Trolling Motor Question

[Foreverfish1]

I recently purchased a 24 volt 70# thrust Powerdrive V2 trolling motor to replace an older 24 volt Minn Kota model (55# thrust) that had come with the boat but stopped working. The boat is a 19 foot fiberglass Caravelle ski/fish that weighs about 3600#. With the new trolling motor, I can go about 1.3-1.4mph on my handheld GPS at the highest speed setting of 10. I have used it in some wind and waves and it doesn’t have as much power or speed as I’d hoped. My question is: is this what you guys would expect with this size trolling motor given the size of the boat or do I have it hooked up wrong or am I making some other mistake that is hindering performance?

The batteries I’m using are brand new interstate deep cycle batteries purchased this year and are fully charged when I use the trolling motor. The battery indicator on the trolling motor says they are fully charged so I don’t think the batteries themselves are the problem but maybe my connections are?

Maybe I was just hoping for more power than was realistic and I’ll have to learn to use the wind to my advantage…

Thanks for any help, it’s greatly appreciated!

[candiru]

Maybe you should double check how it is wired. The old 55# is more than likely a 12 volt. My 55# Minnkota is.

[Ufatz]

I agree something does not sound right. My boat does not weigh as much as yours and that motor moves it around pretty good. Sounds to me like you are not getting 24v to the prop.

[20lbSloughShark]

this may sound dumb, but the interstate battery I have it 12 volts. You need a 24 volt battery. If you have been running a 24 volt battery all along, that is why you fried your old motor.

[fishnowworknever]

They do make a 55lb 24v but it's the newer terrova model.

I'd agree and say that was a 12v motor perhaps?

You need 2 batteries to run a 24v trolling motor.

[aanderud]

I recently purchased a 24 volt 70# thrust Powerdrive V2 trolling motor to replace an older 24 volt Minn Kota model (55# thrust) that had come with the boat but stopped working. The boat is a 19 foot fiberglass Caravelle ski/fish that weighs about 3600#...

First off, you mention that you get 1.3 to 1.4 mph on the new one, but you never mentioned the speed of the OLD one. Since you had the old one for years I'd expect that you know what it was capable of. Is the 70 lb MORE or LESS than you were getting? My guess is that it is more. I would say 1.4 mph with a 3600 lb heavy glass boat is not out of line.

Second, 70 pounds is NOT a lot of thrust for a boat of that length/weight. I'd take it back and get the 80 lb at least, or preferably a 101 lb if you can find room for another battery. You can get the 80 lb and still be on 24 volts. Whoever sold you that small of a motor for that heavy of a boat when there are better alternatives out there for very little incremental cost did you a big disservice, IMHO. You never want to be underpowered. If you get the 101 you'll be getting the same 1.4 mph with it set to something much lower, which will conserve battery life for longer fishing days.

[Foreverfish1]

Hey guys,

Yeah sorry the old motor was a 24 volt as well and used 2 batteries but I didn't have a gps or any other way to detect my speed the last time I used it so I'm not exactly sure how fast it went. If I'm honest though I don't notice as much a difference between the two as I thought I would...

But now I have the 2 new batteries and I was hoping to get a little more speed or power but it sounds like I might just need a bigger motor for that... I already threw away the box and everything so it'll probably be hard to exchange it for an 80lb thrust.

[Hoffer]

This might be a "shot in the dark" but do you have the new troller shaft far enough down into the water column?

For example, if your older troller was set down a good foot or more into the water and your newer troller isnt getting that deep into the water- that may be a big difference. I have noticed with my troller if I set it down further into the water column like 2 feet under compared to 1 foot under I get a better "dig" from the troller and it goes faster under less power. Also, what about the prop? Does your new troller have a similar sized prop? If for some reason your new troller has a smaller prop - that could make a big difference too.

[Hula_Grub]

Wile the relationship isn't exactly linear, you didn't really get that much more thrust going from 55 to 70. You only increased your thrust by 22%.

If you're getting 1.4 mph now and it's not much of difference, it's because you were probably only going about 1.1 mph with the old motor.

[kg2]

They do make a 55lb 24v but it's the newer terrova model.

The Terrova 55 is 12-volts, not 24!!!

[kg2]

Wile the relationship isn't exactly linear, you didn't really get that much more thrust going from 55 to 70. You only increased your thrust by 22%.

If you're getting 1.4 mph now and it's not much of difference, it's because you were probably only going about 1.1 mph with the old motor.

As long as you are not under-powered just by stepping up in thrust does not mean you will gain speed. A lot of people have trouble understanding this concept. Prop pitch will be the same on all of the Minn Kotas (with the exception of the E-Drive which is built for primary propulsion) and RPM doesn’t vary much on them so speed won’t vary much, either. Minn Kota trolling motors are designed for fishing applications, not speed. Think of it this way: tug boats have a lot of power (thrust), ski boats have a heck of a lot less power, but they can drive circles around the tug boat.

With that being said, as long as you aren’t underpowered I would suspect 2-3 MPH at WOT with a Minn Kota trolling motor. As mentioned above, make sure the trolling motor is realizing 24 volts (2 batteries connected in series – not in parallel).

[TruthWalleyes]

The boat is a 19 foot fiberglass Caravelle ski/fish that weighs about 3600#.

No way is 70# enough...Unless you only want to go 1.4mph and only on calm days. I bet you could not even stay put with 20mph winds.

Add another battery and get a 101.