Who would put this trolling motor on their boat?
 

Who would put this trolling motor on their boat?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5ejwRj9t1Q

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The liability for that seems insane. Say the thing loses signal? Also no possible way to control your boat if some knuckledragger blew through the no wake. Seems like a lawyers wet dream to me. Plus at 2300 bucks............ I'd pay good money to watch the first time someone drops their remote through a crack in a dock though.

Also whens the last time anyone wakeboarded alone?

I think the "Idea" is brilliant. The execution of a trolling motor on a wakeboard boat "HELL NO"

BUT here is a Idea. A friend installed some bow thrusters on his X-25. I could be wrong on the exact modle if it was a X-25 or not but it was one of the Large X-star Wake Ship's, It doesn't matter. I was some what surprised to learn the workings of Mastercrafts "optional" Bow thruster system.

Apparently it's a water jet that pushes the boat from side to side, It uses a electric water pump that draws water from the back of the boat and pushes the water forward and out to the appropriate under the water line outlet. No props ect. Brilliant!!! There is a dash mounted joystick that tells the water what direction or outlet to go to thus pushing the boat side to side.

Now take this Idea and adapt it to a remote that would allow 360 degree control. Allow the Idiots that can't seem to find a buddy to help them launch or retreve their boat. This could free up the launch ramp by allowing people to self launch and virtually anchor there boat out in a safe area and park. Then when they return they could summons there boat back to the dock.

This technology exists now. Audi and BMW have driver less car's that will self park and then drive around to pick you back up. I would think a Boat would be much more forgiving to self park and or anchor

The Idea of being able to anchor your boat or have it HOLD it self in a Holding pattern via water jets is very cool. think about being able to pull into a crowded marina and NOT have to tie to the dock. Pull up in your boat have everyone get out and then have your boat valet it self.

Grant I thought of the thruster system immediately when it popped up but I don't see how this would ever be a profitable idea with the liability associated with it. I mean you are talking 2500 bucks for a remote control trolling motor. You brought up crowded docks but I can't for the life of me think of an application that would be safe at a crowded dock. You are talking about walking a good distance to get to your rig, wait in line, and then pull up. No chance you stay in range of a remote or within safe operating view and even less of a chance you could ever avoid an accident in extreme circumstances.

That's what girlfriends are for (at least one of the things they are for)

I'm not going to pretend it would be easy because I don't know jack about a system like this. But I would think if they can make a car drive to a parking spot and Park in a parking spot and avoid pedestrians and things I would think somthing like this would be a possibility.

I saw Mecury has a GPS anchor calld "Sky Hook" that holds your boat in place via GPS.

And as far as losing signal with a remote I could see a system like this just going into a Parking mode untill it would re-gain signal.

Well Skyhook is actually more than an anchor. Its pretty much an autopilot and its an extremely complicated but awesome system. It essentially controls where you want your boat to go or stay based on gps coordinates. I'm still waiting for the first person to get chewed to bits swimming with this system. "Hey kids we are anchored go take a swim" but other than that its just pretty BA for offshore purposes.

I have no doubt that eventually we could see something like this but to me it breaches the need vs cost vs safety barrier for me. Self admittedly I claimed the same thing years ago with auto parking systems.

The difference however is that in close proximity to people, boats, and land I would rather be beaten with a switch than let something like this control something as costly as a boat. With autoparking there are no rollers, wind, etc to affect the trajectory of the vehicle. I'm spewing bs over this but I'd rather spend time showing a friend how to properly pull a boat off a trailer than pay thousands of dollars to risk damage to life or boat.

They could prob build a machine for 5 grand that would give killer head but beers are 2 bucks a piece and I'm not sticking my junk in anything with mechanical parts. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Also I think flying cars are a bad idea

oh with all that said I have no doubt you'll be the first to try it haha

I think the idea was inevitable and a great idea. However, as mentioned losing signal puts the boat adrift and/or a failure in the mechanic mechanism of the bracket one time to have you swim to your boat in cold water to think it was a "stupid" idea.

Will I Agree with you 100% on the Need Vs Cost issue but as far as a Saftey factor I think the water jet system would be pretty safe. I like the exchange of Ideas. So let's conceptualize.
What it Sky Hook (a already existing tec) merged with a water jet thruster system! I don't see anyone getting hurt or killed by a boat moving @ 2mph but don't quote me. I'm sure anything is possable. My idea was to just merge 2 existing and avaliable pieces of equipment.

