96" Rhodan on Grady 336 Canyon

G

glassman

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Location
Cortez/Key West FL
Model
Canyon 336
I have a fishing guide that put a Rhodan on his boat a few years ago and he told me it was the best investment he ever made. He said "I am throwing my anchor away". Unfortunately he passed away months after his install and I never had the opportunity to fish with him to see how good this Rhodan GPS anchor was. However, it got me interested. I live in the Sarasota FL area, which is where Rhodan is based, I visited their plant and talked to them about my 336 and adding on....BUT...at that time the longest shaft they had was 84" and the thought was that if there was anything other than a flat sea, the motor would spend time out of the water and not hold position. BUT...wanting to ditch my anchor, I kept watching. Last year in May 2020 I heard Rhodan had introduced a 96"...YIPPEE!!!! Knowing this I talked to my Grady Dealers (Longboat Key and Key West). When I talked to them, they thought I was NUTS..."It will never work"...:(:(:( At the time I had a lot going on personally thus I listened and did not pursue...Still had interest...I start hearing stories and seeing other boats similar to mine with trolling motors on their bows...Got me interested....Talk to Grady Dealers again "I am seeing - are you doing"...and I am still getting the look that I was NUTS. Well it all changed when a good friend of mine put one on his 32/0 SeaVee, said it worked amazing - he installed himself, thus following his lead, bought the Rhodan and installed...we used a 36V Lithium battery and their charger. I am currently keeping my boat in Key West. We gathered all our supplies and before mini season headed down and did the install. We were totally prepared...we had an aluminum mounting plate machined and powder coated in a color close to that of the Grady Hull. It Took my crew about 6-7 hours from start to finish. It was not cheap. BUT...

IT WORKS AMAZING!!!!
 

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glassman said:
I have a fishing guide that put a Rhodan on his boat a few years ago and he told me it was the best investment he ever made. He said "I am throwing my anchor away". Unfortunately he passed away months after his install and I never had the opportunity to fish with him to see how good this Rhodan GPS anchor was. However, it got me interested. I live in the Sarasota FL area, which is where Rhodan is based, I visited their plant and talked to them about my 336 and adding on....BUT...at that time the longest shaft they had was 84" and the thought was that if there was anything other than a flat sea, the motor would spend time out of the water and not hold position. BUT...wanting to ditch my anchor, I kept watching. Last year in May 2020 I heard Rhodan had introduced a 96"...YIPPEE!!!! Knowing this I talked to my Grady Dealers (Longboat Key and Key West). When I talked to them, they thought I was NUTS..."It will never work"...:(:(:( At the time I had a lot going on personally thus I listened and did not pursue...Still had interest...I start hearing stories and seeing other boats similar to mine with trolling motors on their bows...Got me interested....Talk to Grady Dealers again "I am seeing - are you doing"...and I am still getting the look that I was NUTS. Well it all changed when a good friend of mine put one on his 32/0 SeaVee, said it worked amazing - he installed himself, thus following his lead, bought the Rhodan and installed...we used a 36V Lithium battery and their charger. I am currently keeping my boat in Key West. We gathered all our supplies and before mini season headed down and did the install. We were totally prepared...we had an aluminum mounting plate machined and powder coated in a color close to that of the Grady Hull. It Took my crew about 6-7 hours from start to finish. It was not cheap. BUT...

IT WORKS AMAZING!!!!
Click to expand...
I just stumbled onto this post.... I am also a Canyon 336 owner and do a lot of bottom fishing in the Gulf. I end up drifting more often than anchoring because getting anchored up on "the spot" is always a challenge with competing winds and currents.

Now that you have had the Rhodan installed on your 336 for a year or so on your 336, are you still happy with the performance? Would you buy it again if you had a new 336?

Any other 336 owners taken the plunge on the 96" Rhodan? If so, how is it working out for you?
 
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I am very happy with the Rhodan. It works well in 2 foot or less conditions. Here is a photo from my last trip out. This is 100 miles from Key West North of Dry Tortugas. I also fish the gulf out off Cortez, FL.
 

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I know it’s not as big but my 96 holds great in waves. With all the windows in it gets push around a bit in high winds. But pretty much holds.

was in 4-5 for ground swell off a reef in the Abacos this summer and we were locked on a spot.
 
