I am putting a 30lb thrust trolling motor on my 8ft Pontoon boat in the next couple weeks. I need to decide what battery to use. Weight is a bit of a concern, I'm 6'6' and 270lbs so with trolling motor and battery I am worried I am pushing the limit of my kickboat. I am leaning toward a group 24 deep cycle instead of the bigger group sizes. I have heard people talk about using wheel chair batteries but I am not sure if they will hold a long enough charge. I don't plan on trolling all day just using the motor to get back and forth to fishing spots and using my flippers for most of my actual fishing.
Any suggestions?
Mark
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What boat do you have and what is the weight rating? The 24 series will do fine for most days of fishing and the 30 pound thrust will have plenty of power. You won't be skiing but it will get you around. Some boats won't handle the weight on the back that is why I ask about the boat. Ron
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My advice would be a good quality AGM battery in size 24, they last longer then any 27 deep cycle that I have been around, and thats what it would possibly take to stay with a 24 AGM, then doubtful. Of course the weight factor is not that much difference Some will recommend the Walmart stuff , but IMHO you get what you pay for.
Also it has been advised on this forum to turn the motor around
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[quote idahoron]What boat do you have and what is the weight rating? The 24 series will do fine for most days of fishing and the 30 pound thrust will have plenty of power. You won't be skiing but it will get you around. Some boats won't handle the weight on the back that is why I ask about the boat. Ron[/quote]
I run a 40 on my Sportsman 9, and you are correct about weigh, would not want much more weight then I have, and I am only 150 lbs. It does handle the weight I have , but I have the seat up, and the pontoons back so I am sitting more to the front of the pontoons, I've seen a lot of pontoon boats on the water that are pretty low in the back, and would benefit with moving things forward to offset the weight of motor, battery etc.
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I've been really happy with this battery at 25 lbs. on Scadden Predator, Assault XX, and Dragonfly pontoons.
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I am one of those Walmart battery owners and I swear by them for he past 25 to 30 years.[
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I agree that a 24 will work fine and the 16lb weight difference between it and a 29 could be very important.
What pontoon do you have? I have been using a motor on inflatables for close to 30 years now and there are things you can do that can help.
I have been using a small wheelchair battery lately on my smaller boats. They are the AGM deep cycle lead/acid battery 33 AH. I can get four to five hours out of mild use. Nice and small too.
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Me too. I am a wallmart battery kind of guy.
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Might look into those when our Wally World die. What battery do you use on the Avenger?
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From the technical standpoint look at amp hour ratings the higher the number the longer it will last. I really like my SAMs 27 battery it has been excellent, can't tell ya how many times it has been cycled its a good one. I took TDs tips on my kick boat and added boat bumpers for extra flotation and they made up for the extra weight. Located them directly under the battery and never noticed the weight difference. You will love the motor it makes a toon the almost ultimate fishing machine. Almost because its not quite fast enough to troll wiper at Willard and my electric downrigger is too big but it does everything else really well. Have fun. J
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Walmart 690MCA Size 24 trolling battery.
http://www.walmart.com/msharbor/ip/EverS...y/20531540
I've been using mine for over a year about once a week. No sign of degradation at all.
If you want to go lighter, and more expensive, you can buy 11.1V lithium batteries. They have an almost identical useful voltage range as a 12V car battery.
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[quote MasterDaad]Walmart 690MCA Size 24 trolling battery.
[url "http://www.walmart.com/msharbor/ip/EverStart-Group-Size-24DC-Marine-Battery/20531540"]http://www.walmart.com/...ine-Battery/20531540[/url]
I've been using mine for over a year about once a week. No sign of degradation at all.
If you want to go lighter, and more expensive, you can buy 11.1V lithium batteries. They have an almost identical useful voltage range as a 12V car battery.[/quote]
Can you drain these down to almost nothing, then charge them again over and over again (unlike a car 12v)? Cool ideal.
Skunked, the bumpers was going to be what I suggested as well. My hubby had a Leigh boat in the early 90's that rode really low. Adding a motor and a battery really accented that. So we went with the bumpers under the rear deck. Created more drag, but got the battery out of water.
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I use the one from Costco. Yes you will need to slide your frame/seat forward to balance things out. If you look at my avatar I have a battery and min Kota 34 on it.
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You can drain them down to 3V per cell and they have a >100 cycle life. They can be over-discharged but by that point your motor won't be going places.
I have a Voltage-in reading on my fish finder (most do). I would suggest using one with Lithium batteries.
But you can get their full-rated capacity discharge with a trolling motor and not harm the batteries.
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Thanks for the tips guys. My pontoon is a 8 foot Sportsmans Warehouse model from about 8 years ago. I believe it was made by Outcast.
Mark
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You should be fine. 8 footers was the going size a few years back. Just slide the frame on the pontoons to level it out and get the battery as close as you can to the back of the seat.
I had a 6' Bucks Bag Alpine I ran a full sized batter on with a Minn Kota.
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[quote flygoddess]You should be fine. 8 footers was the going size a few years back. Just slide the frame on the pontoons to level it out and get the battery as close as you can to the back of the seat.
I had a 6' Bucks Bag Alpine I ran a full sized batter on with a Minn Kota.[/quote]
Thanks Joni! I think I will go with the Walmart 24 group and make sure to move my frame all the way up. I might also look at adding the boat bumpers as well.
The best fix would be to use this as an excuse to start getting serious about losing some weight and dropping 30 lbs. Also could use this as an excuse to get a bigger pontoon boat!
Mark
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Is that the Blue one? I didn't think that they came with the motor mount. It should be the same as mine just a foot shorter, I love mine. I don't think you will need to move it all the way forward but some. You're going to have to test it a bit to see what you like. have you ever seen my rod holders for them and my fishfinder system? Look back on some of my older posts. Ron
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[quote idahoron]Is that the Blue one? I didn't think that they came with the motor mount. It should be the same as mine just a foot shorter, I love mine. I don't think you will need to move it all the way forward but some. You're going to have to test it a bit to see what you like. have you ever seen my rod holders for them and my fishfinder system? Look back on some of my older posts. R
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It is the blue one and it origionaly did not have a mount, I bought one from outcast last fall. I will look up some of your older posts.
Mark
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Thanks all for the tips. I ended getting the Wal-Mart Everstsart 24 group battery. I tried it all out on my boat this weekend out to Grantsville Reservoir. The Minn Kota 30 worked great. I turned the head around and I was surprised at how easy it is to turn and maneuver with just your flippers. I even tried Ron's method of running forward and using the oars and that worked great too.
I played around for about three hours at different speeds and when I got home and hooked up the battery to the charger I still had 85% ont he battery.
I moved my frame up as far forward as it can go and I think I am alright as far as weight distribution. I meant to take a couple photo to se what you guys think but I forgot my camera. I still might try sticking a couple boat bumpers under the rear rack for a bit more stability. I've thought about getting a small wheel barrel inner tube and sticking that back under my battery and rear rack.
Know it's time to start thinking about add ons and putting a couple rod holders together . Time to break out the PVC!
Mark
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