I have a MK Vector 55 3x TM w/maximizer as my canoe motor.  I can take it out for 6 hours and have never come home with less than 75% charge in my Trojan group 27

Due to my surgery, picking up that 66lb trojan is not gonna happen for quite some time.

What I'm looking for is the lightest 12v deep cycle TM (don't need cranking) battery I can find.

I prefer an AGM because it is sealed, but right now my ONLY concern is weight.

I'd rather be limited to a few hours on the water than the zero I'm doing now.

I've looked at different sites but not all give weight data.  

Do the unsealed batteries weigh less?

Is group 24 the smallest size for tm's?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  I'm at the point now where I could probably launch my canoe if I had a lighter battery instead of the 66lbs in my Trojan grp 27

I really need your help on this one.  I'm breaking out in hives from lack of fishing time.

http://www.1st-optima-batteries.com/#deepcycle scroll down to the 34 blue top. My friend has a ranger with 2 of these. 2 trolling and 1 for starting. they weigh 43 lbs and i have to say he has the same size boat and simular trolling motor 80 lbs and on most tournaments we fish the same area's and they are pretty good after a hard day. I have since installed a 101 minnkota in his boat and we added a third. I have a 80 Maxxum and on fresh batteries he walks away from me. I get 2.7 gps hew gets 3.5 gps. Those batteries also run a few tenth of a volt highter 12.9. after a hard day of fishing he still walks away from me. We both have 18.5' Glass boats.

I run 2 Trojan SCS 225 31 series batteries

Deka makes a group 22NF thats about half the capacity and weight of your Trojan. It's their Sea Mate (AGM Line for marine use) model number 8A22NFM has a 55 Ah rating at 20 hours or a 90 min RC and weighs 38.5 pounds. This would probably run you the time you're speaking of as long as you realize it's half the battery as your Trojan and don't try making full thrust runs for any length. I think if you go any smaller than this and you will not have the run time you want. Deka is a good battery and is going to still be a little expensive. You're not going to beat a Trojan but they are the next level down. I would prefer them over the Optima spiral wounds any day of the week. I have no use for Spiral Wound AGM's. If you was close to Macon, I could get you one wholesale and save you a big chunk of money. I don't buy many of their small batteries but in their industrial batteries I get approx a 50% discount off list.

Since I bashed the Optima, I'm sure there will be comebacks and after many years dealing with them I have my reasons but this is the only post I will make on the subject.

I ran NAPA's spiral Batteries( I think Optima made them, won them at a tournament) they were small but heavy. I know you looking for lite weight so spiral cell might not be what your looking for.

This might soud crazy and I know I am going to get jumped all over. But try Auto Zone's Groupe 24 Deep cycle. They are not sealed. are not bad batteries and they are lite. and only cost around $55

I know I can get optima batteries at Sears.

I also have several auto zones so can check them out too.

I have no idea where to find a Dekka.

This is great stuff, just what I was looking for,

Please keep it coming.

Way2slow, - why the put down on the optima's?  Aren't they supposed to be state of the art in batteries?

also like I said before.  I prefer sealed because I have seen what spilled battery acid can do to ANYTHING.

but will definitly consider non sealed if it adds significantly more run time at same or lighter weight.

I think I can handle the 43 lbs on the optima, and if I'm not mistaken they can be run down lower without damage???

thanks again, but don't stop now

what about the wallmart batteries.  Alot of people use them and they are cheap.  What do you think?

do they make sealed marine?

I'ver used Optima for years in car audio.  I bought 2 optimas last year but got the wrong size.  Sears didn't have the ones I wanted so I traded 1 of the optimas for 2 brand new diehards and they refunded me for the other one.

The reason I tried the optimas was because they were so much lighter.  Weight was the only issue ,....but I got them in the wrong size,lol.  1/2 the weight, twice the price!

In heavy, industrial use, the spiral wound batteries have not given anywhere near the service life stacked cell AGM have. I feel this is because the spiral wound does't have the room to expand like a staked cell as they age and short out much sooner.

The reason the Optima's are lighter, they have less run time. You've got to decide if you want run time or less weight, can't have both. If you buy a flooded cell battery with the same run time as the AGM, it's not going to be that much heavier, and cost about half as much.