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glassman said:
I have a fishing guide that put a Rhodan on his boat a few years ago and he told me it was the best investment he ever made. He said "I am throwing my anchor away". Unfortunately he passed away months after his install and I never had the opportunity to fish with him to see how good this Rhodan GPS anchor was. However, it got me interested. I live in the Sarasota FL area, which is where Rhodan is based, I visited their plant and talked to them about my 336 and adding on....BUT...at that time the longest shaft they had was 84" and the thought was that if there was anything other than a flat sea, the motor would spend time out of the water and not hold position. BUT...wanting to ditch my anchor, I kept watching. Last year in May 2020 I heard Rhodan had introduced a 96"...YIPPEE!!!! Knowing this I talked to my Grady Dealers (Longboat Key and Key West). When I talked to them, they thought I was NUTS..."It will never work"...:(:(:( At the time I had a lot going on personally thus I listened and did not pursue...Still had interest...I start hearing stories and seeing other boats similar to mine with trolling motors on their bows...Got me interested....Talk to Grady Dealers again "I am seeing - are you doing"...and I am still getting the look that I was NUTS. Well it all changed when a good friend of mine put one on his 32/0 SeaVee, said it worked amazing - he installed himself, thus following his lead, bought the Rhodan and installed...we used a 36V Lithium battery and their charger. I am currently keeping my boat in Key West. We gathered all our supplies and before mini season headed down and did the install. We were totally prepared...we had an aluminum mounting plate machined and powder coated in a color close to that of the Grady Hull. It Took my crew about 6-7 hours from start to finish. It was not cheap. BUT...

IT WORKS AMAZING!!!!
Click to expand...
Where did you get your stabilizer arm that clamps onto the rail instead of mounting?
Thanks
Mike
 
I have a 2020 Canyon 336 with SeaKeeper 3. After fishing two boats with trolling motors, I agree it is a game changer. Has anyone installed a trolling motor with a SeaKeeper? I believe the batteries are secured where the SeaKeeper is currently housed. Not sure where I can install the Li batteries and charger.
 
Interesting tread just in the right moment i am taking the decision what TM to buy for my 306 Canyon.
120 lbs thrust Rhodan 96"
115 lbs thrust MK Instinct Riptide Quest 100"
100 lbs thrust Garmin Kraken 90"

As i have a Garmin setup the Kraken would be the logic option, but 10" longer shaft and 15 lbs more thrust make me think if the MK would be better.
The possibility to have the TM on my MFD and follow a route i made on my MFD is appealing for low speed trolling with live bait and i heard from more problems with MK than the Kraken, but that depend also on number of sales where MK sold much more units than Garmin.
Rhodan is not available in Italy, so that brand is not a option.

I believe that the Kraken will do well on my Canyon under most conditions as i don't fish when it becomes too wavy,
but i have no idea how much real world difference is 15 lbs more thrust the MK has.
Last November ic checked a 30ft Albemarle Express what is much bigger and heavier and he had a MK and owner told me that the MK work well.

Anyone here who has a idea if 15 lbs more thrust will be noticeable on a GW of the size of a 306/336 or Marlin?
Also, does the MK follow a route from a Garmin MFD by sending it to the MK, or would i need to use the remote control sto steer manually?

Happy Sunday!

Chris
 
I have a Rhodan 96" on my Marlin. They are not perfect, but I like enough that I am buying a second as a spare when my first one goes down! As the captain of the boat, it lets me spend more time fishing and less time fidgeting with the anchor.

My advice 1) buy the highest thrust you can 2) buy the longest shaft you can.. You want the power and you need to keep it in the water. You want the prop at least 2' under water... 2 1/2 feet or more even better.

When the wind to strong and blowing me off the spot with my Rhodan, I keep one motor running and in forward. But the tricky part is when the wind is blowing me off the spot, but one engine in gear is too much. I then keep one motor in forward, and one in reverse, with the spotlock running,. Sounds nuts, but it has worked for me.
 
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Thanks Ralph.
My bow is 49 inch ft above water surface and the Kraken shaft is 90 inch, so it should work, but i agree that 100" of the MK would be better.
The MK Riptide Quest has also the Autodeploy/stow feature what would be very comfortable as i fish mostly alone, but some reported that it did not last long and the MK is about 2 grand more expensive than the Kraken.
Best choice would be the Riptide Quest, but this model has some backdraws i don't like so i am still unsure what to get.
We don't have wave here, it's either dead calm or its 10+ knots of wind and that create within a few hours nasty, steep 2-3 ft chop what makes fishing uncomfortable and the Tm would have to work hard to keep position.
I do mostly very deep (1500-3000ft deep) deep dropping and till now used either to drift or keep position with the engines what is a pita, so it would be great to have a TM with spot lock to save fuel, lower noise and can concentrate more on fishing, same for much less depth slow pitch jigging i started this year.
The third i never did as i had always too fast boats is slow trolling about 1/2 knot with live bait for big Amberjack, Groupers and Dog Teeth Snapper and a TM would allow me that, but then i should have the possibility that TM follows a route or track from my Garmin's and thats not possible with a MK.
Chris
 
