How much thrust?

Hey everyone I have a 1970ish 16' aluminum v made by mirrocraft. I would say 90% of the time, it'll be just myself in the boat, with the occasional second adult and or couple of kiddos. Boat is pretty basic, just has a smaller casting deck up front which I may very well remove. Looking to get a new trolling motor to mount on the bow. Can't really decide how much I need. I mainly fish standing timber, but with the new motors having the anchor via gps, might use that some for suspended fish.
As always, thank you!

I have a 16' aluminum jon boat and I have a 46 lb Motor guide. I want to move up to the 80 lb 24V Ulterra when I get the funds scrapped up. That means I will have to have two batteries for the TM instead of just one.
You would need anywhere from 40 to 60 lbs of thrust to move that boat of yours around easily. If you plan on trolling a lot then go with a 24v so you can troll longer. If you just plan on doing trolling part of the time then a 46-54 lb thrust should do you well.
Make sure you get a TM with speed adjustment instead of the set numbers to adjust speed. It is much easier to set your speed with a percentage of power than a set speed on a dial. Like mine has 5 speed settings. But when I slowhttp://cdncache-a.akamaihd.net/items...rrow-10x10.png troll I can't use the slowest setting as it goes too fast. I have to keep hitting and letting off to adjust the slower speed. With a dial you can dial in the correct speed and troll without having to keep pushing the pedal.
The hand held wireless units are the best!
Go here..Freshwater Bow-Mount | Ulterra | Minn Kota Motors and select "thrust/volts" and use the slider to see how much thrust is needed for your boat weight.
Good luck!

Unless you do a lot of trolling like pulling cranks or Longlining jigs. The 12 volt 55 is all you will ever need if you use a group 29 or 31 battery.

Had a guy tell me that 3lbs of thrust per foot of boat you have bare minimum. And there is no such thing as too much.

I might possibly be doing a little more trolling. I am going to try to learn how to walleye fish this year a little more so trolling a bottom bouncer or cranks 3-4 hours is a possibility. With that said, I will look at the 24 volt in the 60-80lb range. Thank you as always for your help everyone.

Yeah ... TM thrust is a lot like outboard horsepower ... you want as much as you can get, so you can have it when you need it, and not have to use it all when you don't. Just knowing it's there when you do find yourself needing it, will give you the confidence to try a variety of fishing methods ... and not stress over whether or not your batteries or the thrust will confine you to any time limit or specific methods.

... cp :kewl

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Originally Posted by parratt1

Hey everyone I have a 1970ish 16' aluminum v made by mirrocraft. I would say 90% of the time, it'll be just myself in the boat, with the occasional second adult and or couple of kiddos. Boat is pretty basic, just has a smaller casting deck up front which I may very well remove. Looking to get a new trolling motor to mount on the bow. Can't really decide how much I need. I mainly fish standing timber, but with the new motors having the anchor via gps, might use that some for suspended fish.
As always, thank you!

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Its like a 4 Wheel drive your stuck in the mud without one!! The biggest you can afford.You can turn the power back if not needed you cannot add if you have'nt got it.

I run my 55 on a 1754 Wareagle. Pull cranks and longline plus spider rig. Run 2 group 27 batteries. Can rig or long line all day. Pulling cranks if breezy at all about 4 hrs. If you think that's what your going to do any at all go with the 24 and you won't be disappointed. If I had it to do over again that's what I would do even though I'm not unhappy with what I have.

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Originally Posted by LowePro

Had a guy tell me that 3lbs of thrust per foot of boat you have bare minimum. And there is no such thing as too much.

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Minn-Kota told me one time that I needed 2 pounds per foot, yeah right. Had a45 on a 17 ft went to 55 and now I'm at 80 and I'm happy Holds my boat with plenty to spare if it gets windy. Like they say you can't have too much

Have a 55lb minn kota on my 16.5 early 70s starcraft and it moves it around great.

I run a 70# thrust MinnKota Maxxum on a 16' PolarKraft jon boat that has a lot of decking in it. Perfect setup for me

175 stinger 80lb terrova ipilot calm day 3mph , pull cranks 1.5-2.0 mph all day (6-8hrs )

I think I have decided on the xi5 with the sonar and pinpoint. I think so anyway. If I change my mind and go with a 899 hb instead of the hds7 touch, I may end up with a minn kota I pilot instead. Good night there is so much to think about when its snowy and the lakes are frozen!

With a boat your size upping the TM thrust will not be as much benefit as the extra battery you will have aboard the boat.

12v 48#, 24v 80#, 36v 109#. Each step adds a battery to the equation. Will you ever use the 109# of thrust? Occupationally when you don't want to power up the outboard to move from here to there. But I bet some day you will be grateful you have the extra reserve capacity you get with each battery. In most cases you will be using the same amount of thrust depending on wind and fishing style at the time. Fishing thought flooded timber using 25# of thrust. Any of the TM i listed will work fine. If you have a 36v system you will be able to do this 3 times as long as the 12v system. If you are going to pull cranks using 45# of thrust the first TM will still do this but not for very long. Again the 36v system will get you three times as much time fishing this style.

Main lesson here is the amount of thrust needed is seldom what we should be looking at. The amount of battery reserve you need to accomplish the style of fishing should be at the top of your list.

