Electric Trolling Motor on Bennington Pontoon

[Wet_Dream]

Hi All,

Thinking about adding an electric trolling motor to my 2011 Bennington 24SLi. This boat is not the fishing model so it is not pre-wired. Right now I am looking at the Minn Kota Power Drive V2 24volt, 70lbs thrust with 60 inch shaft.

I keep the boat docked so I would want to remove the motor when not in use. There seems to be a quick release mount that will allow this. The dock does not have electric so I would have to remove the batteries from the boat for charging. Right now this seems to be the biggest hassle - I'm not quite sure how involved this will be with a 24 volt system.

I would also want the wiring to be run appropriately with the proper connections / plugs. I'm thinking the install is probably a good job for the dealer.

I think I would also need to add the 1/2 door to the front. I'm assuming this is available from Bennington through the dealer, not sure about the cost here but I think it would be necessary.

Again, just trying to find out what problems this may create as I don't have the Fish package.

We did a lot of fishing last year and a electric motor would be helpful. Anybody have any experience adding an electric motor to a Bennington or any other pontoon that was not set up with a fishing package? Thanks.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Electric Trolling Motor on Bennington Pontoon

Charging them would involve 2 battery's and a hand truck and one or 2 trips to a car or truck then home.

 

[steelespike]

Re: Electric Trolling Motor on Bennington Pontoon

Speaking generically you should get literally the heaviest batteries you can afford group 27 or 30 deep cycle. They will hold up longer
over the life of the battery as well as the daily use.They shouldn't be allowed to stand around partially discharged.Over night might be ok
but they need to be charged after use.If the run time is say an hour, charging would take about twice as long.
I like Deka batteries I've had good luck with them at my job, floor equipment maintenance and my electric car.
You will need connectors so you can handle the batteries individually.They will weigh about 50 lbs each.
I suppose if your setup allows they could be assembled on a cart with wheels with a single disconnect but obviously you would be carting around over 100 lbs.
The wind will be your biggest problem as the pontoon is a big target and may require a lot of power to get around.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Electric Trolling Motor on Bennington Pontoon

Why do you feel you need a 60 inch shaft since the deck of the boat is such a short distance from the surface of the water? 54 is adequate and you might even get by with a 48 inch. Remember, when stowed, you would have five feet of shaft to trip over . Yes Minnkota makes several quick release plates. A standard two pin trolling motor connector is all that's needed for the power cable. You do need to ponder how to charge the batteries. With no shore power and no convenient way to get 24 volts from the engine, you have limited charging options. And PLEASE don't even think about solar panels. Wiring is shown below and it is totally isolated from any other boat wiring.

 

[Wet_Dream]

Re: Electric Trolling Motor on Bennington Pontoon

Silvertip,

60" shaft seemed to be what some on the Bennington forum were using. When I check the Minn Kota website under the Pontoon model trolling motors the longest shaft I can get is 48" with a foot control model and 52" with a hand-control model. I certainly want the foot control - so perhaps the 48" shaft will work. It may not mean much but the model depicted on their web site is a Bennington.

Right now the only option I see to charge the batteries with no shore power is to remove them and charge them at home. This seems to be the biggest drawback right now. I don't necessarily mind carrying them as the dock is close - just a pain to unhook the wiring after each use.

Shawn

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Electric Trolling Motor on Bennington Pontoon

Install a two bank on-board charger. Buy a small generator and go boatimg. Honda and others make very quiet units in the 1000 - 2000 watt range

 

[BOWMAKER1]

Re: Electric Trolling Motor on Bennington Pontoon

I have a 24ft Fisher pontoon and last spring I put on a Minn Kota pontoon 24v PDV2 with the 48 inch shaft and it works great. I use it mainly for fishing and trolling and it seems to have plenty of power even in quite a bit of wind. If I were you I would put the batteries in some kind of box that you could close up and roll up to your vehicle. You could wire the batteries together just like in the diagram above and then run wiring to a plug on the side of the box. That way all you would need to do is unplug the trolling motor each time but not disturb the rest of the wiring. I would also advise you to get one of the Minn Kota on board chargers and mount it in or on the box as well. Then you could leave those leads connected all the time also, because one set of leads need to go to each battery, and then just plug in the charger when you get home. That would keep the batteries charged and maintained all the time and you would not have a big confusing mess every time you wanted to charge things up or run the risk of hooking things up incorrectly and running a battery or a charger or a trolling motor. Be advised that these deep cycle batteries are HEAVY and it will take a lot of strength or power to both move and load them up. One other less than ideal alternative might be adding a small power generator, but that takes a long time to recharge and can be noisy.

