Trolling motor on front or back?

[Duff25]

I have a cpl friends that say front and other guy insists only the back.Which pushes or pulls best,is less wear on motor or does it matter? I got me a lil 2 seater boat so i can take by myself,the guy that had it mounted it on front,im thinkin i should do the same right?
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[Snags_Alot]

[] I have always seen them mounted on the front of the boat
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[Duff25]

I'm new to this so i dont know much.But looking at pictures of them on sites for sell the handle is facing away from prop to run on back of boat.They do spin around right?That tells me that they are supposed to be on the back but can be run from the front...
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[DrownedDesertRat]

Most bow mount (front mounted) trolling motors will have some sort of foot controller wired to it so you can be just about anywhere in the boat and maneuver it.

If you have just a small 2-seater and pilot the boat from the back, then you'll most likely want to stick with a trolling motor that mounts to the transom (the back part of the boat that the motor is mounted to).

If you could show us a pic of your boat, I'm sure someone here could tell you which is best. But it sounds to me, just from what you've said already, that a transom mount trolling motor would be better.
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[Duff25]

Yea its a transom mount motor for the back i guess.But this guy says it pulls best from front and all trollin motors are designed to go on the front,he is full of it though.It's just 1 them lil 2 seater 8 or 9 foot basshunter plastic/fiberglass boats...
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[Duff25]

Speaking of the boat,im not sure if its fiberglass or plastic,i can only find 1 pic online from a store that resembles it.It has a lil crack in bottom of it that lets water in,it has to be fixed but im not sure how and i've gotten 2 ways from 2 different people.But anyway ,we didnt know it had it and if it wasnt for friend wanting to go home a lil early i woulda stayed out there and another 30 or 45 minutes and im sure we woulda sank,and it just happened to be the most gator infested waters around...But anyway, heres a pic that it is simular too,i guess if 1 of u cant determine if its fiber or plastic maybe a parts store can.It resembles the 1st boat on left, the pelican 8 foot bass raider.... [url "http://www.academysports.com/"]Welcome to Academy Sports & Outdoors[/url]
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[DrownedDesertRat]

That would definitely be a copolymer (plastic type) material. Personally, I'd mount the trolling motor to the back. As for the crack, go to your local hardware store and look for a marine epoxy to cover the hole with. At least, that's what I'd do. Someone else might have a better idea.
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[davetclown]

Here are my thoughts,

it dont matter push or pull....

what matters is, [ul] [li]if you have the foot lever control to go with the unit. if not it goes in the back. the larger boats use the front mount because it is baisicly used for point up river and slowing your drift or on lakes for directional to weave in and out coves and weed beds and lilly pads.[/li] [li]are you river fishing? in front helps keep the nose pointed up river reducing drift speed. and manovers much better. foot controls are a must.[/li] [li]if you are running the 5 horse briggs and straton trolling motor it can only go in the rear, how ever it can be mounted to your existing stering apratus so that your stering wheel can be used.[/li][/ul]
options are fairly basic. so is the guy full of it. there are valid reasons for wanting it in the front. but if you are running a row boat and you dont need the hands off controll unit for pro bass fishing then back of the boat is just fine. if you need hands off controlling and you want to weave aound in and out then front is best because it allows better manoverability. (not so much is it better to push or pull)

hope this helps.....
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