Big Duck Trolling Motor

I'm very new to trolling motors; never had a use for one until I considered putting one on my dinghy to get my dog ashore for potty. I bought the smallest one I could find and powered it with a lawn mower battery.

Trolling ashore for potty

This got old fast. Especially after the dinghy turned turtle with me in it while trying to get Merlin aboard for a trip to shore. On our next extended outing, to 1000 Islands we taught Merlin to go potty on a mat on the aft deck so the dinghy and trolling motor are no longer needed or even taken aboard.

A while back my son-in-law's dad bought an old pontoon boat which will be converted to a dock. He offered me some of the stuff that came with the boat - all he wanted was the deck and pontoons. One of the things in his pile for the dump was an old trolling motor with no remote -- which I assumed to be one of those foot control things. There were also open ended wire plugs and wires that needed to be attached to who know what?

What were all these plugs for?

There was no handle to steer it with either. And I already had a trolling motor that was of no use so I told him I really wasn't interested. I did take some of the other stuff though and when we had it all loaded up in the car he asked again if I didn't want the trolling motor. I said OK, I'll put it up on eBay for parts, so he put it in the trunk along with the charger.

When I got it home, I pulled the plastic off the motor to see where the open wires went. There were small wires with plugs and a couple power wires with corroded terminals. While I was renewing the wiring I came across a circuit board that appeared to have an antenna. This was getting interesting.

Further research showed that this was a high end motor that could either use a wired foot control or a wireless key fob. I poked around further and found a replacement fob for <$50. What the heck, I bought one.

By the time the fob showed up I had everything else pretty much in place and discovered to my amazement that this trolling motor was fully functional.

I still wasn't sure what I was going to do with this thing and it wasn't until I wired up Big Duck with some #6 cable to take a charge from the van's alternator while on the road Van Alternator to Charge Boat Batteries that I was inspired to use that connection for the trolling motor.

Connector at boat side that leads to Big Duck's house batteries.

This large trolling motor did not come with a transom clamp, it needed a permanent deck mount. I fastened the motor to a 2 x 10 and walked it around the bow to see if I could find a good place to put this honkus motor.  I decided until it proved itself I'd remove the anchor pulpit and mount the trolling motor to the hinges.
Hinged Anchor Pulpit

After I got the trolling motor fixed to the new wood base complete with hinges, I removed the anchor pulpit and put the hinge pins back in with the trolling motor in place. This looked like it would work for a test, but it was going to be quite a hassle removing and storing the trolling motor when I needed to use the anchor. I'd really like a permanent place for the trolling motor if even just for testing.

At this point it was a no brainer to mount a new hinge base right next to the anchor pulpit, so I did.

White anchor pulpit hinges and wood trolling motor hinges

It was fortunate that this new trolling motor had such a long shaft, otherwise this setup wouldn't get the prop in the water.

We think the trolling motor propeller will be deep enough?

It's hard to believe this rig will actually work?

With the wireless remote, it this thing works, I'll even be able to use it from the flybridge.

When the trolling motor is locked up, we're talking UGLY here in every sense of the word. But to me, Big Duck's real beauty is in her comfort and utility.

Van Power to Charge Boat Batteries

You may know that Big Duck sports a freezer on her aft deck. We use a 5 gallon brine brick to keep the temp in that freezer  28 - 34° for my beer and frozen food when the freezer is unplugged. Unplugged, the brine brick is good for at least 6 days even with much use.

The challenge is the refrigerator -- which I call Suzy's Lettuce Locker. When the original 12/120 unit bit the dust, I opted for a cheap dorm, all fridge (no ice maker) unit at 120 only.

Suzy's Lettuce Locker

We have a 3000 Watt inverter on board so getting 120 for the dorm fridge is no problem if the batteries are up.

Xantrex Freedom 30

On the water, we usually run the motor 2 - 3 hours a day and with the generator use at night for heat - a/c or just cooking, we have plenty of reserve for the 120 fridge. The challenge is on the road while we use Big Duck as a camper. Well, I guess if we stopped at campgrounds every night and hooked up to shore power we'd be OK, but we prefer to Wallydock = dry camping. So how do we keep the batteries up for the fridge without running the generator all night?

