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Location: Green Bay, WI | Actually, I did that as well...carried a set of jumper cables. Except the one time I needed to use them, the trolling motor batteries were so weak at the end of the day, that they didn't turn the engine over anyway! I ended up putting the start battery in series with a trolling motor battery. I don't know for sure how many volts I had, but it was sure over 12--you should of heard that motor spin! It only turned over for a couple seconds, and the Honda started right up. I didn't have a kicker on that boat, and a Honda 200 is pretty big to try to rope-start... LOL. Anyway, it got us back to the landing and the engine was never the worse for wear.
I also see that the ProKicker units have a manual (rope) start on them, although I never used the one I had on my old boat. So basically THAT could very well be your jump-starter as well--as long as you connect the kicker's alternator to charge the start battery, it should get the big motor started again.
So then the only real reason a person would need a house battery is if you didn't want to have your electronics subjected to any voltage spikes induced by the start event. I know the guys on the Verado Owner's Club forum recommend that when you have a Verado (as they are ultra-sensitive to voltage, apparently), but I am not sure that's the case for the Optimax. I'll do some more research on this, because it would avoid some extra expense and complexity...if I didn't need it.
TB | |
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