Trolling valve/ yes or no

[Nowhere Special]

Just recently acquired 99 TE. How can I tell if the trans has a trolling valve installed? Secondly, is the valve necessary for trolling? (Great Lakes area)

Dave

[joe.baar]

Our '95 28TE has a trolling valve and a ZF Hurth tranny on a Yanmar 315 LPA. The operator's end of the valve is located in that small cut-out panel just forward of the throttle controls. This end is black and a sort of knobby thing that sticks up about 2 1/2 inches from the mounting surface. It has an upper knob and a lower ring that rotates on the control shaft. I was able to get it to work once. Apparently the lower end shifts the tranny's hydraulic fluid into a different pathway so shaft rotation is slowed way down from idle speed. Fishermen love this feature because the Yanmar's low idle is so fast you'll outrun anything except a marlin or a tuna - so I guess if you want to fish at trolling speed you need one of these. Fish on.

[RicM]

I was worried about this aspect of Albin ownership as well, but it was less of an issue than I thought. Depends on what you are trolling for and how fast (or slow) you want to go. Trolling valves are expensive and add a layer of mechanical complexity. A simpler solution is a sea anchor. When I want to get down to 3-4 knots I toss out the sea anchor tied to one of the aft cleats. If you want to try it without the investment, use a 5 gallon plastic bucket. A sea anchor will set you back about $60 and has other uses for drifting and safety. Good thing to have on the boat anyway.

[joreyn]

Blue Moon is equipped with a trolling valve on the port engine. For fishing I run the port engine only, with the trolling valve on, which allows me to go very slow.

[chiefrcd]

If you have a Velvet Drive, as of the last time I checked they did not make one and had no plans of making one. Now, with that said, I troll all the time. All though Stripe Bass season. Sometimes I'm knocking along at 650 rpms and making 4 knots with the tide and 1.5 against the tide.....if I'm going too fast I just kick it in and out of gear. For that reason I use a synthetic transmission fluid and change it every year. No issues yet and I've been doing it for 5 years.

[Nowhere Special]

Thanks all for the info. Our boat should come out of storage this weekend so I will be able to check it out and see if there is a trolling valve. I doubt if there is one.
RicM, I enjoyed Southern venture. I have researched the idea of a drift sock, ....here on Erie, the charter captains and fishermen seem to favor Amish Buggy Bags. (heavy duty drift sock.) So we may give that a try. Looking forward to splashing in May.

Dave

[Russell]

A trick I read about for using drift socks is to run them along side the boat by securing them to a cleat on the bow and then having the release line on a stern cleat. This keeps the sock away from where the action is when catching fish and when you are ready to take off you just lift up on the release line and flip the sock in the cockpit.