I have just finished my jon boat modifications.  Now I am ready to start getting the equipment to get me down the river.  I have a 14ft jon which will have a 36lb Endura, 1500gph bilge, Eagle 320 finder, running lights and a 15Hp merc.  I need to get the right battery/charger combination for this rig.  The space in the jon for the battery is only 12"x12".  To some extent, cost isn't an issue.  You guys haven't steered me wrong yet so I'm hoping to tap into your experience.

Thanks.

Your battery space just killed you.  You are going to pretty much stuck with a Group 24.  When I start recommending brands, too many different opinions so I won't go there.  I also don't recommend running the depth finder off the same battery as the TM but there are lot's of mixed opinions on that one to.  For a charger, I would recommend one that states it's High Frequency, SMART or Inteli charger with a float mode.  They generally cost a little more but are much better on the battery.  Again, not going to get into brands.

If space is a problem, there is no law that says the battery charger has to be built in.  Set it up as a portable charger that clips onto, or plugs into the 12 volt side and save the space and weight.  You don't need the 110 volt input equipment when you are out on the water.

I was not refering to using an onboard charger.  I guess I should have made myself a little clearer, I don't think any of the onboards are High Frequency chargers like I refered to.  Something like this http://store.schumachermart.com/sc-1000a.html is what I meant, but there are a number of brands.

The space concern was the fact he only has a 12" battery box.  A group 24 is 10 7/8" long, group 27's and larger are over 12" and will not fit in his box.   A group 24 is going to limit his runtime, which may not be a problem if he's only fishing small ponds/lakes where he doesn't need to cover a large area.