Which trolling motor battery?

[livemusic]

As I age, I get dumber. I have confused myself. I bought a Walmart battery, thinking it is a cranking battery. All the markings...

EverStart marine

Deep Cycle Power

Group size 27DC

750MCA

edit: also says 109 amp hours

 

I thought that 750MCA means "marine cranking amps," so, that indicates it's a cranking battery. Which is what I wanted. Is it that or is it for a trolling motor?

 

Other than that, now I need trolling motor batteries for a MinnKota Fortrex 80 lbs thrust trolling motor. I read where I need Group Size 27 and 110 amp-hours. What markings am I looking for in choosing a trolling motor battery? Marine, deep cycle, yes. Are they marked with 110 amps or whatever? Looking at various websites, am confused!

 

I have a local feedstore that has batteries (Powertron... I know nothing of this brand), and reasonably close, I can think of Walmart, Academy, BassProShops, Auto parts stores and an Interstate distributor/dealer.

 

What do you know? Is there any you brand/model you prefer?

 

I notice that the Walmart EverStart marine battery I bought says "1 yr warranty." Is that all? lol. I figured it would be longer, prorated.

 

EDIT: The 17ft eXpress boat it's going into... the former owner bought the boat new with Optima blue-top batteries, dated May 2020. One battery charges up over 12v but one only charged to not quite 6v. Based on that sticker, they would be 4 years old in about two months.

[gim]

If you bought a battery that specifically indicated "deep cycle," you didn't buy a cranking battery.  You bought a deep cycle that are designated as trolling motor batteries.

 

Deep cycles generally come in three sizes: 24, 27, and 31.  I'm guessing your Fortrex would require at least two of them (24 volt).  The title of your thread says "which trolling motor battery" so I'm slightly confused if you're looking for those or a cranking battery.

 

If you are looking for a cranking battery, make sure it doesn't say "deep cycle" on it.  Depending on the size of your outboard, you will want to look for a specific CCA (which is cold cranking amps).  I don't know how big your outboard motor is.

 

As for the warranty, 12 months is pretty standard for a lead acid battery.

 

I generally had satisfactory results with interstate batteries when I used them.

[livemusic]

2 minutes ago, gimruis said:

If you bought a battery that specifically indicated "deep cycle," you didn't buy a cranking battery.  You bought a deep cycle that are designated as trolling motor batteries.

 

Deep cycles generally come in three sizes: 24, 27, and 31.  I'm guessing your Fortrex would require at least two of them (24 volt).

 

If you are looking for a cranking battery, make sure it doesn't say "deep cycle" on it.  Depending on the size of your outboard, you will want to look for a specific CCA (which is cold cranking amps).  I don't know how big your outboard motor is.

 

As for the warranty, 12 months is pretty standard for a lead acid battery.

 

If that's the case, then I could use that as one of the trolling motors for the Fortrex 80 lbs thrust trolling motor. And buy another just like it. Or, I could use it in a smaller boat I have that uses just one 12v trolling motor battery for a 45-lb thrust motor.

 

And, if that's the case, I need to buy a cranking battery!

 

Based on what you said, this confuses me even more, since the battery I bought, I bought it thinking it is a cranking battery since it says 750MCA (marine cranking amps).

[gim]

You could certainly use it as a trolling motor battery.  Just make sure you buy another one exactly the same.  You should always have them as the same age and replace both (or all three if its 36 volt) at the same time.

 

You could also just use it on the smaller boat.

 

A cranking battery will either say "cranking" or "starting" or "dual purpose" on it.  If it has the words deep cycle on it, its not a cranking battery.  The amperage will change on them based on what you need, which is based on how big your outboard is.  The bigger the outboard is, the more amps you will need to start it.

 

https://www.interstatebatteries.com/recreation-vehicles/marine-batteries/starting

[livemusic]

7 minutes ago, gimruis said:

You could certainly use it as a trolling motor battery.  Just make sure you buy another one exactly the same.  You should always have them as the same age and replace both (or all three if its 36 volt) at the same time.

 

You could also just use it on the smaller boat.

