Electric trolling motor

[GREASEMONKEY]

My yellow top in the jeep had a dead cell after 16monthes. The 2 year warranty comes in handy!

[m350]

A year or so ago I went to get a Battery for my car,,went to Advanced Auto,,looking at battery's,,one salesman swore by the Optima,,,other salesman said they were Junk,,,lol,,saying they come back Dead,,all the time a yr or so old, ?? Just what I have heard !

[salamander]

You can buy a Minn Kota Endura 30 these days for $100 at Bass Pro Shops. Problem may be there that the shaft on it is only 30" long. By my measurements and experience with my machine on the water; (nose heavy, ass end up out of the water much of the time); 36" is the bare minimum that I would settle for. That way even when you're weight is all the way forward; the prop is still completely below the surface.

[bearclaw46]

Salamander, I just bought a Minn Kota 38 lb thrust trolling motor. They had them at Costco up here in Anchorage for $144.00. Do you think the 38 lb thrust would make it go faster than the tires can do it. I'll have to check the shaft length to see if it'll meet your specs, if not I may have to take it back.
Thanks for the good info you've provided here.

FYI, I purchased an Optima Blue top around 3 or 4 yrs ago. At that time the bluetop was their top of the line. I use it in my camper in the summer. It sits in my heated garage all winter and I never charge it. In the spring, I charge it up on trickle charge for minimum 24 hrs, max 48 hrs, put it in my camper and away we go. Haven't had any problems with it (I AM knocking on wood). I remember paying $142.00 for it when I bought it @ Costco also.

Dennis

[salamander]

I decided to go out looking for an Optima Yellow top, soon realized they were hard to find around here? (they can be found, just not at Costco anymore for example)

Did some asking around- the patent Optima held on the AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) spiral cells expired last year; so anybody can make them now.

Crappy Tire has a new battery they call the Orbital X... don't think it will fit in the battery compartment without some modifications. Supposedly it rivals the Optima Yellow top specs. Can't find much detail on it though.

Then there's Odyessy; with a wide range of shapes and sizes "Military Grade AGM Batteries", at Home Depot and other stores.

Any other contenders out there?

[salamander]

I have used the Military grade dry cell batteries, and they didn't take a beating like the Optima's have!

These Military Grade Dry Cells you speak of - were they Absorbed Glass Mat technology like the Optima or the Odyssey Batteries?

I assume you plug in to top your battery's charge up after heavy winching or trolling motor sessions?

[salamander]

38 lbs. should move you along well; I'm pretty sure that all the Minn Kota motors with more than 35 lbs. thrust have the 36" shaft. Minn Kota recommend getting the prop at least a foot underwater.

When it comes to outboards, all that Argo specify is long shaft. It would be nice to have a little more to go on rather than trial and error.

I recommend that when you are parked on dry ground, with the prop down, you should ideally still have 6"-12" of shaft above the motor mount left to lower the prop depending on how high the back end is floating.

Good price on that motor by the way.

[GREASEMONKEY]

These Military Grade Dry Cells you speak of - were they Absorbed Glass Mat technology like the Optima or the Odyssey Batteries?

I was talking of the odyssey battery, they suck!
I had a bad run in with them on a few fire trucks at work!

I assume you plug in to top your battery's charge up after heavy winching or trolling motor sessions?

I keep it on a 1.5A battery maintainer.
Vector 2 Amp Float Mode - Smart Battery Maintainer - VEC080 : Hechinger
When I'm out & about during hunting season I just let it run for a while at high idle to recharge the battery! They Bigfoot's 20A charging system is plenty adequate for that.

[salamander]

Thanks for posting them details Greasemonkey. I was warming up to the idea of the Odyssey's and the sales pitch they give, but I will take your experience as a lesson not worth learning myself.

[bearclaw46]

Hey guys, enjoying all this battery talk. What's a battery maintainer?? Where do you get these maintainers at and what do they do?? Also, do you guys run a battery in the back of your Argo just for the trolling motor?? OR are you running your trolling motor from your Argo battery??? I haven't even unboxed my Minn Kota yet, so don't know how the wiring hooks up. Probably won't unveil it until I venture forth with the Argo again in late June or July. If you run it from your Argo motor, is the wiring a complex issue or does it just plug into a 12 volt cig lighter outlet?? or just hook up 2 wires to the Argo battery??

Thanks for the info Salamander and Greasemonkey. It's always wise to listen to other folks instead of learning thru the school of hard knocks and price ventures.

Dennis