Steve you did e-mail me back (in less than a day- AWESOME!) I would definently bring my yak to you although I live in FL. That would be great to be used as a mock-up and no labor costs. Hopefully someone close to you sees this and gets their FnD to you quick. I love the way you guys set up the yaks.

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Chris
Cobra Fish and Dive
"That's why they call it fishing and not catching!"

Any place local to get a setup like this installed?

Trolling Motors on kayaks!......Sinful.

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Stone Malibu X-Factor
Tan WS Tarpon 120
"If I fished only to capture fish, my fishing trips would have ended long ago." - Zane Grey

Sometimes my arms are too tired to paddle back, from catching smokers all day!

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Chris
Cobra Fish and Dive
"That's why they call it fishing and not catching!"

I'll absolutely guarantee you that, if you have a little bit of ingenuity and minor tool skills, you can do it yourself.

I recently cut off an old trolling motor, moved the controls to a home made box then rigged a cable (300# mono actually) for steering on a home made tower for my bass boat.

The motor was a $10 yard sale motor and everything else came from my miscellaneous junk box. For the tower and the motor, I would reckon I have about $30 in the project. Since my OB has pull and electric start, I have just been using my starting battery for the trolling motor.

The steering for the rudder project I showed here for my MoJo is, for the most part, what I used on the steering on the trolling motor and tower.

I have a lot more spare time than money so I build things rather than buy them.

This isn't rocket science. When you sit back and look at it a little you will realize that most PVC yaks aren't a lot more than high priced PVC garbage cans. Well, maybe a little more streamlined. If you want to practice attaching stuff to a yak, start out on a garbage can.

Is this blasphemy?

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Capt. Ken

I think there's a little bit of a difference between a juryrigged old used motor, and one of the Bassyaks motors. I'm not saying it can't be done, but I'm pretty sure that if you wanted a quality motor that will last a while, $30 won't cut it. To each their own, I'm not knocking saving money, but the Bassyaks motors are high quality, completely sealed units, and look very neat on the yak.
It's like comparing a car that was built on Junkyard wars to a Mercedes. They both will get you from A to B, one is just more reliable and looks better.
Again, just my opinion. I'm sure some will agree and some won't.

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Malibu X-factor
Malibu Pro explorer

Howdy folks
Newbie here. I noticed on the Bassyaks site there is mention of doing a bassyaks conversion on a Heritage 12. I have a Heritage 12 angler (sit-in) and I'm about to do my own version of the bassyaks. Quite honestly didn't know bassyaks existed until tonight.
Just wondered if anybody had any experience with trolling a heritage 12, and how that worked out. I have an Endura C2 30 for this project. I figure on cutting the shaft and remoting the head to the cockpit for retention of tiller steering via bellcranks and lines. Any pitfalls in extending the wiring? My plan is to create a pigtail on the motor and a permanent harness in the yak, with the tiller (control) end in the nose of the cockpit, attached to a socket built into a "dash" that will fit into the nose of the long heritage 12 cockpit. Am I gonna run into any issues extending wiring, assuming I keep the power leads as big as possible..... We're talking maybe 7 or 8 feet from the tiller to the sterm-mounted motor, by the time I snake the wires around the under the lip of the cockpit and out through the deck. The battery box will be mounted behind the seat, a typical battery box turned into a "well" in the aft deck for easy battery install/removal.

Or am I asking for trouble with something unknown here?

Jack your on the right path, 10 gauge marine grade wire will be what your looking for. I may have some pieces you may need, if so give me a call, we have a modified switch which may save you so time.
20" on the shaft



Good luck
Steve
Bassyaks.com

I have a malibu x-13 and have added a trolling motor which I took out yesterday for the first time. The 'see if it will work test' went very well. I looked at the bassyak kit and thought I could do better. I have around $150.00 in the rig. I'm using a 43 pound motorguide salt water trolling motor. I purchased a mount called a v-lock. This mount allows the removal of the motor and works great. The maiden voyage was very promising, the lowest speed was about the same as paddling, the hightest was faster than I expected.
I will use the motor for trolling and to get to where I'm going then to get back. I will still paddle but can now choose when.
Peddal power is great but until they're more affordable the trolling motor seems to be the best option.

I agree, although I am in a little different vessel, I use my tm to get where I'm going, then use a push pole and drift the flats. I will also use a tm to find trout, trolling arties at near to full power has evolved into one of my favorite weapons. This has been the most efficient and fastest ways to locate the large schools of trout. This is not to say pedal power doesn't have its advantages as well, but I don't have pedals.


tm's, C.

slipshot, lets see it

What are the advantages that pedals have over Props??? (here we Go)

SlipShot , where is it, lets see it.

Not trying to start a flame throwing match (or a match at a flame thrower), but I can think of a couple:

The biggest pedal advantage for me is shallow water. Props hang down under the water at least the diameter of the prop. The Hobie fins can lay flat against the hull and work pretty good even when you pedal them partially (short stroke).
I mounted a shortened trolling motor in the mirage well plug and it worked great except it stopped dead in less than a foot of water. I suppose a trolling motor mounted on the rear or side could kick up, but that was a deal breaker for me.
Next, batteries are heavy and I am cheap. The weight issue really does not matter much until its time to paddle home and the battery is down. You could use lighter gel-cell batteries with enuf capacity, but they are expensive.
Third, pedals don't run out of batteries and the paddle's always at hand. The down side of that is a shortened range. That assumes you'd have the energy to paddle back the distance your motor carried you. But that doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

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"For when sleeping I dream of big fish and strong fights."

I'm amazed!! The motors can be run ABOVE the keel, the keel will bottom out before the motor, the motor can be raised vertically and horizontally, it can be run as a surface prop if in 6 inches or less. You can run the motor in the weeds, the fins draft at least 1 foot so there's your limit.
Motor s shouldn't be put into the Mirage well, there's no way for them to absorb any shock and your risking damage to the well, and the clearance problem like you encountered.
Batteries can be expensive , but the weight is coming down 18 lbs will get you 5 miles
Getting the paddle out of your hand is the main idea, you know the benefit of that, having a battery with the proper capacity would solve your running out of battery problems, if you have a large capacity battery your not worried about weight.

Steve

dont you have to get your boat registered after putting a motor on it?

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FROM THE POLE TO THE PAN!!
Parrish Rod Repair & Spot On Custom Rods