Best battery for electric trolling motor?

[JoJer]

I have a Minn Kota Endura 50 motor I was gifted. It came with a battery that was no good. This year I hope to get the boat and motor wet. Which way should I go for a battery that won't strand me out in the reservoir?
Anyone ever mount one of these on the side of a canoe? The scanoe may not be sea worthy any more- new cracks (age and UV exposure) since I fixed it a few years ago. I think I could rig a mount for the back of my other canoe, but I've seen side mounted motors before. Is it doable?

 

[ia_trouter]

I have used that exact trolling motor on a 14ft canoe and it will fly around the lake. I built a side mount but anything will work. Trolling motors pull far better than they push when it comes to steering control. It is easy to shorten the shaft or turn the head around on an Endure 50. I did both in under 30 minutes. And weight matters in a canoe. Get a medium sized deep cycle battery. No matter the brand they all come from 4 or 5 sources in the US and will perform about the same. Charge it up before storage in the fall and they last 5 years easy. I have gotten 6-7 years out of farm store generic brands.

 

[cab]

Like everything else, it depends- on how much you wanna spend. Iatrouter above makes a good point, buy a deep cycle battery, measured in amp- hours. If a battery is listed in cranking amps, move on. Lead acid batteries are heavy, will last the least, but are cheapest. Next up the price chain are AGM. A bit lighter, a bit more power, are they worth thee cost? Debatable. At the top are lithium ion. Much lighter, a whole lot more power, waaayyy higher cost. I went through this choice for my camper, and for my uses, ended up with lead acid. 2x6V hooked up to the solar panel on the roof keep me powered up waaaay back in the boonies!

HTH,
CAB

 

[JoJer]

Thanks for the replies. I never thought about putting it in the front of the boat. I fished in the scanoe with the guy who later gave it to me. We were trolling shallow for kokanee. Of course I managed to get a line tangled in the prop during a course correction. A front mount would help avoid that.

 

[clsmith131]

I use a Minn-Kota v-2 55lb i-pilot. I have tried a bunch of different batteries, they never seem to last me more than 2 years. A lot of times, you can refill it with water, and get some extra life, but I don't expect to get more than 2 yrs. If they begin to take less charge, I will swap them out. I find the best thing to do is to buy the walmart everstart battery. They work as well as any of the other wet cells, but walmart will take it back and give you another deeply discounted, or often free. I have even gotten money back by swapping a battery. The agm batteries are better for long life, but they cost more and weigh twice as much.

 

[fr8dog]

I'll second the wally world everstarts. Use them on my Champion and Grumman. Good bang for your buck.

 

[don_p]

....... but walmart will take it back and give you another deeply discounted, or often free. I have even gotten money back by swapping a battery. The agm batteries are better for long life, but they cost more and weigh twice as much.

Some WalMarts will do that , most will not. Their policy these days is to check a battery brought in for return to make sure it is indeed bad. They're doing this because far too many guys were taking advantage of the no questions asked return policy. They would buy WalMart batteries, run them for a year or two and then take them back claiming they were no good, and under the old policy would then leave with a brand new battery(s) only to repeat the cycle the next year (or two).
Just an FYI, an AGM (absorbed glass mat) battery actually weighs less than a flooded lead acid type.

For your trolling motor application you'll most certainly need a deep cycle battery and appropriate charger. A deep cycle battery you can drain to empty and then re-charge without damaging the internals. I agree with the post above, a lot of batteries come from the same manufacturer. I've been running WalMart Everstarts for the last 10 -15 years in my bassboat and I routinely get 3 to 4 years out of a set (I run two for my 24v trolling motor)

Keep it properly charged, (especially in winter as was said) check the water often (especially in hot weather) keep the top and terminals clean. Should last you quite a while just pushing (or pulling) a canoe.

 

[Ard]

Sounds like Dewayne has experience with both the motor in question and batteries both so I'd go with what he said.

If it matters, I use Die Hard Gold maintenance free Deep Cycle batteries. I use them in my boat and I leave 2 at the cabin year round. The key to longevity is to keep them charged when not in use for long periods. Regardless of brand or cost if you run one down to 10 volts then let it sit they sulfurize and then you are done with that battery. The 2 at the cabin sit there all winter and I use them throughout the summer. Long as I make sure to have them fully charged before storage they are fine.

 

[ia_trouter]

Sounds like Dewayne has experience with both the motor in question and batteries both so I'd go with what he said.

If it matters, I use Die Hard Gold maintenance free Deep Cycle batteries. I use them in my boat and I leave 2 at the cabin year round. The key to longevity is to keep them charged when not in use for long periods. Regardless of brand or cost if you run one down to 10 volts then let it sit they sulfurize and then you are done with that battery. The 2 at the cabin sit there all winter and I use them throughout the summer. Long as I make sure to have them fully charged before storage they are fine.

