How To Choose The Trolling Motor Battery For Your Fishing Boat

There are different kinds of trolling motor battery available now-a-days in the market. However, all trolling motor batteries are not equal in quality, so select a battery is quiet confusing. Here we step by step guide you to choose and purchase a best battery for your trolling motor.

To buy a battery for your trolling motor, at first you should consider your needs. Note out the most important features you are expecting from your battery. Consider what you want from you battery and what you don’t like in your battery. Ask yourself again and again before finalizing your needs.

After consider the needs, you should estimate a budget for your battery. For choosing a best battery, the price of the battery plays a deciding role. There are different types of battery of different models are available in the market with different price.

In the time of choosing and purchasing a trolling motor battery, you should consider several factors. These are:

1. Type of Battery:

There are different types of trolling motor battery available in the market such as wet acid batteries, Gel batteries, AGM batteries and Lithium ion batteries. You should select one that is suitable for your trolling motor.

2. Thrust of Trolling Motor:

Thrust of a trolling motor is very essential factor to be considered for buying a trolling motor battery. Thrust is similar to the power. So, the required power from the battery depends on the thrust of the trolling motor. The amp-hour rating of the battery should be more if more thrust is needed.

3. Volt System of Trolling Motor:

Volt system is another considering factor to buy a battery. A trolling motor with 12V system needs only one battery. If trolling motor needs higher thrusts, volt system increases, such as 24V, 36V and so on.

It is always best to buy the same type of batteries for a trolling motor. You should never connect the new and the old batteries in the same circuit. You should always connect the negative terminal of a battery with the positive terminal of the other battery. You should never connect the negative to negative or positive to positive, because, it may cause damage to the motor.

4. Amp-Hour Rating:

Before buying a battery for trolling motor, you must look for the amp-hour rating of the battery. If the amp-hour rate of the battery is given 100 amp-hours, the battery will give 100 amps per hour. If you are running the trolling motor in a low speed and using 5 amps, then the battery will last for 40 hours. But, if you are running the battery in full speed and using 50 amps, then the battery will last only 4 hours. A top trolling motor battery must have at least 100 amp-hours rating. The more is the amp-hour rating, the longer will the battery run.

5. Boat Size And Weight:

Boat size and weight is another important factor to be considered while choosing and buying a trolling motor battery. The more size of the boat, the more thrust is needed, so the more power is needed. But the more power doesn’t mean the battery needs to be large and heavy.

The space on the boat for the battery is another must considered point. If there is less space for battery you should buy a small size battery. You should not add an extra heavy weight to the boat, if the boat is already heavy, it also may slow down the speed of the boat.

For small size boats with less space, AGM batteries are not a good choice, as AGM batteries need permanent mounting on the boat. So, Standard deep cycle marine batteries are the best choice for the small size boats.

6. Vibration Resistance:

While running a trolling motor or an engine boat, the base of the boat is obviously vibrate, so the battery is also going to vibrate. Every battery is made of plates that are placed in specific manner, and the battery life is depends on the plates. When the battery is going to vibration and regularly vibrates, the plates inside the battery are displaced and the battery starts slowly getting damaged. So, you should always choice a battery that is shock and vibration resistant.

7. Spill-Proof:

For the flooded batteries and wet acid cells, leaking and spilling of acids is a very common problem. The acids may spill and leaks and may cause a permanent damage to the boat or it may damage the wires that connect the motor. So, you should buy a battery that is completely sealed and spill proof.

8. Fishing Conditions:

There are two conditions of fishing, shallow water fishing and deep water fishing. For shallow water fishing, the power requirement is less. But, fishing in deep water required high amount of power. So, in case of deep water fishing, it is best to select a high amperage hour rating battery of your trolling motor.

9. Weather Conditions:

The conditions of weather are another important point to be considered. The weather and the water can affect the run time and the performance of the battery. A trolling motor may draw 40 amps in a stormy and bad weather while it draws 30 amps at a normal speed in a good weather. So, if you plan to fish regularly on the bad weather conditions, then you must calculate this factor before buying a trolling motor battery.

10. Maintenance:

Some batteries like wet cell batteries require a lot of maintenance such as timely refilling of distilled water, routine inspection for acid spill or terminal corrosion check etc. On the other hand some batteries like AGM, gel and lithium ion batteries are maintenance free. So, before buying a battery you should consider the time you have for the maintenance of the battery.

11. MFD and Warranty:

Manufacturing date of the battery also be considered before buying a battery. You should always choose the fresh and new ones.

Warranty period of the battery is another considering factor. There are some warranty periods of all type of batteries. Some batteries offer full-rated warranty and some offer pro-rated. You should carefully review the warranty of the product.

12. Price of The Battery:

Price or cost of the battery is a deciding factor to purchasing a trolling motor battery. Now-a-days, varieties of batteries are available in the market at wide range of price. It is not always right that, the cheap battery is good. The truth is that, cheap may be disastrous due to leaking of acids. In the other hand, it is not also always right that the costly batteries will last more. The truth is that the durability of the battery is depends on the care and maintenance of the battery. You should go for the best battery that is affordable with your budget.