Trolling motors on a Cajo

Every Cajo mounts an electric trolling motor in one of two spots — the stern Power-Pole pattern (every model) or the bow Minn-Kota pattern (Terra 116 and Outpost 128 only). Most owners run a Newport NK180 Pro on the stern or a Minn-Kota RTA-17 puck on the bow; this guide gets you to a confident pick for your hull.

The bolt patterns

Cajos use two factory bolt patterns, plus a third pattern (MotorGuide) that isn't a factory drop-in on either one.

The Outpost 100 and the Highlander inflatables (100, 120, 140T) don't have a bow puck — they're stern-mount only. And the RTA-17 itself is bow-specific: it isn't Power-Pole-compatible, so it can't move to the stern — different hole spacing entirely.

Fitment by hull

Bow-mount or stern-mount?

Bow-mount is best for precision boat control, holding position on a fish, fighting the wind, or running GPS Spot-Lock (Minn-Kota Terrova, Ulterra, Riptide; some MotorGuides). Trade-offs: it shifts trim forward, cable runs are longer, and you need a control method — foot pedal, wireless remote, or app. It's the right call for tournament anglers, Spot-Lock users, and anyone fishing wind-heavy water. Only the Terra 116 and Outpost 128 support it, via the Minn-Kota RTA-17 puck on brass threaded inserts molded into the bow. Counter-intuitively, the added nose weight acts like ballast and makes standing on the deck easier, not harder — there's plenty of volume up front on both hulls to carry a motor and battery.

Stern-mount is simpler push-from-behind propulsion — it supplements or replaces the pedal drive, and works alongside the rudder for steering. Less precise than bow-mount and no Spot-Lock equivalent, but a much easier install. It's the most common Cajo setup, and every model supports it.

Confirmed motors

Stern (Power-Pole)

• Newport NK180 Pro — Cajo's most-recommended stern motor, bolting straight to the Power-Pole pattern with its own stock hardware. No adapter plate, no DIY.
• Bixpy — makes two mounts that fit a Cajo: a Power-Pole base motor mount (fits the Terra 116 and the rest of the lineup, fast to install and remove — the most common Bixpy setup) and a fin-drive socket mount that pops into the Cajo Fin Drive Adapter for an in-hull option alongside a Hobie MD 180 or similar kick-up drive — pull the fin drive, drop the Bixpy in, you're motoring. Pick the Power-Pole base for speed and runtime; pick the fin-drive socket if you're already running fins and want a quiet electric backup or stealth approach.
• Garmin Force — mounts to the center Power-Pole Micro Anchor on the stern. A natural pick if you're already in the Garmin electronics ecosystem.
• Newport NK300 — mechanically it'll mount, since it uses the same Power-Pole base, but we haven't formally tested it on the Terra 116 — so we don't have a tested answer on whether the thrust suits your hull and load yet. Run one? Tell us and we'll fold it into a real recommendation.

Bow (Minn-Kota)

• Minn-Kota RTA-17 puck — drops onto the bow of the Terra 116 or Outpost 128. Any Minn-Kota motor with a quick-release base works with it — Terrova, Ulterra, Edge, and Riptide all confirmed.

MotorGuide (Xi3, Xi5, Tour)

MotorGuide's quick-release puck uses different hole spacing than both Minn-Kota and Power-Pole, so it won't drop into either location out of the box. Owners who go this route either drill an adapter plate (Minn-Kota or Power-Pole holes on one face, MotorGuide holes on the other) or redrill the puck itself to match. Either works, neither is plug-and-play, and Cajo doesn't ship a factory adapter — factor in shop time. MotorGuide doesn't make a Power-Pole-base motor that we know of, though third-party Power-Pole mount adapters are readily available.

Gas outboards — not supported

Cajo hulls are electric-only. The HDPE transom isn't rated for the weight, vibration, or torque of a gas outboard; a gas engine plus fuel tank shifts weight aft far enough to compromise stability, especially on a sit-on-top; and bolting one on makes you a motorized vessel under different state and Coast Guard rules that Cajo kayaks aren't built or certified for.

Bow install hardware

The bow's mounting points on the Terra 116 and Outpost 128 are brass threaded inserts molded into the hull, set to M6 x 1.0. A Minn-Kota puck mounts with M6 x 1.0 machine screws in 316 stainless — screw length depends on the specific quick-release you're running, so measure rather than assume the kit's hardware fits. Removing the front carry handle to clear the motor shaft is a normal part of the install.

If a bow "four-bolt pattern doesn't line up," the cause is almost always the puck itself — some Minn-Kota pucks ship slightly out of spec, a known quirk in the Minn-Kota community — not the boat's insert pattern, which is molded to spec. The fix is a replacement Minn-Kota mount; send a straight-on photo of your bow and the puck if you want a second opinion before ordering.

Thrust and battery

Thrust sizing isn't documented for every motor/hull pairing, but as general guidance:

• Outpost 100 / Terra 116: 45–55 lb thrust is typical for kayak loads
• Outpost 128: room for a 55-lb thrust class motor fully loaded — electronics, anchor, batteries and all
• Highlander line: lighter motors scale better with the inflatable hull

The Outpost 128's electronics pod is a confirmed fit for an Amped Outdoors 30Ah LiFePO4 (tall version), on its side — the pod measures 4.3" W x 13.4" L x 6.75" H, with a no-drill transducer mount on the bottom and a built-in thru-hull wiring path on top. On non-pod hulls, a sealed waterproof battery box behind the seat is the standard rig.

Making the rudder and motor coexist

The rudder sits on the center stern Power-Pole position by default, sharing the same three-position pattern (center + 2 flanking) as a stern motor. You've got two options:

• Motor in the center: take the rudder off and bolt the motor to the center Power-Pole. You lose rudder steering, so this suits a rig you steer with the motor.
• Motor to the side: keep the rudder where it is, on the center position, and mount the motor to one of the flanking positions.

Don't move the rudder off center. It works best in the centerline stream, and offsetting the blade is not a configuration we run. If you want both a working rudder and a motor, mount the motor to the side — NK180 Pro owners in particular report good results that way. If you'd rather have the motor centered, take the rudder off entirely rather than shifting it to a flank.

Outpost 128 note: its stern Power-Pole mounts are turned 90° to fit the performance hull, so flanking a motor beside the rudder needs an adapter that flips the mount's orientation — the Bixpy Power Pole Mounting Plate does this.

Common combos by owner type

• Tournament, big water, electronics-heavy: Outpost 128 + Minn-Kota Terrova on the bow (RTA-17) + Newport NK180 Pro side-mounted on the stern as backup/supplement
• Trolling-focused, simple rig: Terra 116 or Outpost 128 + NK180 Pro center-stern with the rudder removed
• Light-tackle, smaller water: Outpost 100 + Bixpy Power-Pole base mount to the side of a centered rudder
• Salt / surf: Terra 116 + NK180 Pro stern + a freshwater rinse after every trip
• Inflatable build: Highlander 120 + a lighter Power-Pole stern motor