Upgrade trolling motor

My boat has a a 40 lb thrust bow mount Minnkota(12 volt) on it, should I get a 52 lb(12 volt) or should I go for a 24 volt 70 or 80 lb thrust, if I go for the 24 volt will I have to change the wires?

For these small boats, anything over 50 is overkill. There comes a point of lack of return for your investment, You will not really see any benefit going to much over 50lb with these boats because they are so light and the speed and battery life just do not warrant the extra money.

Sorry screwball, should have put out a little more info, I have a 02 Lowe Stinger 16W, I tried to post a picture but couldnt, I'll check out the problem and maybe post one

I have a Lowe 1654 and I opted for the 24v 55lbs MotorGuide Saltwater series TM. I went with it because I have found it easier to work through weeds with a 24v than a 12v. The extra battery up front only helped me as I needed the extra weight. With out it I could hardly keep the nose down while under way. (that is just on my boat and I know others may not have the same problems I had)

No help to your question. But that's a nice looking boat! =D>

shamoo said:

Sorry screwball, should have put out a little more info, I have a 02 Lowe Stinger 16W, I tried to post a picture but couldnt, I'll check out the problem and maybe post one

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Ok with the boat pic since it is slightly larger/heavier, I would say at most 60# trust, and 24V would be a good idea to save on battery life.

I would go with a 60 or 72 lbs. thrust motor because you are better off having a morepowerufl motor running on a low speed rather than a smaller motor running on a higher speed that will drain your batteries quicker.

55lb should be enough.
That is a pretty shallow boat compared to some of the deep V boats that new.

There is a surprising difference in LB thrust IMO. A Deep V Tracker I had, had a 40 or 45lb trolling motor on it stock. I replaced it with a 65lb thrust and that was a HUGE difference.

:twisted: You will feel a noticeable gain just by moving up to 52lb thrust. If you plan on fishing tourneys regularly or BIG water then I would go with the 24V system(70lb+ thrust). On my 16' Tracker I have a 54lb MG on the bow and a 54lb MG on the transom which is contolled by a foot switch. Total of 108lbs thrust. Three batteries on the boat.

Thanks guys, I'm leaning towards the 24 volt Minn Kota Maxum.

shamoo said:

Thanks guys, I'm leaning towards the 24 volt Minn Kota Maxum.

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I don't think you will need that....With that said, I would buy the biggest you could afford, so if you are leaning towards the 24 volt, you will be happy. Like was said you can always turn them down.

Seeing that you fish all those puddles in south Jersey that are electric only
I would suggest going with the 24 volt motor and get the biggest one you can afford.
You can always run it at a lower speed and get more battery life.
your boat most likely came with 6 gauge wire that would be fine for a 24 volt system.
good luck with your choice

redbug said:

Seeing that you fish all those puddles in south Jersey that are electric only
I would suggest going with the 24 volt motor and get the biggest one you can afford.
You can always run it at a lower speed and get more battery life.
your boat most likely came with 6 gauge wire that would be fine for a 24 volt system.
good luck with your choice

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Thanks Redbug, South Jersey puddles?, LMAO :LOL2: :LOL2: TOO FUNNY

I've had both 12 and 24 volt systems. I'll never go back to 12. Love the 24 volts. I have all the power I need right at my toe tips. :roll:

Well, I totally disagree with Screwball, the battery life is far better in a 24 volt system, and you will definitely get more power. And you can get a 70 at bass pro spring classic for 499.00.. And your speed is defined by the bow motor, not the transom motor in a electric only boat. Unless of course your running a ray or something similar.

Here is some info that was found on Minn Kota's website about wires.

Bugpac said:

Well, I totally disagree with Screwball, the battery life is far better in a 24 volt system, and you will definitely get more power. And you can get a 70 at bass pro spring classic for 499.00.. And your speed is defined by the bow motor, not the transom motor in a electric only boat. Unless of course your running a ray or something similar.

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Please explain this statement. Why would I go faster if I had the 80Lb thrust motor on the bow instead of the transom (assuming the batteries are in the same place on the boat in both instances)?

The speed is in pulling rather than pushing, and you have nice undisturbed water to let the motor glide threw, Try it sometime, you will be surprised.

To each his own, I have 4 -12volt batteries a 76 lb in the back locked forward with a button up front for on/off and a 65 lb foot controlled in the front on a 15' aluminum with a 25 hp johnson long shaft electric start, two depth finders. My reasoning is i can fish bigger water or I can fish 10hp or less. When I kick both tm's on high you can scoot a 10hp lake with the best of them wind or no wind. Just because you got it don't mean you gotta use it.

Bugpac said:

The speed is in pulling rather than pushing, and you have nice undisturbed water to let the motor glide threw, Try it sometime, you will be surprised.

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Got an 80lb bow mount for me to borrow then? :lol:

I guess my argument is that I don't agree with generalizing that the bow mount "defines" the speed on an electric only boat. I'll use my boat as an example to explain why.

Transom drag is terrible in electric only flat bottom boats at trolling speed. If you load your boat in the traditional gas motor way, with batteries in the back of the boat, you increase transom drag by having more of the transom in the water, and reduce top speed. When the boat is loaded in this way, then yes, the bow mount size would be most important. However, loading your boat more bow heavy, thus reducing transom drag, greatly increases the speed and efficiency of your trolling motor but also reduces the control of the stern of the boat.
With a 50lb Endura transom mount on my 1436 I gained 13% more MPH (3.9 to 4.4) just by moving my three batteries to the front half of the boat due to reduced transom drag. By upgrading to an 80lb Traxxis transom mount I gained 11% more in top speed to 4.9MPH while running the motor at only 75%. (No speed increase by running motor @ 100%) The problem with having the boat loaded this way is that I couldn't keep the stern of the boat straight when only using the bow mount at full speed (At slower speeds it was fine). I was constantly having to adjust the direction to keep the stern from drifting from one side to the other instead of staying in a straight line. With this issue there would be no way to effectively use an 80lb bow mount as primary propulsion, unless I increased the transom drag and thus ran the motor harder and decreased the efficiency and probably top speed. Anyhow, off my soapbox.