What pound thrust

got a 14 foot tri haul lund boat. It’s fiberglass so pretty heavy. I got railings and lights on it for bowfishing so that adds a little bit of weight with the generator and stuff to. Would a 55 pound thrust be good enough? It will be mainly used for bowfishing, but sometimes angling as well. I don’t really wanna move up to 24v trolling motors if I don’t have to so I was just wondering if 55 would be sufficient or if I should jump up to 70. And if anyone could give suggestions on a nice trolling motor that won’t break the bank that would be much appreciated. I’m looking for a bow mount. I was looking at the minn kota edge so far. Any help is appreciated

I had a 55 on my 17′ cliner fish hawk and it did ok.

I’d say 55 would be enough. You can probably find a great deal on a used one.

What it be able to pull the boat through reeds and weeds while bowfishing? Or would it be better to go up a size you think?

I think any motor no matter the size will struggle going through weeds where you’ll have to pull it up and clean it off.

targaman wrote:

I think any motor no matter the size will struggle going through weeds where you’ll have to pull it up and clean it off.

I agree. My 112 terrova doesn’t do any better in the weeds than my old 55.

FYI, I do find they all go through the reeds pretty well. Just not the stringy, matted weeds.

To spend a day bow fishing with a 55 you’ll likely need two batteries with anyways. If you go to a 24v you should see extended run time over swapping batteries on the 12v

How long normally would a 70 pound thrust on a 24v last in a night of bowfishing?

I have seen an 80 lb last 6-8 hours of hard fishing on the river and still had some left.

I would suggest using the highest thrust power you can get withstaying with a 24 volt system. You can always use the extra thrust but you can not use what you dont have. Good luck.

I have a 55lb Powerdrive for fishing and it pulls my 16′ godevil (which is heavy as hell) just fine. For bowfishing I put on a handled 65lb 24v Maxxum with 2 Interstate 27 deepcycles and I still haven’t been able to drain my batteries. The extra battery is a little annoying but the extra thrust is great for getting through the weeds. I’d get a 70 used off of Craigslist. There are usually a lot to choose from.

Blake syvertson wrote:

How long normally would a 70 pound thrust on a 24v last in a night of bowfishing?

It really depends on how good your batteries and the conditions that your trolling in but I would guess that you would be at a solid 8-12 hrs with new batteries. I’m at about 10hrs on my batteries.

Either one will pull you around, your deciding factor should be how long to you plan on being out. If it’s real short trips you can save the money, but if you plan being out past a few hours go for the 24v.

Ya it’s usually 4 hour trips minimum. What kind of wire or what do you use to connect the batteries to make it 24v? Can I just go to a hardware store and get it or do I gotta order a special kind of wire?

8 or 6 ga wire.

Should be able to find it at local hardware stores.