Newport NV-Series Thrust Saltwater Transom Mounted Trolling Electric Trolling Motor w/LED Battery Indicator

The media could not be loaded. I recently purchased a piece of property on a shallow lake. It is a very quiet community, so I thought an electric trolling motor would be appropriate for just cruising along the lake. I read several reviews done by others on this Newport product, and watched videos that were posted showing the motor in action.I have to say that I am beyond impressed with what I purchased. I chose the 62 lb thrust motor since it can be used on various size boats. I have a 12' StarCraft rowboat that is an older and well-constructed boat. That means it has some weight to it. I was able to cruise along through the weedy places with no trouble at all. A very clever design feature is the adjustable collar that allow the motor to be raised or lowered depending upon the depth from the floor to the propeller. Once I was in open water, I selected the highest speed and was amazed at how very well it moved me along. It will be put to a full test next week when my wife and 3 others will be using the boat.The weight of the motor is great in that it is light enough for my wife to carry it without hurting her shoulder. This was another selling point. It installs in seconds which mean no heavy lifting for a long period of time..I have only one major concern that I experienced that could easily be remedied with a design modification. The forward and reverse motion is controlled by a twist of the handle. If you install the motor and accidentally have the motor in any of the power settings before you hook up the battery, the motor will turn and you could get injured. Yes, common sense would demand that the battery no be hooked up until the motor is in the water, but the potential for injury does exist. Perhaps they can incorporate a safety switch that interrupts the power going to the motor.I purchased a deep cycle lithium battery to power the motor. I ran for about a couple of miles at full speed and measured the voltage at the battery after I finished the run. The power loss was only a .01 drop from the 12.8 volts. There is a built in battery level series of LED's that tell you at a glance how much power you have left. This is a testimony to not only the quality of the battery, but also to the low amp draw of the motor. It is very efficient.It is very well made and I expect many years of use out of this unit. There are replacement parts available which is encouraging.Final word, for the price you will not find a better motor that has all the features of those that are priced much, much higher. I expect Newport to be around a while.

Happy with this motor on our 7.5' Mercury inflatable. Wanted a Torqueedo, but didn't want to part with several thousand dollars. Did some research to check against Minn Kota, the NV55 is a little cheaper than the comparable MK, and although we'll only ever use it in freshwater, the fact that it's saltwater corrosion resistant makes one think it'll last a little longer in fresh water, too. We mainly use it for tendering back and forth to the beach, riding around at the beach, and a little bit in the yacht basin. It's a pretty leisurely ride on anything other that the 5th step, but that's the nature of a trolling motor on a RIB. I got the impression that the NV36 would have basically been like only having the first 4 speeds, no kick-in-the-pants speed. That said, you're still not water skiing with 5th speed, although I will say it doesn't go any slower or faster with one adult or three.We run it off a group 24 deep cycle battery, goes a surprisingly long time between charges, but we're not really running it in a way that I could measure distance or runtime. I do have a meter on it when I recharge, battery takes on 30 to 35 amp hours, which really isn't much out of this particular battery. I put the battery into the "MinnKota Trolling Motor Power Center", which NV also sells, but is exactly the same box for twenty bucks more. The box has been very convenient for moving the battery in and out of the boat, and no sharp corners to puncture or wear on the boat. A group 24 or 27 lithium battery in this box would be awesome, as a lead acid batteries are heavy! Still not quite as convenient as a Torqueedo, but getting closer! Since we pop the RIB up on it's side on the swim platform, we have to install/remove the motor and battery each time. A pain, but a LOT less hassle than the 2.5hp gas motor!I do have one "wish" for the motor design; The handle that is the gear selector is numbered 1 through 5 for forward, 0 for stopped, and 1 through 3 for reverse. Without actually looking at the position of the handle, it's hard to tell if you're on 0. When pulling up to a dock or the swim platform on our big boat, it would be nice to be able to stop the motor, put it to the zero position without looking. Maybe a harder detent at 0? Or having a hard stop at 0 and you need to push the handle in to get it into reverse? I'd hate to have a lockout button for reverse, as it would suck to have reverse be a 2 handed operation... A button on the end of the handle maybe? All of these ideas cost real money to implement, though, and since NV is try to stay just under the cost of Minn Kota, unlikely to see the light of day... It's not the end of the world, but would certainly be more convenient if you didn't have to look...

This product has truly has exceeded my expectations. It pulls my boat no problem and works like a dime. The 5 different speeds are perfect for dialing in to what you need for that moment. On the highest speed (5) its powerful enough to create a nice little wake and generate a good amount of speed. Id highly recommend it to anyone.

Purchased this 55 Lb. thrust trolling motor to replace a MK brand that was no longer working after many years of service. Was stunned at the current replacement cost of a new MK so ordered this Newport Vessels brand. It is being used on a 12 foot alum. wide-transom canoe with a Group 24 deep cycle battery. Used it 2 times so far. Once on a tidal river and then a lake. (2 passengers). It performed very well and never lacked for speed even when up against head winds and tidal currents. It was used at speeds 2 and 3 for the most part with occasional bursts in 4 and 5. In speeds 1-3 it's a trolling motor, at 4 it's cruising and at 5 it becomes more like an outboard motor! She flies! Fairly quiet, but gets a bit louder as the speeds go up. Motor runs well but not as smooth and refined as the MK did. Seems to use a little more power than the MK, but the MK had slow- start and maximizer circuitry. Battery was down to about 65% after just under 2 hours but that was fighting winds and opposing current about 1/2 the time. Never felt any reduction in speed/power. Don't count on the built-in LED battery indicator as it was still showing 4 out of 5 lights. Overall, a decent motor and a good value. Can't comment on durability/reliability just yet until it sees more use.

Works great. It goes faster than I expected. I have had a lot of people ask me what kind it is. I use a lithium battery to power it. I can fish for over 8hrs and still have 30% to 40% charge left on battery.