# Power Drive VS. Cable Drive



## Maverick (Mar 4, 2002)

I am in the market for a new trolling motor. I am looking for a trolling motor with enough power to troll cranks with as I have a 16' ProAngler with 2 stoke 70 Yamaha on it. So my problem is with the 2 storke (which I love) will not go slow enogh to troll slowly with. My solution is to get a trolling motor that is big enough to troll with.
I am wondering what a few thoughts on these 2 different style trolling motor are.

Thanks!


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## djleye (Nov 14, 2002)

You tried a large drift bag with the big motor Mav. Kind of wastes gas I guess.


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## Maverick (Mar 4, 2002)

I can't say I have tried one, and like you said it would be tough on gas. I was thinking about a trolling plate, but have herd nothing really good about them. I do need a new trolling motor for my boat. I have had a few friends speak about how good their PD or CD is, so I was wondering what everyone's pro's and cons's are that own either.


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## Chris Schulz (Sep 7, 2004)

Maverick said:


> I can't say I have tried one, and like you said it would be tough on gas. I was thinking about a trolling plate, but have herd nothing really good about them. I do need a new trolling motor for my boat. I have had a few friends speak about how good their PD or CD is, so I was wondering what everyone's pro's and cons's are that own either.


Battery life would be my biggest concern as far as pulling cranks with a TM. Running a trolling motor at high speeds for long periods of time will quickly kill your battery/battery's. Drift socks or trolling bags are great for trolling with motors that don't slow troll very well. A small kicker might be something to look at also. It all depends on how much time you plan on spending trolling cranks i guess...


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## Flick (Aug 21, 2002)

I would go with a cable drive. We have the same boat as you and have a cable drive on it. The response is instant as far as turning directions. If you run a 24vlt system you would be able to troll quite a while without problems. We have an older power drive on a different boat and its slow, loud, and pretty much sucks.


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## gamberc (Mar 10, 2008)

well i have a power drive on my 16ft crestliner with a 50 hp 4 stroke merc on her and have no problems trolling for a long period of time we have a seperate battery from our boat battery specially for the trolling motor we can run prolly 2 or 3 full days of trolling on the battery we have with the power drive


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## MOB (Mar 10, 2005)

Have you thought about trying a different pitched prop on your motor? You will lose some top speed, but should be able to troll, with the right prop. It would be good to have both electric and gas options available for your trolling.


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

I find I do a lot better with an electric, especially in shallow water where a motor scares the fish.
My set up is a Lund 1700 Adventure Fisherman with a 130 Honda. I forget the lb thrust of my electric, something like 75 lb I think. It's a 34 volt Minkota with auto pilot, and I have also detached the controls and added co-pilot. I like to be able to get up and move around the boat and still have control.
I don't troll fast. Most of the time I like 1 to 2 mph. I have trolled at 2 mph for 8 hours and had half my battery left at the end of the day. My boat is four years old and I have less than 100 hours on the Honda. I go to where I want to fish and drop the electric. It takes more power, but I normally leave the 130 Honda down just to get more control of direction. Especially if it's windy. 
Oh, my electric also has the depth finder transducer in the head. I really like that set up. One depth finder of the back, and another up front with me.


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## Flick (Aug 21, 2002)

Plainsman said:


> I find I do a lot better with an electric, especially in shallow water where a motor scares the fish.


Underwater the electric is actually more loud than an outboard. If your running at constant speeds its probably not that big of an issue though.


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## fox412 (Mar 18, 2005)

I am a power drive man. In a cable drive your steering is quicker. In the powerdrive you can go all over the boat. I have had both. With the CD I was stuck in the front of the boat due to the short cord. With the power drive with something like a 15 foot cord one can be almost anywhere in the boat. Also I really like the autopilot some folks don't but I do. Also I don't believe you can put the copilot on a CD either.

I think in a year or so (or if I find a sweet deal earlier) I will be buying a 74# powerdrive with AP and built in transducer for my LUND.

Flick I don't want to start anything but how in the world could the gas motor be quieter than the electric?


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## maanjus11 (Nov 17, 2006)

fox412 said:


> Flick I don't want to start anything but how in the world could the gas motor be quieter than the electric?


Exactly what I was thinking.


