24v or 12v Trolling motor

[slonezp]

I've been boatless for 10 days... Jonesing for a fix already. Think I'm going to get a jon boat for my in-between boats...boat... that I can throw in the back of the truck.

 

Lets say a 14' jon. Would I be better with a 24v TM or a 12v running 2 batteries in parallel for an 8 hour day of fishing? 

[WRB]

Unless you need to be electric only go with a small OB to move the boat between spots and the TM to fish with.

I had a 14’ Lund on a small trailer for decades and several bass boats during that time period.

Tom

[NittyGrittyBoy]

If you fish over 5hrs, easy go 24v. 

 

Or if you wanna be cheap buy a 12v and pack 2 batteries. Let the wind pick up and you'll be on motor non stop. 

[NoShoes]

My first boat was a 14 ft alum craft with a 12v 55 lb trolling motor up front. It would last a long weekend at the lake fishing pretty hard no problems. 
 

Moved spot to spot with my outboard. But definitely covered a lot of water with the trolling motor. 

[S Hovanec]

9 hours ago, slonezp said:

I've been boatless for 10 days..

 

You sold the Predator?

[slonezp]

1 hour ago, S Hovanec said:

 

You sold the Predator?

Last week. Her new home is in Minnesota.

[Way2slow]

If you are going with two batteries, it makes absolutely no since to go with two in parallel vs two in series.  

1.  24V motor is about 25% more efficient that a 12V

2.  The fact that a 24v only uses haft the current of a 12V to make the same power even adds to that.

3.  For an all day trip, a digital motor is almost a must.

 

Now, the draw backs to going 24V.  Those batteries are heavy, and hauling one in and out of the boat gets old, double that and it's gets old twice as fast. 

With a 14' boat in the back of a pickup, you better plan on having a strong partner, that's going get old real quick also.  Been there, done that out in Texas, wasn't long before I bought and old beat up 12', about half the weight of that 14'

 

 

[MN Fisher]

9 minutes ago, slonezp said:

Last week. Her new home is in Minnesota.

It's not in MY yard though (pouts)

 

(jk - glad you finally got her sold, Paul...I know you'd been trying for a bit)

[ChrisD46]

3 hours ago, Way2slow said:

If you are going with two batteries, it makes absolutely no since to go with two in parallel vs two in series.  

1.  24V motor is about 25% more efficient that a 12V

2.  The fact that a 24v only uses haft the current of a 12V to make the same power even adds to that.

3.  For an all day trip, a digital motor is almost a must.

 

Now, the draw backs to going 24V.  Those batteries are heavy, and hauling one in and out of the boat gets old, double that and it's gets old twice as fast. 

With a 14' boat in the back of a pickup, you better plan on having a strong partner, that's going get old real quick also.  Been there, done that out in Texas, wasn't long before I bought and old beat up 12', about half the weight of that 14'

 

 

*So are you recommending a good quality 12V trolling motor as a better return on investment than 24V ?  ... *I have no experience with either .

[Way2slow]

No, I'm suggesting if you are considering two batteries, you would get more run time out of two batteries in series for a 24V system that you would with two batteries in parallel for a 12V system. 

If you do very much moving around during an eight hour fishing trip, you will need two batteries.

Some people like to use one and then swap it for the second when the first goes dead on a 12V motor.  That is absolutely the worst, most inefficient way you can do it and will get the least run time of all,  it places all the current draw on just one battery.  As the current draw increases on a battery, the amp hour capacity of the battery decreases.  Meaning, if the battery is advertised as 120 Ah, you put a 30 amp load on it, then it's only rated at maybe a 80Ah battery, not 120, (These numbers are just for examples not factual).

The problem comes in the fact the batteries weigh approximately 65 pounds each, so hauling two of them back and fourth, in and out of the boat gets very labor intensive.  Working out of a truck bed, a 14' jon is going to weigh close to 130 pounds, add another 130 pounds of battery, you are not going to be moving without taking everything out and in every time.  That don't count for the TM weight, seats, cooler and gear.   

