trolling motor battery size and brand?

I am going to buy a 30 lb thurst min Kota trolling motor to push
around a 14 foot aluminum boat. I'm going to mount it on the bow even
though it's transom mount. What size battery should i purchase and
what brand?

"Muskoka Fisherman" wrote in message
oups.com...
I am going to buy a 30 lb thurst min Kota trolling motor to push
around a 14 foot aluminum boat. I'm going to mount it on the bow even
though it's transom mount. What size battery should i purchase and
what brand?

Your wallet will be the biggest determining factor. Basically the biggest
baddest meanest battery you can afford in a deep cycle.

I've had about the same luck with Sears and Trojans, but there is a fair
difference in price. Wal-Mart brand only lasted marginally less than Sears,
but I think the biggest the hay is a group 27. Sears has a group 29 and
Trojan has two different batteries that are the equivelant of a group 31.

Currently I am using a set of Cabelas label AGM group 30s in my big baot and
they are working really well. Since they are almost new though I have no
idea what their life will be. They were only 20 dollars more than buying
the Equivelant Trojans locally.

Some folks on this board will tell me there must be something wrong with me
because their expereience did not mirror mine, but I have had crappy luck
with Interstate marine batteries, and when we owned a hardware/auto parts
store we had more returns with Interstates than any of the other brands we
sold. My last boat came with Interstates and they worked ok for about 6
months, but then their useable life started to drop substantially.

If money is an object I would probably go with the biggest Wal-Mart battery
you can get in a deep cycle marine. If its not enough capacity you can get
two of them for the price of one Trojan.

Oh, in the autoparts store we had very good luck with AC Delco, and my dad
ran them in his boats for years. They worked pretty good. I have not had
as good luck in more recent years with their batteries in my service trucks,
but I have not tried their marine batteries in more than a decade. (Almost
2.)

My ranking so far in the following order is:

CABELAS AGM (so far the best, but longevity is not determined)
AC/Delco
Trojan / Diehard
Wal-Mart
Interstate

I've used some other auto parts store deep cycles from guys like Autozone
and Chief, and they were about the same as Interstate. 6 months before
noticeable drop in capacity.

Oh, and don't think andbody is going to warranty a battery becuase of a drop
in capacity. They will not (atleast nobody I have tried). Basically they
trickle charge the battery over night and load test it. If it load tests
well enough to crank over a car starter a couple times they say the battery
is good and refuse to warranty it. Some are downright nasty about it too.

Good luck.


--
Bob La Londe
Fishing Arizona & The Colorado River
Fishing Forums & Contests
http://www.YumaBassMan.com



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

On Jun 14, 9:34 pm, Muskoka Fisherman
wrote:
I am going to buy a 30 lb thurst min Kota trolling motor to push
around a 14 foot aluminum boat. I'm going to mount it on the bow even
though it's transom mount. What size battery should i purchase and
what brand?

If you are talking a jon boat that motor will be enough. If it's an
aluminum bass boat I'd go with at least a 48 pound thrust motor. A
larger power motor allows you to run decent speeds on a medium speed
setting without overheating it and draining the battery(s) too soon.
If you always have to run on high speed against wind you are
underpowered. If budget is a factor, delay buying until you can buy
quality batteries.

Assuming a 12 volt motor, use two batteries hooked together in
parallel for top performance. The two will last more than twice as
long as they would separately. Going to a larger wire size helps a
lot, too. Running two wires is a way around that in these days when
copper wire is expensive. Stick with marine cable and regularly clean
all connections, especially the battery posts.

Wal Mart batteries are OK and have a really good replacement policy. I
take them in every 6 months for a deep cycle test. If they are down
even a little they replace them without argument, applying a credit
for months not used on the warranty. Auto Zone does the same. It's a
hassle to mess with that, but it keeps my battery costs way down and I
rarely run a battery over 6 months old. Get the biggest battery
capacity they carry if it will fit in your boat. I changed up the tray
arrangement to get an extra battery in the compartment and was able to
put a third battery in for electronics to get clean power and no
interference from other systems in the boat.

One item I really love is an All Charge/StaynCharge system.
http://www.stayncharge.com It takes power off the outboard whenever I
run it to top the 3 batteries off plus the (4th) cranking battery. An
hour of outboarding keeps the batteries topped off all day. When I'm
towing the trailer the truck alternator tops the batteries off. When
the home charger actually charges it's time to take one or more
batteries in for exchange.

Jim

I push a 10 and 12 foot Jon boat arourd for about 6 hours on 1 everstart
battery from Wal-Mart. Have the battery for 3 years now and still holds a
charge fine.

The Minn Kota trolling motors wear out faster than the batteries it seems.

Just my 2 cents.

Dave V
www.gotobaits.com


"Ouachita" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Jun 14, 9:34 pm, Muskoka Fisherman
wrote:
I am going to buy a 30 lb thurst min Kota trolling motor to push
around a 14 foot aluminum boat. I'm going to mount it on the bow even
though it's transom mount. What size battery should i purchase and
what brand?

