# Running Dual Or More Trolling Motors ?



## T Dot (Feb 20, 2007)

Hello

First and foremost...  let me say what an amazing site.  This is the first site that really goes into detail about electric only bass boats.  I find this site very informative!



ALUMACRAFT 1436
- 140 lbs
- Click Here for more information

Im looking to customize my jon boat once I have more spare time.

Right now its a car topper and I would like to keep it that way.

I would like to keep it electric.  Its a renewable resource that has zero emissions.  Its good to see that there is a bunch of people who use electric only boats.  Coming from a large city, I have seen what over fishing and high amounts of uncontrolled emissions can do over the years.

I recently went from a 12 ft boat to a 14 ft boat.  The smaller boat was much lighter, but less stable when you standing.  After purchasing the 14 ft boat, I can stand up with 2nd person without any problems.

To deal with the extra weight, I borrowed a 2nd trolling motor.  I used 2 30 lbs trust minnkota trolling motors to power my boat.  I also used 2 batteries.  The 2 trolling motors makes a huge difference, especially since I fish alot of the smaller lakes.

To those who run dual or more trolling motors, what setups did you go with any why? Im looking to go with a dual or more setup pretty soon, so I would like to see what other setups I can possible go with.

I dont know how fast I go with 1 30# trust motor, but it doesnt seem to go very fast at all.  I will be using a GPS and posting up my findings soon.

I would need to power my boat, with 2 or more people and their gear. We often always run in small bodies of water, with 1 or 2 trips to a bigger body of water. The average size lake is around 250 acres, but I have managed my way through a 500, 1000 and 3000 acre lakes. Most of the lakes I fish are TM only.

I have my eyes set on 1 101# trust minn kotta TM.  Any reaons not to go with this type of setup?

Another questions is how do you charge your batteries while you are out on the water, or docked?  Mind you, there isnt a power source that is readily accessable.  Im also taking a trip where there might not be any power, so I might pickup a few solar panels or something like that.

Future plans are to remove the middle seat, and reweld the holes.  Add a front and rear deck.  Build a livewell, possible a portable livewell cooler.  Wire the boat for front and rear fish finders.  Add wheels for lakes that do not have a boat ramp.



Any advice?


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## Slug-Gunner (Feb 20, 2007)

*Suggestion....*

Use the "Edit" function and change to a slightly larger Font Style or Size. My old eyes can't hardly read your post.


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## T Dot (Feb 20, 2007)

Slug-Gunner said:


> Use the "Edit" function and change to a slightly larger Font Style or Size. My old eyes can't hardly read your post.



done deal


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## Cameron197 (Feb 20, 2007)

The 101's should move you about 4.5 - 5.5 mph with gear and the 3 batteries that you will need. I have a 16' with 6 batteries, live well, decked from front to rear with 3/4 plywood. and it does 4.5 in the best conditions with a 55 BM on the front 2 40's and a 44 on the rear. Looking at going with 2 85's on the rear because they are better than that total 124 thrust I have right now.

As far as battery charging on the lake. If you can find something that will do it. Let me know. I don't want to put solar panels on it. I don't think that they work as well anyway.

If you want to keep it a car topper, you will need to build your decks removable. If not, it's going to get heavy in a hurry. You should invest in a small trailer. You will spend and hour at the bank putting all of that stuff back in to go fishing. 

Last, You might want to call ALUMACRAFT and find out if the middle bench is structural. If not, the boat might fold up in the middle without the support.

Good luck with your project

Cameron


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## ugabowhunter (Feb 20, 2007)

the 101 minn kota is 36 volt, right? if so, try out the 24 volt 80# or 82# motorguide. i have a 1436 w/ a 82# motorguide that is pretty fast (as far as jon boats go). i think about 4.9 on gps. that is as fast as my boat can go without being on plane. i can fish all day with front and rear trolling motors, aerator, and a fishfinder on  just 3, group 29 batteries. be sure to by the largest group batts you can find and its very important to keep them  maintained. i would recommend the 24 volt motor with a 2 blade prop over the 36 volt motor.


