Electric trolling motor lbs of thrust?

[Whoaru99]

Thinking maybe it's time for a new trolling motor and wondering about the power I need.

Was doing some reading and found an article that said basic rule of thumb is 5lbs thrust for every 200lbs of weight. I have a Sylvan Pro Select 16 and figure this is would be up to 2000lb, more or less for boat, motor, batteries, a couple people, 1/2 tank gas, etc.

So, that comes out to 50lb thrust motor.

Part of me says more is better, say 70-80 lbs, but I'm thinking maybe something like the iPilot or Xi5. Some other info I was reading, in a MinnKota iPilot manual I think, said if the trolling motor is too big they can overcorrect and not track smoothly (and of course too small will be sluggish to react).

So, 50 sound about right, or?

(I have two batteries for the trolling motor. Can run either parallel 12V or series 24V so that part isn't a really a factor for motor choice).

[tacklejunkie]

I have an 80 lb thrust on my 19 footer and it pulls it well. I used to have a 17 footer and used a 55 and that pulled well.

[CaptainMusky]

I had a 55 on a boat of similar size and it worked well.

[EBass]

I have 80lb on a 14' jon boat It's better to have more #'s of thrust and not use it, than to not have it when you need it.

[amateurfishing]

i agree with EBASS (so does Lindner), i have 55 on 16 ft boat & while it does just fine, sometimes a little more would be nice especially against stronger currents or wind and during those times either the batteries die faster or have to use the wind better which kinda leaves you with a little less control. Like anything else, get the biggest you are comfy with and can afford. No one ever says "i wish i had less power".

[Kyhl]

I would say 70lbs is more than enough. I have a 70lb on an 18" boat and it works well. 80lbs would be nice on my 18" but not nice enough that I wanted to fork out that kind of money when a 70 works just fine.

Depends on how you use it though. Do you want us use it to troll cranks? If so, then go big, 80+. I use my main motor to troll cranks and the trolling motor for throwing baits or jigging/rigging.

[mwal]

I have a buddy with a crestliner 1750 with 55lb minnkota it can't make it thru the day pulling spinner rigs in a decent wind without having 2 batteries even then its running wide open and sometimes it's not enough. I had 80lbs thrust 24V on last 3 boats and never had a problem doing what I wanted for a full days fishing. With light use It could go 2 full days. All boats were 18 ft 2 aluminum current one glass.

Mwal

[B-man715]

I wouldn't run anything smaller than a 70# with two group 31 batteries. A buddy of mine has a 55# on a similar sized boat as yours and wishes he went bigger.

I have an 80# on my 17' glass boat. While it does fine, I wish I had room for a third battery to run a 101#.... If you fish current go bigger than you think you need.

[aanderud]

I'd put a 70 lb unit on there so you can handle some wind/waves and go all day instead of having to pack up due to a dead battery because you ran the 55 at max for 1/2 a day.

[solbes]

2 batteries in parallel with a 55# would do you just fine I think. I can get 2.3 mph in calm conditions out of a fresh 12V battery with my 55# on a Lund Rebel XL 1625. I go a whole weekend without charging on a single 29 series battery. I fish mostly inland lakes under 3000 acres.

Now if you are into fishing Mille Lacs, main basin Leech, or Superior, then I would definitely say 65 or 70# would be more appropriate given the high winds you can see in those wide open lakes.

[Whoaru99]

I fish the smaller/medium West Central inland lakes 99.5 % of the time. Been on Red Lake once and Rainy Lake three or four times.

Think the old motor I have is 40lbs. Gonna have it hooked up by this weekend and take the boat out for the first time in a year or two so hopefully I can somewhat refresh my memory of where I'm at with power as it is now.

[Whoaru99]

If one needs 55lb thrust I'd think it would take roughly the same amount of power from the battery running a 55lb motor at 55 or a 70lb motor at 55.

I understand the 24V system of the 70lb should have some efficiency advantage with higher voltage but I'd think that should't make a big difference, i.e. not 1/2 a day difference assuming same battery capacity (2 x 105 Ah) the same in both cases.

[jac714]

I have a 75# Motor Guide Brute on my 17 foot Starcraft Wide Deep Vee and my only complaint is thet it tends to go too fast. I love the ability to cut through weeds and control in the wind but it pulls the boat around at about 1.5 mph on setting 1. It will go 5.6 mph on max speed. Don't get me wrong I am a firm advocate of all the power you can get but I wish I would have gone with a varible speed rather than a 5 speed.

[Surface Tension]

I troll spinners for eyes.

My 55 lb AP is the primary means for boat control.

I have to be going into a pretty big chop till I have to bump it up to 70% and then I use

the outboard instead. Why, to conserve the battery. I'll use the AP again on the return or to push or pull a drift back onto my line/track.

If I had a 70 +lb I'd be doing the exact same thing.

Before the 55 I had a 28 AP. The 28 did just fine.

What I noticed most is the 55 will go through a battery faster.

Typically I'm using an average setting of 25% and easily go a full day on one battery.

If you consider that a weekend of fishing consists of trolling, tossing jigs, slip bobs, I've gone 3 days with that type of use. Its not often I leave the lake with a dead battery in fact its rare, but I could drain it down it I wanted too.

[TrollnDrift]

I don't know if you ever picked out a trolling motor yet, but I have a 16' alumacraft with a 55lbs terrova. I can hit 2.5 mph on calm water. The motor is great for lakes but when fishing the river it is not enough IMO. Just my 2 cents. If I did it again I'd go with a 24v 70lbs motor for when I hit the rivers

[fivebucks]

You can get away with less thrust if using a bow mount verses a transom mount also. If transom get as big as you can. I have a 74 lb transom on a 18' Pro V and I still wish I had bigger. The 74 handles in most situations but there are times I have to throw the sock out and use the 75 hp. to get the speed (or lack of) that I want.