If you are talking a jon boat that motor will be enough. If it's an
aluminum bass boat I'd go with at least a 48 pound thrust motor. A
larger power motor allows you to run decent speeds on a medium speed
setting without overheating it and draining the battery(s) too soon.
If you always have to run on high speed against wind you are
underpowered. If budget is a factor, delay buying until you can buy
quality batteries.

Assuming a 12 volt motor, use two batteries hooked together in
parallel for top performance. The two will last more than twice as
long as they would separately. Going to a larger wire size helps a
lot, too. Running two wires is a way around that in these days when
copper wire is expensive. Stick with marine cable and regularly clean
all connections, especially the battery posts.

Wal Mart batteries are OK and have a really good replacement policy. I
take them in every 6 months for a deep cycle test. If they are down
even a little they replace them without argument, applying a credit
for months not used on the warranty. Auto Zone does the same. It's a
hassle to mess with that, but it keeps my battery costs way down and I
rarely run a battery over 6 months old. Get the biggest battery
capacity they carry if it will fit in your boat. I changed up the tray
arrangement to get an extra battery in the compartment and was able to
put a third battery in for electronics to get clean power and no
interference from other systems in the boat.

One item I really love is an All Charge/StaynCharge system.
http://www.stayncharge.com It takes power off the outboard whenever I
run it to top the 3 batteries off plus the (4th) cranking battery. An
hour of outboarding keeps the batteries topped off all day. When I'm
towing the trailer the truck alternator tops the batteries off. When
the home charger actually charges it's time to take one or more
batteries in for exchange.

Jim

Dave Vito wrote:
I push a 10 and 12 foot Jon boat arourd for about 6 hours on 1 everstart
battery from Wal-Mart. Have the battery for 3 years now and still holds
a charge fine.


I run a 55lb, 12V MK on my 17-1/2 foot G3, and run it off one of the
top-of-the-line group 30 Everstarts. I have another deep cycle (same
battery, just older) in the boat, but I use it as my starting battery
and to run all the elctronics. I have a jumper hooked up, and only need
to throw a knife switch to jump with that one if my primary electric
motor battery ever goes down while I'm on an electric only lake, but
I've never had to use it. I fish a lot of 10 to 12 hour days, and quite
a few of those days are on HP restricted lakes where I'm limited to
electric power. I rarely use more than half the battery. And when I use
3/4 of a charge in a day, I take it out and take it back to wal-mart,
where they exchange it, no questions asked. It has an 18 month 100%
replacement guarantee, and when one exceeds that, I slide it over to the
other side of the boat and turn in the 3 yr old battery on the other
side for a new one. At less than 70 bucks a pop, it's a cheap way to go.

Ouachita wrote:
On Jun 14, 9:34 pm, Muskoka Fisherman
wrote:

I am going to buy a 30 lb thurst min Kota trolling motor to push
around a 14 foot aluminum boat. I'm going to mount it on the bow even
though it's transom mount. What size battery should i purchase and
what brand?


If you are talking a jon boat that motor will be enough. If it's an
aluminum bass boat I'd go with at least a 48 pound thrust motor. A
larger power motor allows you to run decent speeds on a medium speed
setting without overheating it and draining the battery(s) too soon.
If you always have to run on high speed against wind you are
underpowered. If budget is a factor, delay buying until you can buy
quality batteries.

Assuming a 12 volt motor, use two batteries hooked together in
parallel for top performance. The two will last more than twice as
long as they would separately. Going to a larger wire size helps a
lot, too. Running two wires is a way around that in these days when
copper wire is expensive. Stick with marine cable and regularly clean
all connections, especially the battery posts.

Wal Mart batteries are OK and have a really good replacement policy. I
take them in every 6 months for a deep cycle test. If they are down
even a little they replace them without argument, applying a credit
for months not used on the warranty. Auto Zone does the same. It's a
hassle to mess with that, but it keeps my battery costs way down and I
rarely run a battery over 6 months old. Get the biggest battery
capacity they carry if it will fit in your boat. I changed up the tray
arrangement to get an extra battery in the compartment and was able to
put a third battery in for electronics to get clean power and no
interference from other systems in the boat.

One item I really love is an All Charge/StaynCharge system.
http://www.stayncharge.com It takes power off the outboard whenever I
run it to top the 3 batteries off plus the (4th) cranking battery. An
hour of outboarding keeps the batteries topped off all day. When I'm
towing the trailer the truck alternator tops the batteries off. When
the home charger actually charges it's time to take one or more
batteries in for exchange.

Jim

Just a confirmation regarding the "Stay N' Charge" system. I've had mine
now for 2 full seasons and it's the greatest technical advance to date.
I charge 2 batteries; one deep cycle and one starting battery in my rig
and never have to worry about finding and hooking up a household current
again. Not a great system for a person who docks his boat, but for us
that tow, it's a godsend! Very cost effective besides.