Need trolling motor advice from you guys

[Jeff R.]

Ok, I know that many of you have upgraded to a 24V motor from the factory 12V on your Tracker boats. I have a PT-175 with a 12V 43# trolling motor. It moves my boat around pretty well except for those extremely windy days where even on 5 it will barely move the boat. I mainly just fish for fun right now but have been thinking about trying some tournament fishing to see if I will like it or not. I am not sure if my single 12V battery will last for 6 to 8 hours or whatever the length of the tournament might be. What my question is.....will I get a lot of extended run time by adding another battery and keeping it a 12V system so it would be pulling from 2 batteries instead of 1? I am afraid to invest the money into upgrading to a 24V systen and find that I don't really need it if I can get by with adding another 12V to what I have. The second part of the question is I currently have a Guest single bank 6 amp onboard charger (Guest is awesome BTW) and if I add another battery do I have to get a 2 bank charger or will my current one charge both batteries at 6 amps as long as they are wired together as 12V and not 24? Thanks in advance for your input on my lack of knowledge!

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Will your batts last longer with 2......yes

will your single bank charge them ...yes (takes longer)

will you EVER regret going to a 24V system and bigger TM.....NO!!



TOXIC

 

[tim nocera]

Jeff i have a 04 pt175 with 2 group 27 batterys, before i upgraded to a 70lb digital MG i had the 43pro, and it would last 3-4 full days of eletric only lakes(depended on wind)

you might want to upgrade your charger, thats alot of work for a single bank 6amp

i'll have to wait till i get up to my cabin to see how long the 70lber can go on a single charge

but if ya got any other ??? just let me know



TimN

 

[Jim B]

Ditto what Tox said. You will never regret the move to 24v and a bigger tm.

 

[Bill Hamilton]

Hey - I upgraded to the 36V and have not regrets either. MK 101 is too much for your boat but a 24V system is great and you won't EVER regret it.



Enjoy!

 

[Rich Stern]

I'll argue the other way, for one reason: Weight. Hauling another battery around in the stern of robs your boat of both holeshot and top speed. Not a big deal if you've got a V6 sitting on your transom. But with a smaller boat and smaller horsepower, it matters. When the 12v 48lb thrust model on my 700LXDC went belly up, I replaced it with a Motorguide 12v 52lb motor and have been pleased with the performance. If the wind is whipping hard enough to challenge the motor on it's highest setting, I don't care to be out there.

 

[byron cooley]

I did the same thing on my 04' 640LX / 05' 75 Opti. I didn't want the extra weight of another battery and the Motor guide 5200 pro series upgrade was fine for this small rig. If the wind blows that hard, it's beer thirty!!!

 

[Bill Hamilton]

Rich / Byron,



While I understand your concern about weight and the ability to go to with the 52# motor I don't think that the added weight of one battery is going to impact your hole shot or top end speed by that much. If you took some of the lures out of your boat that Toxic says will catch fish you could probably upgrade to a 36V with no problem. (LOL)



If you do any type of tournaments you can't call beer-thirty (I like that, though) and get off the lake 'cause of the chop and wind. If you are in it for the pleasure then your option, but my preference is to have a little "beef" even if I don't need it all the time. Just IMHO. I think Toxic told me once that I was humble. Haha



Bill in VA

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

If weight is a concern go with the Optima batteries. I am actually thinking of giving them a try.



TOXIC

 

[SCOTT GARDNER]

You may regret it when u have to buy two batteries.

 

[Julio Santana]

I don't know. I wrestled with this not that long ago on my 700 LX SC.



I ended up getting the MinnKota 55 AT. The biggest trolling motor I could get for a 12V system at the time.



It works well and gives me a good amount of thrust, but it does seem to chew up the battery faster than my old 43lb Motor Guide did.



I was on Istokpoga yesterday and the wind kicked up to about 20 mph and I couldn't make any headway against the wind even on full tilt. Of course, that is not a normal wind condition.



There was an ABA tournament going on yesterday and today and this morning several of the boats came back in due to rough conditions. One guy said he was fighting 5 ft. white caps coming back in on his 21 ft. Triton.



I got it up in the air (Scary as heck!) yesterday coming back in at full tilt on my 700 LX w/ Merc 125. I had to back off for the rest of the ride in. Getting the boat in the air is somewhat nerve racking.



Lake Istokpoga is a rough lake when the wind conditions are right. Most of the lake is less than 7 feet deep.

 

[Christopher Laurencio]

Jeff R,



Did the same upgrade as Dave Sawicki did except for type of batteries. I put two group 27's and my group 24 all in the batt compartment, the boat sits level in the water and top speed and time to plane has not changed at all. The Batts I got are AGM's so they never need water added to them. I upgraded the guest to a two bank guest and also ran new 6 guage wire and a manual breaker for the TM system. I got my 70lb MG on sale @ BPS for $399.99, the mount alone is worth that!



You also need to consider that some are suggesting the bigger 12volt systems, from what I understand the 55AT will pull more amps than a 70lb thrust MG, therefore reduce your time on the batts.



Chris

 

[Jeff R.]

Thanks guys for the responses and advice. Now for part two of the question! Does anyone know if the wires from the factory are sufficient to run a 24V trolling motor or would I have to run bigger ones to the front? I currently have just 2, a red and black running to the front plug in. Would I need a different plug in for the 24V motor also? Thanks again for the help.

 

[Christopher Laurencio]

Jeff, most likely you will need a new plug. As far as the wiring goes, I think the year and model will dictate the wire upgrade need. I upgraded mine because it was 8 awg, which most people said was fine, but considering I fish many tourneys on electric only lakes I did the wire upgrade because the heavier wire has less resistance on all that other electrical mombo jumbo stuff. Also the TM manuf. advise on 6 awg, from what I was told 8 guage maxes out at 50 amps, and that was the size breaker needed for the new TM. So I went one size heavier. If you look at the TM harness in the batt compartment you can read the awg # on the wire jacket, if not able to see the #, if it's thinner in diameter than your cranking batt wires than it's not 6 awg.



If you do need new wire, check Cabelas, I got mine there and it came in a extra bonded jacket and seems very safe that way.



BTW, when asking around about wire size, everyone suggested larger wire if staying with a MK 55 at vs. a 24v TM. The larger 12v pull more amps and could heat up the wires faster.



Hope this helps



CJL



I might not have answered your exact question, 2 wires is all you need for 24v, it's the guage of the wire that's most important.

 

[Rich Stern]

Julio, you might want to test that battery. 55 lbs of thrust should move the boat along smartly, and keep you going into a stiff wind.