Trolling motor thrust per pound of boat weight

[Further North]

From a non-specified national magazine devoted to bass tournament fishing, a quote from David Walsh, Marketing Manager at Motorguide:

 

Quote

"We recommend a guideline of 2 pounds of thrust for every 100 pounds of boat weight, including fuel, occupants and gear.  Add 10 thrust pounds if you fish in windy areas of the country or in strong current."

 

OK...let's run the math:

 

Boat: 1200 lbs.

Motor: 400 lbs.

Gas: 240 lbs

5 batteries: 350 lbs

Trolling motor: 55 lbs.

Two battery chargers: 60 lbs.

Rods, Reels, lures, baits, etc.: 250 lbs

Electronics: 40 lbs.

Angler: 220 lbs.

 

Total: 2,815

 

2,815/100*2: 56.3 lbs of thrust.

 

That's a 12 volt trolling motor, not a chance that'd work on an 18 ft. boat fishing all day...even in calm water.

Let's be generous and add in the 10 lbs of thrust for wind and current: 66.3 lbs thrust.  We'll round that up to the 70 lb., 24 volt motor.

 

Again, not a chance that'd work all day in wind and/or current.

 

I'd say 80 lb, absolute minimum...and I run almost exactly twice the calculated recommendation. 

 

...can't figure this out.  Are they trying to sell more motors by guaranteeing that everyone will be ticked that their first trolling motor doesn't have the snot to get the job done, so they'll sell it and buy a new one? 

 

Or did the magazine just misquote Mr. Walsh?

 

Or is Mr. Walsh, like most marketing guys, just making things up on the fly?

 

[A-Jay]

Companies really only need to offer "3" sizes.  

Small, Medium & Large - Like Pants. 

Small is for Rubber Duckies & Pool Floats.

Medium is for Kayaks, Canoes, Jon Boats & Surf Boards.

And Finally Large (which is at Least 110lbs of thrust) is universally for every bass boat made.

Your Welcome. 

A-Jay

[Fishing Rhino]

"

That's a 12 volt trolling motor, not a chance that'd work on an 18 ft. boat fishing all day...even in calm water.

Let's be generous and add in the 10 lbs of thrust for wind and current: 66.3 lbs thrust.  We'll round that up to the 70 lb., 24 volt motor.

 

Again, not a chance that'd work all day in wind and/or current."

 

I'm not so sure about that.   I have a Nitro Z-8, 20' 4", with a 75 pound thrust Motorguide.  I can run it all day, and it's not a digital motor.  The newer, digital motors will run much longer on the same battery setup.

 

If there is no wind, I run the motor on 1, and the boat moves plenty fast enough.  If the wind gets up to 10 to 15 mph, I may kick it up to 2.  In a good wind up to 25 mph, 3 is adequate.  I've never had to use 4 or 5.  If I want to move faster than the unit will move the boat, I can leave the motor down, get behind the wheel and use the big motor.  It will move the boat faster than the trolling motor can at max output, 5, without straining the shaft on the trolling motor.

 

I don't use the trolling motor to move the boat from one spot to the next if it's more than a hundred feet.

 

It is getting time to replace the batteries which with the boat, now in their sixth year of use.

 

It has worked fine for me, on large and small bodies of water.

[Way2slow]

Actually, I've found the recommended sizes work quite well in most situations.  NO, it's not going to give you the speed of an outboard most people seem to want from their TM's but for most all casting situations, it's fine.  I ran a 50# on an older Stratos 285 PRO, fully loaded, with two people, (very heavy) for several years with no problems.

 

There are only a few situations I see you really need more than recommended.  Chasing schooling bass when you are watching for them to start breaking the water you have to move fast.  Fishing points in a thunder storm or extremely hard winds.  Fishing rivers with a fast current.  Running TM only lakes and you want to go long distances in a hurry, and you have enough batteries to be able to support a large motor.  Then the number one reason, most people think that's what the need and want to be able to move with the speed of an outboard.

[3dees]

I wouldn't pay attention to any of that. just buy the highest thrust motor you can afford. you can always dial it down. better to have the power and not need it. there will always be times when you will be glad you had the extra power.

[moguy1973]

What I want to know is why the OP is hauling around 5 batteries in his boat with him?

