Which Trolling Moter

[Clifton Egger]

I have a 2002 Tracker pt 175 and I am looking in to a new trolling moter. Currently I have the Motorguide 43 lb 12 volt that came with the boat. We fish long days and if the wind is blowing to much our days are cut short by a dead battery. Looking for advise on brand, size, and voltage of a new motor that would work on my boat. Also if I do end up going to a 24 volt system, what is involved in the wiring [12 volt vs. 24 volt]

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Go witha Gator mount and no less than 55 lbs....just a cent's worth. You can NEVER have too much TM

Your boat is 24 V ready but, you won't need it unless you fish big water.

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

Hey Tee, what do you mean his boat is 24V ready?



Uncle Billy

 

[Joel Radner]

Got a 24v 70 lbs thrust for sale. Look under Swap & Sell

 

[Jim in VA]

Clifton - I have the same boat with the same stock trolling motor. Because I wanted to have something for use on my plastic jon boat as well as on the PT175, I have a 55lb thrust Minnkota Vector (12V). I can attest to the fact that 55lbs helps a heck of a lot more than 43lbs! I would echo what others say about getting at least 55 if not 70.



As far as the 24v option, I believe Tee means that the wiring on the PT175 can handle the higher voltage. The issue you may run across as that while you can fit in two size 27 trolling motor batteries and the starter in the back of the boat next to the gas tank, it will be a tight squeeze. You may even need to move or remove the battery trays. Regardless, the three batteries should all fit in there quite snugly. To turn the two trolling motor batteries into a 24v set up, you would hook up the trolling motor wires to the first TM battery, then hook up the second battery by connecting the postive terminal of the second battery to the negative terminal of the first and the negative terminal of the second battery to the positive terminal of the first. Voila! 24 volts.



Good luck!

 

[Jason L]

To turn the two trolling motor batteries into a 24v set up, you would hook up the trolling motor wires to the first TM battery, then hook up the second battery by connecting the postive terminal of the second battery to the negative terminal of the first and the negative terminal of the second battery to the positive terminal of the first. Voila! 24 volts.

If I were to do this (12v to 24v), do I have to buy a new battery charger as well?

 

[Jim in VA]

Clifton - the other option if you are worried about weight is to install two battery trays into the front compartment. You'll lose some storage space, but you'll more appropriately redistribute weight on your rig (especially with the 75hp on the back).



Jason - as far as the charger, you won't be able to use the stock one on the boat, but I'm not sure which one you would need. Someone with way more knowledge above 24v vs 12v systems can answer this better than I!!



JC

 

[Steve Rizza]

How does your current trolling motor suit you as far as power ?? Is it enough, or do you want more ??



You could always simply add another battery if you just want more trolling time, and not more power.





Steve

 

[pete hanford2]

I have my 2 TM batteries in the center storage area in the front of the boat with a 3 bank charger and there is no room for anything.I did that to even out the weight so i dont have any problems on the river.

 

[Jeff R.]

Hey Tee, are you saying that my 2003 PT-175 will handle the voltage with the wiring that is already there or would I nedd to run bigger wires to go to a 24 volt setup?