Trolling Motor Question

[BJ Laster]

Couple of questions.



First one:



Motor Guide or Minn Kota, I've used both whats your opinion?



Secondly:



On a 36 volt system I heard that the third battery would be the cranking battery. If I run a 36 volt trolling motor wouldnt it be best to add the 3rd trolling batt (4th batt in the boat).



and lastly....



Stealth Chargers. I've heard a lot good thigns about them. Its the charger that runs off the outboard and charges the batts....It also has a plug to plug into a wall.



Thanks



BJ

 

[Lamar Gilbert]

Why would you want to run a 36V troller? I run all day on a 12V 55lb minkota troller and have never run the battery down. I suggest you go with the "KISS" philosophy.......keep it simple.....supid. The more you complicate your system.......the more headaches you are destined to have.

 

[Jim B]

BJ ill try to answer your questions



1) Minnkota all the way. I have owned both and all three of the motorguides i have owned gave me nothing but grief. Blown boards, armatures, snapped cables etc. The minnkotas i have owned have taken every bit of punishment i know how to dish out ot a trolling motor and have just worked. It also dosent hurt that the mionnkots are betrter on batteries, are quieter and superior in the weeds. thats my .02 btw the pro series with lift assist is SWEET!!!



2) I would go with 4 batteries. Your trolling system is only as strong as the weakest battery in the system. The starting battery would be the weak link. I also dont like dual purpose batteries for trolling duty. If it was my boat i would go with 3 deep cycle only batteries( trojan scs for me) and a dual purpose for the starting/ elcetronics/ pumps.



3) I have read lost of good things about the stealth on boards but heard bad from people i trust. The guy i buy my trolling motors and batteries from says the stealth will kill batteries. He sold them for a year and had lots of issues with them. Also a guy in my club had one and he had problems too. IMHO if you have good quality batteries and a good charger( guest) you should never run out of power. I can run my 80# minnkota in big wind all day and never even have a hint of power loss. Running out of power has never been an issue for me with the Trojan batteries an Minnkota motor.



I hope this helps.



Lamar, The reason fto run a 36 volt troller is thrust. If i remember correctly BJ is buying a bigger boat and im betting he wants a 100# tm and i dont blame him, i would too. A 36 volt motor wll run longer on a big heavy boat then a 24 volt one will with less thrust on the same boat. I run a 80# on my 882 and there are days i wish i had a bigger TM. Sure i can run all day with my setup too but i doubt i would on a 20' but a 36v 101# would just fine. Just the same as the 55# you run on your 185 would most likley not last all day on my 882.

 

[BJ Laster]

Thanks jim!

 

[Bruce Yeaton]

I agree with Jim on the 4 batteries.



I have a Stealth charger on my boat and love it. I had problems with the original one I bought, but Stealth replaced it with a newer model. The original purchase was not from Stealth. Since the "updated" unit was installed I have had zero issues. I check the voltage at the batteries and I'm getting 27 ish volts when charging (motor is running). This is hardly enough to fry a battery (24V system). When I get home for the day and plug in the Guest charger(15 amp), it takes no more than 2 hours to fully charge all my batteries.



I have fished for 4 days in a row without ever plugging in my Guest (camping with no electricity) and there was never a performance issue with my TM. Of course, I don't suggest doing that all the time



Let me know if you have any questions

 

[fatrap]

I've ran the tracker(by motorguide) 24 volt system on my Nitro 170 for thirteen years. Not one problem.

fatrap

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

You are going to get personal prefrences (however they were formed) on which brand of TM. For every person ot there who loves MK there is a MG that has performed as well. I (personally) have had both and the only one I had to replace was a MK. I have the stock MG on the 929 and let me tell you you cannot run a motor harder or punish one than I have that one. I have more hours on my TM than I do my big motor!! I also use a MK on my pvc boat that I troll with it sun up to sun down. Find the one that has the features you like (there are differences) and go with it.



I like to be able to isolate problems when they happen and yes I use the KISS principle. A GUEST 3 or 4 bank on board charger will do a better job IMHO. The key to long life in a battery is to discharge them as close to 100% as possible and re-charge them to 100% ASAP. 36V=4 batteries. Your next problem will be finding a place for the 3rd or 4th battery.



TOXIC

 

[Bruce Yeaton]

Tox- that's a myth. They key to battery life is to keep the discharge of the battery ABOVE 50% and NEVER drain it down like that.



Along with everything I've read about batteries over the last few years, I just saw a show on Ship Shape TV about this very thing. Damage to the battery (electrolytes breaking down, suflur build up) begins at 50% of the batterys charge.



I do agree with charging the batteries immediately when you get home with a quality (Guest) charger. Guest even allows you to keep them on the charger for an indefinite period of time. I leave mine on for most of the winter for storage.



The Stealth maintains my batteries from ever dropping to that 50% mark. I can't even say my batteries discharge past 80%

 

[Bruce Yeaton]

A link for you guys to read



http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/carfaq1.htm



from this page



http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/carfaq.htm



Enjoy