Run trolling motor on dual purpose battery?

[mike64]

I just bought a used Minn-Kota 50lb thrust trolling motor. I'm planning to do a little trolling with it, not hours of trolling, and I wanted to have a backup in case my OB dies on me.

I go out on inland lakes, the largest one 1280 acres. I have a dual-purpose battery that I always fully charge before I go out.

Can I get away with running the troller off the dual-purpose battery, or do I really need to get a second battery? If I run the trolling motor for a 1/2 hour say, am I asking for trouble when I try to start the ob again?

 

[JB]

Re: Run trolling motor on dual purpose battery?

I have never used dual batteries. Always used one, and for the last 20 years that one has been the biggest dual purpose battery Wal Mart carried: Marine Maxx.

Never did any real trolling with the electric, but worked along shorelines, around weedbeds and rock bars for hours at a time.

I think you can get by with one big dual purpose battery like the Marine Maxx.

 

[mike64]

Re: Run trolling motor on dual purpose battery?

Thanks, JB. i took a closer look at my battery (that came with the boat)-- it says right on it "Designed for both marine starting and trolling motor deep cycle" so I guess I'm ok with what I have.

It's a Stowaway 27DP-6. 730 cranking amps, 160 reserve capacity. I know that's not the best battery out there, but it holds a charge well-- never takes long to recharge it, even when I forgot to give it a charge for a couple months last winter. I'll test it out with the troller tomorrow.

 

[nimmor]

Re: Run trolling motor on dual purpose battery?

For just a 1/2 hour of trolling unless your battery is on it's last leg you shouldn't have any trouble. I would say you probaly could go with even 4-5 hours of trolling with no problem, depending on how much the motor draws juice. Some of the newer ones don't draw that much.

 

[mike64]

Re: Run trolling motor on dual purpose battery?

So I tried out the trolling motor today. The battery handled the drain from the motor fine, not that I ran the motor that long. The motor, however, didn't do so well. It was a fairly windy day, and when I tried trolling in a little bay the wind blew me right into the weeds. So I took the boat out into open water on the lake and tried again, but with the wind and the choppy water the motor wasn't doing much. So I gave up and fired up the ob. If it was a perfectly calm day the troller might get me back to the launch if my ob dies, but any wind at all and forget about it.

This is a transom mount troller, and I probably should have a bow mount for my size boat (16' v-hull ~1000 lbs.). But the way my bow is designed there's really no place for a bow mount. And I like to stand and fish from the back of the boat so I figured I could work the tiller pretty easy while I'm fishing. But the wind just blows the front end around like it's a big sail. So there might be a 50 lb. thrust Minn-Kota going back on craigslist real soon...

 

[rndn]

Re: Run trolling motor on dual purpose battery?

Are you really going to be able to enjoy fishing with the trolling motor wondering if you still have enough juice to start your outboard? Buy a second deep cycle so you can enjoy fishing.