Here you go
http://jetthrusters.com/jt30.html

A better example on a Mastercraft X-35

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UNUVOzEQWE

You know who needs a trolling motor on their boat? The guy with the 2014 g series. That way he won't have to paddle home, or throw down the anchor and wait for a tow, when the propeller falls off.

It's a cool video but I seriously doubt any fisherman will use the feature after the 1st couple trips once the novelty wears off. What they will do is use the remote while on the boat to free up a foot from controlling the pedal. We do a lot in the fishing industry and at last year's ICAST (basically surf expo for these guys) I saw new trolling motor tech that will automatically follow the shoreline or bottom contours via sonar, pretty neat stuff.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say the remote trolling motor is still a ways off from being added to the G23 option list but I have no doubt fishermen will embrace the concept. At tournaments these guys will often launch 5-10 boats at a time and just let them float in the marina. Once the last guy launches they all pile in and he'll drop them all off. I was blown away the first time I saw it!

-zack@boatbling.net

I agree that the thruster system would be safer. In fact I think a system like sky hook would be semi useful on a lake. I'm just not sold on boats being operated without someone in the boat. I can also see how in the jets current design could be helpful around tight slips etc. Heck I think it would be a cool thing to have for waiting for a spot at the dock. Maybe its just our lake but too many drunks or people who don't know what they are doing for me to just leave my boat alone floating. Curiousity is killing me on how much that skyhook systems sets you back though.

I see guys going fishing by themselves all the time on the river we board on. might save them from hogging the single launchlane for 15 minutes as they are afraid to get their levis and tennies wet...

My buddy had a system like this on his Bayliner. Not sure if it was capable or loading & unloading itself but you could program a route through his iphone & just sit back, enjoy your beer & fishing. I thought it was great

I see the benefits for holding on a fishing spot or for following an already known path. I don't know if I would use it as boat valet but with a little use I might. Very cool. I wonder if the instructions tell you not to use it like shown in the commercial. You know - professional driver on a closed course.

I'd put it on and might even use it like this. No need to tie boat to dock or untie it. I like it. Plus the GPS auto hold and shore tracking is awesome for a fisherman.

I've been following Minn Kota's patents on this for a while. There are even some enhancements in the patent portfolio that are not on that video. I believe this is going to be a big success. I'm in the market for a Bass Boat ... and ... I would like to have that trolling motor system on my boat.

My buddy has a Garmin Auto Pilot (TR-1 Gold) setup on his fishing boat. It is a hydraulic
system that attaches to his 8hp Yamaha kicker and links to his Lowrance GPS. It can completely hold the boat in place when fishing in a heavy current. You can set courses with it. Pretty amazing system. It comes with a remote as well.
Pretty amazing but a little pricy.

All I could think the whole time I watched the video was "bad azz ballast pump", not bow thruster! Seriously, how fast would that fill/empty a ballast system? :cool::cool:

Never mind, did anyone look at the current draw on that thing???? 376 Amps! Holy snikes!

Yea its a massive system. If you look at the actual pump sizes etc its a horse. You are talking a lot of thrust to move a 20'+ boat.

That remote control electric motor seems like a good idea to me.

As for thrusters of any kind on a wakeboat. All I have to say is horrible. If you need thrusters on a 23 foot boat you should just stay off the water. What a frigging joke.

I think the thrusters would be nice. With oklahoma winds its nothing to fight 2-3' rollers when docking. This would make life so much easier.

Actually it uses the depth contour lines from a Lakemaster card, not sonar. Yes, it is pretty neat.

[/QUOTE]
As for thrusters of any kind on a wakeboat. All I have to say is horrible. If you need thrusters on a 23 foot boat you should just stay off the water. What a frigging joke.[/QUOTE]
Brett; I have to admit, I thought the same thing when I first heard about my buddy needing/wanting them. But then thinking about it the guy is a experienced boat driver with a few wakeboard boats under his belt so I don't think its a rookie Vs pro type thing. I just think the boat is a I'll handling pig, at slow speeds and then you add wind and your trying to put your 23 foot boat on a hydro hoist even for the best drivers it can be a challange. And let's face it even if the system costs you 4-5 k if you can save yourself repeted gell coat dammage and docking embarrassment it's well worth the cost.

And a ever funnyier fact 5 years ago all these "complainers" were crying about the cramped conditions of there Super Air and lack of progression are all now complaining about the bigger boats and New tecnoldegy Like push screen dashes and the increased cost of the "dreaded 100k boat"

Like Walt Disney said. " Becareful What you wish for, some day it may come true"