Now, if this is a short term thing, I would buy me a small, cheap car battery and use it. It's life span will only be about half that of a Deep cycle but once your shoulder's better, you won't need it anyway. Even a lot of the cheap batteries have a 12 month free replacement so if you kill it in six, they don't have to know you was using it for a deep cycle, just swap it for a new one. $45 is a lot easier to throw away than $145. Find you a battery with approx 100 minutes reserve capacity, that's going to be about half the battery as your Trojan and about half the weight. If you feel you can carry a little more weight than that, get one with a little more reserve. Just pick out one you feel you can safely handle, don't have to be a deep cycle.   The deep cycle is just for longer life under deep discharges, if this is a temporary thing, you could care less about that.

I was thinking of a car battery.  When I bought my first tm back in the 70's I didn't know any better and just used a car battery. It worked fine, till it didn't, then I got another one.  But this is also the time when I learned about the corrosive power of battery acid.  

I'm a klutz, with a bum shoulder.  The more I think about it the more I realize I MUST have a sealed battery.  A car battery would be fine if it's sealed because God willing this IS temporary.

They are making sealed car batteries right?

a 55 ah @20 marine battery would serve me just fine.

what #'s or ratings would I look for in a car battery that would give me equivalent time on the water.

Thanks a million guys, Sorry to be such a pain, but it's January an I'm in SE Florida. I can't stand being a landlubber.

You should never us a a car battery for deepcycle trolling motor applications. The use of dual purpose marine batteries is ok but your best best is a deep cycle battery.

stratosdori - I understand where your coming from and agree.  Under most circumstances.

Keep in mind that when I bought my battery. I went for a Trojan because I believe in getting the best tool for the job,

But this is a special circumstance.  I hope to not need it for more than a few months.

A maitennce free (no spill) car battery with 90 minutes or so reserve capacity will do fine with my maximizer.  Right now I'm not going out on my home lake at all.  I just need something to get me off my butt which is growing daily due to lack of excercise.

I havent' decided yet.  There is something about that optima 34M blue top that is "calling my name" and having a small quality battery for a quick jaunt on the lake is not a bad idea.  but I haven't ruled out car batteries.  Cost may not be the ultimate factor but it's always a consideration.

My question with car batteries is the terminals.  they are bigger than the small TM circular clips.  If I go with a car battery I would need something safe and efficient to convert to the larger size terminal.

I'm not one to comprimise on safety but it won't work without a conversion.\

thanks for all the input and concern.

avid.

Avid,

Look for the minutes reserve capacity. It doesn't matter what kind of battery it is, the way they rate that is the same for all types. If your Trojan has a 200 min RC, then a car battery with 100 min RC will run 1/2 as long. Like I said though, don't think I would go any smaller than 100 min RC, that's getting down pretty small. The problem you're going to be faced with, most car batteries only have CA and CCA listed which shows very little for your use. If they have a spec sheet, look for 100 - 120 min Reserve Capacity. If you can't come up with the RC rating, stick with 625 - 700 CCA, that should keep you in the ball park of what you're looking for. You should be able to find a 35 - 40 pound battery in that size.

Yes, you can get maintenance free car batteries that are sealed so if you knock it over, it want let the acid pour out. If left laying on it's side it may leak.

As for terminals, for a couple of bucks each, you can get terminals that go on the battery post and have a stud and wing nut on them to connect to.  If you're running alligator clips, I would do away with them anyway and use eyelets.  A TM that size can draw enough current to make those clips get red hot if you run very far on max.  First time you grab one to unclip it after making a long, highspeed run back to the trailer and draw blisters, you will see what I'm talking about.

Stratosdadri, Your are absolutely right, normally you should not use car batteries as a TM battery. The only real problem with doing this though is you only get about half life from a car battery from what you would with a deep cycle. My father-in-law had two different heart bypass surgeries and wasn't suppose to lift anything heavy. He loved to fish and fish lots of ponds so I gave him a little group 22 car battery that only weighed about 30 pounds he used for two years and never once had a problem with run time, but he could easily load and unload it.

This was all great info guys and I really appreciate the input.

I was at Sears today.  The Optima blue top d34M is at the upper end of my current lifting range, but definitly doable.  It could just be all the battery I need for most of my fishing.

It is expensive, but I am a vendor for Sears.  The store manager and I get along very well and I'm pretty sure I can get the employee discount.

If I can get the discount than I'll buy it, if not I'll probably go with a car battery and the adapters way2lsow mentioned.

thanks everyone.  It's a great feeling to know that I will be back out on my old familiar fishing grounds in the very near future.