 

A cranking battery will either say "cranking" or "starting" or "dual purpose" on it.  If it has the words deep cycle on it, its not a cranking battery.  The amperage will change on them based on what you need, which is based on how big your outboard is.  The bigger the outboard is, the more amps you will need to start it.

 

https://www.interstatebatteries.com/recreation-vehicles/marine-batteries/starting

 

Thanks for your info. This battery I bought, I was using it to crank a 2019 115hp Yamaha 4-stroke and it's working fine, lol. But, this motor, you just touch the key, and the Yamaha fires up! This cranking battery setup is such that a lot of electronic gizmos are attached to this battery. Isn't that common to have the cranking battery do double duty? I guess some would have a 3rd battery? But I'd rather not do that. I have live well pumps, aerators, bilge pumps, 2 Hummingbird graphs.

[FishTank]

If it's 24V, you will need 2 12v deep cycle marine batteries run in series. They need to be exactly the same. The Everstart batteries have a one warranty because usually that is all they last. To maximize their life, if you are not using your boat, you will need to charge them every three months to maintain them. 

 

For the motor, you will need a cranking battery labeled for starting or dual purpose. Check your engines hp and match it appropriately.  

 

 

[casts_by_fly]

5 minutes ago, livemusic said:

 

Thanks for your info. This battery I bought, I was using it to crank a 2019 115hp Yamaha 4-stroke and it's working fine, lol. But, this motor, you just touch the key, and the Yamaha fires up! This cranking battery setup is such that a lot of electronic gizmos are attached to this battery. Isn't that common to have the cranking battery do double duty? I guess some would have a 3rd battery? But I'd rather not do that. I have live well pumps, aerators, bilge pumps, 2 Hummingbird graphs.

 

So long as the battery can provide the amperage it will start the motor.  That's why the CCA is listed.  However the engineering of the lead plates inside the battery is what is different.  Cranking batteries have more and thinner lead plates to provide a higher instantaneous current.  Deep cycle batteries are fewer and thicker plates to allow them to be worn down over the course of a day.  If you used a thin plate cranking battery as a trolling motor battery, you could wear down the lead plates to the point that they don't charge anymore.  Over time that will happen.  I'm not sure the result of using a deep cycle in place of a cranking battery providing the CCA rating is good enough.

 

Your trolling motor batteries should be separate from the rest of your stuff.  In some cases you'll get interference between the motor and the fish finders.  Additionally, you'll run down the charge faster if you're running a pair of graphs.  The best setup is one cranking, one house battery, and 1/2/3 trolling motor batteries as required by your motor.  Absent that, your cranking battery can be your house battery for your fishfinders and pumps.

[gim]

29 minutes ago, livemusic said:

I guess some would have a 3rd battery? But I'd rather not do that. I have live well pumps, aerators, bilge pumps, 2 Hummingbird graphs.

 

If you have room for a second battery for your graphs, pumps, lights, etc then you can certainly do that.  I use a cranking battery for those items and to start my outboard because I don't have room to add another battery.  My outboard is also smaller than yours being that its a 75.

[MN Fisher]

MCA is Marine Cranking Amps. That the battery also is labeled Deep Cycle tells me it's a dual use battery - I would use that one as cranking/house battery ( lights, sonar, pumps, etc) and get an identical pair of 75ah-100ah pure deep cycle batteries to run the TM.

[livemusic]

I'll add... my Humminbird fish finder has a glitch where it will display normally and every so often, a couple or few minutes, its scrolling slows to a crawl or it stops, and then it'll kick off again after a minute or so and it does this pretty much all the time now. So, maybe it is interference? Just thought of something... when I next have someone else with me, I could have him run the troll motor and I could view the console Humminbird 9 and if it does not screw up, I could ascertain that the Yamaha motor is generating interference with the Humminbird. I don't know how to solve that, lol, but a separate battery might? I would think fish finders don't need much of a battery. I have a Humminbird Helix 7 and a 9, 2019 models.

[gim]

32 minutes ago, FishTank said:

The Everstart batteries have a one warranty because usually that is all they last.

I wouldn't say that.  My lead acid batteries all lasted at least 3 full seasons, or more.   They should certainly last for a couple years.  Proper maintenance assumed.

