55#, 12V trolling motor. Should we run 2 batteries?

[curls]

Not my boat, posting for a friend and fishing partner. He just bought a 55# MinnKota Edge trolling motor to replace the 40# PowerDrive V2 that was on the boat. The new Edge is still a 12V motor, and since the boat is a 16' aluminum with two grown men and gear, it gets fairly heavy.

Would there be any chance that a single brand new deep cycle marine battery could get a full 9 hour tournament day of trolling on that motor and boat, or should we look at hooking up a 2nd identical battery in parallel to double the amp-hours while still staying at 12V to not fry the motor?

Any experiences with this?

Thanks.

[Wallyboss]

I did that to mine and I haven't ran out of juice yet. With one battery it was always touch and go.

[Mick]

Curls


I have a 17 foot boat and a 55 on it. I could easily last the day walleye fishing with one battery and did for two seasons. Last summer I started bass fishing a little more regularly and I found I was harder on the trolling motor when bass fishing than I was when walleye fishing. Harder meaning on the throttle more frequently and at higher power levels in the slop. No way I could last a full day in the slop with my setup. This season I added a second battery and I don't have trolling motor issues at all (assuming I am fully charged before I head out).

Hope that helps.

Mick

[curls]

Curls


I have a 17 foot boat and a 55 on it. I could easily last the day walleye fishing with one battery and did for two seasons. Last summer I started bass fishing a little more regularly and I found I was harder on the trolling motor when bass fishing than I was when walleye fishing. Harder meaning on the throttle more frequently and at higher power levels in the slop. No way I could last a full day in the slop with my setup. This season I added a second battery and I don't have trolling motor issues at all (assuming I am fully charged before I head out).

Hope that helps.

Mick

Mick and Dan;

Do either of your trolling motors have the "Digital Maximizer" thing which supposedly helps give up to 5x longer run-time? The old PD40 had it and we never really completely ran outta juice, but the new one doesn't have it. Wondering if this truly does work as advertised.

If we do add a second battery it'll have to be at the back of the boat but the other trolling battery is at the mid almost at the bow. I guess it'll be time to run some cables... LOL!

Do you just hook up a single bank charger to one of the batteries and use that to charge both? I understsand it'll be twice as slow to charge but it does work, doesn't it?

Cheers,
Eric

[zum]

I don't think you will fry your motor running one battery but you probably will run out of juice,depending on how hard you use it in 9 hours.
The 2 same batteries(Ah and age)in parallel,would be the way to go.

[Mick]

[quote="curls"]Do you just hook up a single bank charger to one of the batteries and use that to charge both?
Cheers,
Eric[/quote]

Curls

i have an on board 3 bank charger so I can't help you with that one

Mick

[Wallyboss]

I have an inline fuse that I can easily remove between the 2 batteries and I use my 1 bank charger to charge 1 battery and my regular battery charger to charge the other one after removing the fuse..

[curls]

I spoke with my buddy who owns the boat and he's being given a good condition (but older) deep cycle to use as a 2nd battery for the motor. Since the batteries aren't the same age, he plans to NOT run them in parallel, but instead, run a 2nd set of cables to the front and install a 2nd Female outlet next to the original one. That way once the one battery is low on power, he can just pop the trolling motor plug from one to the other and we'd be back in business again.

Thanks for the advice guys, it's greatly appreciated!