Help a new guy rig a MX1825

Hi guys, I’m a future owner of a Skeeter MX1825

I’d appreciate it if you could give me some opinions on some rigging questions I have. It’s been 25 years since I’ve owned a boat and everything has changed when rigging with the new electronics.

I plan on using this boat for Bass, Walleye, Musky, Pike, & Crappie fishing probably casting 50% and Trolling 50%. I’d like to use the trolling motor for trolling slower speeds following contours with the Minn Kota GPS Link system. I plan on using the main Yamaha F150 with Yamaha’s Command Link VTS (Variable Trolling System) for trolling @ faster speeds for Musky & Pike.

This is my retirement (last boat) boat I plan on owning so I’m not worried how many hours I put on my main motor from trolling and I don’t want to spend the extra money on a kicker motor.

I’m looking at specking the boat with a hummingbird Helix 10 Si on the Console with either the Minn Kota Ulterra or Ultrex 80# 24V IPilot Link Trolling Motor.

1. Which one would you guys recommend?

The MX1825 comes standard with a Minn Kota 2 bank battery charger.

1. I assume this handles the 2 trolling motor batteries, Does this mean the Cranking battery is charged only by the main motor’s alternator?
2. Would it be better to upgrade to a 3 bank charger and put the cranking battery on it also?

I can find a lot of opinions on how to improve the capacity of your trolling batteries such as types of batteries on both sides Std deep cell vs. AGM and even 36V vs. 24V, different manufacturers, how and when to recharge, etc. But I haven’t found any on the Minn Kota DC ALTERNATORS. I like the idea of being able to charge my trolling motor batteries from my main motor during the day while running around the lake.

DC ALTERNATOR ON BOARD CHARGERS
AN EXTRA JOLT
http://www.minnkotamotors.com/Products/MK-3-DC/
MODEL: MK 3 DC
Charging Banks: 3
Amps Per Bank: 10
Total Amp Output: 30
Charge-on-the-fly Technology
Alternator chargers boost your trolling batteries while on the water. They take excess power from the outboard’s alternator and deliver it to your trolling batteries to extend run times, decrease on-shore charge times and increase battery life.
Battery Protection
Frequent deep discharges can damage your battery over time. With the boost you get from an Alternator charger, you avoid those deep discharges – in addition to shortening charge times and extending battery life.

1. Will this set-up help or hurt battery life due to partial charging throughout the day?
2. The F150 only has a 35 amp alternator should I consider the F175 or F200 because of their 50 amp alternators for a set-up like this?

I’ve gone back and forth on if I should pony up for the Yamaha’s Command Link VTS system

Variable Trolling
The new F150B features the variable trolling RPM switch (VTS®) which allows anglers to adjust trolling speed in 50-RPM increments from 650 to 900 RPM using the Yamaha Command Link® gauge.

1. Anyone using this for Trolling? Is it worth the money? Est. $1200 to $1500
2. Can’t you do the same thing with the manual throttle looking @ the speedometer?
3. Approx how slow can I troll @ 650 rpm?

Thanks Rob

Welcome to the Skeeter forum Rob ! What neck of the woods are you from ?

I will let the members jump in here, but a quick response regarding charger question. What is std from Skeeter is not necessarily std to the stocking dealers. We at SBC will always stock a 3 or 4 bank charger so the start battery is on the charging system. This is very important for simply battery maintence and longevity. Especially up here where several of us use our boats 12 mos / year, even in the winter temps.

While you have very good questions, there really isn’t a blanket answer for all of your questions.

VTS, seldom is it more cost effective long term to use big motor VTS vs a kicker. You may be the exception? I will say, our Musky guys have liked that option IE Mike Keyes. Walleye set ups, not your best option in my opinion. The cost of the vts is close to half the cost of the kicker motor. Factor fuel and additional hrs on your big motor, most folks opt towards the kicker and also peace of mind emergency back up motor.

Alternator, No issue on the std 150 output unless you have a very unusual set up.

Hope some of this helps you & happy shopping !

Hi Dean, Southern Ohio, In fact you guys sent me a preliminary quote last week on the MX1825. Just trying to educate myself as much as possible on how I should configure it. There is a lot to learn with all this new Technology.

Dean thanks for your reply. You make good points on the Kicker Motor. I hadn’t thought about it as an emergency backup which is important to me because my wife will be with me on most trips. Guess I’ll be adding the kicker.

I’ll also be opting for the 3 bank battery charger, good to know that’s what SBC stocks.

I’m leaning towards the New Minn Kota Ultrex Link (coming out this December) mainly because it’ll be easier to mount a (future buy) Humminbird 360 to it in the future. I even heard a rumor they are designing a 360 Ultrex mount. Also the Ultrex will give me the cable response when I fish for bass down south.

I run a Helix 10si at the console, it fits very well on a RAM mount. I don’t troll enough to justify a kicker’s added weight & cost and if one is truly scared to put hours on a main for trolling you could just use your bow trolling motor steered with a i-pilot remote, especially for the low speeds you’re looking for.

The F150 motor actually has about 165-170 hp, so it’s more than enough for the MX1825, get a lower pitched prop if getting out of the hole is more important than 1-2 mph, this was key for me…

Rob Phelps wrote:

Hi Dean, Southern Ohio, In fact you guys sent me a preliminary quote last week on the MX1825. Just trying to educate myself as much as possible on how I should configure it. There is a lot to learn with all this new Technology.

I couldn’t agree more Rob on the new technology aspects ! This is a great forum of real life MX users that can share their experiences, good and bad ! You are not alone with your interest in the new Ultrex coming, we have several to deliver once they get here! The fun part of all of this is, how many different ways the MX gets used and where! Fun stuff & happy to help if we can !

Rob Can i ask how many people you usually fish with?

Regarding the DC charger. I’m a fan but for a particular use case only. Yes to your decision for the onboard charger to have enough banks for every battery installed.

Do you have the ability to charge each and every night after fishing? Will you have long or high rpm runs during your day of fishing or not? Is your trolling motor going to get pushed very hard in a day, waves/current/pulling spinners for 10 hours)?

I’m picking up my new to me boat this weekend and working on the same question. I can charge each night, don’t have long runs, and on our lake very unlikely to really push that 24v system. Meaning that it doesn’t make sense to put it on.

My other use case is remote in Canada. No option to plug in at night, long runs, and on the tm 10+ hours/day. For this reason I’ll be adding an MK 2 DC. It’s no miracle but every little bit of charging helps for the right use case.

I’ll probably be fishing by myself most of the time, My wife & I the rest of the time and on rare occasions 3 to 4 people in the boat max.