinnKota Endura 30lb for about
$85. I picked one up and then tried to recharge my deep-discharge
marine battery that I've had for a couple of years.
Well, the battery was NFG, and wouldn't take a charge (even from the
the big charger at Schucks). So I went next door to Pacific Battery
in Monroe to see how bad the damage for a new battery was going to
be, and learned a lot about deep discharge batteries. First was
good news - they had some seconds of a 480AH battery (more than
enough for my little boat) for $29 + tax! The bad news was that
I've been charging it wrong all this time. Apparently, most folks
(me included) tend to hit their batteries with high-current charges,
that then drop down to trickle, once the battery is fully charged.
I have a 2/10Amp charger that I use in the 10A setting when I charge
my batteries. Well, deep discharge batteries don't like that.
Their plates are closer together and the heat from this higher
charge rate warps them them enough to damage them permanently. Best
way to charge them is to trickle charge them for 20+ hours at 2Amps
or less. Additionally, you only need to trickle char!
ge them about every 3 months during the off-season.
So, with this new knowledge, and a brandy-spankin' new battery, I
set out to give it a shot out on Armstrong Lake above Arlington on
Sunday afternoon. It was mighty breezy yesterday - apparently
breezy enough to drop an oak tree on a couple driving their Explorer
up in Bellingham - wow - the pictures on the news were frightening.
The motor, however, works perfectly! Just enough thrust in low
power to troll effectively, and the higher power settings really
pushed me along - the wind was never an issue with this motor. I've
had to set my seat farther forward to balance all that extra weight
in the back, but that's a minor inconvenience.
While I was upgrading the setup on the boat, I also picked up a
BottomLine Tournament 1200 which I mounted up by the oarlock, and
mounted the transducer to the bottom of the trolling motor. I
mounted it so the side finder would point forward, but I had the
motor turned around backwards so I could have 5 speeds backwards,
and 3 speeds forwards. By doing this, I think the sidescanning
sonar couldn't see through the whirling blade of the prop. Gonna
have to rethink my design.
Slow day of fishing - 5 hits, 3 to hand using olive willies and
damselfly nymphs. I think the wind was a result of being on the
backside of a fast moving cold front - never good for fishing.
A good test day, though. Now I shall fear no lake! Even Lenore
will be fully within my range of puttering about.
Thanks to everyone for their feedback, hope this helps those who are
thinking about turbo-charging their pontoon boats.
Sean
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