buying first trolling motor

[trojangolf88]

what all do i need? deep cycle marine battery and a charger? where can i get a cheap charger? ive seen the batteries at walmart

[Wayne P.]

Walmart for the charger too. Get at least a 10 A. The faster you recharge, the happier your battery will be. I have 4 portables, three are 10 A and one is a combination 2A, 10A, and 15A. All are automatic.

[BrianinMD]

trojangolf, not trying to hijack your thread just have a question about Wayne post.

Wayne, you say the faster you recharge the happier the battery will be. I have seen before to charge at the lowers amp setting for a better charge.  Am I incorrect, anyone else got any thoughts.

[trojangolf88]

ok, and how much will a battery and charger cost? im trying to go as inexpensive as possible

[Wayne P.]

BrianinMD, thanks for the question. I did some web searches about charging batteries and according to the Sinetech site, you are correct. In actual practice though, most tournament fishermen don't have the time to allow for 24+ hours for a recharge and use the higher rate chargers to compensate for time. That is why there are multi bank chargers made with 15 amps per bank. Minnkota and Dual Pro have such chargers.

This site states just the opposite and as I do it.

http://www.insideline.net/1996/puckett-1112-96.html

Another site recommends a charge rate of 10% of the battery's capacity as in 10A charger for a 100ah battery.

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[Wayne P.]

At Walmart, you can get a suitable battery and charger for around $100

[surfer]

everything you ever wanted to know about batteries

http://www.marine-electronics.net/techarticle/battery_faq/b_faq.htm#1

[sneaker]

I use the 10 amp chargers and they are just fine. However I would recommend a charger with an ampmeter (not a voltmeter) on its panel. When the charger is initially placed on a discharged battery, it will charge at a 10+ amp rate and then fall back to 10 amps. This indicates the battery can accept a charge at a 10 amp rate.  As the battery approaches full charge, the ampmeter will indiate a reduced charge rate. It will slowly drop to near zero charge, an then just bounce the meter a little as it operates in what they call a 'float charge ' or trickle charge mode.

An old battery nearing its replacement time will not accept a 10 amp charge and may never get  to the Float Charge mode. Most will indicate a 3-5 amp charge for more than 24 hours. So with the ampmeter you get some information about the condition of the battery by noting the changes in the charge current conditions. Chargers with voltmeters on the panel do not provide this info.

[MA1232]

Hi trojangolf88,

How big is your boat?

Either Cabela or Basspro has a chart matching tm size to boat size.  I would get 1 size up from what they say.  Just my 2 cents!

I have a 46lbs tm for my 12' Jon.  The speed is okay.  I would said it is faster than a kayaker at full speed but not by much!

Next, how much power will your TM use?  How long you meet to run the TM on your fishing trip?  These questions will help you answer on the battery size you need.  

Good luck!

[firefightn15]

I helped find my step dad a comfortable boat that has an older bow mount trolling motor. Wants to upgrade. Put a minnkota v2 on it for him, but it's more difficult to get out of the water than the ones with the longer base. Do they make a trolling motor with a longer base that is power assist and not cable driven?  Sorry for intruding.