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## T Dot (Feb 20, 2007)

Cameron197 said:


> The 101's should move you about 4.5 - 5.5 mph with gear and the 3 batteries that you will need.



thanks.  thats about the speed i would like to go.  im hoping i can reach 7 mph



Cameron197 said:


> I have a 16' with 6 batteries, live well, decked from front to rear with 3/4 plywood. and it does 4.5 in the best conditions with a 55 BM on the front 2 40's and a 44 on the rear. Looking at going with 2 85's on the rear because they are better than that total 124 thrust I have right now.



why are you choosing to stay in the 24v category instead of going 36v ?



Cameron197 said:


> As far as battery charging on the lake. If you can find something that will do it. Let me know. I don't want to put solar panels on it. I don't think that they work as well anyway.



i think multiple panels should do fine.  i have my eyes set on those light weight rollup ones.  im not looking to charge the batteries back from dead, but just enough so that i dont lose too much charge.  i read somewhere that it will take me a few panels to get to equal a 10 amp charge.

@ 10 amps i can charge my batteries back from dead in about 5 hours.  give or take a few hours.  so if i split that between 2 batteries, i can put in  a decent charge in 10 hours.  which is roughly 5 amps.



Cameron197 said:


> If you want to keep it a car topper, you will need to build your decks removable. If not, it's going to get heavy in a hurry. You should invest in a small trailer. You will spend and hour at the bank putting all of that stuff back in to go fishing.



im going to keep everything removable.  with all the lakes we fish, sometimes a trailer isnt the best thing to have.  long lines, etc.  we have timed ourselves in comparision to those who have a trailer.  we can load and unload alot quicker than most of them.  though a small trailer might be in my budget in the near future





Cameron197 said:


> Last, You might want to call ALUMACRAFT and find out if the middle bench is structural. If not, the boat might fold up in the middle without the support.



thanks for the tip, im going to contact them right away


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## T Dot (Feb 20, 2007)

ugabowhunter said:


> the 101 minn kota is 36 volt, right? if so, try out the 24 volt 80# or 82# motorguide. i have a 1436 w/ a 82# motorguide that is pretty fast (as far as jon boats go). i think about 4.9 on gps. that is as fast as my boat can go without being on plane. i can fish all day with front and rear trolling motors, aerator, and a fishfinder on  just 3, group 29 batteries. be sure to by the largest group batts you can find and its very important to keep them  maintained. i would recommend the 24 volt motor with a 2 blade prop over the 36 volt motor.



how do you know how fast your boat can go without being on a plane?  is it stated online, or in a manual somewhere?  i would like to lookup my boat.



im shopping for 2 more batteries.  im only going to go with 4 batteries in the boat.  3 for the motor, and 1 for everything else.

plus i also have a very tiny 12volt i can use for lights or something like that as well.

how much power does your aereator and fish finder use?


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## taylornelms (Feb 21, 2007)

i dont konw about your specific model but i have taken the middle bench out of two different jon boats and niether changed the structure.  Alumacraft will probably tell you it will but it wont. It will be a little different but it wont fold up like talked about above. Ive done it to a 12 footer and a 15 footer and niether really had any affect. Good luck and keep us posted about your boat.


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## T Dot (Feb 21, 2007)

taylornelms said:


> i dont konw about your specific model but i have taken the middle bench out of two different jon boats and niether changed the structure.  Alumacraft will probably tell you it will but it wont. It will be a little different but it wont fold up like talked about above. Ive done it to a 12 footer and a 15 footer and niether really had any affect. Good luck and keep us posted about your boat.



do you remember who made the boats, and how many ribs it had?



thanks


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## Cameron197 (Feb 21, 2007)

T Dot said:


> thanks.  thats about the speed i would like to go.  I'm hoping i can reach 7 mph



With a flat bottom, it will  be a little hard to reach 7 without one of the Rays Electric or similar due to the wall of water building up in front of it



T Dot said:


> why are you choosing to stay in the 24v category instead of going 36v ?



To be honest, I built my boat for 24v and do not have the room for extra 2 batteries (Running two motors)



T Dot said:


> i think multiple panels should do fine.  i have my eyes set on those light weight roll-up ones.  I'm not looking to charge the batteries back from dead, but just enough so that i don't lose too much charge.  i read somewhere that it will take me a few panels to get to equal a 10 amp charge.