[RUSS9999]

I have a 55lb 12v on a Lowe 180W, 2 batteries. On most days I am on 1 sometimes 2 a lot of wind 3. On 10 the boat makes a good wake. The lowest I have ever seen the batteries was 85% after an 8 hour windy day running just the TM the 8 hours. The boat is 17' 10'' 86'' beam rated for a 150 with a 90 on it, heavy old boat 

[12poundbass]

Interesting this came up. A while back I spoke with a Tracker dealer and I had asked about the cost of upgrading to a 24v trolling motor. His response shocked me. He said yup I can sell you a 24v trolling motor and you'll be stuck with a 12v that you'll have to sell on your own. He then said that it's more of an endurance thing people are looking for when they upgrade. There's plenty of thrust in the stock 12v tm (speaking about the Tracker only at this point). He said a simple solution would be to get another battery and wire it (forgive my lack of knowledge on this one) in series or parallel and you have plenty of juice for the day and more.

   Now why would a salesman who could easily sell me a trolling motor, and possibly talk me into having them install it tell me this? There's a pretty good mark up on trolling motors and the labor rate these days he's missing out on a chunk of change. So there must be some truth to this from Motorguide.

[slonezp]

20 minutes ago, moguy1973 said:

What I want to know is why the OP is hauling around 5 batteries in his boat with him?

Don't know about the OP but there are a number of guys up northwho fish the Great Lakes and other large bodies of water for walleyes who run 2 starting batteries because getting stuck on the water with a dead battery because of running electronics and pumps all day can be dangerous. Also, Minn Kota makes a motor called the Vantage which may be used in lieu of a kicker motor. So one may have both a bow mount and transom mount trolling motor on the same boat 

[moguy1973]

Just now, slonezp said:

Don't know about the OP but there are a number of guys up northwho fish the Great Lakes and other large bodies of water for walleyes who run 2 starting batteries because getting stuck on the water with a dead battery because of running electronics and pumps all day can be dangerous. Also, Minn Kota makes a motor called the Vantage which may be used in lieu of a kicker motor. So one may have both a bow mount and transom mount trolling motor on the same boat 

Makes sense I guess.

[BrianinMD]

Not sure how many on here fish trolling motor only places but you appreciate every ounce of power you have on them. Would had to be stuck with only these recommendations.

[Tony Albanese]

This is interesting to read.. I have a small 14' vhull. The boat probably weights 300lbs, if that. Plus me, the gear, trolling motor and small outboard. I would say it's roughly 800 pounds fully rigged including myself. I have a 55lb bow mount and it moves the boat well, sometimes I actually feel the highest setting is way overpowering for what I need, so I usually dial down to 3 or 4. I'll crank it up to 5 when I am moving spot to spot, since most of the lakes I fish are electric only. I used to have a 36lb pound which was just okay, I found myself always using it on full speed. 

[WIGuide]

I think for the "average" or fair weather fisherman that's not a bad recommendation. I've talked to many guys in our area when they're coming off the water when the wind kicks up a little bit, or go tuck into a blocked bay. If it's too windy, they just won't go at all and it's not because their tm doesn't have enough power, it's more along the lines that they just don't like fighting the wind. When you're more of a diehard, and have an "I'm going no matter what" mentality or fish tournaments you want a tm that's far more powerful to allow you to do what you need to do. 

[Goose52]

For me:

 

Boat:  45 pounds

TM:  30 pounds

Battery:  50 pounds

Electronics: 15 pounds

Misc. Rigging & Other Gear:  25 pounds

Rod/Reels/Tackle:  15 pounds

Angler:  170 pounds

 

Total:  350 pounds

 

350/100 x 2 = 7 pounds of thrust

 

 

 

I think I'll stick with my 45lb TM (for smaller, calm waters) or my 55lb TM (bigger/windier water)...

 

(Of course, my TM is my primary propulsion power as well... )

[WRB]

I don't use a trolling motor to propel my bass boats and use the OB for that. My TM is used to position my boat and keep me positioned under all kinds of weather condions and use it about 90% of my fishing time on the water.

My 14' Lund had a 55 lb thrust bow mounted TM with 52" shaft needed to keep the prop in the water with white capped waves and control the boat. My 17'6" Triton has a 82 lb thrust TM, rarely run either TM at full bye pass power, usually the under 1/3 rd power. So why over power a TM?...simple, good to have when it's needed in an emergency and operating at lower power the higher thrust TM uses less amps/hrs.

Tom

 

[Further North]

16 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Companies really only need to offer "3" sizes.  

Small, Medium & Large - Like Pants. 

Small is for Rubber Duckies & Pool Floats.

Medium is for Kayaks, Canoes, Jon Boats & Surf Boards.

