what size batteries?

Starting to shop for my battery setup to make 24 volts. Since it is a jonboat, I'm wondering if I need the larger size batteries or if I can use 24 or 27 marine batteries and still have a reasonable amount of runtime?

OK, maybe I shouldn't have asked; I decided to go for the gusto and got series 29 batteries at Wal Mart.

wis bang said:

OK, maybe I shouldn't have asked; I decided to go for the gusto and got series 29 batteries at Wal Mart.

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There's not been very much activity in here lately, I wonder why but, maybe you didn't give much detail on your usage in your request?

As with everything, battery selection is all about boat size / weight, TM size, passenger load, and water conditions and whether or not you have a gas powered motor to rely on to get home.

For me I run electric only in a light 10' boat, 55 lb motor, I fish alone (weigh 145 lbs) in fresh water without tide or large waves to deal with, with only an occasional current if the water district is dumping water into the ocean to lower water levels where I happen to be fishing.

I easily get 5+ hours of mostly continuous run time on my 95AH AGM group 27 "multi purpose" deep cycle/starting battery and not drop my battery below the 60% level. I also keep a 25AH AGM battery (wheelchair / solar cell deep cycle) aboard as a "spare tank", I definitely do not want to row several miles home

At any rate, how did your decision turn out?

I have everything wired in now and will be testing it Friday in a local sandpit to see how it goes.

It is a 55#bent shaft 24V Evinrude [mini kota] on a 14' alumacraft 'Crappie Jon', the prior owner picked it up off Ebay after someone lifted his off the quick release. Boat was sitting in the drive way for enough years to show up on Google Earth. It was so big he never mounted it.

I stripped the moldy and mildewed carpet, cleaned off all the old glue and re-painted the interior before re-carpeting and just finished re-installing the seats, motor and adding the battery boxes and wiring the motor.

I've been reading back on this site and learned a ton of things that helped me make the decisions over painting, etc.

I'm hoping the two 29 batteries will last all day +/or handle the larger lakes around here, Nockamixon, Round Valley, Merril Creek, etc. when the wind kicks up.

Someday I will dust off my Pappy's 1947 Elgin 2.5 that hasn't been used since 1968 and see if I can get it going, It has good compression, a clean on-board fuel tank and steel fuel line that was stored dry and indoors ever since the last time we used it.

I have a 30# on the front of my 14' Alumacraft. It will go nearly 4mph wide open on a fresh battery. I'm sure a 55# will flip you out of the boat if you're not paying attention.

Trolling 2mph mine will last 3-4 hours on a Walmart G24 battery. By that time it's sitting around 12.0, I've never ran it much lower than that.

I use the Optima BlueTop Deep Cycle Marine 12-Volt Batteries. They are around $200 a piece and I get 5 years out of them. I use one for the motor, one for electronics, and two for the 24 volt trolling motor. I can go all day on the trolling motor and when I am done for the day I have the same power as I did when I started.

Just finished a complete refresh of all for including my on board Guest chargers which died after 10 years.

MrGiggles said:

I have a 30# on the front of my 14' Alumacraft. It will go nearly 4mph wide open on a fresh battery. I'm sure a 55# will flip you out of the boat if you're not paying attention.

Trolling 2mph mine will last 3-4 hours on a Walmart G24 battery. By that time it's sitting around 12.0, I've never ran it much lower than that.

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I've been joking I will be able to take the granddaughter waterskiing. In testing the installation I notice that the motor, on momentary, starts gentle and I read they were designed that way to not toss you over the side. The bare boat only weighs 330 LBS according to alumacraft's web site though the newer one is only rated for 20 HP while the label on mine says 25; I wouldn't want to experience that...

when I had my little jon boat and would run just a trolling motor i used a 29DC marine from walmart and I could be out on the lake any where from to 12 hours depending on the wind and how much I had to move me and my buddy around... 12ft jon with 2 big guys and 3 tackle bags a drink cooler and a cooler for a live well... so I would say you made the right decision... I would suggest getting the 29DC maxxx if possible

I dd get the 29 MAXX gave the boat a short test run today. It runs well.