I have a 12' boat with a transom mount trolling motor, which I remove when I am trailering. The battery wires are barely long enough to put the battery in front of the rear bench. I am thinking about moving the battery further forward in my boat to distribute the weight better. I have been considering two options and would like your opinions.

Option 1. Simply splice wires inline to make the leads longer.

Option 2. Use some sort of plug/receptical or quick disconnect to make an extension.

What do you all think?

I have a 12' boat with a transom mount trolling motor, which I remove when I am trailering. The battery wires are barely long enough to put the battery in front of the rear bench. I am thinking about moving the battery further forward in my boat to distribute the weight better. I have been considering two options and would like your opinions.

Option 1. Simply splice wires inline to make the leads longer.

Option 2. Use some sort of plug/receptical or quick disconnect to make an extension.

What do you all think?

Splicing the wires would be totally fine. No worries.

Option 1. Simply splice wires inline to make the leads longer.

Be sure you solder and shrink wrap the connection. I believe you want to use 10 ga. wires. While you're at it, add a 50 amp fuse or breaker.

I have the TM battery all the way forward on my canoe. I used a flex-conduit to run 8-gauge wires from the aft motor position to the front. The conduit is secured to the inside of the hull and provides a tidy way to keep the extension wires out of the way. The end of the wires in the bow have lugs to attach to the battery box (MinnKota box with built-in breakers). The end of the wires aft have a quick disconnect. The TM has about a 4ft lead with the other portion of this quick disconnect.

That's nice and tidy.

Very nice setup Goose

Thanks guys. I knew that I would be motoring the canoe nearly all the time and wanted a clean way to run the cables so they wouldn't be underfoot. I stand up in the canoe and don't want to trip on the cables...

To the OP - there's lots of ways to run the power - just depends on how much you want to put into it and how clean you want it to be when you get done.

I have the TM battery all the way forward on my canoe. I used a flex-conduit to run 8-gauge wires from the aft motor position to the front. The conduit is secured to the inside of the hull and provides a tidy way to keep the extension wires out of the way. The end of the wires in the bow have lugs to attach to the battery box (MinnKota box with built-in breakers). The end of the wires aft have a quick disconnect. The TM has about a 4ft lead with the other portion of this quick disconnect.

This is what I was wondering about. I don't want a bunch or wires all over the floor of my boat. I take the trolling motor off when the boat is in transit and in storage, so I wasn't sure about having super long wires.

Goose52, what did you use for that quick disconnect and where can I get some?

I had this one at Cabela's recommended to me. A little spendy, but quality: Wire Quick Connector This connector is a soldering proposition so you need a higher wattage soldering iron or a soldering gun to work with this large gauge stuff (no little electronics soldering pencil).

Option 1. Simply splice wires inline to make the leads longer.

Be sure you solder and shrink wrap the connection. I believe you want to use 10 ga. wires. While you're at it, add a 50 amp fuse or breaker.

Please do not put a 50 amp fuse on 10AWG wire. 10AWG is only rated for 30amps.

Good call TD! Thanks for the correction.