Let me know how it works. I might have to try it if it does not take up to much deck space.



T Dot said:


> I'm going to keep everything removable.  with all the lakes we fish, sometimes a trailer isn't the best thing to have.  long lines, etc.  we have timed ourselves in comparison to those who have a trailer.  we can load and unload allot quicker than most of them.  though a small trailer might be in my budget in the near future



It would really help on days going to Varner that a tournament is not going on.




T Dot said:


> thanks for the tip, I'm going to contact them right away



It as all about how the ribs are spaced. My Waco has a 2' larger gap between the ribs for my middle seat for a 3.5' spacing between ribs. Plus, it will give you something to base your casting platform off of. 

Hope this helped,
Cameron


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## ugabowhunter (Feb 21, 2007)

T Dot said:


> how do you know how fast your boat can go without being on a plane?  is it stated online, or in a manual somewhere?  i would like to lookup my boat.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



there is a formula on the internet somewhere. i believe it is 1.34 x (sq. root of X) where X= number of feet of your boat's hull that is in the water while trolling. for instance i have a 14 ft boat and figured 13 ft of the boat are in the water  so, 1.34 x (sq. root 13) = 4.8-4.9mph. this formula seems pretty close to what is actually occuring on the water.


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## Twenty five ought six (Feb 21, 2007)

What UGA bowhunter said.

Regardless of the power you apply, as long as your boat is in displacement mode, the top speed is determined by the waterlline.  Once you reach displacement speed, additional HP does not result in additional spped, until you have enough power to plane.



> With a flat bottom, it will be a little hard to reach 7 without one of the Rays Electric or similar due to the wall of water building up in front of it



That wall of water is what separates displacement mode from planing.  To plane you have to apply enough horsepower for the boat to climb that bow wave, and ride on top of it.  To get a 14 ft. boat on plane requires 5-6 hp.


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## ugabowhunter (Feb 21, 2007)

for comparison, i used to have one 46# on the transom and got about 4.5-4.6 mph. then i got the 82 # and only gained about 0.5 mph. i think the 100# motor might not been needed.


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## buzzbaitfool12 (Feb 21, 2007)

*trolling motors*

My buddy has a 101 that is 36 volt..I have one 80lb minn kota ..He runs out of juice way before I do..I think the higher end of the lbs of thrust of volts pulls more juice which in turn runs out faster..I would rather be a little slower and have batteries last all day than the alternative...And by the way he is not faster than my 17 ft tracker...he has all welded 15 ft boat that is wide..I personally think you should save money and get a briggs outboard electric or ray ..you can go to www.smalloutboards.com and look at briggs electric..tax,shipping and all is 1695.00


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## T Dot (Feb 21, 2007)

Cameron197 said:


> With a flat bottom, it will  be a little hard to reach 7 without one of the Rays Electric or similar due to the wall of water building up in front of it



is there a way to reduce the amount of water building up in front?



Cameron197 said:


> To be honest, I built my boat for 24v and do not have the room for extra 2 batteries (Running two motors)



how many batteries do you run right now, and how many motors?  right now im running 2 12v 30# trust motors, and 2 12v batteries.  each motor is running on a seperate battery.

the 2nd motor is not always in use, and sometimes gets in the way.



Cameron197 said:


> Let me know how it works. I might have to try it if it does not take up to much deck space.



i might be putting someone the deck, but most of it will be going on the inner sides of the boat.  i will roughly have 2ft x 7ft on the right side, and another 2ft x 7ft on the left side to play with.  if i need more than that, i will be putting some on the floor as well.

im going with the roll up ones, to save on weight.






Cameron197 said:


> It as all about how the ribs are spaced. My Waco has a 2' larger gap between the ribs for my middle seat for a 3.5' spacing between ribs. Plus, it will give you something to base your casting platform off of.



there are ribs before and after the middle seat.


