Trolling motor hours on a battery...

[Buckrider]

Going to build a double hull sort of pontoon boat out of 2 gimme 14.5 ft fiberglass toons. Won’t be much more than a deck and a couple of light weight folding boat seats on pedestals. Guessing weight to be 600-700 pounds max with 2 guys on it and some gear. Just curious to know how long a MinnKota 55 will run on it using it as the only power source to get around like across the lake and back and a half day of jug lining? Any ideas if that is a reasonable expectation or should I get a tiny light weight gas motor like 3-5hp?


Sure miss those days of being able to hunt a lease for a nominal cost that didn’t create greed and a feeling of despair if you didn’t kill something!

[Texas Grown]

Any motor of any kind is gonna require a title and registering it, unless your on private waters. But, if that is your intention anyway, the more amp-hours on the battery, the longer your troller will run. The lower you run the motor, the longer the battery will last. The faster you run, the faster/higher setting the motor runs, the faster your battery will run down which = less time on the water. I've run and have had a few 55lbs. The digitals make much more efficiency out of the batteries. There by giving longer run times.


You might think about a small outboard to get to the area you want to fish. Then use a the troller to get around. You'd be surprised at how well a 5-15hp can push a 14ft boat. I've had a number of those too, 14ft boats and 5-15hp motors.

[Buckrider]

Yes I am aware about registering a boat and all that just not sure yet what to do as far as it being home built. If it floats and handles well and safely then I’ll make it legal. I understand about use a motor more will use up battery sooner so I was hoping to get an estimate to see whether a troller only was an option. If not then I’ll just go with a small gas motor and be done with it. Thank you for your reply!


Sure miss those days of being able to hunt a lease for a nominal cost that didn’t create greed and a feeling of despair if you didn’t kill something!

[justletmein]

No direct experience with it but you should be able to find the listed amps your selected motor will use and calculate according to amp hours on a deep cycle battery. As for the size, sojnds like a 55lb thrust will likely do the job assuming you're not out in windy conditions. I've used a 55lb on a 17' aluminum boat and it pushed it along fine.

[Buckrider]

That’s a good point! May be able to calculate it out myself...[emoji848]
Thanks


Sure miss those days of being able to hunt a lease for a nominal cost that didn’t create greed and a feeling of despair if you didn’t kill something!

[Quackerbox]

You could always put two batteries with a perko switch and just swap batts when one got weak

[critter69]

Or just wire more batteries together, for longer run time.

[hogslayer78]

No way would I rely on a trolling motor and 12 volt battery to get me across the lake and back. I would definitely go with a little 5hp motor and use that trolling motor when you get where your fishing at.

[Pedernal]

No way would I rely on a trolling motor and 12 volt battery to get me across the lake and back. I would definitely go with a little 5hp motor and use that trolling motor when you get where your fishing at.

^^^^This ^^^^unless you are talking about a few hundred acre lake that you can easily walk back around to your vehicle. With as windy as it gets this time of year, it's not just weight you need to consider. how much the boat catches the wind will be a huge factor as to battery /power usage.

If you can get the amperage used by the motor it's easy to calculate run time... Just remeber lead acid batteries don't take well to being discharged under 30%. Along with that, they diminish in power at said charge levels.