Manual to Electric Riggers

[Trickdog]

Maybe a crazy request. I have 3 Cannon Uni-Troll manual riggers that came with my used boat in 2012. They've worked flawlessly with minimal care for 13 seasons of 20 Lake Michigan outings per season. I love their EZ swing out, EZ removal, and EZ ball retrieve. I'm getting too old to keep cranking. New electric riggers are $600+ each, used $150-300 depending on age and if they come with mounting and swivel base. Has anyone done the following: 1) Replace Cannon Mag5 2' boom with the 53" boom that is on my manual? 2) electrified a Cannon Uni-Troll? 3) Used the Uni-Troll swivel mount for a Cannon Mag 5 or 10? If I can swap the boom, I'd consider the Mag 5 and save $$. If my Uni-Troll can be electrified, I'd try that. I also have 2 ancient, ugly, weathered Walker electrics with auto-stop that work flawlessly, and they run off the back. Has anyone used a BigJon "Speed Rigger"? Two of those are available, without mounting brackets or swivel bases.

Thank in advance for weighing in. Please don't just tell me to buy the new ones. Saving money is important. You should see my boat!! But it catches fish! 

[fisherdude]

Run as is save money. bring a teenage person with a strong arm for manuals riggers .

[mr 580]

Booms should interchange between Unitroll and Mag 5.  Trying to convert old manual to electric would be a nightmare as Cannon over the years has gone through several versions and various motors etc.  Even buying used electrics is a crapshoot unless you can determine how old they are as Cannon has used the Mag 10 name for years.  I bought my first electric Cannons 40 years ago.

[rolmops]

You might consider me one of the people who always tries to save a penny or two by improvising things and hoping it will work. Usually after many trials and mostly errors I come to the conclusion that I am not as smart as many engineers and the price of my "improvements" and jerry rigging is often higher and less efficient. In the end it usually is cheaper to buy something that works well and does not need repairs or improvements. Besides, usually parts individually bought are much more expensive than the ready package.

[Jason Barra]

I did the same thing you're thinking about doing years ago. Had the swivel bases, and extendable booms from my uni trools, and put them on my mag 5's, converting them into 10's. The mag 5 and mag 10 from what I researched at the time have the same motor.  The only difference is that the 10 comes with the extendable boom, and swivel base. I couldn't justify buying 10's when I had everything to make the 5's into 10's to save money.  

[sherman brown]

On 5/22/2025 at 10:56 PM, Trickdog said:

Maybe a crazy request. I have 3 Cannon Uni-Troll manual riggers that came with my used boat in 2012. They've worked flawlessly with minimal care for 13 seasons of 20 Lake Michigan outings per season. I love their EZ swing out, EZ removal, and EZ ball retrieve. I'm getting too old to keep cranking. New electric riggers are $600+ each, used $150-300 depending on age and if they come with mounting and swivel base. Has anyone done the following: 1) Replace Cannon Mag5 2' boom with the 53" boom that is on my manual? 2) electrified a Cannon Uni-Troll? 3) Used the Uni-Troll swivel mount for a Cannon Mag 5 or 10? If I can swap the boom, I'd consider the Mag 5 and save $$. If my Uni-Troll can be electrified, I'd try that. I also have 2 ancient, ugly, weathered Walker electrics with auto-stop that work flawlessly, and they run off the back. Has anyone used a BigJon "Speed Rigger"? Two of those are available, without mounting brackets or swivel bases.

Thank in advance for weighing in. Please don't just tell me to buy the new ones. Saving money is important. You should see my boat!! But it catches fish! 

I was where you are at about 20 + or _ years ago. But I lucked out, so when I started looking to upgrade to electric, I had a little money saved but not a lot. eBay had 2 Big Jon dealers having a price war. I ended up getting 2  of the pro tournament riggers with auto stop for 500.00 for the pair, then checked with the other guy and got 2 more for 525.00 for a pair. These were normally selling for over 800.00 each.

 

But I had been cranking ever since I started salmon fishing, and still doing it later for walleye. But I did drop to 2 for walleye. I am 74 now and couldn't do manuals now. But it was like kicking my behind for waiting so long to switch, but money was always tight.

 

The boat my son and I bought came with 2 cannon riggers that still work. The auto stop on my Big Jon's had stopped working, not long after I got them, so we're using the Cannon riggers. But I just bought a nice cannon with an extendible boom and auto stop when the ball comes out of the water. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, but I paid 200.00 for it, including shipping with PayPal goods and services, and sent an extra 20.00 for fees, so I'm protected if it doesn't work. I bought this for my side of the boat to make it easier on me on the side I cover. But if I find another one similar for a similar price, I may get it.

 

You should be able to find 2 riggers for 400.00 to 500.00 that you can pay using a payment service like PayPal or Cash App for goods, then you have something like 90 days to file a dispute, and they usually refund your money. But never pay that much money in cash or to friends and family unless you know and trust them.

Edited May 24, 2025 by sherman brown