Exactly this if you go the lead acid battery route. It doesn't hurt to run a battery down very low (some say it is actually better for a deep cycle), but if you leave it that way for months it is a certainty you are shortening the battery's lifespan. I use trolling motors a lot in my walleye styled V-bottom boat. I've had Diehard Golds, AC Delco and Farm Store brand batteries. That might sound like a lot of battery changes but I have had the boat 21 years and it sits 6 months a year. I do average 5+ years with a modest amount of care. The AC Delcos actually lasted the longest. I hated AC Delco car batteries when I worked in an automotive shop. But that was long ago. Brands are just brands and they do change vendors. There may be scores of brands but I am certain there are not 25 lead acid battery manufacturers in the US. Many are just wearing a different plastic case.

 

[fredaevans]

Talking about deep cycle batteries look to the RV world; that's there power for every thing if not in a camp ground and hooked to 110:

https://mozaw.com/best-rv-deep-cycle-battery/

 

[jeep.ster]

I'm using cart universal batteries for my endura 40. UB12350 12 vdc 35 ah 2-pack best bang for my buck. Only 25 lbs each.

 

[PickBoon]

I think going for the charger is better than going for another battery. While you are on your boat, you must have to know that there is no power source, so keeping the source of charging is the perfect option ever. So, I would recommend to have the solar charger for trolling motor battery.

 

[JoJer]

Wow, it was a nice surprize seeing this old thread I started pop up.
I still have both canoes, the motor and a core to trade when I get the battery. Lots of changes: Moved almost two years ago, grand kids growing up, not getting out as much as I used to. Still hope to get the canoe wet and teach the grand kids how to operate it.
Good to see new members mining the lode of info available on the site. Thank you for the advice, PickBoon. You can tell from the above I'm a bit inert and change resistant. Remember, tho, this is a 16' Coleman canoe. The first rule of canoes is, don't put anything in a canoe that you don't want to get wet. My son and I have only once inadvertantly dumped this craft, but but we generally load it knowing it could happen, even with a boat as stable as the Coleman barge. I'm guessing solar panels are a bit averse to submerging.
BTW, the power source on the canoe (if the battery goes flat) is arms, as in paddles, always 3 in the boat.

 

[ramjet]

I built a clamp on motor mount that I have used with a 30 lb thrust trolling motor and a full sized deep cycle battery on a 15 ft aluminum canoe. I have best results just using the motor to provide thrust straight ahead, then use a paddle for the rudder. It works to get somewhere, then I would use the paddle to maneuver the canoe. With the motor shallow (like going through weedy areas), If you try turning the motor 90 degrees for a tight turn, you can blank out the thrust with the side of the boat. If you put the motor all the way down and then turn it 90 degrees and apply high thrust, be aware that it creates a rolling tendency as well as side thrust. The battery I was using (group 31 deep cycle) weighs a lot. I tried it on my little personal pontoon (a Hobie) and it was just too heavy.

You can get a smaller sized deep cycle 12v battery at Harbor freight that only weighs 25 lbs or so. You'd have to work out if that is enough capacity for your motor. They are sold in the solar power section, look for SKU 64102 or 68680 . I have a fishing bud who uses one this size (I think it's U-1 or UH-1) to power a 35# trolling motor on a 14 ft jon boat.

One last thing. Another guy I know is not real technically inclined and bought one of the smaller batteries, but NOT a deep cycle version. It only lasted him a year and a half of light use.

 

[PickBoon]

I built a clamp on motor mount that I have used with a 30 lb thrust trolling motor and a full sized deep cycle battery on a 15 ft aluminum canoe. I have best results just using the motor to provide thrust straight ahead, then use a paddle for the rudder. It works to get somewhere, then I would use the paddle to maneuver the canoe. With the motor shallow (like going through weedy areas), If you try turning the motor 90 degrees for a tight turn, you can blank out the thrust with the side of the boat. If you put the motor all the way down and then turn it 90 degrees and apply high thrust, be aware that it creates a rolling tendency as well as side thrust. The battery I was using (group 31 deep cycle) weighs a lot. I tried it on my little personal pontoon (a Hobie) and it was just too heavy.

You can get a smaller sized deep cycle 12v battery at Harbor freight that only weighs 25 lbs or so. You'd have to work out if that is enough capacity for your motor. They are sold in the solar power section, look for SKU 64102 or 68680 . I have a fishing bud who uses one this size (I think it's U-1 or UH-1) to power a 35# trolling motor on a 14 ft jon boat.

One last thing. Another guy I know is not real technically inclined and bought one of the smaller batteries, but NOT a deep cycle version. It only lasted him a year and a half of light use.

Can you recommend one/two best from this list? I guess they are wonderful for trolling motor. https://pickboon.com/best-solar-charger-for-trolling-motor-battery/

 

[dennyk]

On my buddy's and my boat we use a Duracell rechargeable battery. Our Miin-Kota trolling is similar to use, not sure of our model though. If I remember correctly it has a 28 hour running time before needing a charge. The battery weighs roughly 25 pounds.

Denny

 

[jeep.ster]

My batts mentioned above are 3 1/2 years old now and still working great. No trickle charge I just hook up the 5 amp charger every few months for an hour. Haven't been charged since oct and read 12.73 today. I can use one all day on my toon just getting here and there so I have two days worth camping. I can stretch that to 4 days and then hit the motel for a charge. Still haven't considered solar yet.