Trolling Motor Battery for 19 Foot Boat - 24 or 36 Volt?

[Bucks Bass and Bourbon]

Happy Memorial Day everyone! 

Question for you guys about TM batteries on a 19 footer. This Memorial Day instead of a barbecue I bought a Ranger Z519. Logical trade off right? I will be moving my graphs, electronics and raptors over from my current boat along with my Garmin trolling motor. Right now I have a 50 amp hour Dakota Lithium 24v that powers that thing for days but of course it's a 16 foot aluminum. Definitely not an apples to apples comparison. Should I start looking at a 36v or will the 24 work out? I don't necessarily need it go multiple days on end without charging but I need it to at least make a full day (8 hours) on the water without having to worry about it. The way I fish on the water I fish I usually don't push it hard at all and almost never even use 50% power unless I'm moving to another spot close enough that I don't bother using the outboard. Mostly slowly cruising the back or spot locking on open water. Anyone with experience please share your thoughts. Thanks!

[Junk Fisherman]

The 24 volt is plenty and is standard on 18-19' bassboats.  I have a 19' deep V boat with an 80 lb 24 volt motor and have never had an issue with running out of charge by the end of the day.  And I fish plenty of TM-only lakes in which I never even start the big motor.  Now, if you said you were fishing a lot of rivers with strong current I would suggest going to 36 volts to be safe but from what you described, 24 volts will do the job just fine.  And it's not like you can't make the upgrade later if you find out the 24 volts is not enough (I highly doubt that will happen).  Good luck and enjoy your boat.  

[A-Jay]

Congrats on the New rig ~ !

IMO,  If you're running the Force unit,

the 100 lbs of thrust you'll get at 36 V 

vs the 80 lbs offered by 24 v

will be a welcome addition on your new and heavier rig.

Which depending on the motor you have, a full fuel tank, live well, gear & angler(s)

will be pushing 2700 lbs.

Compare that to the 16 footer and that's a decent increase.

You'll welcome the added thrust in Wind & Waves and if & when

quick close quarters maneuvering is required. 

"My trolling motor has too much thrust" said no one ever.

Good Luck. 

A-Jay

[Tennessee Boy]

I would think you will want 100 lbs of thrust.  You already have the 24v so go fishing and see how it works.

[Jig Man]

You should be able to use 24 volts and be fine.  I ran a 20’ 6” Champion with a 24 volt Motorguide TE 82 for 14 years in all kinds of weather.  It would hold in the wind until water would start to come over the bow.  It’s not the trolling motor but the batteries that will keep you on the water.  You might need another battery.

[TOXIC]

Are you replacing your troller? If it’s a 24 volt motor and you hook it up to 36 you are going to fry it.  Or am I missing something?

[A-Jay]

24 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

Are you replacing your troller? If it’s a 24 volt motor and you hook it up to 36 you are going to fry it.  Or am I missing something?

The new Garmin units can operate at either 36 V or 24 V. When running at 24 V it delivers 80lbs of thrust and 100lbs at 36 volts.

A-Jay 

[WRB]

Transitioning technology Mfr’s offer a bridge from older to newer. 
When everyone had a 12V TM the 24V had a switch 12 or 24V, same today 24V to  36V. 
You have the 24V battery so use it and upgrade to 36V when needed. More power throughout the range is more efficient and there when needed.

Tom

[Bucks Bass and Bourbon]

Thanks everyone. I’ll give it a good test in various conditions to see how it holds up and if the 24 isn’t quite doing it I’ll switch. My main concern was the 24 would definitely not be enough but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Much appreciated!

[Gera]

 

On 5/27/2024 at 8:24 AM, Bucks Bass and Bourbon said:

This Memorial Day instead of a barbecue I bought a Ranger Z519. Logical trade off right?

yes, math checks out. 

[Big Hands]

My 19 foot Ranger from BITD had a Mercury Thruster . . . 12v @ a whopping 42 lbs of thrust. . . whoa, stand back, LOL. We didn't know what we didn't have.

 

A friend has a 19' Champion with the 24v/36v trolling motor. He just runs it on 24v but with two 100 ah lithium batteries wired in series for 24v. He has another 12v 125 ah lithium to run his Livescope, other fish finders, and other accessories. He has no complaints.

[Bucks Bass and Bourbon]

19 hours ago, Big Hands said:

My 19 foot Ranger from BITD had a Mercury Thruster . . . 12v @ a whopping 42 lbs of thrust. . . whoa, stand back, LOL. We didn't know what we didn't have.

 

A friend has a 19' Champion with the 24v/36v trolling motor. He just runs it on 24v but with two 100 ah lithium batteries wired in series for 24v. He has another 12v 125 ah lithium to run his Livescope, other fish finders, and other accessories. He has no complaints.

I’m actually thinking about going to a single high ah 12v for my electronics and accessories as well. Right now I have one dedicated battery for each of two of my graphs and one dedicated 48ah NMC from Amped to power my livescope and graph combo. No complaints on any of that as the worst case scenario is I would have to charge them overnight after a very long day. Plus the batteries are still relatively new and have a lot of life left in them so it doesn’t make much sense to get a new one just for that reason. 
 

As for the trolling motor battery, I’m going to see how it plays out. I do fish some rivers up here but nothing in too strong of current so I might just put in a full day with it and see how it does. From the responses and talking with some more guys it seems like the 24 will do but it might be borderline in some situations. It’s a 50ah so in a day of windy conditions or current I might find I need more battery life. If I do have to switch I would just go up to a 36v and be done with it. Thanks for the insight. 

[Jig Man]

I think you have the right idea about a house battery for the electronics.  I experimented with several configurations of them and the most satisfactory is a 100 ah lithium for electronics only.

[Bird]

I have a 17-1/2 ft Lowe and 24v 80lb thrust.

Wife and I often camp on electric only lakes and can run all week on a charge.

It's the starting battery that needs charged, running 2 Garmins.