Trolling Motor Install on R200

[ba_fisher 0]

I finally installed a MotorGuide Xi5 trolling motor on my 2018 R200. I tested it in the water today: 20mph wind, 3ft waves. Usually this means my boat will be drifting around 1.5mph and it's impossible to do bottom fishing at 100ft. With the motor deployed in anchor mode, the boat is pinned within a 20ft radius, and my fishing line stays pretty much vertical with an 8 oz sinker.

You definitely need 72" shaft because the R200 has a high bow. Even with that the props would occasionally cavitate in today's condition.

I chose MotorGuide because it works with my Lowrance HDS fish finder. If you have Garmin, Minn Kota is the way to go. It's too bad that they don't inter-operate.

I actually wanted to have someone installed the the trolling motor. However, trolling motors aren't popular at all around here, so I had to do it myself.

I'll post how I did it, in case it might be useful to other R200 owners.

[ba_fisher 0]

First - the placement of batteries. The space under the step in the console is just big enough to fit 3 group 31 deep cycle batteries. I bought these battery trays from West Marine. I tried other trays from Amazon but those were too wide so I returned them.

https://www.westmarine.com/buy/seafit--battery-hold-down-trays--P009_272_003_003

The trays are screwed onto the floor (plywood wrapped with resin?). I used one inch #10 screws. Don't use anything longer as that would go through the plywood, which sits very close to the bottom of the hull.

I used a lot of 3M 5200 on the screw holes, as this area WILL get wet. 

[ba_fisher 0]

Next, I routed the battery cables under the port gunwale to the bow anchor locker. I first pushed a piece of string from the anchor locker to somewhere close to the console. Then, I used a pickup tool (from Harbor Freight) and a WiFi snake camera to pick up the string.

 

The existing wirings are on the starboard side, but that's too crowded, so I use the port side:

 

The opening is too narrow. You can't stick you arm in there.

 

Snake camera from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073ZFC59R/

 

Pickup tool ($3-ish)

 

The snake camera displays on my iPad, showing the pick up tool reaching for the string.

 

Got the string! I had tied the string to a fiberglass wire running kit (notice the copper screw where the string is tied to) and pushed the string in from the bow locker.

https://www.harborfreight.com/3-16-inch-x-11-ft-fiberglass-wire-running-kit-65327.html

[ba_fisher 0]

With the string, I pulled the battery cables from the console back to the bow locker. 

I worry that the battery cables may get flopped around inside the gunwale and get scratched, so I put them inside split tubing hoses. I needed to pull each cable separately, so I added a fishing line, which I would use to pull the string back down. 

 

Here's a cable pulled into the bow locker.

 

I added a 3-bank charger

 

... and a battery switch just to be safe, and a 50-AMP breaker.

[ba_fisher 0]

Once the wiring is done, it's pretty easy -- that is, unless you have the high bow rail like mine:

 

... which blocks the motor from being deployed.

 

Not to worry, Rigid stainless pipe cutter from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001P81OK6/

 

Making the second cut .... make sure it's taped, or else the center piece will fall into water!

 

It's open for business!

 

The holes are plugged with these:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-1-4-INCH-ROUND-TUBING-PLUG-END-CAP-1-1-4-QUANTITY-4/391860184394

 

 

To cover the missing section temporarily, I used a 1.5 inch stainless pipe that I found in a plumbing store.

 

 

You can see the wall of this plumbing piece is too thin. I'm ordering a thicker 1.5" tube from here:

https://www.metalsdepot.com/stainless-steel-products/polished-stainless-products/polished-stainless-round-tube

 

 

[haz 0]

Thanks for the extra effort you put into producing this nicely documented tutorial of your trolling motor project.

Good luck!

[mwg2019 0]

Well done!!    I'm looking at purchasing a 202 explorer and was wondering about battery placement (I have kids so a porta potty would be nice but their are other options), you answered that question for me.    

I'm moving to this style of boat for the first time, how do you find the responsiveness of the trolling motor for trolling (if you do that).    I might be trolling up to 2-2.5 MPH with mine and I'm wondering about boat control, does the motor drift off course easily?    Lastly, does the trolling motor impact anyone sitting in the bow when it is stowed?   I noticed it may be right in the way of passengers if they are up front.   thx for info.

[fishhead 0]

I didn't see any covers over your batteries, it is required by the Coast Guard that the batteries have covers over them by the way.

[FullThrottle 0]

It's difficult to find the exact regulations, but it would seem that batteries for outboard motors only require a 'box' to contain electrolyte spillage and post covers to avoid metal contact. My Albemarle had enclosed boxes and it was an inboard. My Robalo and Sailfish came from the manufacturer with spillage boxes only.

[ba_fisher 0]

36 minutes ago, FullThrottle said:

It's difficult to find the exact regulations, but it would seem that batteries for outboard motors only require a 'box' to contain electrolyte spillage and post covers to avoid metal contact. My Albemarle had enclosed boxes and it was an inboard. My Robalo and Sailfish came from the manufacturer with spillage boxes only.

I have a spill box under the batteries. I also covered each terminal with these terminal covers https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A3I23NQ/ so hopefully they'll be OK.

As an aside, the batteries under the jump seats didn't have a top cover coming out of the factory, but they do have rubber terminal covers like the ones I bought.

[ba_fisher 0]

5 hours ago, mwg2019 said:

I'm moving to this style of boat for the first time, how do you find the responsiveness of the trolling motor for trolling (if you do that).    I might be trolling up to 2-2.5 MPH with mine and I'm wondering about boat control, does the motor drift off course easily?    Lastly, does the trolling motor impact anyone sitting in the bow when it is stowed?   I noticed it may be right in the way of passengers if they are up front.   thx for info.

The motor seems to be pretty easy to control with a remote control. It can also be follow routes programmed inside your fish finder. I'll test the top speed next time I go fishing, but it can go as slow as 0.1 mph, or make the boat stationary using GPS signals.

I mount the motor across the front seats due to my high bow rail. If you don't have high rails, I've seen others that mount the motor on top of the gunwale with minimum interference with the front passengers. For me, it doesn't matter because I fish 4-5 people and no one sits on the front seats. If I go out cruising with the family I just remove the motor (it has a quick-release mechanism) and put the motor in my truck. 

[ba_fisher 0]

Here's a new piece of proper stainless steel tubing (0.065 inch walls)  to cover the opening in the rail. It's secured by 2 bicycle post clamps. The web site that sold the tubing said it was "polished" but it turned out to be pretty rough, so I spend a couple of hours polishing it with #100 ~ #3000 sand papers while watching TV.

After I cut the railing, it had become pretty flappy if you pushed against it. Now it feels almost as sturdy as before.