Bass Tracker Restoration Help!

[Matt McMillen]

Hey guys, just joined the forum for some help! I'm currently redoing a bass tracker tx17. Everything has been going smooth and it is now completely gutted and the floors are being replace. The problem is, the previous owner left the wiring a mess! Two 12v batteries are used to power the trolling motor and a single cranking battery is used for the engine/bilge/aerator and now that i have it gutted, i want to change some wiring. First i want to add two lowrance hds units with direct power to a battery and add a stereo. What kind of batter/batteries do i need, and what should i run to them?? Thanks, Matt.

[WIGuide]

First off, welcome to the form. As far as you batteries are concerned you want the two deep cycle batteries for the tm and then either run a 27 or 29 series cranking battery or a 27 series or 29 series dual purpose battery for starting and electronics. 

[slonezp]

All your accessories need to be connected to the starting battery. Your trolling motor should be on it's own circuit. Group 24, 27, or 29 deep cycle batteries for the trolling motor. The 24 has a smaller footprint than the 27 or 29 and may be the correct choice if space is tight. Find a battery with a high RC rating. Wet cells are better for trolling motors. You don't need a wet cell for the starting battery and can use a maintenance free or agm if you like. Be sure the cca/mca are equal or greater than the motor requires.

[Jig Man]

If you are going for 2 hds units be sure to get a cranking battery with lots of cca so you'll have plenty of voltage all day long to start up and not drop your hds units as they need quite a bit of juice to keep running.

[Matt McMillen]

Thanks for the replies! I'm currently running the tm on a separate 24v circuit. I would like to purchase a new Cranking batter to run the electronics and engine off of. Any suggestions for a really good agm battery? Such as Drakon or others?

[Jig Man]

The Sears Pm-1 is what I use and have had for 3 years now.

[Sam]

Tracker's rear compartment is cramped and the battery size is set at 24, I believe. 

 

Larger batteries will not fit.

 

You can have three batteries in the rear compartment.

 

As stated above, leave the two trolling batteries alone so they power the trolling motor, only.

 

All other connections need to go on the cranking battery.

 

I use the Wal-Mart batteries. They work great. Even better than other name brand batteries.

 

And don't forget your three bank battery charger.  Bass Pro Shops has one for around $160 that is excellent.

 

I would go out and look in my Tracker to give you more details but it is cold and dark outside now.

 

If you want more info please PM me.

 

Thanks.
 

[Matt McMillen]

Tracker's rear compartment is cramped and the battery size is set at 24, I believe. 

 

Larger batteries will not fit.

 

You can have three batteries in the rear compartment.

 

As stated above, leave the two trolling batteries alone so they power the trolling motor, only.

 

All other connections need to go on the cranking battery.

 

I use the Wal-Mart batteries. They work great. Even better than other name brand batteries.

 

And don't forget your three bank battery charger.  Bass Pro Shops has one for around $160 that is excellent.

 

I would go out and look in my Tracker to give you more details but it is cold and dark outside now.

 

If you want more info please PM me.

 

Thanks.

 

not worried about the battery storage, have it stripped down now so i can enlarge hatches or whatever. I just need a good high powered `cranking battery to replace the one now! thanks though

[Matt McMillen]

The Sears Pm-1 is what I use and have had for 3 years now.

Does this work for supporting large electronic systems as well as the engine?

[slonezp]

If you're that worried, wire 2 starting batteries in parallel.

[Matt McMillen]

If you're that worried, wire 2 starting batteries in parallel.

Not that worried, just don't want any problems due to stuff I can control. I've settled on a group 31 agm battery

[Sam]

Wow! That should continue to crank your motor all day and all night and the next day.

 

Just be sure the motor is recharging the battery as you use  it.

[Matt McMillen]

Wow! That should continue to crank your motor all day and all night and the next day.

 

Just be sure the motor is recharging the battery as you use  it.

Thanks! haha i hope it will!

[papajoe222]

I haven't stripped down my Tracker, but I do run two Group 29 deep cycle batteries for my TM and the same size battery for cranking. I'm not sure about the CCA on the cranking battery, but there wasn't enough room to mount all three in the rear compartment. I opted for removing the port side storage container and mounting it there. I accessed the cables ( the OEM were long enough) through the bottom of the compartment and used an automotive style battery tray to secure it.

You can likely move the bilge and/or live well motors and mount all three batteries to the port side of the compartment and go with a shallower storage compartment when specking out your redo.

[Matt McMillen]

I haven't stripped down my Tracker, but I do run two Group 29 deep cycle batteries for my TM and the same size battery for cranking. I'm not sure about the CCA on the cranking battery, but there wasn't enough room to mount all three in the rear compartment. I opted for removing the port side storage container and mounting it there. I accessed the cables ( the OEM were long enough) through the bottom of the compartment and used an automotive style battery tray to secure it.

You can likely move the bilge and/or live well motors and mount all three batteries to the port side of the compartment and go with a shallower storage compartment when specking out your redo.

theres plenty of room to run the 31 and two 27s as well as bilge/aerator and battery charger! i removed the back compartment and moved the aerator and bilge directly behind the gas tank and it allowed me to run the 27s side by side and the 31 vertically! all secured in a tray of course

[slonezp]

On 11/11/2014 at 11:06 AM, Sam said:

Wow! That should continue to crank your motor all day and all night and the next day.

 

Just be sure the motor is recharging the battery as you use  it.

Sam, the Sears 31 AGMs are one of the few batteries that meet the starting requirements of Mercury's big motors. I'll take a wild guess OP doesn't have a 225 hanging off the back of his Tracker   But overkill isn't always bad, as long as it's within his budget and there's room for it.

A buddy of mine put a Sears 31 in his Bass Cat, this past spring,  because that's what was recommended to him on *** (LOL). He didn't even make it thru the season before having to bring it back in for a warranty replacement. His boat was plugged into the charger religiously. He originally thought the charger was bad because he still had over 12.5 volts at the battery. I told him to have Sears load test the battery before he pulled the charger. Sure enough the battery was bad. They replaced it.   

[Matt McMillen]

On 11/15/2014 at 6:05 AM, slonezp said:

Sam, the Sears 31 AGMs are one of the few batteries that meet the starting requirements of Mercury's big motors. I'll take a wild guess OP doesn't have a 225 hanging off the back of his Tracker   But overkill isn't always bad, as long as it's within his budget and there's room for it.

A buddy of mine put a Sears 31 in his Bass Cat, this past spring,  because that's what was recommended to him on *** (LOL). He didn't even make it thru the season before having to bring it back in for a warranty replacement. His boat was plugged into the charger religiously. He originally thought the charger was bad because he still had over 12.5 volts at the battery. I told him to have Sears load test the battery before he pulled the charger. Sure enough the battery was bad. They replaced it.   

 

Hey, at least we know the customer service is good! lol. But yes, I'm definitely going overkill to make up for the previous owner's lack of care and attention to detail in the boat!