Most vehicle plugs have the ability to send charging current to the trailer break-away battery to keep it charged for emergency braking. My van manual says I should use a 30 amp fuse in the circuit to charge that break-away battery. I have wired that circuit to my house batteries so while on the road, my van alternator can charge my boat's inverter battery in addition to the break-away battery.

Van connector now feeds power to polarized connector

This is the boat connection that is wired to Big Duck's house batteries w/ #6 cable.

This doesn't complete the installation because now the polarized connector directly sees the full potential of the break-away battery...touching the hot pin to ground will be a direct short. I could just put in a switch but I know I'd forget to have it in the right position at the right time. Poking around in the electric parts locker I came up with a spare VSR (voltage sensing relay). I have these installed between all of Big Duck's batteries so if any battery is receiving a charge from any source, the relay closes and they all can receive a charge.

VSR or Battery Combiner

I wired the break-away battery to the VSR so he polarized pin is only hot then there is a charging voltage.

A test showed that a 10 amp battery charger will run fridge and keep the house batteries up but it will take some road miles to really prove the system.

Engine Heat for Hot Water

Big Duck had a pair of open copper lines in the engine compartment when we got her. We figured these were at one time plumbed to the water heater water to use engine heat to make hot water, but because we had a 3000i generator which was wired to make hot water, I was not inspired to install hoses to make the water heater work with engine heat. I guess I was also a little leery about clogging up my engine access with hoses running hither and yon.

open copper lines in the engine compartment

Well, I finally decided to give this engine heat thing a try. I first pressurized the copper lines with hose water to test the integrity of the system. I connected one of the copper pipes directly to the hose -- the other copper pipe was connected to a hose shut off valve. I turned on the hose water a bit and let it run free to start, then using the shutoff valve I restricted the flow just enough to create a little pressure in the system...after a couple hours the bilge was still dry and I was satisfied that the system was in tact.

The instructions say to take the engine hot water feed from right under the thermostat. I had a temperature sensor right there, which I planned to "T" into to send engine heat to the water heater. The return from the water heater would go to the 9 o'clock plug on the circulation pump.

The open copper lines take a 5/8” hose nicely so that’s how I decided to set up the system. All I’d need was a 5/8 barb to ½ pipe for the circ pump return, a 1/2 pipe nipple and “T”, and a 5/8 barb to ½ pipe to get both the feed and temp sender plumbed just under the thermostat in the old temp sensor hole.

The return line to the circ pump was a no brainer, but when I tried to fit the “T” under the thermostat for the hot feed and temp sensor, there was not enough clearance to bolt down the thermostat housing. If I was going to go this route, I’d need to make a ½” spacer to fit between the intake manifold and the thermostat housing to get clearance for the “T”.

no clearance between the temperature probe and thermostat housing

I didn't have any ½” aluminum to make the spacer so I dialed up eBay to find some stock. On a whim I searched for thermostat spacer and I’ll be darned if some didn't turn up – and they were for the Chevy small block.

The spacer even came with a 3/8” pipe port for the 5/8” hose barb, and I ordered up the fitting. Now I could leave the temp sensor in it’s original home and take the hot feed from the spacer.

spacer with tapped hole for water heater water

temperature probe in place with room from spacer for hot engine water to water tank

Knowing I’d need to make provision for winterization of the hot water engine heat system, I incorporated brass hose fittings in both the to and from hoses so I could easily detach them from the copper pipes and then connect them together if I wanted to run the boat without sending water to the heater.

And, because I hate gouging myself on those bands that protrude from hose clamps, I used Clamptite clamps on the brass hose fittings. 

Clamptite clamps   http://www.clamptitetools.net/

And the hoses were tucked away so they wouldn't interfere with access to the motor.

Now we were cookin' with engine heat for hot water, easy winterization and the ability to not feed hot engine water water to the water heater if we were winterized and wanted to go out for the weekend.

