Well, I have not yet wired the battery and motor, but just secured the battery on the mast inside the cuddy, attached the Minn Kota 55# trust electric motor on the transom and went sailing on a very very windy day (15-20 mph winds with stronger gusts) during the very busy 4th of July weekend. I wanted to reef before leaving the boat ramp, but hubby said no, and foolish of me, I complied. The used motor I purchased on eBay (before I had mistakenly said from Craigslist) arrived with no screws for the motor cover. After a couple of emails and phone calls I contacted the very helpful Minn Kota local service guy who gave me the replacement screws without charge. I must have not screwed them on correctly because after a few minutes of trolling out of the marina they starting falling out. Also, I placed the motor too close to the rudder and they kept obstructing each other. As you can all guess, it was a very stressful sail with several problems, but the biggest one was the placement of the motor on the transom.
Where should I place the motor so it does not bump into the rudder and viceversa? I guess I need to install a motor bracket? does anyone have the dimensions of the motor or bracket placement? I did see a picture in this forum which I will look for, but any additional advice is very helpful. Thanks!