I have a 16' jon boat and want to be able to fish tournies all day. I'm guessing I'll want a 24-volt TM if I want to hook up aerator, TM and sonar. From my understanding, 24-volts are more efficient and will keep you running for longer. Is this correct?

Exactly how long? Will I run out of juice during the day?

How much LBS thrust would I need? I want to be able to move around quickly and I don't want to skimp, but I also don't want to go overboard and get some massive TM with 90lbs thrust.

Thanks for your help,

Julien.

The simplest answer is get the most powerful one you can afford and get a variable speed model. Those are the most efficient motors.

I can afford one for 5,000, but I won't be able to pay it off for a long time and I won't have money for anything else.

No seriously, I don't think I can afford a 36v unless I have to to be able to fish without losing all power in batteries.

40 lbs should be more than enough.  Batteries are the important part.  I use Walmart  Everstart Maxx  and never have had a problem.

I can't seem to find any videos of how good a 16-17footer runs with a trolling motor on high.

For comparison, I have a 21 ft Stratos with an 60 lb 24v tm and can get 3.2 mph on the gps.

I have a 16' Lowe Roughneck with a 70lb Minn Kota Maxxum on it and never had a problem. Get good batteries and take care of them and you can go all day no problem and fight a pretty good current or wind if you need to.

I would get a 70 ib 24 volt minn kota edge or motorguide.  That will be plenty of power.  If you fish in strong current or wind, you will have that extra push.

I have a 16' Tracker and use a 36V Motor Guide Tour Edition 105# of thrust.

A more powerful motor that is used at a lower speed setting will make your batteries last longer than a weaker motor running at a higher speed setting.

When I had a 10' and 12' jon boat, I used 24V trolling motors.

You have a 16 foot john boat so I would think any   thing over 60# would push you along pretty well for a full day and a 24 v setup would be fine. You need to think about the weight in your boat and how much you will be adding with the batteries. With your boat I sure wouldn't be thinking about a 36v TM.

Since no one has asked, is this trolling motor going to be your only source of power for those tourneys or is a gasoline outboard involved?

I'll have a 25hp on the back as well. I'm not sure, but wouldn't 3 batteries be overboard? Could I fish for 10 hours with the trolling motor and high, an aerator running the whole time and a sonar unit or two?

Or how about this... could I use the trolling motor high, two sonar units, and an aerator for 8 hours straight like in a tourney?

I know when I use my 50lb thrust transom mount tm I run low on battery juice after about 6 hours on one 12volt optima bluetop.

For a 24v motor I believe you will need 3 batteries. 2 in series for the TM and 1 for the accesories.

I have a MK 55# 12v. Moves my 15' aluminum Bass type boat 2.2 mph. I use two deep cycles in paralell and go all day no prob.

If I were you or if I needed a new motor, I would go 70# MK 24v.

....Bill

Not Necessarily.

You can wire your batteries like shown below. If your gas motor is electric start you can run the risk of running the one battery dead trying to start the motor. More than likely that wont happen. If your motor is electric start it should have some minimal charging circuit for putting some of the power used starting the motor back into the battery.

36v here, run 2 finders, accessories, all on 3 batteries for 8 hr tournies and then some.