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Jonas
10-15-2007, 09:26 AM
I've been given an older Minn Kota trolling motor. I wanted to test the thing out before I buy a marine battery. I hooked it up to my car battery just to see if it runs and it ran, but not great and nowhere near where I assume it needs to to push my drift boat. My question is, did it run poorly because I used it on the car battery? If not, are the motors repairable, or for the money should I just consider buying newer used one? Any insight would be great.

slimfishin's
10-28-2007, 07:06 PM
It should have ran fine from the starting batter. The voltage is the same, its just a matter of how long it will last. The starting battery will wear down faster.

So... short answer, buy a new one. If you get a 40# thrust, it should push the drifter fine - as long as you don't plan on heading upstream much. If you are planning on doing some serious motoring (like the kind you would do with a gas kicker) then I would recommend getting a stronger motor. Also, remember, a 24V motor will provide more power for longer. But, with this set up, you'll need two batteries.

For me, I stick my 27 series battery in the front dry box. I have have 6ga. wire routed out of the dry box, under the gunnel to a quick connector near the transom. So, when I need the trolling motor, I just plop it on, then I connect the cables to the quick-connect. I then attach the alligator clips to the battery in the dry box. This allows me to balance the weight of the battery towards the front of the boat, and to avoid having a battery crowding the back of the boat.

The troller is good for getting frog water and controling the drift of the boat. For instance, I use it when fishing river smallmouth bass and motoring through slow stretches of river. However, make no mistake, it will not get you back to the put-in.

Good luck.