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## T Dot (Feb 21, 2007)

ugabowhunter said:


> there is a formula on the internet somewhere. i believe it is 1.34 x (sq. root of X) where X= number of feet of your boat's hull that is in the water while trolling. for instance i have a 14 ft boat and figured 13 ft of the boat are in the water  so, 1.34 x (sq. root 13) = 4.8-4.9mph. this formula seems pretty close to what is actually occuring on the water.



so ideally im looking at a speed about 5mph?  do you know how much your boat weighs?  what do you usually carry in your boat to reach that speed?  i mean, how much gear, batteries and people are in the boat?

do you know of anyone reaching speeds of 5+ mph?



thanks


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## T Dot (Feb 21, 2007)

buzzbaitfool12 said:


> My buddy has a 101 that is 36 volt..I have one 80lb minn kota ..He runs out of juice way before I do..I think the higher end of the lbs of thrust of volts pulls more juice which in turn runs out faster..I would rather be a little slower and have batteries last all day than the alternative...And by the way he is not faster than my 17 ft tracker...he has all welded 15 ft boat that is wide..I personally think you should save money and get a briggs outboard electric or ray ..you can go to www.smalloutboards.com and look at briggs electric..tax,shipping and all is 1695.00



what boat does he have?  what gear does he carry, and how many people?

what boat do you have?  what gear do you carry, and how many people?

technically speaking, the 36v uses less power than a 24v.  atleast the ones ive looked at.  though i does take another battery, which is another 50 lbs

i was looking at a briggs motor, that might be something i would invest in the near future.  right now, i dont think i would get much use of it.



thanks


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## Twenty five ought six (Feb 21, 2007)

> is there a way to reduce the amount of water building up in front?



No, its a function of waterline length.  You could put on a bulb like some of the tankers have I guess. 

That's why everything being equal,and assuming both are driven to hull speed , a 16 foot boat will go faster than a 14 foot in displacement mode.  

This is the reason that racing shells are made so long.  
Longer = faster.


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## T Dot (Feb 21, 2007)

Twenty five ought six said:


> No, its a function of waterline length.  You could put on a bulb like some of the tankers have I guess.
> 
> That's why everything being equal,and assuming both are driven to hull speed , a 16 foot boat will go faster than a 14 foot in displacement mode.
> 
> ...



thanks for the analogy, i can understand that.  i would assume that why speed skaters have longer blades



lets assume that most of the people who broke the 5+ mph, were in 16+ ft boats?  is this true?


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## HuntinTom (Feb 21, 2007)

T Dot said:


> thanks for the analogy, i can understand that.  i would assume that why speed skaters have longer blades
> 
> 
> 
> lets assume that most of the people who broke the 5+ mph, were in 16+ ft boats?  is this true?



I think the only way to break through the 5.5 - 6 mph with the electric motors is to have a v-hull so you can get the water displacement you're looking for - I have a 14/42 flat-bottom with two 55's on back and a 40 on front and can get about 4.5 out of it -- But, when I run only two of the three motors, I still get about the same -- I think I'm about maxed out with the electrics since they can't get me up on plane...  Sooo, long story short - I think you'll need a v-hull, and probably 15 - 16 feet of boat to really make the extra pounds of thrust profitable...


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## Twenty five ought six (Feb 21, 2007)

> I think you'll need a v-hull, and probably 15 - 16 feet of boat to really make the extra pounds of thrust profitable...



actually its harder to get a v-hull to plane-- takes more HP.

A totally flat surface is optimum for planing.  

Bottom line is that within practical limits using commonly available motors, with an electric motor you are not going to generate the HP necessary to break out of the displacement mode and plane a boat.

As Hunting Tom notes, once you reach hull speed, more HP is just wasted until you plane.  

If you are at all familiar with sailboats, you know that they use very low HP motors.  Same reason, they reach hull speed easily, and more HP is just wasted.


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## T Dot (Feb 21, 2007)

HuntinTom said:


> I think the only way to break through the 5.5 - 6 mph with the electric motors is to have a v-hull so you can get the water displacement you're looking for - I have a 14/42 flat-bottom with two 55's on back and a 40 on front and can get about 4.5 out of it -- But, when I run only two of the three motors, I still get about the same -- I think I'm about maxed out with the electrics since they can't get me up on plane...  Sooo, long story short - I think you'll need a v-hull, and probably 15 - 16 feet of boat to really make the extra pounds of thrust profitable...






