New Guy battery charger setup

[mpeckham]

Bought my first boat last October, 2001 Lund Fisherman 1800. It has an 135 Merc Optimax and a Merc 9.9 Kicker. One battery on board currently running everything, electric downriggers, fishfinder, ship to shore radio etc. The Guy I bought the boat gave me his Minn Kota 50# thrust power drive trolling motor that he never used, as he mainly trolled with the kicker and downriggers. Not looking to spend the money this season on a newer more powerful TM. But i would like to add 2 TM batteries and an onboard charger this spring. Looking for opinions, what guys are running on their rigs, pros and cons, pricing. Do I need expensive deep cycle batteries, or can i buy the cheapies from WalMart. What kind of limiations can I expect from the 50# thrust TM. Also, what the **** are wave wackers. Thanks for all input and advice. Spring has almost sprung.

[Cape Cod Basser]

I've had the Walmarts in the past, and they are very good batteries if you maintain them properly by watching the water levels and keeping them charged up. However, I heard that they changed manufacturer's recently, so they may be different. I think Nautilus used to make them, and now its Interstate. When I owned them, the Everstart Maxx series batteries had numbers that were comparable to the top of the line Trojan's at less than half the price.

However, I switched to Diehards last season, because my batteries went with my old boat when i sold it. I went with the Diehards because I wanted maintenance free batteries, and I heard good things about them. So far they have been flawless. They re-charge very quickly, and I can fish all day without coming close to drawing them down. They are expensive, but in my opinion worth it. The warranty on both the Everstarts and Diehards is excellent and very convenient. I noticed this year that Lund has made Diehards their factory equipped battery.

As for chargers, Dual-pro's are good. I've had a few without any problems. However, I also switched to Minnkota with my new rig, because I got a great deal and it fit better in my battery compartment. So far, so good. They are very quiet. My dual pro's made a lot of noise, and tended to run hot at times. The Minnkota is always cool to the touch.

[Pezman38]

Wave wackers are a plexiglass material that you put on the transom, rubber gaskets connect to the plexi by your motors to allow movement. These are most helpful if you backtroll a lot and don't like getting wet. This wave wacker causes the water to shoot back into the lake instead of up in the air.

Backtrollers love them.

http://www.wavewackers.com/

I like my interstate batteries and dual pro charger. I used walmarts in the past on an old boat with good success.
Unfortunatly my dual pro requires all the batteries to be hooked up for it to work. Tried to charge my cranking battery the other day and wouldn't work because I took my trolling batteries out for the winter. I should have just left them all in, but at the time i need to raise and lower the engines and didn't have storage lined up.

[larrym]

Bought my first boat last October, 2001 Lund Fisherman 1800. It has an 135 Merc Optimax and a Merc 9.9 Kicker. One battery on board currently running everything, electric downriggers, fishfinder, ship to shore radio etc. The Guy I bought the boat gave me his Minn Kota 50# thrust power drive trolling motor that he never used, as he mainly trolled with the kicker and downriggers. Not looking to spend the money this season on a newer more powerful TM. But i would like to add 2 TM batteries and an onboard charger this spring. Looking for opinions, what guys are running on their rigs, pros and cons, pricing. Do I need expensive deep cycle batteries, or can i buy the cheapies from WalMart. What kind of limiations can I expect from the 50# thrust TM. Also, what the **** are wave wackers. Thanks for all input and advice. Spring has almost sprung.

I have the same boat/motor combo except a 2004 model. I run a 3 bank dual pro charger and series 27 Interstate deep cycle for the TM. The Interstates are about $100 each. I've used the Wallmarts in the past and they served me well also. Either, I think, would be a good choice. You asked about the 50# TM. It will move your boat in calm seas but wind will make the 50 work awfully hard. The other limitation will be the shaft length. Most 50# have a 48 or 54" shaft and any waves will lift the prop out of the water on an 1800 Fisherman. When you have the coin to invest you'll want a 60" shaft and at least a 24V., 80# TM.