another trolling battery question

[nycgrip]

after doing some research, and forum searches, i still have some questions. i have a single man pontoon boat foldcat 325, and i would like to couple it with a 12v minn kota 55lbs riptide motor, and was wondering what capacity battery to get for an 8 hour day, and battery weight would be a consideration. right now i am looking at the 27 size battery at cabelas, but was wondering if i could get away with the 24 size or smaller. wouldn't mind advice on using 2 lighter less capacity batteries, in series connection if it can equal the 27 size or higher capacity. i think alot of my research was based on real bass boats, so i might be overdoing it on my battery selection so any other recommendations appreciated. anyone using a 12v setup with a jon boat or similar lightweight boat if you wouldnt mind letting me know how many hours you get out of your size battery matched with your motors thrust. portable charger recommendations welcome as well.

cabelas battery link:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...007&hasJS=true

[fishstick]

I have a minn kota 12v 55lb bow mount with a size 27 interstate battery on my lowe 1542 and can fish 10 hours on speed 3 average with no noticable loss of power. I am not sure this is comparable to your pontoon, but this setup has not failed me yet. If you have the room, you might go with a 31 series battery. I do not believe they are much heavier. Oh, and I charge with a everstart 15 amp charger from Walmart. Hope this helps.

[Bob Kavanaugh]

I use a grp 24 battery with my 36lb on my canoe, and have spent many many long days on the water, covering several miles, and have never approached draining the battery fully. I even jumped a boat at the dock after a trip. Kinda funny seeing a canoe jump a boat!  ;D

My bass boat has a grp 27 battery running the 42lb, and again, never drained it. One time, when my charger broke, I took it out for 4 trips before I could get it charged. Again, no problems. You will be fine with whatever you choose.

[Travlin_Man]

Two lighter less capacity batteries " in series " will give you 24 volts a good way to fry  a 12 volt motor . Don't do it . Stick to a good single 12 volt deep cycle battery.

[surfer]

55lb thrust, 12 ft jon, $80 auto zone deep cycle, ship to shore automatic charger, 2 days run time no problem.

Your inflatable will catch a little more wind than the average jon.  On windy days you will be on the trolling motor constantly.  This wont make a big difference on battery consumption compared to a jon, but it will make steering and control tougher than a jon.  I recommend the trolling motor on the front and some sort of stationary rudder on the back.  I use an oar locked in place.  

[Jig Man]

after doing some research, and forum searches, i still have some questions. i have a single man pontoon boat foldcat 325, and i would like to couple it with a 12v minn kota 55lbs riptide motor, and was wondering what capacity battery to get for an 8 hour day, and battery weight would be a consideration. right now i am looking at the 27 size battery at cabelas, but was wondering if i could get away with the 24 size or smaller. wouldn't mind advice on using 2 lighter less capacity batteries, in series connection if it can equal the 27 size or higher capacity. i think alot of my research was based on real bass boats, so i might be overdoing it on my battery selection so any other recommendations appreciated. anyone using a 12v setup with a jon boat or similar lightweight boat if you wouldnt mind letting me know how many hours you get out of your size battery matched with your motors thrust. portable charger recommendations welcome as well.

cabelas battery link:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...007&hasJS=true

DO NOT HOOK SERIES!!!  That will make for 24V and kill your tmotor.  You can get longer life by hooking up another 12V battery PARALLEL.  That is + to + and _ to _.  Then you will get the benefit of both batteries.  You can also hook up a 12v charger and charge both at the same time.

[Wayne P.]

No matter which size battery you go with, don't start off the day running it on high to get somewhere far away for the launch site. On high, the motor pulls the max amps and using up a lot of capacity in the beginning might cause you some paddling exercise. I mention that because a group of Jr. BASS fisherpersons I work with do it all the time and they end up with a dead battery in 5 hours or less because they always race to spots and change areas running on high setting too. The set ups they use are jon boats with size 24 batteries and Minnkota Endura 55#

[nycgrip]

i meant parallel not series, thanks guys. thinking im going with the group 24 size cabelas agm battery with 178 reserve capacity, any recommendations on chargers?