I have a 101# thrust TM on the front of my 18' aluminum.

I ALSO have a 70# on the back for electric only lakes.

The 70# Minn Kota Vector is THE WORST TM I HAVE EVER HAD.  I have had it for 4 months and used it about 6 times and it has broken twice.

Cabella's is willing to take it back.

Here is my question.

If I were to scale down on the transom TM and get a 12V 50# thrust motor in exchange for the 70# will that be OK?

The reason I ask is this.

Lets say hypothetically that I got a 36# for the back (which I wouldnt), but if I did, will the front 101# TM outrun the back TM and render it useless?

One friend says "Yes, the back motor would be useless"

Another friend says "It will give me an additional 36# of thrust no matter what"

So, all in all, would a 50# thrust 12V TM give me a faster boat?  A little?  A lot?

I CAN get another (MAXXUM SERIES) 24V 70# (for an additional $100.00).  BUT, I really dont want to spend more $.  Also, I wouldnt mind only having 1 battery to lug around and charge with the 12V vs ths 24V.

I only use to back TM for "runs" across a lake (like maybe 2-3 times a trip) and for an emergency back up.

This question has been discussed many times. Some people think the more trolling motors you put on a boat the faster it will go. Others believe it is a waste of battery power to run more than one trolling motor at a time.

The first group of people believes that more power the faster the boat will go.

The second group believes a boat will only go so fast before the increase of power makes it plane. This is called hull speed. There is a formula that will tell you what that is for your boat. I am sure if you google it you can find it. Once this hull speed is reached, any more power applied to the boat only succeeds in pushing more water out of the way, giving the illusion of going faster. Unless a dramatic amount of power is applied the boat it will not lift out of the water and plane.

The only way to tell your going faster with the other motor is to use a GPS to measure your speed. If using the other motor does not give a speed increase you are just wasting battery power.

I think MinnKota states somewhere their motors and props are designed to push a boat to a max of 5 MPH. The more pounds of thrust you have a can push a bigger boat to 5 MPH. But, a smaller boat can not go beyond 5 MPH just because it has 100# thrust motor on it.

Hope this helps.

Paul

Think of it this way two motors on the back are only going to push 50# total the difference is that they will not be working as hard to do it.  One will push 50 but has to work harder then two pushing 50.  I just replace one 3 horse power golfart motor on the back of my boat with two 50# Minnkotas.  I do run 4 six volt bateries hook up as one large 12volt batery bank however.  And yes your 101 in the front will basicly be dragging the 36 in the back across the lake.  You should try and keep them as close in power as possible.

Tom D.