Good luck

I use a minn kota edge 45 foot control trolling motor I use it on 12volt although it can be used with 24 volt also it is a very quiet running motor. My boat is a 1991 aluminum pro 16 tracker and it works fine in the 480 acre lake were I fish. I have ran it all day with my group 27 marine battery. Some days I don't even crank the outboard motor. I do have a second cranking battery for the outboard motor. I mainly troll on slowest number, but when wind gets up I have to go to next number setting. If the wind gets any harder it is time to go home anyway although it does have 5 number setting I can go too. This one is in the $350 to $400 range.

With your deepV I would be equally concerned about shaft length since your considering pulling cranks which is usually done from the middle or back of the boat. I would strongly suggest the 60" version. (you can always lower the collar to shorten the shaft when needed) Shorter lengths will have your TM spinning in the air on windy days when using an auto-pilot. If decide on a 55# Troller you could also run a second battery in parallel to give you the duration you need instead of pulling power required for a heavier boat. I have a deepV and learned from experience.

Parratt1, you didn't tell us about your favorite fishing holes & that can make as big a difference as your favorite styles.

My main hole is a 1,000 acre TMO reservoir that is over 3 miles from the launch ramp to the most distant point. That means the TM has to work hard to get me to the fishing spots, troll all day, and then get me back home. In the past I relied on 12V motors, but after getting a 24V Terrova I never looked back. The faster running speed means more time with bait in the water. Longer running time is strictly a function of the number of amp hours your battery(s) can deliver.

My main fishing boat is a 16' Sea Nymph full V with an 80# 24V Terrova. I carry two sets of 100+ amp hour batteries and have never "limped" back to the dock. One word of caution--if you set up redundant batteries, don't hard-wire them in parallel. Use a switch. A-B-Off is best, but cheaper setups are just as effective. Batteries age at different rates and when you hook them parallel, the stronger one(s) feed the weaker ones. This wastes power you want delivered to your TM.

Yikess makes a good recommendation about shaft length. Mine is 60" and that works very well.

I pull crankbaits a lot and I have a 54" shaft and it is short for the job.

Have a 75# on a 1756 g3. 3.7mph high speed. Low speed not slow enough for pushing jigs. I second the digital speed, my only regret when I upsized. Also second the fact of never enough thrust, can maintain 3+ mph into whitecaps, all day.

When choosing a proper thrust I refer to the manufacturer. With the new GPS motors like Ipilot and Xi5 if you get the wrong thrust to weight ratio then your spotlock or digital anchor will go wonky. 55lb for my deep V works great but on my brothers plain jane john boat it jerks it around and is eratic.

you guys know you can run 2 and even 3 batteries in parallel on a 12v trolling motor right? You're not getting any added runtime by moving to 24 and 36v compared to having 2 and 3 batteries in parallel at 12v. I run a pair of group 27 AGM's on my boat with my old 12v 54lb motor guide trolling motor and can switch to use both, or a single if need be.

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Originally Posted by matzilla

you guys know you can run 2 and even 3 batteries in parallel on a 12v trolling motor right? You're not getting any added runtime by moving to 24 and 36v compared to having 2 and 3 batteries in parallel at 12v. I run a pair of group 27 AGM's on my boat with my old 12v 54lb motor guide trolling motor and can switch to use both, or a single if need be.

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You are absolutely correct by running parallel. This format however does have its own downsides as does any setup.

Just so everyone is clear. Ether method will get you longer run time.

I for one do not care to parallel batteries if I can help it.

The OP was also asking about thrust. You can always turn a larger TM down but once you hit max on a smaller TM.... Your done.

Great addition to the thread.

Another option (common in heavy river current) is to use the trolling motor to steer the boat while locking the outboard in place to push you forward at the pace you desire...just tossing this out there even though it has a very small window of when its ideal

112 terrova i-pilot on a tracker pro team 190 here , power to spare. I can slow troll all week on a charge, pull cranks for 3 days. I also use 12v cart batteries for their long life and how long they hold charge.

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Originally Posted by CrappieNutz

When choosing a proper thrust I refer to the manufacturer. With the new GPS motors like Ipilot and Xi5 if you get the wrong thrust to weight ratio then your spotlock or digital anchor will go wonky. 55lb for my deep V works great but on my brothers plain jane john boat it jerks it around and is eratic.

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My 80 on my G3 was jerky to until Ipilot come out with a update that ramps up the speed different than when it come out , But you have to have the Link to update it I believe

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Originally Posted by CrappieNutz

When choosing a proper thrust I refer to the manufacturer. With the new GPS motors like Ipilot and Xi5 if you get the wrong thrust to weight ratio then your spotlock or digital anchor will go wonky. 55lb for my deep V works great but on my brothers plain jane john boat it jerks it around and is eratic.

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I have never used this type of setup so I will tread lightly. I would think the jerky and erratic problems would be centered around the motor over powering because of programming. Much like what clfarms1 added in the above post. Even my 83# on my 21' bassboat can all but throw me into the water when set incorrectly for the situation. Thrust is directly related to motor speed. Just because the motor is a 112# does not mean it is producing 112# at a lower speed setting.

Have you experienced this with both the Ipilot and Xi5?

Is the thrust/speed set by the Ipilot or set by the operator?

Interesting angle to the thread

Good point. My brand new ipilot doesnt do it but my brother xi5 does