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## Flick (Aug 21, 2002)

Thats just what I've heard. I guess I havent gone under water and listened.


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## USAlx50 (Nov 30, 2004)

fox412 said:


> I am a power drive man. In a cable drive your steering is quicker. In the powerdrive you can go all over the boat. I have had both. With the CD I was stuck in the front of the boat due to the short cord. With the power drive with something like a 15 foot cord one can be almost anywhere in the boat. Also I really like the autopilot some folks don't but I do. Also I don't believe you can put the copilot on a CD either.
> 
> I think in a year or so (or if I find a sweet deal earlier) I will be buying a 74# powerdrive with AP and built in transducer for my LUND.
> 
> Flick I don't want to start anything but how in the world could the gas motor be quieter than the electric?


I have heard the same. Supposedly the high pitched whine of an electric carries underwater much more than an outboard motor. I know we have pulled cranks up into less then 4' of water for years using a 60 hp yami 2 stroke (on a 1700 pro-angler :wink: ) and currently a 115 merc 2 stroke. We've done well without needing planer boards just using the outboards. Ive always just thrown it in and out of neutral to slow it down if desired.

That said, the cable drive trolling motors are going to be 10 times more reliable, and offer much more precise control. The negatives are that you have to keep your foot on the pedal whenever the motor is running and you are limited in where you can sit in the boat.

I like the Terrova's quite a bit better then the power drives, although it took me a while to get used to the pedal. You cant go wrong with a maxxum if you are looking at a cable drive. Better get the most powerful one you can as well if you plan on trolling for longer periods of time. You'll drain a 12v system really fast pulling cranks. Only thing that sucks is a 24 volt can weigh down the front of that boat quite a bit with both batteries and the motor up front.


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## fox412 (Mar 18, 2005)

To Hijack the thread.

Here is an artical I found with some noise studies.

The Fish Can Hear You - 
Underwater Noise Studies May Change the Way You Fish
By Keith Kaufman

Your depthfinder, your motor, even your voice may be spooking fish. Lenny Rudow from Edgewater, Maryland, is fishing editor for Boating magazine, author of numerous fishing books, and a renowned seminar speaker. He's keenly interested in all things fishing, and he tests boats, and fishes, around the world, including freshwater and saltwater, inshore and offshore. He's conducted studies on noise and its possible impact on fish, and while unscientific, the studies yielded very surprising results.

Rudow once obtain permission to float an 8-foot plastic bass boat on the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland, to test three depthfinders. In the aquarium were sharks, rays, snook and tarpon.

When dolphin, tuna and marlin attack lures and baits in a trolling spread, it is possible for them to hear voices from the boat. Underwater studies have shown voice can be detected 50 feet behind a trolling boat and three feet underwater.

When the first depthfinder was turned on, it appeared that some of the fish might have been avoiding the boat. It was even more noticeable when two depthfinders were on. When all three were on at the same time, there was no doubt fish were intentionally staying out from under the boat.

Depthfinders emit a sound wave to detect and mark the bottom and fish, and Rudow isn't sure if it's the sound, vibration or something else about depthfinder sound waves that fish hear and/or feel. But since the test, when he has arrived at his spot and begun fishing, Rudow will switch off his depthfinder, especially if the fish aren't biting.

Another noise study, this one in a tributary river to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, involved motor noises with 12-volt and 24-volt electric trolling motors, and 2-stroke and 4-stroke outboard motors. An underwater microphone (hydrophone) to pick up and record the noises, and a dB-A meter to measure the sounds in decibels, were used.

As expected, the 12-volt electric trolling motor with its slower prop speed was very quiet. The 24-volt trolling motor was twice as loud, and the 4-stroke gas motor was louder yet. But what was surprising was the outboard motor - it made considerably more noise when in neutral, than when it was in gear! Rudow believes the internal parts aren't under pressure when the motor is in neutral, and this allows them to bang around. There's significantly less commotion when the motor is in gear because the parts are working together smoothly. Keep that in mind when attempting to quietly slip into a fishing spot.