[livemusic]

3 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

MCA is Marine Cranking Amps. That the battery also is labeled Deep Cycle tells me it's a dual use battery - I would use that one as cranking/house battery ( lights, sonar, pumps, etc) and get an identical pair of 75ah-100ah pure deep cycle batteries to run the TM.

 

That is precisely what I was wondering... might it be dual purpose. I also just scrutinized it further, the battery label atop says 109 amp hours.

[Bankc]

In a quick Google search, it seems like a 115hp motor will need about 500MCA to start, so your battery should cover that.  It also appears to be a deep cycle battery, so if you added a second, you could use them for your trolling motor.  Though I'd still want to keep the trolling motor and starter batteries separate.  

In other words, this battery should be fine for you as either a starter or trolling motor battery.  

 

As for your fish finder problems, that doesn't sound like interference to me.  That sounds like a problem with your fish finder.  Interference usually shows up like garbled nonsense on the screen.  It still scrolls the same, it's just instead of seeing the bottom and fish and stuff, you're seeing lines everywhere.  At least that's been my experience.  

 

I wouldn't worry about battery brands.  There aren't too many companies actually making lead acid batteries anymore, so most of them are just relabeled.  That, and it's a 100+ year old technology, so it's not like someone is doing something different to make theirs better.  

[FishTank]

20 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I wouldn't say that.  My lead acid batteries all lasted at least 3 full seasons, or more.   They should certainly last for a couple years.  Proper maintenance assumed.

 

The company I work for use to use batteries that were sold under a different name (Johnson Controls) but were essentially the same Everstarts Walmart sells. They were sold with every piece of equipment that went out. We used them because they were cheap. We had more issues with those batteries than anything else. They are manufactured by multiple factories now and you never know were they come from. We got fed up and after about 10 years, we switched to Deka. Not the greatest but they are leaps and bounds ahead in quality. 

 

On a side note, we still supply the explosive battery warning with our machines because of the Everstarts. Also, the Everstarts in my buddy's boat only ever lasted one season.  He was dead set on them. He bought two new ones every year for about four years until we started using the Interstate Batteries from Costco.  They are cheaper and have lasted 3 seasons now.

 

I would definitely agree, maintaining the batteries is a must and having a good charger as well. Glad they work for you.

[gim]

24 minutes ago, FishTank said:

I would definitely agree, maintaining the batteries is a must and having a good charger as well. Glad they work for you.

I only ever used Interstates when I used lead acid batteries.  The deep cycles would last 3-4 seasons on my 70 pound thrust bow mount.

 

I had a cranking battery that lasted almost 6 years!  It came with the boat when I bought it in 2016 and didn't have to replace it until 2021.  I replaced that one with a Die Hard version from Batteries Plus in June 2021.

 

On Black Friday I just bought a couple of Duracell AGM deep cycles for my bow mount.  They were having a 20% off sale plus I traded in the cores of my old ones too.  I bought them locally from Batteries Plus and they have a 30 month warranty.  My chargers are not lithium-compatible otherwise I would have considered those.  I am hoping to get 5+ seasons out of the AGM batteries.  When the lifespan of these are up, I'll be upgrading chargers and deep cycles to lithiums.

[steves191145]

I switched to a off brand li-time lifepo4 for the 36v trolling motor. Running a single 36v 55ah last me all day. I got it last fall so we shall see how it holds up to heavy current this spring.

[casts_by_fly]

2 hours ago, livemusic said:

I'll add... my Humminbird fish finder has a glitch where it will display normally and every so often, a couple or few minutes, its scrolling slows to a crawl or it stops, and then it'll kick off again after a minute or so and it does this pretty much all the time now. So, maybe it is interference? Just thought of something... when I next have someone else with me, I could have him run the troll motor and I could view the console Humminbird 9 and if it does not screw up, I could ascertain that the Yamaha motor is generating interference with the Humminbird. I don't know how to solve that, lol, but a separate battery might? I would think fish finders don't need much of a battery. I have a Humminbird Helix 7 and a 9, 2019 models.

a helix 7 will draw just under an amp. A helix 9 draws about 2.5 amps. If both are on thats 3.5 amps which isn’t a ton.  However, if your trolling motor is also on it could be drawing anywhere from am amp to 40 amps. 
 

