I am about to purchase a 19' fiberglass skiff approximately 1300lbs, and I would like to have a trolling motor. I normally fish with no more than about 3 people on the boat, so with motor, gear, fuel, and people i will be in roughly the 2200lb mark (Plus or minus). The only problem is that I will be keeping this in a dry stack, so I do not have a way to easily charge the batteries while the boat is being stored (cannot connect AC power and solar won't work). So I had a few questions and wanted to get some opinions.
I found some onboard chargers that use the motor's alternator for charging. Unfortunately, these say that it will not replace an AC charger. Does anyone know if you can buy a DC charger large enough to actually keep the trolling motor batteries charged while the motor is running?
If nothing is available that can charge regularly off the motor, I had two thoughts about the connection.
First, I could install a 55lb thrust motor (about the minimum for this size boat) and install two batteries in parallel. This would double the amp hours rating, and by my calculations, I could get about 3-4 hours trolling while running at full speed assuming 90-100 amp hour batteries. Would it cause any issues with alternating which battery I take home to charge (i.e. charge one each trip, but alternate which one I carrry home)? Does anyone think that 55lb thrust will not be enough?
Second, I could install a 70lb thrust motor with two batteries in series. My understanding is that this does not double the amp hours, but the 70lb thrust motor would draw less amps. So theoreticaly, I should be able to get close to 3 hours of run time running at the same speed (i.e. run less than full throttle). Would it cause any issues with alternating which battery I took home to charge (i.e. charge one each trip)?
Just trying to keep from lugging around 100lbs worth of batteries every time I go fishing!
I found some onboard chargers that use the motor's alternator for charging. Unfortunately, these say that it will not replace an AC charger. Does anyone know if you can buy a DC charger large enough to actually keep the trolling motor batteries charged while the motor is running?
If nothing is available that can charge regularly off the motor, I had two thoughts about the connection.
First, I could install a 55lb thrust motor (about the minimum for this size boat) and install two batteries in parallel. This would double the amp hours rating, and by my calculations, I could get about 3-4 hours trolling while running at full speed assuming 90-100 amp hour batteries. Would it cause any issues with alternating which battery I take home to charge (i.e. charge one each trip, but alternate which one I carrry home)? Does anyone think that 55lb thrust will not be enough?
Second, I could install a 70lb thrust motor with two batteries in series. My understanding is that this does not double the amp hours, but the 70lb thrust motor would draw less amps. So theoreticaly, I should be able to get close to 3 hours of run time running at the same speed (i.e. run less than full throttle). Would it cause any issues with alternating which battery I took home to charge (i.e. charge one each trip)?
Just trying to keep from lugging around 100lbs worth of batteries every time I go fishing!