Planning to add a trolling motor to my boat this spring and set up a power system for it that will fit my needs and the boat. Gonna be a 12v system, looking at running 2 batts. In parallel to give me a lot of run time.
I'm looking at AGM/gel batteries as I would like to stick the batteries under the front deck, which will require removing the live well and hatch it's in to do. so I'm hopin to only need to access them twice a year for install and removal. I wont know what size battery will work until I get the hatch removed and can measure the space available. Goal would be most amp hour/largest batteries that will fit.

Any body recommend some agm batteries brands? I have never had an agm/gel batt. I have heard there are only a few battery manufacturers and many batteries are the same just branded differant. Is there a battery of good quality that I wont be paying for a name?

How do I set up an on board charger for the batteries? Do I run a dual bank charger and charge the batteries separate? If so how do I isolate the batteries from each other for charging, but connect them for use?

I believe it would be best if both batteries are next to each other, but I may have to mount them about 3-4 ft apart, any concerns with the spacing causing any problems other than some power loss from the longer cables?


I have 2 other batteries in the back of the boat for starting and the electronics. The system I am trying to set up will be trolling motor only.

If you are going to run 2 batteries, go 24 volt. You will get long life and power when you need it. Dual bank charger - connect pos and neg to each battery and it will do the charging.

Your going to think im full of it but i been thru quite a few brands of batteries including interstate and the longest lasting have been everstart from walmart. Outlasted the others by years. I dont spend much over 100 bucks for one tho so i dont know about the really high dollar ones. Mine are going on 5 years now and i use them on these electric motor only lakes doing a lot of trolling. 2 to 3 times a week all spring and summer

Mutt,
I'm running all 24 volt systems on my trolling motors, if you're running a 12 volt and you want an additional battery- I'm thinking you could install a Guest switch and it would charge both batteries with a single charge and allow you to have the 3-4 ft separation. Someone else may have a better solution.

Amazon says I bought this one in 2012 and its still going strong. I had the same question. You hook your batteries all up to run the boat and then you run a pair of wires from this thing to each battery. It charges them separately even though they are hooked together. I don't understand how but it does. A few things I learned doing mine. You don't have to take your batteries out, just leave them plugged into this charger. It shuts on and off depending on charge. Its not actually on the charger constant.

Two batteries weight alot and where you put them greatly effects how the boat sets in the water. I have a crank battery in the back. It being on the right side effects where I can put my two trolling batteries. You get a guy to go with you and he sits on the side you have allt he batteries are on and you can tell you sit in the water wrong and he's going to feel fat.

If I were doing a boat today I'd have 4 batteries and a 4 bank charger. 2 trolling, 1 crank, and 1 dedicated to the fish finder and radio. Running my fish finder off of my trolling batteries causes false fish to show up on the screen. You can tap the gas pedal and fill the screen with marks.

Also if I was doing one today I'd buy an 24v inverter (24v to 110v) and run it off of the two trolling batteries and have an outlet in the boat. Charge phones and what not if I had to. Whatever I wanted.

Also I have an old set of jumper cables in the boat so I can jump the crank battery in the back of the boat with one of the trolling batteries in the front of the boat.

The cord I plug my charger in with is hanging from the rafters. When I forget to unplug it and pull out and head to the lake the charger unplugs itself and falls into the boat, not over the side.

Put the charger somewhere where you can see the LEDs on it while its plugged in. Green is charged. Red is charging. Flashing red means there is something wrong with the circuit / battery is too dead.

I buy reconditioned deep cycle batteries from Interstate. Not the fancy ones your talking about. There is an Interstate shop right next to work. They are half price. $60 each.

My troller is 24v. You sure you want a 12 volt with 2 batteries. If your already going to have 2 batteries you may as well go 24 volt troller.

Get a troller with a variable reostate switch for speed. Mine cerchunks from 1 2 3 4 5 settings. Ive seen them where they just turn like a volume knob. Thatd be the ticket b/c I always seem to want to slow down or speed up and the next number is too fast or too slow.

The diff amp chargers effect how long it takes to charge. More amps the faster the charge.

Good luck. Be safe.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003JSO1X2/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
You purchased this item on February 26, 2012.
Style: 3-Bank 30 Amp | View this order

Motor is going to be 12volt. I would like a 24 with all the bells, but I ended up losing my trolling motor budget to a truck purchase. I got a deal on a new 55pound power drive that wont work up much of a sweat pulling my boat.(1754 mod v) my boat is light with low sides and shallow draft. If I wait for a 24v it wont happen for another year at least.

Thanks for the info on the charging. And I know what you mean about the weight. 1 of my goals is to get some weight up front to balance things out.

Definitely needs to be separate from the starting batteries. You will also need to put a good breaker in line from the batteries to the trolling motor. I never liked the hard wired so I use plus and do not under any circumstance skimp on the male or female plug. They can and will burn up causing major issues when you need it most. I have a 21 1/2 foot bay boat with a 36v trolling motor and 2 cranking batteries. The 2 cranking batteries are switched which I run 1&2 when running. Then I switch to 1 or 2 when not running. I have never had a situation where I couldn't crank the main motor because I always have a fresh battery for that. Your bilge pump, live wells and electronics use very little power unless you have a really big amp hooked to a radio and even then it won't kill one battery or shouldn't. My chargers are hooked up differently in that I have male plugs flush mounted and just plug an extension cord into them. Hope this helps.

Wire all of it through a marine battery parallel switch to allow you to switch the use of batteries, and turn everything off at the main switch.

Go to yandina.com and read about their equipment. Their battery equipment is awesome, made in the USA.