Trolling motor mounting plate

DirtyMike

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Had a little accident that wasn't COMPLETELY my fault. A few weeks ago I bumped a sand bar with my trolling motor causing the friggen lag bolts that someone used to attach it, to pull out. After attaining some stainless hardware I reattached it a little too far back. Now it won't lock in place. I figured since I have to take it off again, I'd put a plate on it so I can remove the motor. Then I thought, if I can remove it, someone else could too. So, those of you with an opinion, what do you think of the mounting plate?
 


WormWiggler

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Mine has a spot for a padlock. Sad fact is, if they want it they will take it.
 

Vollmer

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I'm a fan of the mounting plate. For me, it is primarily due to the fact that I need to remove my trolling motor for my boat cover to fit..
 

SupressYourself

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The MinnKota ones have a padlock hole. I figure if someone is going to try to grab it, they probably don't want to spend time with a grinder or saw. I like to take mine off when I store it for the winter, or if I know I'm going to be driving a bunch of gravel I'll take it off and put it in the truck to keep the dust off of it. When dust gets in between the collar and the shaft, it makes some god-awful squeaking, especially when autopilot is making its small adjustments.
 

raider

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i've had 2 of the curl in minn mounts, now have a puck style... always have them locked and they seem to hold tight enough... the curl in style is stronger, but leaves a bigger plate on the boat... if going on carpet, the puck will probably have to be shimmed up with something as your whole motor is hard to press down to the level of tightened bolts on carpet...
 


FishReaper

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I like my plate for a few reasons.
Comes off for the tarp.
I always remove when I'm towing boat
I strip my boat to winter it. I like my electronics being stored out of sub zero temps
 

BP338

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I slide mine off and drop it into the front of the boat...out of sight out of mind. It's pretty hard to get to the front of the boat without taking off the entire cover.
 

DirtyMike

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I couldn't sit still long enough to wait for the stores to open up at noon yesterday. So I went out and drilled new holes for the bolts. I think I'll still get a plate this week and install that. Right now, the tarp fits over the trolling motor just fine so it's really not a problem.

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks for all the help gentlemen!
 

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