one battery starting & trolling

[alg]

A friend of mine has a Lund Scout fishing boat (16 ft.), and he uses one battery to start his 30hp Johnson and run his transom electric trolling motor. The battery is an "all purpose" type. He seems to be getting by with this, but is it a good idea? Being able to place only one battery in the boat is appealing, weight wise. Anyone else doing this?

[Sandmannd]

I wouldn't do it at all. If you run that battery low trolling, how are you going to start the boat? IMO it's not a good practice.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Yes, you can do it but...

- How often is the electric used and how much thrust?

- Can you pull start the outboard if needed?

I did this for many years with my 1985 Alumacraft Lunker 16SS.

It had a 50ph Mercury elec start and a 765MX Minn Kota bow mount.

Make sure you have an installed battery meter and that you also have a motor that charges your battery when it's running.

I ran this rig from 1985 - 2005 and never had a problem.

And get the biggest battery you can.