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Posts: 214
Location: Central Iowa | I'm about to purchase my first boat and I'll need a trolling motor obviously, but am not exactly sure on what size to get. Is there a "rule of thumb" for sizing a trolling motor to a specific length of boat? I'm getting a 16' crestliner fishhawk, am I looking at a minimum of 55 lbs?
Also, 24v versus 12v...which do you prefer and if I were to go with the 24v route, will an onboard charger charge the 24v battery and the remaining 12v batteries at the same time with the same charger? |
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| get a 24 volt one...you won't be dissapointed...12v is not enough for a tough day on the water...I'd go with a 65 lb autopilot...60" shaft....
if you get a 3 bank on board charger it will charge the 2 trolling motor batteries and the starter... |
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Posts: 214
Location: Central Iowa | that was my next question...how do you determine the correct shaft length? |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | Crackpot, welcome aboard. Yeah, 55 pound on a 12/24 setup would ba good minimum. Rule of thumb is go as big as you can afford. I dunno about the auto pilot, I've heard good & bad, up to you on that.
You don't really have a "24 volt battery". Two twelves are tied together at the switch (or, the troller's plug, depending on how it is set up) to get you the 24. A 3 bank charger will charge your starter battery and your two trollers if that is what you have. Now, Al Warner can give you a much more detailed lesson in this, PM Esox Maniac if you need technical explanations, he's one of the best. Good luck with it and enjoy your new boat! m |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | Crackpot, welcome aboard. Yeah, 55 pound on a 12/24 setup would be a good minimum. Rule of thumb is go as big as you can afford. I dunno about the auto pilot, I've heard good & bad, up to you on that.
You don't really have a "24 volt battery". Two twelves are tied together at the switch (or, the troller's plug, depending on how it is set up) to get you the 24. A 3 bank charger will charge your starter battery and your two trollers if that is what you have. Now, Al Warner can give you a much more detailed lesson in this, PM Esox Maniac if you need technical explanations, he's one of the best. Good luck with it and enjoy your new boat! m |
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Posts: 214
Location: Central Iowa | Thanks for the help Mikie...one less piece of the puzzle to put together. I can't wait to rig her up...nothing better than a night of riggin with a few shastas of course! |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | http://www.motorguide.com/index.pl/rigging
this might help, even if it isn't a Motorguide. My puter is runnin too slow to help you search for the shaft length calculator, but I think this link has something on it, good luck, m |
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Posts: 1335
Location: Chicago, Beverly | Shaft length is determined on how high your bow of the boat sits out of the water. 60" on a 16' Fishhawk is quite long. Not positive here, but I would think your Fishhawk does not sit much higher in the water then my Tuffy rampage. I have a 52" all terrain minn kota on that, more then I need, almost think I coulda went with maybe 48" but bought it used.. If you fish rough water with 2-3' waves, 52" would be good. As for size, get the biggest you can afford. Most 12v motors top out at 55lbs. I would not go less then 55. If you have room for the batteries, defintely go 24, almost any size in 24 will be good for that rig. I pull my batteries to charge them so do not know a lot about onboards, but go with a onboard that will send 10amp to each battery and can charge 3 at a time.. might be like a 3 bank 30 amp or something like that.. |
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Posts: 2427
Location: Ft. Wayne Indiana | Go with a 24 volt, 65 pound Minn Kota Power Drive, with a 60 inch shaft.
You will be very happy with this trolling motor.
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Posts: 91
| Just an FYI - Minn Kota isn't making a 65# 24v Auto Pilot Any more. A 70 or 80 lb is as small as you can get if you buy new. Both are 60" shafts i think, watch E-Bay for a 65# AP if thats what you want. Unless you can find an "old" new one sitting on a shelf somewhere.
Edited by jacorn 1/27/2006 11:47 PM
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Posts: 1438
| Always oversize your trolling motor. Figure what you think you need then upsize one bigger if you can at all afford it. I have a Tuffy 1700 EDV. Everyone I talked to said I would be fine with a 65 pound 24v. I was able to afford a bigger one so I opted for an 80 Maxxum. I'm ecstatic with the choice. I can run on about 30-50% in most conditions and darn near leave a wake at 80% and up.
The reasons for the bigger motor are several fold. 1st off, the bigger your motor, the lower power you'll need to run it at to accomplish the same task as a smaller one. 2nd maxing out the power level on a troller really eats batteries. 3rd the lower you use the longer the runtime you'll get between charges.
Not saying you should put an 80 on yours, but I would suggest getting the biggest one you can afford.
One other thing, I had a PowerDrive and got rid of it for my Maxxum. Running the troller from the back of the boat is nice, but unless you really have a need to do that, I'd suggest the Maxxum. I had a PowerDrive for several years and just never liked/got used to that footpad thing.
Scott
Edited by theedz155 1/28/2006 7:04 PM
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Trolling Motor Sizing