Thanks for the tip. I will keep this in mind. Anyway, I assume a 18-ft
boat should not have a very high bow. Therefore, I am thinking that I
should not have a problem finding a trolling motor that has a long
enough shaft.

That depends on the style of the boat. I have a 21' SeaPro (
http://www.seaproboats.net/interface.html ) which requires a 52" shaft
and it barely reaches sufficient depth.



Good to know this. I intend to operate this boat in some electric-only
lakes. Therefore, a powerful trolling motor is something that I would
like to have. I am also thinking of something like 60 to 100-lb of
thrust. How long is your Range bay boat? I am trying to see how large a
boat a 67-lb thrust trolling motor can pull.

I put a Minn-Kota 70# thrust (24 v ) on mine and it moves it quite
nicely. Easy to hold position most of the time on the first two
positions with moderate wind and will make good headway on final 3
speeds.

Yes. I assume those two batteries are quite heavy, and I probably need
to carefully position them (and the people seating positions) to make
sure the boat will be balanced.

The dealer mounted mine under the console along with an on board
battery charger. He then tied one to the battery switch along with the
cranking battery so I have a backup without having a fourth battery.