I bought a 22’ bay that came with a 24V 70lb trolling motor. Is there anyway to get more power from it? Can I add another battery and make it a 36V? Should I sell the 70lb and move to a 100lb? This is my first boat with a trolling motor.
Also, how strong should a trolling motor be? Should it be able to pull against the current? Thanks for the help.
There are currents in some areas that even a large trolling motor on a small jon boat won’t keep up with-- just depends on the situation you are talking about.
I strongly suggest you don’t up the voltage on this, I doubt seriously it will do you any good and will probably toast the motor/electronics.
If I’m fishing the upper wando, should I be able to troll against the current? What would you put on a 22’ bay boat?
I honestly do not know, I am a (very) small craft guy lol. You can try a 100lb thrust, but that’s a costly “try”. I’m also not very familiar with the Wando, for the same reason (can’t go far with paddles and trolling motor-only).
There are some sweet 4hp electric outboards and 4-cycle smaller gas outboards that would definitely handle it well. The Torqeedo 4hp electric outboard is a very powerful critter but I don’t think you can bow mount it. It would be way more powerful than a trolling motor, but probably has a lot shorter battery life since it uses a designated rechargeable lithium battery that is designed to be portable.
If you do sell the 70lb, send me a PM, I might be interested.
70lb thrust motor should be suitable for your boat (be sure your batteries are in good shape), however it is on the lower end of the acceptable range. Hard to say whether it should pull you against the current or not because the currents are different everywhere everyday…however, regardless of the motor 70 or 100 lb I wouldn’t recommend trolling at high strain against current for very long periods of time. It will eat up the batteries fast. I have had both an 80 and a 101 on my 22ft boat. Both pushed the boat well, but I get about 20-30% longer run time with the 101.
I had a 24 volt 80lb thrust bow mount Minn Kota Riptide on my Boston Whaler 230 Dauntless and I could troll to the end of the jetties and back no problem. Actually, I was never in a situation the trolling motor had any problems.
Also, if you have a 24 volt motor adding an extra battery will not help. You would need a 36 volt motor and the extra battery.
Thanks for all the good advice. I’ll check the condition of my current batteries.