# Trolling Motor Advice Generator on Board



## timberxx (Dec 9, 2008)

Hey, I want to say what a great site!

I live in VA and nearly all lakes close to me are electric only, so I want a bow mount and my primary motor. I plan want to get a new Alumacraft MV1756 AW or MV 1860 AW (https://alumacraft.com/landing-pages/jon-boats-tillers.php). The lakes are pretty large, I have a couple questions. 

1. Does anyone use a small generator to keep the batteries charged on board? 
2. What speeds can I get from a 55# on a 700 pound jon boat (before equipment and people)
3. What speeds can I get from a 80# on a 700 pound jon boat (before equipment and people)

Thanks in advance!


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## wo show (Dec 9, 2008)

I can do 3 mph with my 1800 lb fiberglass center console for a long time no problem. I probably get about 5 mph in my 200 lb 14 foot alum vee. Welcome to the site.


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## Waterwings (Dec 9, 2008)

Welcome Aboard! 8)


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## Zum (Dec 10, 2008)

Welcome to the site.
The 55lbs thrust will be 12 volt;the 80lbs a 24 volt system.
I don't think your ever going to go over 5mph with either,I may be wrong.
Here's an interesting read:
Speed limits on electric power
Electric boats are slow boats. A trolling motor doesn't have enough electric power to raise the hull out of the water and plane the boat. Unless you can plane a boat, its top speed will be limited by what's called its hull speed. 

Every boat hull will have a maximum speed. Here's the formula for estimating the maximum speed for a given hull. Multiply the square root of the length of the hull at the waterline by 1.3. This will give the theoretical maximum speed in knots. Most small boats will max out at 3 to 5 miles per hour. You can push harder, but you will just make more waves, not more speed.

If you push hard enough to make a boat rise up, plane, and skim across the surface of the water, you escape the limits of the hull speed formula. However this takes a lot of power relative to the weight of the boat. Though outboard gasoline motors push small boats to do this all the time, the power required makes it impractical for electric motors.

24 volt vs. 12 volt
The 74 lb. thrust requires a 24 volt system and two 12 volt batteries. 24 volts are easier on wiring and have less voltage losses. A 24 volt system does not require as large a wire to carry the equivalent current. It's a better system if you are willing to carry two batteries.

If you can afford the bigger thrust,I'd go with that.You will get more time out on the water.IMO


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## timberxx (Dec 16, 2008)

thanks guys. I am looking at the 55 pound. My thought process is that I can charge one battery with a generator pretty quick (3 or 4 hours). So nobody runs generators on board? 


I am frustrated with the outboard bans in Virginia lakes. I lived in MA for 8 years and I look my V16 with a Yamaha C40 everywhere.


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## Jim (Dec 16, 2008)

:welcome: Thanks for joining!

how heavy is a generator? Never heard of a generator being on board.


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## bassboy1 (Dec 16, 2008)

Were I you, I would be looking at the 70 - 80 pound 24 volts, as opposed to the 12s. The 55 will not give you desirable run time. Now, the 80 will give you more than a 40 pound thrust, running off of two batteries. 

As far as generators on board, they aren't legal in most areas. A lot of times, the lake is electric only for noise reasons, or for pollution reasons. Heck, at Lathem and Varner around here, you can't even have an empty oil bottle on the boat much less an outboard, or fuel tank. Same goes for a couple other drinking water lakes around North Georgia. In others, it is because the impoundment is usually a small peaceful area, and speed isn't needed on these little lakes, and the noise would be unwelcome. 

Around Southeast Atlanta (I am Northwest) there are a couple jon boat electric only tourney trails. Some of these guys have 3 24 volt trolling motors on their rig, and a few have even measured everything out to the last detail to get the most efficient powering. Most all of the people who have done the research will have only 24 volts on their boats. A few guys will have something like 5 12 volt motors (literally 4 on the transom - never of matching brands/years of course) and one on the bow. These guys are usually slower and die sooner than some of the guys with even 2 24v motors. Heck, some of these guys have it setup to where they can run 20 miles on their charge, in one tourney, but most of the guys rarely see more than 15 in a day, however, having the reserve is especially nice if the conditions are windy, or you are at a non local lake, and it is bigger than some locally.


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## Zum (Dec 17, 2008)

There are electric outboards but I'm pretty sure it's not what your looking for.Alot of batteries and not that much more speed,plus a hefty price.
Heres a link with all kinds of sites,if you want to take a look.They show some on jon boats,on some of the sites.
https://www.econogics.com/ev/evboats.htm

Theres also an electric outboard that goes close to 100mph,on youtube.


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