If you have room for 2 batteries,yeah I would go 24v.But I think 12v with a 29 series battery would work well.Boat is light enough for a 12v 55#,I have had them on 16′ with no issues.
As far as the spot lock on Terrova,I could not find a definite answer to accuracy,as it varied too much.My MotorGuide Xi5 holds within 5′,no matter how much wind/current.
I was looking at the motorguide too but haven’t heard much about them. Good to know it seems they jumped lightyears in tech overnight partnering up with Lowrance. Thanks for the input!
Just curious what kind of Lund you have? I have a 16′ Lund Rebel and definitely no room for two trolling motor batteries. I can hold and slip pretty much all day on the Mississippi with my 12 volt powerdrive.
It is a old 14ft Lund plain old bench seat fishing boat that I finished off. I removed the center bench and flat bottomed it with marine plywood and carpeted it. Installed a casting deck and built compartments where the existing benches are. Also made storage under the deck and built a battery box under where the trolling motor is going to be .I ended up getting the 12v terrova 55 us2 with I pilot. 80 is the smallest they offer 24v and I don’t need that much power in a 14ft boat. I will run 1 29 battery for the motor and a cranking bat in the back.
The battery is going to be a big part of the weight in a small boat that can be used to balance the load distribution.
the anchor is as well.
This will effect getting on plane and top speed.
weight to front will help get on plane.
weight in back will help to increase speed.
Sounds like you have almost the same boat setup as me. Mine’s an 83 Lund s-14 dlx with Johnson 25 HP that pushes it 24.5 by myself and 22-24 with another person, depending on their weight. I also finished mine off building a front casting deck and a bow mount platform with composite plywood and outdoor carpet. Cranking battery in the back and trolling motor/HDS battery in the bow battery compartment I built.
Get to the point already… 12v 55 lb thrust is PLENTY for this boat. I run a 12v 35 lb thrust bow mount and get .7-.9 mph on 20% power and 3.5 mph at 100% on flat water. With a 35 lb thrust transom mount, the slowest speed put me over 1 mph on flat water. These boats are really light and it doesn’t take much trolling motor power to pull them around.
I power mine with the cheapest fleet farm brand deep cycle battery, assuming group 24, and have NEVER come close to running it dead in a day of fishing… Even with powering my HDS off the same battery. I fish muskies a lot and that means I’m on the trolling motor all day. Never run out of juice.
Definitely agree with the last post. I have a 14 ft Crestliner with a 55. It is plenty powerful and I like having just one battery. Actually the one trolling battery is enough to run my trolling motor, electronics, and kick over the tiller. The spot lock is one of the greatest features created. It will hold the boat within 10 ft of the spot, when I have been in 3 ft waves. It all depends on the wind. If you have steady wind it will hold right there. If the wind is shifting, it will wonder just a bit to compensate for the different wind directions. Here is the one thing I don’t like about the spot lock. I am sure there is something I can change to avoid this. When I am trolling a little faster and get a fish, I will hit the spot lock button. The boat almost immediately whips a 360 to get back to the spot. In a small boat you have to be careful because if you don’t expect it, you would not want to be standing up at the time.
Definitely agree with the last post. I have a 14 ft Crestliner with a 55. It is plenty powerful and I like having just one battery. Actually the one trolling battery is enough to run my trolling motor, electronics, and kick over the tiller. The spot lock is one of the greatest features created. It will hold the boat within 10 ft of the spot, when I have been in 3 ft waves. It all depends on the wind. If you have steady wind it will hold right there. If the wind is shifting, it will wonder just a bit to compensate for the different wind directions. Here is the one thing I don’t like about the spot lock. I am sure there is something I can change to avoid this. When I am trolling a little faster and get a fish, I will hit the spot lock button. The boat almost immediately whips a 360 to get back to the spot. In a small boat you have to be careful because if you don’t expect it, you would not want to be standing up at the time.
If you want spot lock the most, the Xi5 kills the terrova. If you’re wanting to use the trolling motor for trolling etc…, the Terrova seems to do a better job with the autopilot feature (apaprently the gateway kit fixes this, but I haven’t bought the kit yet).
I spot lock a lot, so the xi5 was the route I went, and I haven’t looked back at all. The jog feature is fantastic. I run an 80lb on a much bigger boat, but have had 55lbs on a 16′ jon without a problem. I think you’ll be fine as long as you have a good battery. Like somebody else said, if you can fit a series 29, you’ll probably be in good shape. I had an ipilot, but used spot lock the most of any feature so the xi5 was definitely the right choice for me. All depends on how you fish.
I finally got to try the terrova today and it worked flawless. And it was windy. The 55 is plenty of power. It plowed right through the wind and waves without breaking a sweat. Spot lock is sweet but I see what you mean mnjeddman as that was the 1st thing I noticed when using it was it turned the boat all the way around before it held which caught me off guard some the 1st time. Bumping the turn button and re locking took care of that after messing with it some. It is easy to deploy and I ran it for the full 3 hours I was out and it didn’t put a dent in the charge on the battery. The ease of boat control and convenience is everything I had hoped for and some. I have zero complaints. Definatly worth the $$. Thanks for the advise as I will now enjoy my time on the water alot more.
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