A 30 pound thrust transom mount trolling motor came with my used 14' aluminum fishing boat when I bought it. The ends of the wires had clamps on, which I just connected to the posts of the 12 volt battery I kept in the back of the boat. Used it for 8-10 years without any problems. That trolling motor went to trolling motor heaven a couple years ago.
I finally broke down and bought a new trolling motor a few weeks ago. I got a 55 pound thrust Minn Kota transom mount, figuring that I'd have no problem moving the boat with it at a lower speed, have more than enough power if I should need it, and would be able to reuse the motor should I ever get a bigger boat. I put it on the boat and noticed right away that it has flat prong-type ends on it. In order to connect it to the top-post batteries I have, I used a band clamp (insert American Pie joke here
) to hold a 1/4" bolt on, then used 3 nuts (2 tightened against each other and the prong between those and the third) to connect the battery to the bolts. Worked perfectly and the motor was great during that fishing trip.
A few days later, I paged through the directions that came with the motor. It said that I needed a 60-amp manual reset breaker near the positive battery terminal. Didn't say anything about why though.
Questions:
First, is such a breaker really needed or is it just another BS thing they want you to buy? Seems to me like marine equipment manufacturers think that anybody who owns a boat has tons of extra cash laying around. This definitely does not describe me, as you can probably tell from the bolt & band clamp solution described above. (I have a functional boat to fish with and that's what it's used for. If I didn't need a boat to fish for most of the year, I'd never own one; don't really like boating or boats in general...)
Second, if a breaker is needed, would a 50 amp be sufficient? I ask because the Minn Kota brand is the only 60-amp breaker that the store has and it's $40! (So much for the $50 rebate Minn Kota has going that I counted on! ) They do have an off-brand (Sea Champ or Sea King or something) 50-amp breaker for $7, but I don't know if it'd work or blow all the time.
I finally broke down and bought a new trolling motor a few weeks ago. I got a 55 pound thrust Minn Kota transom mount, figuring that I'd have no problem moving the boat with it at a lower speed, have more than enough power if I should need it, and would be able to reuse the motor should I ever get a bigger boat. I put it on the boat and noticed right away that it has flat prong-type ends on it. In order to connect it to the top-post batteries I have, I used a band clamp (insert American Pie joke here
) to hold a 1/4" bolt on, then used 3 nuts (2 tightened against each other and the prong between those and the third) to connect the battery to the bolts. Worked perfectly and the motor was great during that fishing trip.A few days later, I paged through the directions that came with the motor. It said that I needed a 60-amp manual reset breaker near the positive battery terminal. Didn't say anything about why though.
Questions:
First, is such a breaker really needed or is it just another BS thing they want you to buy? Seems to me like marine equipment manufacturers think that anybody who owns a boat has tons of extra cash laying around. This definitely does not describe me, as you can probably tell from the bolt & band clamp solution described above. (I have a functional boat to fish with and that's what it's used for. If I didn't need a boat to fish for most of the year, I'd never own one; don't really like boating or boats in general...)
Second, if a breaker is needed, would a 50 amp be sufficient? I ask because the Minn Kota brand is the only 60-amp breaker that the store has and it's $40! (So much for the $50 rebate Minn Kota has going that I counted on!
) They do have an off-brand (Sea Champ or Sea King or something) 50-amp breaker for $7, but I don't know if it'd work or blow all the time.
