Transom Trolling Motor

I am in the market to look for a transom trolling motor to help with trolling a bit this year. I have a 40hp in the back which idles down pretty hard, so figure a trolling motor might be better on the old 16ft alumnium. I have looked around and the prices are pretty extreme so I need some help deciding which way to go. I am interested in he Minnkota maxxums and wondering if a 55lb be good enough to troll on the old 16footer? I have also found a deal with a 70lb transom for $200, thinking should I go with that or pick up a new 55? The new in box 70lb retails for $400. I beleive price difference makes it a good deal, but will a 70lb be any different from a 50lb for trolling? I’m not to familiar with the 24v setup also, which I would have to buy new batteries…any info would help.

Take the 70. Your not going to get much more for speed, but you’ll easily get 3-4 times the run time on a 24 volt system.

Yes, you will want 2 good batteries of the same size and condition. 24 volt is simple to hook up. Most have 2 wires coming from the motor, hook the positive to one battery, the negative to the other, and hook a jumper wire between the open positive and negative terminals… same concept as stacking batteries in a flashlight. You can still hook up 12V components to one of the batteries.

Thanks Dave. Now will it still be ok to hook my 12v bow mount with one of them? or am I going to be stuck with 4 batteries in the boat? 1 starting, 1 12v, 2 for 24v?

It can all be done with 2 batteries… but be careful not to kill your starting battery with a trolling motor.

I have everything hooked to the same 2 batteries in my boat. The motor will charge your battery you are using for 12V… electronics, bow mount, etc. The sole purpose of the other battery is for running in series for the 24V system. Like I said, only hooking to one of the batteries in a 24V system will give you 12V. Use a volt meter to check if you are unsure. I always hook to the battery the negative is hooked to from the 24V system for the 12V(hard to get mental picture).

Ok…I can picture it, sort of like a cross-over. Used to work with car audio amps and stuff. Only a few more questions left after that. As for the batteries, since I’m leaning cheap, would you recommend walmarts 27DC or 29 or Max for this setup…I guess either of those will be fine in price because they don’t breakt he bank. Second, future reference if I wanted 24v Bow trolling, can both bow and transome trolling work off the two batteries? I usually run 3 batteries in my boat cause of one weaker battery… so I’m used to it. Starting takes all electric lights and gadgets.