Twenty five ought six said:


> actually its harder to get a v-hull to plane-- takes more HP.
> 
> A totally flat surface is optimum for planing.
> 
> ...



i understand that some hp will be wasted.  i just dont know how much.

the price difference between an 80 and a 100+ isnt enough for me to warrant getting the lower unit.  plus i will be able to use the bigger motor when i opt for a large boat in the future.


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## Dawgfan52 (Feb 21, 2007)

*36 volts*

What type of boat would get the most out of the 36 volt motors?  I have a 16ft aluminum modified-v which is nearly flat at the transom.  I am trying to decide which trolling motors to put on the front and rear.  I have plenty of room for batteries.  Which would be a good choice --- Two 80's, Two 101's or a combination?


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## T Dot (Apr 10, 2007)

ugabowhunter said:


> for comparison, i used to have one 46# on the transom and got about 4.5-4.6 mph. then i got the 82 # and only gained about 0.5 mph. i think the 100# motor might not been needed.




thats pretty quick.

i recently tested out my boat with a 50# minn kota, and was only able to reach 3.6+ mph

is there a reason why you were able to go so fast?



thanks


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## T Dot (Apr 10, 2007)

HuntinTom said:


> I think the only way to break through the 5.5 - 6 mph with the electric motors is to have a v-hull so you can get the water displacement you're looking for - I have a 14/42 flat-bottom with two 55's on back and a 40 on front and can get about 4.5 out of it -- But, when I run only two of the three motors, I still get about the same -- I think I'm about maxed out with the electrics since they can't get me up on plane...  Sooo, long story short - I think you'll need a v-hull, and probably 15 - 16 feet of boat to really make the extra pounds of thrust profitable...




thanks for the info...



hopefully i can break the 4.5 barrier


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## ugabowhunter (Apr 10, 2007)

T Dot said:


> thats pretty quick.
> 
> i recently tested out my boat with a 50# minn kota, and was only able to reach 3.6+ mph
> 
> ...



i try to keep the boat light. my dad weighs about 130 and i am about 175, so there isn't much added weight. also, i have no decking in the boat, which adds a lot of weight.


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## pcsolutions1 (Apr 10, 2007)

I have used the same formula for the hull speed and mine comes up with about 4.75.  The only thing with the formula is that it does not take width into account.  My boat is a very wide 14' and it seems like the narrow boats go faster because the wall of water at the front is smaller.  Mine will only go 2.8 with 1 50lb and 3.2 with a 50 and a 40, and I think right at 3.5 with a 50,40, and a 30.  I wonder how accurate the measurements we are taking.  I know gps is very accurate for speed, but is it possible that at these very slow speeds that we could be getting varying numbers?  I've been thinking of getting a 24 or 36 volt motor myself to get some more speed.  

Tom


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## T Dot (Apr 10, 2007)

ugabowhunter said:


> i try to keep the boat light. my dad weighs about 130 and i am about 175, so there isn't much added weight. also, i have no decking in the boat, which adds a lot of weight.




im only about 130, and my buddy is around 175.  we have not deck either, its just our gear.

we both have the same boat, so im puzzled on the speed difference.  did you change out the prop or anything like that.

i checked to see if we were level, and the boat is level all across the water.



thanks


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## T Dot (Apr 10, 2007)

pcsolutions1 said:


> I have used the same formula for the hull speed and mine comes up with about 4.75.  The only thing with the formula is that it does not take width into account.  My boat is a very wide 14' and it seems like the narrow boats go faster because the wall of water at the front is smaller.  Mine will only go 2.8 with 1 50lb and 3.2 with a 50 and a 40, and I think right at 3.5 with a 50,40, and a 30.  I wonder how accurate the measurements we are taking.  I know gps is very accurate for speed, but is it possible that at these very slow speeds that we could be getting varying numbers?  I've been thinking of getting a 24 or 36 volt motor myself to get some more speed.
> 
> Tom



have you tested your gps against your vehicle speedo?  we have and it seem pretty accurate



thanks


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## whchunter (Apr 12, 2007)

*Boat Speed*

Teflon coat the bottom and just above the water line of the boat, then spray pam on it, turn it upside down over a hot fire and have plenty of eggs and bacon to fry.


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