Rudow also made a startling discovery while 40 miles out to sea off Ocean City, Maryland, researching motor and boat noise. A hydrophone was trolled 50 feet behind the boat and three feet down, right where some of the lures and baits would be in a trolling spread for tuna and marlin. When the recorded sounds were reviewed and analyzed, as expected there was plenty of loud noises from the motor and the turbulent water as it churned past the microphone. However, strikingly, above all that racket, Rudow could hear the voices of the people in the boat's cockpit! While it could not be understood what was being said, Rudow said there's no doubt they were voices. He described them as sounding like the muddled adult voices in the Charles Schulz Peanuts cartoons (Charlie Brown, Snoopy and friends).

Offshore fishermen often say a marlin was "window shopping" when it flashes through the baits but doesn't strike. But there may be more to it than that. Anglers jump up and holler at the awesome sight of a marlin crashing a trolling spread. It may be those loud voices that discourage the fish from striking.

Noise may be having more of an impact on your fishing than you realize. Shhh! . . . keep it down when you're on the water, you just may catch more fish.


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## fox412 (Mar 18, 2005)

To Hijack the thread.

Here is an artical I found with some noise studies.

The Fish Can Hear You - 
Underwater Noise Studies May Change the Way You Fish
By Keith Kaufman

Your depthfinder, your motor, even your voice may be spooking fish. Lenny Rudow from Edgewater, Maryland, is fishing editor for Boating magazine, author of numerous fishing books, and a renowned seminar speaker. He's keenly interested in all things fishing, and he tests boats, and fishes, around the world, including freshwater and saltwater, inshore and offshore. He's conducted studies on noise and its possible impact on fish, and while unscientific, the studies yielded very surprising results.

Rudow once obtain permission to float an 8-foot plastic bass boat on the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland, to test three depthfinders. In the aquarium were sharks, rays, snook and tarpon.

When dolphin, tuna and marlin attack lures and baits in a trolling spread, it is possible for them to hear voices from the boat. Underwater studies have shown voice can be detected 50 feet behind a trolling boat and three feet underwater.

When the first depthfinder was turned on, it appeared that some of the fish might have been avoiding the boat. It was even more noticeable when two depthfinders were on. When all three were on at the same time, there was no doubt fish were intentionally staying out from under the boat.

Depthfinders emit a sound wave to detect and mark the bottom and fish, and Rudow isn't sure if it's the sound, vibration or something else about depthfinder sound waves that fish hear and/or feel. But since the test, when he has arrived at his spot and begun fishing, Rudow will switch off his depthfinder, especially if the fish aren't biting.

Another noise study, this one in a tributary river to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, involved motor noises with 12-volt and 24-volt electric trolling motors, and 2-stroke and 4-stroke outboard motors. An underwater microphone (hydrophone) to pick up and record the noises, and a dB-A meter to measure the sounds in decibels, were used.

As expected, the 12-volt electric trolling motor with its slower prop speed was very quiet. The 24-volt trolling motor was twice as loud, and the 4-stroke gas motor was louder yet. But what was surprising was the outboard motor - it made considerably more noise when in neutral, than when it was in gear! Rudow believes the internal parts aren't under pressure when the motor is in neutral, and this allows them to bang around. There's significantly less commotion when the motor is in gear because the parts are working together smoothly. Keep that in mind when attempting to quietly slip into a fishing spot.

Rudow also made a startling discovery while 40 miles out to sea off Ocean City, Maryland, researching motor and boat noise. A hydrophone was trolled 50 feet behind the boat and three feet down, right where some of the lures and baits would be in a trolling spread for tuna and marlin. When the recorded sounds were reviewed and analyzed, as expected there was plenty of loud noises from the motor and the turbulent water as it churned past the microphone. However, strikingly, above all that racket, Rudow could hear the voices of the people in the boat's cockpit! While it could not be understood what was being said, Rudow said there's no doubt they were voices. He described them as sounding like the muddled adult voices in the Charles Schulz Peanuts cartoons (Charlie Brown, Snoopy and friends).

Offshore fishermen often say a marlin was "window shopping" when it flashes through the baits but doesn't strike. But there may be more to it than that. Anglers jump up and holler at the awesome sight of a marlin crashing a trolling spread. It may be those loud voices that discourage the fish from striking.

Noise may be having more of an impact on your fishing than you realize. Shhh! . . . keep it down when you're on the water, you just may catch more fish.


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