I would wager the fish finder issue is low voltage and a battery that can’t supply enough power. Fish finders are sensitive to having enough power, hence having one good house battery for them. I’d check any batteries you aren’t replacing by getting them load tested at the auto parts store (usually free). Then you know what you’re dealing with.  And if it were me personally I wouldn’t even bother with what you have. I would start with fresh batteries so I knew exactly how they had been treated. 

[airshot]

8 hours ago, FishTank said:

 

The company I work for use to use batteries that were sold under a different name (Johnson Controls) but were essentially the same Everstarts Walmart sells. They were sold with every piece of equipment that went out. We used them because they were cheap. We had more issues with those batteries than anything else. They are manufactured by multiple factories now and you never know were they come from. We got fed up and after about 10 years, we switched to Deka. Not the greatest but they are leaps and bounds ahead in quality. 

 

On a side note, we still supply the explosive battery warning with our machines because of the Everstarts. Also, the Everstarts in my buddy's boat only ever lasted one season.  He was dead set on them. He bought two new ones every year for about four years until we started using the Interstate Batteries from Costco.  They are cheaper and have lasted 3 seasons now.

 

I would definitely agree, maintaining the batteries is a must and having a good charger as well. Glad they work for you.

Different Walmarts get their batteries from different sources, just like there motor oil.  In our area the walmart super tech is all made by Valvoline and their batteries are marked as made by Deka. Depending on where you live, your results may be different....

[slonezp]

Deka deep cycle batteries. NAPA deep cycle are made by Deka and are more than likely less expensive than brand name Deka's

[Goldstar225]

I'm about to replace my Interstate TM batteries.  The current ones have given me six years of reliable service.  Buying Interstate again.

[gim]

3 hours ago, Goldstar225 said:

The current ones have given me six years of reliable service.

That's solid lifespan out of standard lead acid batteries.

[Big Hands]

I have been using two Group 27 deep cycle AGM batteries on my 1648 with a 40 hp Mercury four stroke with a 70 lbs Minn Kota Edge. I tap 12v off of one of the Group 27 deep cycle AGM batteries to start my outboard. Had it set up this way for almost three years now. You could do the same with another Group 27 Everstart.

 

Group 27 deep cycle batteries aren't usually quite 110 AH. Mine are made by East Penn with a Duracell sticker on one and a SuperStart sticker on the other. Same exact battery, but you pay $50 more for the SuperStart from O'Reilly's (that has a 12 month warranty) than you do for the Duracell from Sam's Club and the Duracell has an 18 month warranty.

 

I had a 19 ft Ranger with a 200 Merc back in the late 80's/early 90's that used two Trojan 6v golf cart batteries wired in series for everything. It had a 12v Thruster trolling motor and it started that big Merc just fine.

 

I know you're 'not supposed to' do it that way. Mine was rigged by North Hollywood Marine for one of their 'pro staff' boats because this particular fellow wanted to wring every ounce of speed he could out of it. 

 

The downside would be that if you run your trolling motor batteries down, it could not have enough juice to fire up your outboard. You could carry a NOCO jumper battery. I can use a cord to easily pull start the 40 hp if needed. JMHO.

[FishTank]

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

That's solid lifespan out of standard lead acid batteries.

 

This going to sound like a tall tail but I had a lead acid battery in a (and don't laugh) Jaguar S-Type for 10 years. As long as I owned it, I never bought a new one. I have no idea who made them in England but it was still going strong when I got rid of it.  It was in the trunk of the car which is what I would guess made it last so long. 

[livemusic]

I just went to Walmart and bought another 27 EverStart battery and also a lawn mower battery. A guy was there who rolled in with two used 29 EverStart batteries for his cores and I noticed the battery date tag said 2/17. I asked "Uh... did you get seven years out of those batteries?" He said "Yep, sure did!" So, that is amazing. An example of the EverStart doing well. He said he did keep them charged with his onboard charger.