 

[airdvr1227]

Re: Electric Trolling Motor on Bennington Pontoon

Hauling those batteries is going to get old quick. Any possibility of running an extension cord?

 

[Wet_Dream]

Re: Electric Trolling Motor on Bennington Pontoon

I don't think I have a way to run an extension cord - I dock at a state dock and there is no shore power. I agree that hauling the batteries is going to get old after about the second time. The generator idea isn't bad but it sure make for an expensive project. The Honda generators go for between 800-1000. Plus I'd have to be around while charging - wouldn't want to leave that around the dock unattended. Although I still want the troller - it seems like a hassle. May think a little more about wiring a box that I could roll back and forth - still a pain though...

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Electric Trolling Motor on Bennington Pontoon

The idea with the generator is to run it under way. Those small gensets are quieter than the main engine. They also output 8 amps for charging or more if you run an onboard charger.

 

[5150abf]

Re: Electric Trolling Motor on Bennington Pontoon

You seem pretty dead set on a 24 volt but they do make some very good 12 volts and they have the quick release and some are even wireless control.

With a 12 volt you would only have to mess with one battery but you could still get 55lbs thrust.

And yes, your dealer can order and install a trolling gate, that part is easy.

I have a 55lb Minn Kota troller on my fishing boat and love it, I got the wireless one so you just clip the control to your pants and you can troll from anywhere on the boat and you aren't standing on one leg all day and it should have plenty of power to move your boat.

Still sort of a pain to move the battery but one is better than 2.

 

[Wet_Dream]

Re: Electric Trolling Motor on Bennington Pontoon

5150,

I'm not dead set on a 24 volt system. Do you think a 55lb thrust unit would move a 24SLi well enough? If I can do this and have it work acceptably well I am all for one battery...

Shawn

 

[Wet_Dream]

Re: Electric Trolling Motor on Bennington Pontoon

5150,

I just saw that you work for Bennington. Do you think a Minn Kota Power Drive V2 (Pontoon Model) 54lb thrust and 48" shaft would work on a '11 24SLi? Looks like this could be the most economical set-up and may work. Concerned that the shaft length is correct...Thanks you.

Pontoon | Freshwater Bow-mount | Trolling Motors | Products | Minn Kota Motors

Shawn

 

[Wet_Dream]

Re: Electric Trolling Motor on Bennington Pontoon

Stopped at the dealer today and they deal in MotorGuide - though they can get a Minn Kota if that is what I want. Right now I like the MotorGuide 55lb thrust, Wireless model, 54 inch shaft. So, unless I find a reason to go a different direction I think I may go with this set-up.

Shawn

 

[airdvr1227]

Re: Electric Trolling Motor on Bennington Pontoon

Check your messages.

 

[5150abf]

Re: Electric Trolling Motor on Bennington Pontoon

I got mine from work so it was intended to go on a pontoon and should do fine.

As far as brand they are all about the same and I just caught a mistake I made, my troller is a Motorguide 55 wireless, I have a MInnKota deck hand and was thinking of that.

SO far it has worked really well, as I said it is on my 16' fishing boat but it will move it almost 3 mph and I have never even some closwe to killing a battery with it so they do really well on power too and the hand held remote is awesome.

 

[Wet_Dream]

Re: Electric Trolling Motor on Bennington Pontoon

Thanks I think that may be the way to go. I'm going to call the dealer next week and see what they can do to install a second battery and a switch so perhaps I can charge both the starting and trolling motor battery using the alternator on the 115hp Optimax. That may lessen the number of times that I have to haul the battery for charging. The only problem with this is that I don't really know if I run the outboard enough to provide an acceptable charge. The boat has been used for two seasons and only has about 34 hours on the engine...

I would expect that may necessitate installing the trolling battery in the stern of the boat near the starting battery and main motor. The wiring may add a bit of cost as the wiring would have to be run up to the trolling motor on the bow. I'm sure the techs can figure something out...

Shawn

 

[Wet_Dream]

Re: Electric Trolling Motor on Bennington Pontoon

Ended up ordering the Minn Kota Power Drive V2.. Dealer will do the install - also needed to get the 1/2 gate.

...Next year the Minn Kota Deck Hand electric anchor...

Shawn

 

[Todd4]

Re: Electric Trolling Motor on Bennington Pontoon

Make sure you mount the TM to one side to leave room for the winch linstall later. I have both and it's tight to fit everything in and still get the TM shaft around the fishing chairs. If you have a tritoon, you'll have no choice but to offset it to one side.

Todd