Best starting battery around $150

[Mistermojo]

Got to the lake tonight and the rig wouldn't start. Had charged the battery when I put it in the boat back in late April, and I have a master kill switch so nothing should have been drawing current.

It was a Flea Farm marine starting battery you can get for about $60 or so, and it's going to the recycler soon.

What have you guys had good luck with in the $150 range or even less if there are some solid deals out there. I have a membership to the club that starts with C so if their brand marine battery is good that works for me and I think sometimes they have name brands too.

Heading on a couple trips this summer so want to make sure I'm not going to get stranded.

Thanks,

Mojo

[Savage Brewer]

Battery is only 2 months old?

That should be under warranty.

I guess a couple questions:

What size battery do you have currently?

How much room do you have for the new battery?

What Year/Make/Model of engine do you have?

I guess from there we could make a couple recommendations.

Johnson Controls I believe makes a large percentage of the batteries we see around here. For example Interstate, DieHard, Duralast, Motorcraft (Ford) and many others.

I have been very happy with the batteries I had from Interstate, they served me well.

[Mistermojo]

Sorry if it came across as only being 2 mos old, it's probably 4 or 5 years old, it was freshly charged in april when I put it back in the boat for the year. I'd have to look, but off hand I think it's probably a 550 or 600 CCA.

I have plenty of room for a battery, but I'm running a '95 60 HP Merc, so it probably doesn't need to be huge. I have a separate battery for the trolling motor, so starting, running the 'Bird, and radio are all it needs to do.

[candiru]

4-5 years is probably close to the life expectancy of that battery. If you are estimating it could easily be more. I have done well with Interstate Batteries. They all have gone at least 6 years, then I retire them. I don't want them failing on a Fall trip on the river when no one else is around.

[leech~~]

I just switched out my cheap Flea Farm starting battery which lasted 10 years. Date on it was 2004. I used it just about every weekend during the summer and stored it in the basement duing the winter each year. I think I got my money out of it!

[20lbSloughShark]

fleet farm batteries have been pretty good to me. 4 years is about what you can expect from one. I don't see why you would wan't to pay more than double the price for a few years more out of it.

[Gus]

My current fleet farm marine starting battery is from 06 and still working good.

[Hawg]

Everybody is pretty right on this, you don't need to spend $150 on a starting battery. I'm partial to Batteries Plus because they treat me like a king and service and selection are great.

[Savage Brewer]

In that case, I have had good luck with the Interstate 24M-XHD and the 24M-HD batteries. They have more reserve capacity for running accessories than most starting batteries.

[smalliehunter]

i dont know how big your motor is or if you run big graphs or have a talon, but i have a 200 merc and run 3 graphs and have my talon all hooked up to starting battery. I upgraded to an Interstate 31-xhd. bout 160$. great great battery, after running graphs and livewells for 8 hour tournemants i still have enough juice to start my 200horse. great battery and right in your price range

[RebelSS]

Year # 7 on both of my Interstates. I love 'em.

[ClownColor]

Love my AGM's from Cabelas. It's sounds like you need one now but if you can wait for their sales, they drop 50%! I use my AGM's for both batteries but like other have said, you don't need anyhting special for a starting battery...unless maybe you have a cold blooded motor or one that doesn't start well. I'm on 7 years now and both run strong.

[Todd S.]

I put an interstate 31xhd in, $160 Ihave 2 HDS 7's, hds5, and Merc 250. Extremely pleased with battery

[Mistermojo]

Thanks for the responses all. I pulled out my old one and it was from 2007, so I think I definitely got my $ worth. I ran to Flea Farm at lunch and bought another one. $5 off this week so $52 out the door.

[Northlander]

I only run Interstates.

[amateurfishing]

another for interstates

[jac714]

I have had amazing success with die hards from sears. Good value and they seem to last about 5 to 6 years.

[bd477]

Interstate

[Down Deep]

I'm an Interstate fan, but the last couple boats I've purchased had Exide starting batteries. These batteries won't die. Had 9 years on one starting battery and it went with the boat when I sold it to friend of mine. He changed it this year after a total of 11 years. The new one in my boat is going good after 4 seasons. Exides were selling for $41 at Menards earlier this year.

[Hester]

Like smalliehunter said, if your running a bunch other stuff of it then you should upgrade. If your just cranking the motor over I would buy a cheap battery and get 4 or 5 years out of it for $60.