Trolling motor battery / batteries

[Huggy_B]

I'm currently tweaking the set up of a boat I've recently bought. It has a riptide sp 55 with i-pilot that I'm upgrading to the i-pilot link. Currently has 1 x 80ah battery hooked up to it which I'm sure will be inadequate for a long day trolling for trout down south which I do quite frequently.

So in terms of performance etc, is there any benefit to getting 1 big 250/270ah battery versus 2 x 130ah batteries? Weight difference is neglible from what I've seen.

Cheers!

[scott1987]

You shouldn't need that big of a battery unless your doing multi day trips without ability to charge the battery. My 100amp battery lasts a good 10 hours with my 55lb motorguide. Moat of that under full speed or spot lock in heavy current. Depednding how big your boat is thats going to put akot of weight up the front of it

[Brad Y]

No but you will need something strong to lift such a battery in place. And think about how heavy it will be over a small area of your boat. Better off with a 100/120ah battery at most. Should get a days fishing out of that I would think.

[TheChief]

On my old 4.3m tinnie I had 2 100amp batteries running my 55lb minn kota. It would go for 3 days atleast and sometimes 4 without charging it.

[Pistol]

I use an 80a/h battery and solar panels. Battery also is rigged to charge off the alternator. Don't see a need for anything else unless I was to be fishing in current all day on multi day trips. A whole day trolling would kill it though but 200a/h is massive!

[stevej525]

Gday Pistol,

I have a Quintrex Hornet 435 with a deep cycle 100 AH battery connected to a 55lb Minn Kota,It is also connected to the Cranking Battery and gets about 5 to 6 amps from it when the outboard is going. It lasts about a day and a half to two days trolling with 2 to 3 people in it , i am interested in your solar setup. I often go fishing (Camping) and have been thinking of buying a Yamaha Generator to take so i could recharge overnight.

Can you post some Pics or Detail the size of the panel etc

[Huggy_B]

So I'm basing it on past experience with my last set up. I had a pretty basic 12 foot tinny, no deck, nothing fancy added to it with a 54lb transom mount water snake. I had a 130ah Trojan flooded and that wouldn't last a day trolling - I had another 115ah Trojan as back up. I was trolling on either setting 2 or 3 (out of 5). The dam I usually fish is electric only so I can't charge off the alternator

Current boat is a 385 Explorer which has been decked out by the last owner, so I'm guessing it'll be significantly heavier than my last boat. Has a Century 100ah up front (25kg) and a cranking battery at the back (another 25kg).

The things in my favour would be the bow mount being more efficient than the transm mount (from what I've read) plus the Minn Kota "maximiser". Is the agm/gel batteries a significant upgrade performance-wise?

[Brad Y]

Sounds like a 24v motor might be a better proposition

[Nimbin157]

I hope you've got some form of rudder at the back of the boat if your going bow mount other wise its going to go round in cicles on you. Imo i would go a transom mount on an electric only dam.

[grizzo]

Originally Posted by Huggy_B

I'm currently tweaking the set up of a boat I've recently bought. It has a riptide sp 55 with i-pilot that I'm upgrading to the i-pilot link. Currently has 1 x 80ah battery hooked up to it which I'm sure will be inadequate for a long day trolling for trout down south which I do quite frequently.

So in terms of performance etc, is there any benefit to getting 1 big 250/270ah battery versus 2 x 130ah batteries? Weight difference is neglible from what I've seen.

Cheers!

Hey mate. In my opinion you will need the 250ah battery to motor and troll your boat all day.
I have 12 years experience running a 55lb with 100ah battery. It will last all day for me but I only do general manoeuvring and spot lock. It doesn't get used continuously all day long like you will be doing. And trolling would mean continuous with highish speed.

Also, you shouldn't run your battery all the way flat. Its not good for it. No lower than 30% roughly. Actually the less you flatten it each time the better.

Read up on AGM batteries. Performance wise they are the same in output. There is advantages and disadvantages.

[grizzo]

Also. I would rather one large than 2 smaller batteries.

[Huggy_B]

For reference, this was my old set up.

Originally Posted by Brad Y

Sounds like a 24v motor might be a better proposition

I was heading that way, but when I was buying the boat the guy threw in the option of buying the 55lb riptide that was already attached for a price I couldn't ignore.

Originally Posted by Nimbin157

I hope you've got some form of rudder at the back of the boat if your going bow mount other wise its going to go round in cicles on you. Imo i would go a transom mount on an electric only dam.

I have the outboard on still, I will just lock it. I only have to remove the fuel tank (or disconnect it if it's built in).

Originally Posted by grizzo

Hey mate. In my opinion you will need the 250ah battery to motor and troll your boat all day.
I have 12 years experience running a 55lb with 100ah battery. It will last all day for me but I only do general manoeuvring and spot lock. It doesn't get used continuously all day long like you will be doing. And trolling would mean continuous with highish speed.

Also, you shouldn't run your battery all the way flat. Its not good for it. No lower than 30% roughly. Actually the less you flatten it each time the better.

Read up on AGM batteries. Performance wise they are the same in output. There is advantages and disadvantages.

Cheers, my gut feel was 130ah wouldn't see out a day of continuous trolling. I was monitoring my Trojans, I never took them lower than ~40%. I don't think the water-snake was very economical though to be honest.

Since I'm going to be re-doing the decking now, I may get creative and make a mount and connection where the fuel tank sits to add a battery for electric only days and I'll remove the tank - so in terms of weight it will be pretty close to like for like. I'll replace the trolling motor battery I have now with an SSB 130ah AGM, keep the existing one for cranking the engine and running my sounder etc and have a second SSB available for my tank mount idea - 260ah should do it I hope!

[Piranha]

I run a 105 ah agm 55lb watersnake bow mount on a heavier boat 3m poly in strong current and it does 8-9 hours easy so a 130ah may be overkill but if your boat can handle the extra weight then why not��

[grizzo]

I think you guys recommending smaller than 250ah batteries are forgetting that the guy will be powering his boat by the electric motor ONLY all day.

That means he will not be using any other engine to get to wherever he goes and he said he will also be trolling for trout all day. That means he isn't just manoeuvring his boat, but constantly trolling at above mid speed.

There is no way a 130AH battery will do that for a day.

[Flyman1]

I have a 440 Makocraft Frenzy with a bow mounted 55lb Minnkota. I also troll the snowy lakes and can get 20 hours trolling for trout out of it with no problems. It trolls for 4 hours in the morning and 4 in the afternoon in summer. It has A 120 AMP AGM battery. I will never go back to a stern mounted leccy motor as you are forever try to keep it going straight even in a slight breeze, whereas the bow mounted motor pulls you through the water rather than trying to push you through. I have also purchased and now use a 180w ( 3x 60watts folding solar panel ) that is brilliant. It charges the battery no probs. I have recently returned from a 9 day camping trip to Jindabyne and used the leccy motor exclusively each day without any problems. This has replaced my 2kva generator previously used and is better, as the generator still would not charge the battery back to full after running for 8-10 hours. I did upgrade the solar controller on the solar panels to a better one which is more efficient than the one it came with. Hope this helps in your choice.