Moving batteries to the bow..??

[crotonpond]

Hey guys, I am in a difficult spot. I just picked up a 1987 thompson cutlass 185. It has a 5.7l mercruiser with alpha one outdrive. The boat is stern heavy and I'm trying to cut weight. One option I'm considering is oving the batteries towards the middle of the boat, just at the entrance to the small cuddy area. Is this going to be a bad idea?

 

[fhhuber]

Depends on space available and what you are powering with the batteries...

Its done sometimes in bass boats to get the batteries for the trolling motor closer to the trolling motor. Shorter wires are good for high power DC applications.

Moving the battery used to start the engine any significant distance from the engine is usually not a great idea. You'd need heavier gauge wires for starting the engine and even then it wouldn't tolerate the battery being less than full charged as well.

You need to have an appropriate location to put the batteries. They need ventilation and even modern "sealed" batteries will out-gas somewhat. They need adequate ventilation.

 

[fishin98]

Your starting battery should always be as close to the engine as possible for maximum performance. With older fiberglass boats a possible reason for being STERN HEAVY is that the flotation at the rear of the boat is water logged, weighing it down.

 

[crotonpond]

So long story short..it's a bad idea?

The boat IMO is undersized for the motor. I have not looked into saturated flotation at the stern, but that is also a possibility. The boat is not mint, but has been very well maintained and shows no signs that it has taken on water.

 

[bruceb58]

Leave them in the back. It's only 40#/battery so I doubt you would really see much of a difference.