trolling plate worth getting?

[fish/n/chics]

Ok I have a 21 ft pontoon.with a 60 hp mercury 4 stroke.. I was thinking of trying to troll. The boat is set up well with its design..I have trolled some with it ,with some success.. but I'm thinking I need to slow it down a bit more.. I can get it down to about 1.5 ..I was wondering if those trolling plates that mount onto the lower unit would help? Thanks in advace,I'm learning a lot on this site..any input would be greatly appreciated

[rsfrail]

You may try the 5 gallon bucket trick Ive heard about. That maybe enough to get you down to speed, without spending money on plate and labor to install. Just a thought- Ron

[fish/n/chics]

I kinda was thinking of. Something like that.. since I am a bit frugal...ok wife says I'm cheap..lol got a new boat last year and she don't want me to make it look like a red neck boat..I'm like why not? As long as it works..

[pap]

I had two kinds of plates on my boat, the first one was called the happy troller, that was junk!! I had that one on a 140HP I/O mercuiser, than one day I was bitching about this plate and two guys pulled into the docks and they had a different style on their boats so I asked them all kinds of questions about there's and they said these are the only troll plates to buy, a little expensive but you get what you pay for, so I got what is called the easy troller, the bottom third of the plate is hinged, so if you forget to raise the plate that folds down over the prop and gun the motor to leave it gives a little instead of bending the plate or shearing off the pin that lockes the plate in place, plus they make two different sizes 30-50 hp & 50-150 I put the bigger one on it bolts to the anti-cavitation plate. At 1000 rpms my boat speed was 2.5-2.8 mph on the gps, with the plate down I was at .8mph on the gps, 1100rpm depending on the wind & waves I was at 1.25-1.50 or less. I really like it, they cost around $150.00, and you can put it on in a hour, hope this helps (I have one on my 22ft,at 900 rpm .08 on gps/355-260hp hope this helps PAP.

[wakina]

This is the best plate that I have ever seen, it is a totally hands free plate with nothing to do but operate the boat, and you will not be disappointed in it.

http://www.johnsonmarinesupply.com/trolling_plates.htm

[jigsup]

i run 2 amish outfitters drift bags on each side of my boat and it is perfect to get you to that slower speed. just my 2 cents

[fish/n/chics]

Thanks guys for the info. I'm willing to spend the money on something that is built well and something that's not going to tear up my boat.. just wasn't sure if it was worth it and wasn't sure what was a good product. And didn't know the pros and cons... thanks guys

[wakina]

As with all things there are always Pros & Cons involved so keep that in mind about trolling plates and trolling bags, with some things being great for part of the people and the same things being a pain in the butt for others.

l would like to add that I tried the trolling bag thing with my present boat and they didn't get my speed down to where I need it so I sold them to a member on this site. I truly hope they work out for him. I bought a used 9.8 hp kicker motor for a good price to help me with gas consumption as trolling with a V-8 is not all that economical and it will also save on main engines hours.

http://community.walleye.com/showthread.php?t=1760


I would also like to state that for most people the bags would probably do the trick. But for about the same money you can buy one of these plates and give it a try and if it works you would not have to deal with the bags. I also want to add that you have to remove the trolling plate if you need to drop the lower unit to service it such as for a water pump replacement on the alpha one generation 1 or 2 lower unit, and probably most outboards also, but you can change the prop with very little interference.