Need 12V Battery Opinions

[BobVP]

I need to buy a 12V battery for my newly purchased 27lb thrust Minn Kota.

I know what I want..I think...and have been reading all the opinions on other pages..."..golf cart batteries are best...", "...deep cycle marine...", "...cheapest is good enough....", "....buy a trickle charger for winter..." Lots and lots of opinions and I believe I have waded through enough of them to decide what I want.

Here is where you folks come in: Since you are (mostly) more local, i.e.; Northern California/Southern Oregon, Where is the best place to actually buy a new, deep cycle battery? Best = best price for a good battery!

Anyone have a particularly good place to purchase a battery in Mendocino or Sonoma Counties?

As always, thank for the input.

[Scott V]

Deep cycle marine, I am still using the same one I have had for close to 16 years, seriously. Do not waste your money on the Optima batteries, they are the biggest pieces of junk I have ever owned. We got them for our dune buggies and sand rails and they didn't last long at all. And that was even in the dune buggy that I drive a lot.

The deep cycle marine batteries are very heavy, but they last! The one I still have was the one I sued for years fishing bass tournaments, I put literately hundred and hundreds if not thousands of hours on it and it still works.

[BobVP]

Thanks Scott....Where did you get it?

[Charlie S]

I've used Marine Deep Cycle batteries from the Ukiah Walmart for years. One of the few things I buy from them. Never any problems and I've used them a lot. Check your message for my telephone number....if you come over maybe we can get together for lunch.

[briansII]

Not all deep cycle marine batteries are created equal. I've gone through enough to know. :-( I have not found any to last 16 years like Scott has, so hopefully he can tell us what brand and model it is.....which likely has changed since then.

There are a ton of brands, and places to buy deep cycle marine batteries. The key is to buying one that will last the longest for your specific needs. That's the billion dollar answer. Might check bass boat central forums to see all the opinions on trolling motor batteries, but it's like asking what is the best fly rod.

Sorry, I know I didn't answer your question. I'm still looking for THE answer.

briansII

[JAWallace]

Deep cycle marine Group 24 or better 27 if you can handle the weight, from Walmart. My last battery lasted 6 years. I have a group 27 and ran it several hours on the Delta recently and when I threw a charger on it that night it showed 90%. My motor is 55#.

With a 27 lb motor, group 24 is fine. What you are looking for is amp hours. If you can find the amp demand for your motor, divide the amp hours by that and that's about the number of hours you'll get. I'd guess your motor draws about 25 amps, so if your battery is 100 amp hours, that means you can get about 4 hours from it, running at full speed. If it's an Endura, the speed matters less as your draw will be only marginally less at lower speeds. If you have a Maximizer function, you can get a lot more hours out of the same battery if you run at lower speeds.

Mine is a 122 amp hour battery, Group 27. I think it cost about $70. A group 24 will be sightly less, and weigh a little less. Whatever you decide, deep cycle is what you want. You can do a sealed lead acid(grass mat), and you'll save a little weight and probably spend triple per amp hour over the conventional deep cycle.

If you're using it on a pontoon or something really light, you can try a garden tractor battery; that's what I use for my outboard starter battery. I don't think it will last long, but it's very light and about $30 at Walmart. Those are not meant for slow discharge but *might* work for awhile. If weight isn't an issue, don't even shop. Get a Walmart EverStart, not the highest end model, but the most amp hours you can afford. It should give you several years of service.

If weight IS an issue and you really want more than a few minutes of use, then you can go with a Lithium deep cycle. It will run you about $500, but weigh only about 15 lbs. It will probably give you 2-3 hours of use.

[Scott V]

Thanks Scott....Where did you get it?

Probably Wal-Mart, it was 16+ years ago so I truly can't remember.