Battery ?

[hillbillyjr]

I just bought a 17 foot alluminum bass tracker, it only has one battery in it and it is a starting battery, it also has a motorguide tracker 35 trolling motor and a brand new fish finder on it. My question is,how big of a deep cycle battery do i need to get to run the fish finder and trolling motor for a all day fishing trip. thanks

 

[Bondo]

Re: Battery ?

My question is,how big of a deep cycle battery do i need to get to run the fish finder and trolling motor for a all day fishing trip.

Ayuh,... The 1 with the Highest amp/hr capacity that'll fit, that you can afford....

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Battery ?

Yup -- you cannot go too big when buying a deep cycle troller battery -- just too small. A group 27 size would be minimum. But what you need to consider is the efficiency of the motor itself and how you operate it. Many of the newer motors have power saving features (MinnKota calls it "Maximizer") that pulses the motor rather than feeding constant current to it. So at the slower settings these motors are quite efficient. At full speed however there is no savings. Your 35# thrust motor will draw about 35 amps at full speed. Deep cycle batteries have their reserve minutes (the amount of time the battery will maintain voltage with a 23 amp load) stated on the label. A group 27 battery will provide about 175 reserve minutes which equates to 2.9 hours with a 23 amp draw (175/60=2.91). So at fastest speed your motor is drawing 35 amps so the run time would be about 1/3 less. There is no way to tell what the current draw is on your motor at slower speeds unless it was actually measured. Granted, you do not generally run a troller at full speed for that long a period so if you troll short distances in spurts, or if you use the motor to move to position fish the battery will be fine. There simply is no hard and fast rule here. Battery life depends on the operator. I have a pontoon with a 55# MinnKota V2 (a Maximizer). It is powered by a group 27 battery and it lasts all day but my fishing is extremely slow, intermittent and barely moving for crappie and walleye.

 

[john from md]

Re: Battery ?

You can get a reasonably priced MAXX Group 29 or 31 at Walmart. Do a search on here and you will find that many of us use these and get good life out of them. The key to long life is a good battery tender and good maintenance.

John

 

[hillbillyjr]

Re: Battery ?

yea i was thinking about the everstart 27DC-6 or the everstart Maxx-29 from wal-mart, this is my first boat so i am new to all this, i just need a battery that will last all day with the trolling motor and fish finder

 

[john from md]

Re: Battery ?

I have a MAXX 29 or 31 DC, I forget which, and it is going on four years and is still working. I keep it on a tender whenever it is out of the water and it makes a difference.

John

 

[hillbillyjr]

Re: Battery ?

thanks for the replies i really appreciate it

 

[MLD]

Re: Battery ?

Why not leave the fishfinder on the starting battery?

If you don't troll at full speed it should last awhile. And exactly how long is your fishing day?

 

[hillbillyjr]

Re: Battery ?

a fishing day for me is usually 6 to 8 hours give or take a little, and would it be alright to leave the fish finder on the starting battery

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Battery ?

Locators draw very little power and will be perfectly fine on the starting battery. Chances are you use the engine to move around so those short runs can easily top off the battery again. Some folks claim to have trouble with interference if they hook the locator on the troller battery. I've never seen that happen so I guess I can't dispute that it does or does not happen.