55 thrust vs 70 thrust opinion

I am wondering if upgrading my minnkota powerdrive V2 55 thrust to a 70 thrust is worth it.

I have a 16.75 ft aluminum boat and was thinking this would be worthwhile. I have the opportunity to do it economically. I would have to buy another battery but that is fine and having the 24 volt system would I think be better for run time.

Is there a noticeable difference between the two the main reason I would do this is to do more river fishing for walleyes in spring and fall.

If anyone has any opinion I would be interested to hear it.

Thanks in advance.

In my opinion you can never have to much Power. That is really true for Trolling motors. Like you said the 24 volt system would also offer much more run time between charges. This can be handy if you ever go on a trip and getting a charge on it after each use is a issue. I’d make the change and never give it another thought.

It really depends on if your 55 is sized right for your boat. The two motors use the same prop (MKP-32) and spin at the same rpm. The only difference will be if the boat is heavy enough that the 55 is not powerful enough to spin at the rated RPM.

The theoretical speed for most Minnkota’s is 4.95 mph. If in normal conditions you are able to move at or close to that speed, the move to a 70 will not make any difference.

https://www.minnkotamotors.com/support/faqs/how-does-thrust-compare-speed

Now that is a informative post PTC. Thanks for sharing.

I did this a few years ago and it is the way to go. Not only the extra power but the battery life is way longer in my experience.
Good luck.

Yes. Get the bigger/more thrust. Especially if you’re fishing river/current. I had a 16 foot Crestliner aluminum tiller and went from a 12 volt to 24 volt.

Definitely worth it.

Thanks for the feedback I appreciate it. I can not do anywhere near 4 mph with my current motor.

I have an Alumacraft Dominator 165, it came with the Powerdrive 55lb thrust, I added the Co-Pilot function. While it worked, I could drain the batteries in about 4hrs if there was wind.

I upgraded to the 80lb Terrova w/ I-Pilot and the difference was amazing. I can troll on somewhat calm days for 5+ hours at 1.5 to 2mph and have used the spot lock feature in fairly windy conditions for 8+hrs and have only drained the batteries 1 time (also using AGM batteries which helps)

While it looks like you are wondering about the 70lb Pwerdrive, going to a 24V system as both battery life and power to your boat. Also, I believe you can add the I-Pilot feature on the Powerdrive if you wanted to

bigstorm wrote:

I have an Alumacraft Dominator 165, it came with the Powerdrive 55lb thrust, I added the Co-Pilot function. While it worked, I could drain the batteries in about 4hrs if there was wind.

I upgraded to the 80lb Terrova w/ I-Pilot and the difference was amazing. I can troll on somewhat calm days for 5+ hours at 1.5 to 2mph and have used the spot lock feature in fairly windy conditions for 8+hrs and have only drained the batteries 1 time (also using AGM batteries which helps)

While it looks like you are wondering about the 70lb Pwerdrive, going to a 24V system as both battery life and power to your boat. Also, I believe you can add the I-Pilot feature on the Powerdrive if you wanted to

I have the upgraded head on my 55 thrust which I will then put on the new one. The head I have allows for spot lock and some other upgraded features. I look forward to the upgrade.

I can only echo what the others said. Way back when I had a 16 foot Sea Nymph. It had a 12 volt Evinrude trolling motor on it and I upgraded to a 65 lb 24 volt. There was no wind condition I couldn’t fish in.

After that change many years ago I’d never go back to a 12 volt unit aside from maybe a very small light boat that you don’t plan on fishing with in current or long days in the wind.

24 volts, better power, much longer run time. Better all around.

Tucker

Yes worth it.