2nd tm on boat

Added a 2nd trolling motor to my boat so that I could go fast enough and long enough to troll cranks for crappie. Have an old 17'8" fiberglass ranger. When I bought the boat it came with 12v 55lb thrust minn Kota power drive v2 with ipilot. Long line trolling in spring was primary method of fishing. After putting 2 group 31 batteries in parallel, could troll .8-1.0 mph at power level 3-6 for 9-10 hours no problem, even though trolling motor is under powered for size of boat. When going over 1.0 mph, takes a lot more power. At level 10 (max power) boat would only go 1.4-1.5, and batteries wouldn't last long like that. Would like to have new 36v 112 thrust ultrex with ipilot link, but last I checked, that was around $2,700. Not an option. Had an old motor guide 12v 55 lb thrust tm on pontoon boat with a group 29 battery. Didn't use it when it was on pontoon, so put it on ranger. Pulled cranks the other day for ~7.5 hours at 1.4-1.7mph, running both trolling motors 40-70% power, based on wind, and had just under half charge left in em when done. Lot cheaper fix to get able to pull cranks than new tm. Thought I'd post this, in case it might help someone with similar situation. Here's some pics of setup. Got some rods for pushing & some for pulling.