24 volt Trolling motor - 10 ga. stranded wire?

Just upgraded to a new MK 70lb.\24V. Trolling motor to replace the 36lb./12V. on my (new to me) pontoon. I know on my old Tracker, my 55lb.\12V. T.M. ran 10ga. Stranded from the rear to the front, so when I was looking to upgrade my new rig, I went ahead and bought 8ga. stranded to replace what was on the pontoon originally (10ga.). I pull my new T.M. out of box and the factory wiring is only 10ga., I thought for sure it was gonna need a heavier gauge wire than that. I havent ran my new wire yet, and was just gonna take it back, but, now I'm wondering if I shouldn't just go ahead and replace the boats wiring and possibly even the T.M. harness. My ques. is, do you guys think the shorter length that will be used from the T.M. to the plug (@3') will o.k. to use with the smaller ga. or will it get too hot or cause me other issues?

What is the distance from the batteries to the trolling motor?

Front to rear Distance is approx. 17', wire length is probably 18', considering the way it runs under the deck.

Using 18' voltage drop for 10 gauge is 1.553 volts which is too much. 8 gauge is 0.976 volts. A little high but acceptable. 6 gauge is 0.614 volts and would be ideal.

The 10 is fine on the TM harness itself.

I strongly recommend 6 ga. also. Regular 6 ga. stranded is fairly stiff. There is a 6 ga. welding wire that has finer strands of wire and is easier to work with.

You need 6 guage stranded wire and also a 60 amp breaker close to the batterys.

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Originally Posted by "G"

You need 6 guage stranded wire and also a 60 amp breaker close to the batterys.

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Yep "G"s right again!

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I have two 20' pieces I'll sell for cheap... Pm me if interested.

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Super fine stranded...

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I appreciate all the replies guys, looks like I'll be takin the 8 ga. back anyways, 6 ga. it is!

If you know the maximum amperage of the motor (probably around 40 or a little more), use the chart below. According to that, #6 (as others mentioned) would put you right on the money. I don't know I wouldn't step-up another size. I bought some #2 a couple years ago (for drop from solar panels) and Amazon had the best price (stranded welder wire). 50' (to cut in half) might run you around $100. I would have someone with a hydraulic crimper install the lugs, or buy the tool to crimp them in a bench vice.

Klein tools makes a hand crimper that will do from #1 to #8... I have one.

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Originally Posted by storminyoung

I appreciate all the replies guys, looks like I'll be takin the 8 ga. back anyways, 6 ga. it is!

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6 gauge is what MK recommends.

Picked up 40' #4 welding wire from the guy I get my oxy tanks filled at for $65. The number 4 looks a little bigger than 6ga. so it should be good to go. Thanks for all the help guys.

Good choice on the #6 wire. Wire is like a motor on a boat, bigger is better. You will be happy that you made the right choice because it's better to do it right the first time instead of doing it twice at double the cost! Happy days ahead.:cheers2

Very good decisions to move up to #4 and to welding cable.

All voltage drop is bad. Some you can tolerate, but too much may cause your devices to shut down or behave strangely. (My HB-1197, for example, shuts down when the voltage drops below 10v DC. Using wire that was too small, this was happening--even though a voltage meter showed 12v+ at the battery end of the 16' connection.) This is one of those times when it's really important to shell out whatever it costs to get the "good stuff."

HOLY COW! Just wanted to throw this update out there, I moved up to a 70lb. thrust 24 volt. MK from a 55lb. thrust 12 volt MK. This motor FLIES! I didnt really think there was going to be much of a difference in the speed, I was looking more for the longer run time going to 24V, but a pleasant surprise was to be found when I launched the boat for the first time Sat. after getting everything buttoned up. I'll have to bring my GPS along next time to see if I can get a m.p.h. The lake I fish the most is trolling motor only, and it takes me @30min. to get from the launch to the back spot I start out at. I got there in 18min. Sat.! My dad and son came with me, and Dad was complaining about not being able to troll on the way back, his worm wouldnt drop. I really wanted to push it, just to see if it would blow a breaker or get the wires hot, so I left the TM on 5 (highest speed) the whole way back there. I checked my cables, front and back, to see if they were getting hot: they barely got warmer than the air temp. We fished for 5 hours, hitting several spots, all on 5, then ran headlong into the wind coming into the launch on 5. When I got home and hooked up the batteries to my charger, a digital Schumacher, it showed both batteries still at 75%. Overall, EXTREMELY pleased with new set-up and cant thank you guys enough for the suggestions and insight.

You were probably dropping quite a bit of voltage with the 10 gauge, so you gained from the new wire and the bigger motor both.