newbie questions

hey guys im new here although I have been reading over the site for a couple of months now, had a few questions I wanted to get some others' input on. I bought a pretty nice 14 ft jon boat and im going to put an aluminum deck on it to keep weight down, I planned on getting 1-1/4 X 1-1/4 X 1/8 Aluminum Angle 6061-T6 Aluminum Structural Angle to use as well as an aluminum sheet on top and I was wondering what everyone thought about that? Also I have a new Motor Guide foot control trolling motor 12v and I wanted to put two batteries in the boat, both in the back when im alone and 1 behind my first seat with one in the back if I happen to take someone with me. I need to run a wire from the front of the boat to the back as the cord obviously isn't going to be long enough from the pedal and I was wondering what wire I should use? thanks for any input or advice!!

You neglected to say what size/model your trolling motor is. The larger it is the more amps it can pull and the larger the wire would need to be.

I am also building a small deck up front for storage, how thick should the aluminum be for the deck? I have 1" square tubing and 1 1/4" angle for the frame work.

sorry it is a 54 lb thrust. probably overkill but the deal I got on it was too good to pass up

Based on the chart I checked, max amp of 40-50 for 25 ft of wire would need to be 4 gauge wire with a 50 amp breaker. If you were going to have your batteries up front, you could go with 8 gauge.

JMichael I enjoyed your build, this wire would work wouldn't it?
https://www.lowes.com/pd_72610-295-20499001_0__?storeNumber=2488&selectedLocalStoreBeanArray=%5Bcom.lowes.commerce.storelocator.beans.LocatorStoreBean%4077937793%5D&productId=3129539&ipTrail=108.250.29.39

I had no clue about the 50 amp breaker situation. looking into it

You should probably use tinned marine wire not the household stuff.

Yes, that wire would work, but as rscottp pointed out, it would be better to use tinned marine wire. https://www.bestboatwire.com/4-awg-battery-cable-tinned-marine-grade-wire-black-by-the-foot
Standard wire has a problem with corrosion forming and the corrosion will actually run the full length of the wire, underneath the insulation. I used standard wire on mine, but that was because the wire was free. So When I end up replacing mine, I will only have lost the labor involved.

As for the circuit breaker, something like this is what you want.
https://www.wholesalemarine.com/sea-dog-resettable-circuit-breakers-79231.html?gclid=CMj2wfLjhbwCFUdk7AodQEsAsg
Place the CB as close to the battery as conveniently possible so that all of the wire is protected in the event of a short of other problem.

Thanks for the comment on my build. Now I just need to get it finished when the weather gets a little nicer.

I can attest to the regular copper wire corrosion. Last year my GPS/Sonar cut out when I was out on the water. I could have been in trouble if it had been foggy(I was out of cell range). When I got home I traced the problem to a wire the had corroded away to nothing.

Thanks for the heads up guys i dont know a thing about electricity. So i would have to buy 2 14' pieces correct?

It's highly unlikely that you will be running your wires in a perfectly straight line. Measure the path that you intend to run the wires. Then get a little more wire than you think the job will take because wire will never run as straight of a line as what you measure. Getting to the end of a job with 12 inches left over is always preferable to getting to the end and being 3 inches too short.

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=338990#p338990 said:

JMichael » 18 Jan 2014, 14:49[/url]"]It's highly unlikely that you will be running your wires in a perfectly straight line. Measure the path that you intend to run the wires. Then get a little more wire than you think the job will take because wire will never run as straight of a line as what you measure. Getting to the end of a job with 12 inches left over is always preferable to getting to the end and being 3 inches too short.

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Luckily i did run them in a straight line down the side of the boat and i ended up with about 18" more than i needed so that was good, also lucked up and they had the wire i needed already cut and someone didnt show to pick it up so i got it half off! I got the deck built, wire ran, now im going to have to build a mount for my trolling motor to get it above the front of the boat when deployed. I saw some really good fabrications on the forums but cant seem to find the particular one i really liked, even using the search tool.