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I have a 17' aluminum War Eagle (side console). I figure my 60 hp motor weighs around 300-320 lbs, 3 batteries, 16 gallons of gas, around 80 lbs of trolling rack, 2 grown men and maybe 100 lbs of other "stuff." With my 2006 MK 55 lb thrust TM (12V), I can max out at 1.5 mph. Boat is wired for 24V, so I'm thinking I'm at the threshold of my TM's limit. Should my TM be able to pull me faster than this?
Seems fast enough to me
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I can get that speed out of my 42lb thrust Motorguide .... ProCraft 16' w/90Merc + about 500lbs of anglers & equipment. Boat is very heavy for it's length (1700lbs dry weight) but is very buoyant (bounces from small waves, blows/drifts easily with moderate wind). I get that speed with big motor still down, so I might get a bit more speed with it trimmed up ... but I'd probably lose a bit of tracking control in the wind.
Even when I'm Pushing .... 1mph is about as fast as I go. But, I'm only running on one 29series battery.
If you need more speed & longer battery use .... I'd look at getting a 24v variable speed TM w/80# thrust.
I think Pappy hits the nail on the head. If you are not getting the desired longevity out of the batteries (time on the water), or speed necessary to do the job, then you may want to upgrade. I run an 18 foot deep V boat, big motor, kicker, three batteries, 32 gallons of fuel, 60 gallons of livewell water, three guys, and enough equipment to sink a U-boat. Max speed on my 24 volt system under perfect conditions is around 2.2. I can troll 1.5mph for 10 straight hours though and that is what is important to me.
That said, I'm a dude and bigger is always better :biggrin
My next one will be 36V
The big thing is can you troll as long as you want to on a windy day and not have the battery die on you. You could always add another batter to your set up or if you want another trolling motor then go to 24 volt.
I have an Alumacraft Pro 175 with a 50 merc. I had a 55 mk edge, recently upgraded to edge 70. Night and day difference. I already had 2 trolling motor batteries, switched wiring and off I went. I also ran around 1.5 mph. With the 70 I run around 3 mph. That part is great I fish a lot of elec motor only lakes. Best part I can run lower speeds in wind or current.
move up to a 24 volt. you'll be glad you did.
Depends on what you want out of it. If your jig fishing or spider rigging it's fine. I have a 55 terrova on my 17 Wareagle with 2 group 27 batteries hooked up to it. I can long line at .7 to 1.0 most all day unless real windy. 1.5 is about max for it.. If pulling cranks it will last about 4 hours. If wanting more consistent speed go with the 80.
You do realize it's a trolling motor right...ment for moving a jig or lure at a speed to attract fish, not run a race with...If it is 12 volt motor and your not getting the longevity of daily use out of it, it dies before the end of your day of fishing, you can either add another battery to the lineup keeping everything 12 volts or go to a lager more powerful motor that requires two batteries, i.e. a 24 volt or three batteries and a 36 volt motor, but your only trolling....
I'm satisfied with the longevity I'm getting out of the TM. I trolled for 7 hours Wednesday on 1 battery, no problem. But if I want to pull cranks at 1.5 I'm sure I can switch to my spare battery and be fine. I'd like to upgrade to a 24V 80#, but I'm going to have to make do for now. Just wanted to get everyone's $.02 on the issue. Thanks.
I had that same 12 volt MK 55 lb trolling motor on my 2005 1700 deep v Lund fisherman,the bare boat was 1300lbs it had a 27 gallon fuel tank an I had a 140hp John/Zuki four stroke on back. We pulled cranks at 1.3-1.7 and had a top speed of 2.2-2.3.I had two 12volt group 27 deep cycle Interstates wired parallel. I would think your boat would run similar in top speed, make sure you don't have something wrapped around your prop shaft string/or weeds that could be bogging you down, you could also check the Minnkota web page and see if you have the right prop.
I have a 17'6" deep v tracker. I run 55# 12v with I've added a 2nd battery to add longevity. As the system is set up I never run out of battery and it's rare I don't have enough power. It's not a light set up but not as heavy as a glass boat.
The only thing I can add is if you do go to a 24v system be sure it is a variable speed controller. I added a 5 speed 70# 24v TM to my boat and I absolutely hated that TM, simply put it would not go slow enough for my style of fishing. I have seen a lot of guys with similar set ups going with fixed speed 24v TM's and they had the same complaint. That TM left me with such negative thoughts I won't even try one with a variable speed.
Not sure I've ever seen a TM without variable speed. My Edge and Powerdrive have both had selectable speed on the foot control. I definitely don't want to be unable to spider rig at .4-.5 mph.
I would say, you are doing good with your setup. The MK 80 Terrova is a great machine for sure!
Yeah ... TM's come with 5 speed selection or infinite/variable speed selection. The biggest difference is the infinite speed can dial your speed down/up in very small mph increments, whereas the 5 speed dial cannot. With the 5 speed dial you may go at 0.3mph on setting #1 .... then 0.6mph on #2 ... and #1 may be too slow & #2 too fast. But with the infinite/variable dial you can ease your speed up/down and maintain a certain speed in between the speeds that a 5speed style TM can deliver.Quote:
Originally Posted by nccater
As pappy said some TM's are 5 speed and some are variable speed. On the 24v system I bought it was a 5 speed. Being that I put the TM on an aluminum boat even at speed #1 the boat was just too fast. Setting #1 was way faster than what pappy is saying but more like 1.5 mph or more. On speed 5 it would almost throw you out of the boat if it wasn't pointed perfectly straight and you were braced for it. Mind you my boat is not super light but not as heavy as a glass boat. My TM was a Motor Guide but at that time I do know Minn Kota made a similar version too, brand didn't matter.
I wasn't alone in having the problem, posts would pop up from time to time about how can I slow this tm down. Guys would even try cutting there props down and they said it didn't help. The only real fix was to replace it.
The variable speed TM's are like a dimmer switch, spin a dial to get more or less speed. These will slow down to a crawl.
This all happened I'm guessing 6-7-8 years ago. There is just no way you would be able to spider rig with that TM on an aluminum boat.
I'm just passing along an experience I had making the switch so take it for what it's worth. I haven't looked closely at TM's for a few years so maybe they don't make them like that any more.
If you do decide to make the switch to 24v, I hope your experience goes better than mine did.