On 3/7/2026 at 9:06 PM, Joedodge said:

See that’s a legit worry for me. I took the outboard off and the 5 gallon gas can out of the back. And me on the bow. I could probably use the weight on the stern

Hi Joe,

I used to have a Sears 12' aluminum deep vee that had a dead Wizard 9.9 on the back. I left the motor on because it acted as a skeg keeping the boat tracking straight especially if it was windy out. With just a trolling motor on the bow the back end of the boat will go wherever it wants to go. So even if it is a non-working motor it will still help you keep boat position. I'd go lithium on the battery especially if your trolling motor only. If you can swing it, two batteries. Another thing to avoid is running your trolling motor on high for longish period of time (aka anything longer then 15 minutes), Running on high will suck your battery dry very quickly.

Fishingmickey

PS I used to use a 100 ah deep cycle powering a 5 speed 45# thrust Motorguide. Running it on two or three the battery would last all day. If your boat has oar locks, a pair of oars would be good insurance.

1 hour ago, Fishingmickey said:

Hi Joe,

I used to have a Sears 12' aluminum deep vee that had a dead Wizard 9.9 on the back. I left the motor on because it acted as a skeg keeping the boat tracking straight especially if it was windy out. With just a trolling motor on the bow the back end of the boat will go wherever it wants to go. So even if it is a non-working motor it will still help you keep boat position. I'd go lithium on the battery especially if your trolling motor only. If you can swing it, two batteries. Another thing to avoid is running your trolling motor on high for longish period of time (aka anything longer then 15 minutes), Running on high will suck your battery dry very quickly.

Fishingmickey

PS I used to use a 100 ah deep cycle powering a 5 speed 45# thrust Motorguide. Running it on two or three the battery would last all day. If your boat has oar locks, a pair of oars would be good insurance.

Thank you for the advice. That’s actually a good point. An yes it has ore locks

The transom mount trolling motor on the back will help as a skeg. Fishingmickey is right about keeping something down on the back. Heck, if the gas motor starts and runs then I’d maybe leave it on there as emergency backup. But a transom mount trolling motor will help a bunch.

10 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

The transom mount trolling motor on the back will help as a skeg. Fishingmickey is right about keeping something down on the back. Heck, if the gas motor starts and runs then I’d maybe leave it on there as emergency backup. But a transom mount trolling motor will help a bunch.

I’ll leave the transom mount on the back then for sure. The outboard doesn’t start and is missing some pieces of the choke. It’s honestly just dead weight lol

I use 2 group 31 lead acid batteries for my brushed ultrex. Per Minn Kota, it is not recommended to run above 8.5 on the trolling motor, so I don’t think I will ever get lithium for that reason.

If I could, I would probably go with a LiTime battery. I have the 100 ah Bluetooth battery for electronics and it is really high quality.

The weight saving alone is why i went with a fepo4 lithium when they first came out 3 + years ago. 12 lbs verses 70. I bought a 50ah lithum for my 45 lb trolling motor and haven't ever run out.

Your town might have a boat repair guy. Could be that your motor is 10 minutes worth of elbow grease away from being perfectly fine for another 20 years.

A lot of outboard motors aren’t much more difficult to repair than a lawnmower.

Might be the cheapest way to have a working back up motor for big surprise storms or angry wives saying you forgot to turn the stove off etc

2 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

Your town might have a boat repair guy. Could be that your motor is 10 minutes worth of elbow grease away from being perfectly fine for another 20 years.

A lot of outboard motors aren’t much more difficult to repair than a lawnmower.

Might be the cheapest way to have a working back up motor for big surprise storms or angry wives saying you forgot to turn the stove off etc

This is very true Pat. And that’s why it’s sitting here still lol. I’m just unsure. And I mean honestly I could get it to run if I want to. Finding parts may be tricky. But I could do it.

whispering…. Dooooooo itttt….

41 minutes ago, VolFan said:

whispering…. Dooooooo itttt….

A group 31 life po4 demanding is charging in the garage now lol

I have been using a 12.8V 50ah Eco-Worthy LiFePO4 battery powering a 17 lb. thrust Minn-Kota on my inflatable for over a year. So far it’s never gone below 60% charge, even with heavy use. And my motor is 40 years old so likely it’s not that efficient compared to modern trolling motors. I bought it off Amazon. It came with a smart charger and so far it’s been great.

On 3/19/2026 at 7:22 PM, Joedodge said:

A group 31 life po4 demanding is charging in the garage now lol

I think you’re gonna be happy! What did you end up getting?

Just now, Swimbaitstud said:

I think you’re gonna be happy! What did you end up getting?

Honestly I just picked one that was on sale on Amazon that had great reviews.

And for anyone who was wondering. I fully charged it with a 10 amp lifep04 charger. Went out this morning for 3 hours. Running my bow mount 55 pound thrust or the 36 pound thrust trolling motor on the transom. When I got home it was at 13.3 volts. 2.5 hrs later right back to 14.8.

1 hour ago, Joedodge said:

Honestly I just picked one that was on sale on Amazon that had great reviews.

And for anyone who was wondering. I fully charged it with a 10 amp lifep04 charger. Went out this morning for 3 hours. Running my bow mount 55 pound thrust or the 36 pound thrust trolling motor on the transom. When I got home it was at 13.3 volts. 2.5 hrs later right back to 14.8.

I’ll be making the switch on my tracker this spring with a 24v system. Think I’m gonna go with the LItime 100ah batteries. That’s gonna shave 85lbs out of the boat, and that’s if I don’t use one for cranking. I see they have lithiums for cranking now but idk how those work. Gonna do some research. Glad you love it