That's why when I was doing that fishing in south Texas with my son, who was also over 6' and 200 pounds, it wasn't long before I bought a 12' jon that only weighed about 80 pounds, one big battery and one digital 12V TM.  However, we were only fishing a few hours 

[GaryH]

On 2/26/2021 at 9:16 PM, slonezp said:

I've been boatless for 10 days... Jonesing for a fix already. Think I'm going to get a jon boat for my in-between boats...boat... that I can throw in the back of the truck.

 

Lets say a 14' jon. Would I be better with a 24v TM or a 12v running 2 batteries in parallel for an 8 hour day of fishing? 

 24V all day long. Better performance with less drain. Will outlast and out perform the 12v.

looking forward to see pics of your new rig. Not the Jon boat but your upcoming purchase.

 

 

[DaubsNU1]

This boat will run all day on a lone walmart deep-cycle batter powering MinnKota 40lb trolling motor...battery sits in the back of the boat, connected to the trolling motor with 6 gauge welding wire.  

 

Trolling motor and wiring is 20 years old. I replace the battery every 2-3 years. Keep a battery tender on it year round. 

 

 

[Way2slow]

Take that outboard off the back and see how many times you can say that.

 

Batteries have a very finite amount of power, based on the amount of use.  Anyone that's having a 12V battery last all day long, is not using it a lot.

[Jig Man]

W2S knows what he is talking about.  A 24 volt uses only half of what a 12 volt uses to make the same thrust.
 

If I were going to set up a jon it would be 24 volt 70# +- and I would be looking for a trailer.

[ChrisD46]

On 2/27/2021 at 6:34 PM, Way2slow said:

No, I'm suggesting if you are considering two batteries, you would get more run time out of two batteries in series for a 24V system that you would with two batteries in parallel for a 12V system. 

If you do very much moving around during an eight hour fishing trip, you will need two batteries.

Some people like to use one and then swap it for the second when the first goes dead on a 12V motor.  That is absolutely the worst, most inefficient way you can do it and will get the least run time of all,  it places all the current draw on just one battery.  As the current draw increases on a battery, the amp hour capacity of the battery decreases.  Meaning, if the battery is advertised as 120 Ah, you put a 30 amp load on it, then it's only rated at maybe a 80Ah battery, not 120, (These numbers are just for examples not factual).

The problem comes in the fact the batteries weigh approximately 65 pounds each, so hauling two of them back and fourth, in and out of the boat gets very labor intensive.  Working out of a truck bed, a 14' jon is going to weigh close to 130 pounds, add another 130 pounds of battery, you are not going to be moving without taking everything out and in every time.  That don't count for the TM weight, seats, cooler and gear.   

That's why when I was doing that fishing in south Texas with my son, who was also over 6' and 200 pounds, it wasn't long before I bought a 12' jon that only weighed about 80 pounds, one big battery and one digital 12V TM.  However, we were only fishing a few hours 

*Great clarification - thanks ! ... Need to be sure with pictures how to hook up two batteries in series vs. parallel for us newbies .

[Jig Man]

Parallel is a jumper wire running from + of battery A to + of battery B and a jumper wire running from - of battery A to - of battery B.  Then hook the trolling motor to either battery.

 

Series is a jumper wire running from the + of either battery to the - of the other battery.  Then hook the trolling motor to the remaining terminals.

[Bankc]

The only time I'd recommend a 12v trolling motor is if you needed to save weight or money.  

[Way2slow]

I always recommend looking at the reserve minutes (RM) on the battery.  That's typically based on a 25 amp draw, but some batteries will use a 20 amp draw so do a little homework for the battery you want and see how it's rated.  Typical good, deep cycle batteries will have about 200 RM, Trojan has a 225.

Now, since that RM is based on a fully charged battery and is until the battery can no longer produce power will want to subtract approximately 25% from that number.  This is because it's harmful to a battery to fully discharge it and you should not take one to below a 25% charge.  By then it's going to be so low it probably won't be very useful anyway. 

You can figure a 50# thrust TM is going to be pulling 20 -25 amps at a medium speed so the number you come up with after subtracting 25%, is probably pretty close to how much run time you can expect to get if you are only using it at medium speed or below.  That number will be greatly reduced if you start running on max thrust trying to move from one point to another. 

So, no matter how you do math, it's going to be hard to stretch 150 minutes into eight hours unless a large part of that time is spent without the TM running.  There are times you are going to be running at less than a medium speed and current draw will be less, so that adds time to your run time, but still don't think you are going to get that much of an increase.    Digital TMs will help add to the runtime if kept off max, because they tend to pull less current at the same mid speed.  