And Finally Large (which is at Least 110lbs of thrust) is universally for every bass boat made.

Your Welcome. 

A-Jay

As usual...we think alike...

[Further North]

8 hours ago, 3dees said:

I wouldn't pay attention to any of that. just buy the highest thrust motor you can afford. you can always dial it down. better to have the power and not need it. there will always be times when you will be glad you had the extra power.

Yep.  I'm not a fan of "cut it off twice and it's still too short" thinking.

 

 

8 hours ago, moguy1973 said:

What I want to know is why the OP is hauling around 5 batteries in his boat with him?

It's a secret, I can't tell you...

 

Just kidding:

• 3 for the 36 volt trolling motor
• 1 Starting battery
• 1 for the electronics (separate, isolated system has lots of benefits, and provided emergency back-up for starting battery).

Someone will be along shortly to tell us I don't need that extra battery, they may be right for their rig, they are wrong for how I fish.

 

 

7 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

Interesting this came up. A while back I spoke with a Tracker dealer and I had asked about the cost of upgrading to a 24v trolling motor. His response shocked me. He said yup I can sell you a 24v trolling motor and you'll be stuck with a 12v that you'll have to sell on your own. He then said that it's more of an endurance thing people are looking for when they upgrade. There's plenty of thrust in the stock 12v tm (speaking about the Tracker only at this point). He said a simple solution would be to get another battery and wire it (forgive my lack of knowledge on this one) in series or parallel and you have plenty of juice for the day and more.

   Now why would a salesman who could easily sell me a trolling motor, and possibly talk me into having them install it tell me this? There's a pretty good mark up on trolling motors and the labor rate these days he's missing out on a chunk of change. So there must be some truth to this from Motorguide.

Endurance is exactly the issue.

 

Been there, done that on having two batteries for the twelve volt TM...it works, increases the amount of time you can run...but it's nothing like an 24 volt TM...which is nothing like the 36 volt system...

[Further North]

 

9 hours ago, slonezp said:

Don't know about the OP but there are a number of guys up northwho fish the Great Lakes and other large bodies of water for walleyes who run 2 starting batteries because getting stuck on the water with a dead battery because of running electronics and pumps all day can be dangerous. Also, Minn Kota makes a motor called the Vantage which may be used in lieu of a kicker motor. So one may have both a bow mount and transom mount trolling motor on the same boat 

Yup...but God help me if I start fishing for walleyes.

 

Here's the real scoop: A few years ago, I was out on Lake of the Woods chasing pike, muskies and smallies.

 

We were working our way out spot to spot and were about 3 miles from camp (on an island in Whitefish Bay)

 

Went to start the big motor...dead as a doornail.

 

Made it back to camp on the trolling motor (caught a bunch of fish on the way).   Determined the culprit was a short in the charging cable for my Terrova, swapped out the battery and headed back out.  Expensive battery, BTW.

 

Extra battery and charger went in when I got home.

 

...my trolling motor batteries are not anywhere near accessible (center bottom of the boat, under the rod locker, which is full of...rods.  I'm not taking $3,000 dollars worth of gear out, laying on the deck while I take 20 minutes to work pretty much upside down in the battery compartment to pull a battery to start the motor.  Jumper cables don't work well for the same reason - all the rods have to come out to even get to the batteries.

 

Way easier to add the 5th battery and charger...and it's got added benefits because the electrical system for my electronics is now 100% separate from everything else.  Zero interference, ever.  Cleaner images.

 

 

[Further North]

4 hours ago, WRB said:

So why over power a TM?...simple, good to have when it's needed in an emergency and operating at lower power the higher thrust TM uses less amps/hrs.

Yup.

 

I can think one one instance in my life where I thought, "Hmmmm...too much power!".

 

That was a Triumph TR6 with a Chevy 327 stuffed in it by a home builder.

[gim]

11 hours ago, slonezp said:

Don't know about the OP but there are a number of guys up northwho fish the Great Lakes and other large bodies of water for walleyes who run 2 starting batteries because getting stuck on the water with a dead battery because of running electronics and pumps all day can be dangerous. Also, Minn Kota makes a motor called the Vantage which may be used in lieu of a kicker motor. So one may have both a bow mount and transom mount trolling motor on the same boat 

 

My folks have this exact setup in their 2090 Warrior.  They have a stern mount minn kota vantage that they often use in conjunction with a bow mount instead of a small outboard kicker, plus they are often fishing large, rough bodies of water in the Great Lakes region.  The more batteries, the better.