Big Duck's Nesting Places

Lake Hartwell SC

Lake Jocassee SC

Lake Keowee SC

Tennessee River @ Chattanooga

Lake Kerr NC

Lake Monroe on St Johns River @ Debary FL

Lake Strom Thurmond SC/GA

Charleston SC - Camping

Lake Powell, Utah

St Lawrence River @ 1000 Islands NY 

Harris Chain of Lakes - Florida

No Shower Camping

Some of us have trailers that are so tiny they don't have showers.



I can't imagine towing something this small when I can have all these features in my passenger van and I don't have to rearrange furniture to lie down.




But neither of these options include a shower.

So, when we're boon-docking, Wallydocking or on the Big Puddle, we use these...

We buy them by the case so we always have some on hand.

Why Didn't I think of That?

Well, now you don't have to think of that.

It's raining and I'm waiting for some epoxy to kick so I thought it a good time to share.

Have you ever wanted to solder some wires for a good connection but found when you stripped one that the copper was not bright? Tarnished copper simply will not take solder. This is especially evident on boat trailer wiring that can 'corrode' back a yard or more inside the insulation.

 You can scrape it with a knife or run sandpaper over it, but odds are you'll still strike out with the solder.

But there is a solution...a wire brush on a drill or Dremmel will do the job in a hurry...I just use a battery tool.

Roll the wire as you try try make it longer with the rotation of the wire brush. You'll end up with shiny copper that will suck up solder like...well, never mind.

And speaking of solder...heat shrink tubing makes very clean insulation for small wires that are soldered together. Twist the bare wires together, lay them back against one of the feeds and give them a tidy drop of solder. Slide the heat shrink over the joint and give it a shot of heat from a heat gun or your wife's hair dryer and you've got a clean connection.

It's not so easy with larger wires though. In order to get a good mechanical twist, the exposed wire is long and laying it back against one of the feeds gives one a a knot that heat shrink cannot accommodate. So we rely on our trusty magnifying glass alligator clip gizmo to hold the wires while we solder them.

The trouble is, that the minute we get the soldering gun next to the splice, the wires come apart and we're trying to hold the gun, solder and wire placement with only two hands. You could strip the wires back more for a sound mechanical twist, but that would lead to a long bulky splice.

Here's the solution:

Make yourself some long pieces of fine stranded wire.

Take one strand and wrap the would-be splice.

Solder away with no fear of the wires separating.

And now we can slide the heat shrink over the joint for a very nice clean splice.

And, for those very small wires that you want to but splice, make yourself a cradle and use a couple small clamps.

1000 Islands NY - St Lawrence River

I started to do a blog entry about our 7 days circumnavigating Wellesley Island, but discovered that Google+ did one for me while I wasn't looking.

Suzy, Merlin and I towed Big Duck from SC to Watertown NY to meet Doug and Elaine who had towed their Parker from Chicago. From there it was 24 miles to the ramp and once on the water we met up with some Canadian houseboaters in their newly acquired shell of a Hobo. Gaetan and Michelle had stopped by our home in SC a while back on a run from Canada to Florida and were excited about spending some time on the water with us.

The three of us rafted for meals and overnights and all of us had an absolute ball. We especially got a kick out of Gaetan, buying his Hobo only 3 days before our outing; it was stripped inside and without a motor. He scraped together two motors - one for running and one for slow speed maneuvers, switching propulsion for rafting/docking. They slept on a camping mattress on plywood supported by 5 gallon buckets which also served as storage for their stores. Gaetan rigged an inverter to run his CPAP machine at night. They surprised us with food that we never would have thought to bring aboard. They were a joy and inspiration as boating companions.

The waters and scenery were like no other we've ever encountered. 'Big water' with ocean going freighters transiting the St Lawrence Seaway regularly blocking views of elaborate houses on only a stitch of island... with bridges leading to boat houses on large nearby rocks. Beautiful vintage wooden boats were everywhere.

It was a comfort to have the Gentry's and their Parker along. Not only does the 40mph capable Parker give us a sense of security (Qbo and Big Duck are both over 40 years old) but Doug did all the shopping and cooking and Elaine took care of all the other associated chores. Doug was point for the cruising and safely navigated us through the tricky 'Rift". Come to think about it, I didn't do jack except drive the van and boat, eat and drink beer. No wonder I had such a good time.

Click here for Google's Story