I was asked by a friend the other day what size of trolling motor to put on his boat. He has the same boat I do and told him what I had and that I wish I would have went with more #’s of thrust.
My question is what do you guys do to help determine what size electric trolling motor to use and what kind. Plus he asked the question then of 12 or 24 volt and why…These were good questions I could only answer with my personal experience and likes. What do you guys do?
What kind of boat is this for, and how much does it weigh roughly?
There are quite of few things to take into consideration when determinimg the minimum amount of thrust for your boat. Shaft length will also have to be taken into consideration for bow mount motors.
It generally comes down to buy the most thrst you can afford. The most powerful 12V motor is a 55# thrust which is an ok motor for aluminum boats up to 16′, but they will eat the batteries in choppy conditions, or fighting current. The 24V motors start at 65#. The more thrust you have, the lower the speed setting you will have to use to compensate for adverse conditions…or less battery draw which translates to more battery life. More power also allows you to keep the boat in control, or recover control in less time which is better for fishing(good boat control), and takes less juice.
Most of the larger, heavier boats these days your going to want a minimum of 80# thrust for great performance. 65# will get most boat by most of the time. If its a small, bench type boat(light), I like the 50# thrust class motors.
On my 16′ boat, I get an average of 4 times the run time out of a 65# thrust motor as I did with the same batteries with a 50# thrust motor. The reason being it has enough power to push and maintain control, and very minimal time and juice wasted on regaining boat control. Even trolling cranks I get about 4 times the run time out of 2 batteries vs a 12V system.
It cost more to get into the 24V system, but it really pays off on the water.
I think there is too much importance put on “thrust” size of the electric motors.
No matter the thrust rating….if there isn’t enough power supply to create the thrust..it doesn’t matter. In other words—you could have a 65 lb. thrust combined with a 12 volt power supply and have LESS power than a 50 lb. thrust with a 24 volt power supply.
So….you can get by with LESS thrust with a 24 volt motor because you will create more power for a longer period of time than a higher thrust 12 volt system. THAT is the key!
Buy 24 volt if there is ANY doubt. 50 to 65 lb. thrust on MOST boats(16-19′) in average wind conditions will be just fine with a 24 volt motor.
Any questions in this regard…feel free to call!
Great Topic!
I am looking to upgrade from a 12v setup to a new 24V this spring for the reasons listed above. Is it an easy switch to also change out the current 12V outlet I have in the bow? As I assume I need a new 24V outlet…I am just beginning to look into this upgrade
Thanks for all info!
Quote:
12 or 24 volt and why
24 volt, as said before the duration of the charge lasts longer. Pounds of thrust I cannot say. I have a 17 foot Lund tiller with a 80 lb troller. I can set the motor to its slowest setting most of the time and it works fine for me. Is the motor too big for the boat? Possibly, but I haven’t charged the batteries up much this summer. When its windy I’ve been able to maintain speed and get myself back on course if I’m off.
It can get kinda complicated when choosing the right trolling motor, but HERE’S a great page that’ll help you out from the guys at MinnKota. Click on this page, and then there’s a “select a motor” link on that page too that you can click on. Tell them what you have, and they’ll tell you what’s best.
That said, I agree that it comes down first to what you can afford. After that, try to get the most you can, because overkill on the trolling motor is NEVER a bad thing. Much better to have more than you need than not enough.
Rivers or Lakes? River current makes a huge difference. Most dealer set a boat up for Lake fishing and don’t take into account high flow in the spring of a river. Generally 50-80 LBS will serve most boats fine. I run a 101 front/rear on a 20′ and do not have a problem in heavy current or near wingdams where the current really gets hyper. P4A
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