glassman said:
I have a fishing guide that put a Rhodan on his boat a few years ago and he told me it was the best investment he ever made. He said "I am throwing my anchor away". Unfortunately he passed away months after his install and I never had the opportunity to fish with him to see how good this Rhodan GPS anchor was. However, it got me interested. I live in the Sarasota FL area, which is where Rhodan is based, I visited their plant and talked to them about my 336 and adding on....BUT...at that time the longest shaft they had was 84" and the thought was that if there was anything other than a flat sea, the motor would spend time out of the water and not hold position. BUT...wanting to ditch my anchor, I kept watching. Last year in May 2020 I heard Rhodan had introduced a 96"...YIPPEE!!!! Knowing this I talked to my Grady Dealers (Longboat Key and Key West). When I talked to them, they thought I was NUTS..."It will never work"...:(:(:( At the time I had a lot going on personally thus I listened and did not pursue...Still had interest...I start hearing stories and seeing other boats similar to mine with trolling motors on their bows...Got me interested....Talk to Grady Dealers again "I am seeing - are you doing"...and I am still getting the look that I was NUTS. Well it all changed when a good friend of mine put one on his 32/0 SeaVee, said it worked amazing - he installed himself, thus following his lead, bought the Rhodan and installed...we used a 36V Lithium battery and their charger. I am currently keeping my boat in Key West. We gathered all our supplies and before mini season headed down and did the install. We were totally prepared...we had an aluminum mounting plate machined and powder coated in a color close to that of the Grady Hull. It Took my crew about 6-7 hours from start to finish. It was not cheap. BUT...

IT WORKS AMAZING!!!!
Click to expand...
Thanks for all the information. Im adding a Rhodan to my 336. I also have a SeaKeeper installed in the cubby under the helm area. Where did you install the LIon battery and how did you put the backing plate under the gunnel? Thanks for your assistance.
 
Not sure how much more space the 336 has, on mine i have two options:
a) i pull the toilet i never use and install the LiFePo batteries there
b) i mount them under the collapsed bow table in a battery box as i never use it, i have it always down to use as bow platform
c) installing them in a PeliCase to be able to bring them home to charge and strap them down when on the boat

My plan is to use solution B, in the space below the collapsed bow table.
Power Cable run in a flexible conduit over the gunwale to the port side can holder what i remove and cover it with a round plate having a watertight cable gland.
Once inside i rout the cable to the anchor chain space and drill another hole in the chain locker door where the cable exit to the battery box.

Should i opt for solution C then the cable will be connected on the fly and if no batteries aboard then coiled and mounted somewhere.

Chris
 
REELTirement 2 said:
Thanks for all the information. Im adding a Rhodan to my 336. I also have a SeaKeeper installed in the cubby under the helm area. Where did you install the LIon battery and how did you put the backing plate under the gunnel? Thanks for your assistance.
Click to expand...
YES to the backing plate....in fact, this is the most important aspect of the installation!
It is incredible how much torque is produced by the Rhodan while holding the boat in any significant current or waves....the shaft of the trolling motor extending into the water actually flexes!
So the mounting on the bow MUST be VERY secure.

Although my original install had the plastic puck on top of the original aluminum plate on the bow was secured with 4 through hull bolts, I was still getting some slight movement and flexing of the 3/8" aluminum plate on the bow during heavy weather use.

See my original installation details here:
F

Thread 'Rhodan on 88 Trophy Pro - Cool Upgrade 2'

Recently completed installation of my new Rhodan 96" shaft trolling motor on my classic Grady...the spot lock feature is a game changer!

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96" Rhodan on custom fabricated aluminum packing plate.
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Losiggy 36 volt 100 amp Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo4) battery mounted in stbd under bunk compartment.
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2 gauge wire run through anchor locker and attached to Battery Tender trolling motor connector
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All I need now is free time to use the boat and cooperating sea conditions to occur at the same time!
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So I just re-did the original mount by "sandwiching" together another longer, wider aluminum plate on top of the bow, and under the original plate I had.
Now the mounting set up from top to bottom is:
Trolling motor, mounting puck, 3/8" aluminum plate, longer, wider 1/4" aluminum plate under that, which allowed me to add another 6 through bolts. All sandwiched together on top of boat deck, bolted through a 3/8" aluminum backing plate below boat deck, all using 10 stainless steel bolts with lock nuts.
The backing plate was accessible through the anchor locker door.
 
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