I have a recently obtained a 1993 Stratos 274 F/S.  The trolling motor that is mounted on it is an older evinrude that still works great.  What puzzles me is that it is wired for 12 and 24 volt.  It has a switch on the side that allows me to select 12 or 24 volts.  My question is, why would it be both and when would I choose 12 vs 24?  Obviously when I switch it to 24 the motor speeds up some without moving the speed selector.  I have just never seen this and was curious if there was anyone with personal experience and/or advise about this.  Thank you.

My boat came with the same setup. The 12v allows you to go slower but it only drains one battery which is not good. In a vwery short time I decided to never use the 12v setting. When I replaced the TM I went for a 24v only.

Alot of motors were built that way awhile back. I would just leave it on 24 and use it that way.

The OMC motors have 3 speed settings and sometimes the lowest 24V setting is too fast for some conditions/presentations. I had 4 of those motors and wish they were still made.

If its like the one I used to have, its just another way of adding more speed settings.  If you have five speed settings just think of your motor has having ten.  On 12 volt you'll have speeds 1-5 and then switch to 24 volt to get speeds 6-10 (ie on 24 volt, speed 1 = speed 6).  I never really had a problem with it always seemed to work just fine.

Let me know if you ever want to replace it with another trolling motor. I'll be happy to purchase it from you. Like Wayne said, I wish they still made that motor. For my 14 ft. jon boat, you can't beat that thing. Pretty much bullet-proof!!!!!