[TnRiver46]

A Boat that can be lifted into a truck bed doesn’t need 24v . I used to go for miles and a couple days without charging with 30 lb thrust and one battery . Unless you are trolling crappie 14 hours a day into the wind of course 

[Junk Fisherman]

Are you fighting a lot of current or planning to run the motor nonstop for 8 hours?  I fished with my old 17.5' deep V and a 55 lb, 12 volt Powerdrive for years without ever needing more.   And I put in many 8-10 hour days with that boat.  I can't imagine needing a 24 volt system or 2 batteries in parallel for any jon boat that you can fit in the back of a truck.  

[Way2slow]

I suppose you are going to say that 17.5' deep V with a 55 lb 12V Powerdrive was an electric only and didn't have an outboard to move from one spot to another.  

Ya'll with the outboards and saying you fished all day on one battery, there's a huge difference in just using the TM in a area while casting and using an outboard to move to another over having to use the TM not only for casting in one area and then having to use it to move to another.  

 

However, I will be the first to admit, before I messed with handling two batteries every time I went fishing, I would modify my fish day, to where one battery served the purpose.  While in the military and moving a lot, many times it was not practical to have a gas powered boat, so either used a rented jon at the pond/lake or one hauled in the back of a truck.  I have hauled 65 pound batteries up and down banks, in and out of boats, back and forth to the truck, more times than I could ever count and I am here to say, no way under the sun would I double that task with two batteries.  Even back when I was young and strong as an ox, I didn't enjoy that task.

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, Way2slow said:

I suppose you are going to say that 17.5' deep V with a 55 lb 12V Powerdrive was an electric only and didn't have an outboard to move from one spot to another.  

Ya'll with the outboards and saying you fished all day on one battery, there's a huge difference in just using the TM in a area while casting and using an outboard to move to another over having to use the TM not only for casting in one area and then having to use it to move to another.  

 

However, I will be the first to admit, before I messed with handling two batteries every time I went fishing, I would modify my fish day, to where one battery served the purpose.  While in the military and moving a lot, many times it was not practical to have a gas powered boat, so either used a rented jon at the pond/lake or one hauled in the back of a truck.  I have hauled 65 pound batteries up and down banks, in and out of boats, back and forth to the truck, more times than I could ever count and I am here to say, no way under the sun would I double that task with two batteries.  Even back when I was young and strong as an ox, I didn't enjoy that task.

Yep! I used to have to carry them straight down the hill to the dock. Not so bad if you didn’t fall but the walk back uphill was a nightmare. We never killed a fully charged 12v battery in a day with 30 lb thrust (no gas motor). Heck I took that thing all the way to lake fork without a gas motor 

[Junk Fisherman]

1 hour ago, Way2slow said:

I suppose you are going to say that 17.5' deep V with a 55 lb 12V Powerdrive was an electric only and didn't have an outboard to move from one spot to another.  

Ya'll with the outboards and saying you fished all day on one battery, there's a huge difference in just using the TM in a area while casting and using an outboard to move to another over having to use the TM not only for casting in one area and then having to use it to move to another.  

 

However, I will be the first to admit, before I messed with handling two batteries every time I went fishing, I would modify my fish day, to where one battery served the purpose.  While in the military and moving a lot, many times it was not practical to have a gas powered boat, so either used a rented jon at the pond/lake or one hauled in the back of a truck.  I have hauled 65 pound batteries up and down banks, in and out of boats, back and forth to the truck, more times than I could ever count and I am here to say, no way under the sun would I double that task with two batteries.  Even back when I was young and strong as an ox, I didn't enjoy that task.

 

Many times I fished trolling motor-only lakes for 8-10 hours.  I was always impressed with the Maximizer feature on the Minn Kota motor.  Only a couple times did I register in the "yellow" rating at the end of the day.  

 

I could see considering going 24 volts if you had a trailer and you'd always keep the batteries in the boat but handling a 2nd battery on a boat you put in the back of your truck would be a PITA.  Taking both batteries out and charging them would be a hassle.  No thank you especially when it is questionable at best if it is needed.