If I recall there was a thread on trolling motor batteries. I need to replace 3 12volt trolling motor batteries and I was thinking about getting some of the longer lasting batteries that I could leave on a trickle charger. There was a thread on these batteries I remember reading

Any input on what some of the better batteries would be is greatly appreciated. I have the standard Minn Kota I-pilot 36 volt trolling motor

I have Lithium Pros. One of them is over 12 years old and been in 5 boats.

Do you have a built in multi bank charger now in your boat?
If so is it lithium capable?
Lithium will last you the longest….. but your charger needs to have a lithium option to charge the lithiums to their potential.
If you do get lithium it is recommended by Minn Kota to not run it on maximum speed for a long consecutive time.

ETA…. We offer lithiums now as standard equipment in some of our boats ( all batteries but cranking battery) but I will not recommend a certain brand..,. The last time I did that it bit me in the ass.
Just read the small print on warranties and understand the warranty fully.

Had lithium pro 36v's and power pole charge. Awesome setup. As op mentioned, chargers are not all compatible with lithium.

I switched up lithium for trolling and house and it is a superior solution. There are several different brands but realistically all the individual cells inside are made in China, so the only difference is the final unit assembly and any self regulation or integrated indicator features it has.

They are lighter, hold charge much longer, hold more charge, and put out a consistent voltage as they discharge. They are also good for far more charge cycles than a lead acid type battery. Superior all around.

We have Relion lithium batts in our skiff. I replaced both last week. The trolling battery died. The motor battery was still good but I replaced both....didn't quite make eight years. .

I put an Ionic 125 AH cranking battery and LiTime 36V 55ah trolling battery in my boat with a PP Charge system. This shaved 120+ lbs off and gained me a lot more space under my console. This is way more battery than I will ever need for my fishing style (mostly wading), but I have been thrilled with the results and performance. I fish 1-2 times a week and have not had to plug my charger in at home in months.

When looking at lithiums, remember the usable capacity in AH is almost 2x FLA. For example, my 36V 55AH lithium is roughly equivalent to a system with 3x 12V 110AH FLA batteries. It is not exactly 2x, but you get the idea.

I will check the charger and make sure it can handle lithium batteries and if not lithium ready I will change it out

Sounds like these lithium batteries are the way to go

Thanks for all the help

SGrem said:

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I have Lithium Pros. One of them is over 12 years old and been in 5 boats.

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Is Lithiium Pro the brand ?

This is also great info.. I don't use the trolling motor much but I like having it .. I have used it to get out of the channel when we got mud in the intake and over heated the engine near Port A .. kind of a little safety valve to got you out of the way to safety

Don't get me wrong, the 55AH still has plenty of capacity for sitting on spotlock for hours and a day of normal usage. It outperforms the 3 Group 27 deep cycles that it replaced. The bass guys typically go with more capacity because their fishing style is much different and they are burning it on high for most of the day.

I went with the single 36V cell for a couple of reasons.

• Footprint - It is the size of 1 Group 31 battery
• Cost - It was not much more than purchasing 3 quality lead batteries (sub $500).
• Weight - Under 40 lbs
• Less connections to corrode

Bass fisherman usually opt for 2x 36v in parallel or 3x 12V for redundancy. If your 36V battery goes out, you are at the mercy of the company you bought it from. This is OK with me since I do not need it for 90% of what I do. The freshwater tournament guys like the ability to sub in a 12v lead battery in a pinch or run their TM on 24V (if capable) in the event of a battery failure.

I really like this idea .. having 3 batteries under there takes up too much room.. and since I don't use the trolling motor much it's probably plenty ..

Texags .. always coming through

We made a decision within our company after getting input from our pro fisherman and dealers to not go with the single 36 v battery. Main reason was in case of a failure you then have no choice but to spend the money on another 36v or start over with 3 12v. …… and you can not jump to that battery if your cranking battery goes dead
In actual comparison the room taken up was not that drastically different….. strictly our opinion.
At least with three 12v if you have a failure you can easily replace one and keep fishing.
The other point is that if your cranking battery should go dead you can not jump to the 36v in an emergency or use it to power lights, electronics, etc. in an emergency as well.

I have Power Pole Charge. It will allow me to emergency back feed charge my 36v to the 12v starting.....

I have two 36v cells in two different boats. One of them is 40ah 36v cell and is 12 years old and been in 5 different boats. Other is 60ah 36v cell and about 6 yrs old. I have not had a battery related issue in well over a decade.

I use 12v Lithium for my starting battery too and have for over a decade. Used 12v Lithium to start a Tohatsu 90, Etec 130, Yamaha 150, Suzuki 250, Suzuki 300, Mercury 90..... had the same battery thru the warranty period of two different motors....dealer hooked up the power cables to that same 12v Lithium battery for both motors. So I don't know what the myth is about people not using Lithium for their starting batt.....

I don't think it's a myth Grem. It's the fact that Yamaha, Suzuki say not to in their bulletins. So did Mercury until they put out their bulletin lately and even at that Mercury list which motors( mostly very late models) and which lithium's they approve.
It's not the batteries ability to start the engine that is the issue. It's the BMS system and alternator/charging system. Gotta be reason Yamaha and Suzuki say no and Mercury list models and batteries that they approve.

ETA…Skeeter…. Who is owned by Yamaha, is also, for MY 2025boats, installing 4 12v Lithiums as standard equipment….. 3 12v (36v) for trolling motor and 1 12v dedicated to electronics only. They are not providing a cranking battery per Yamaha.
Skeeter/Yamaha could be making money on that 5th lithium battery so there has got to be a solid reason.

Like I said....the Suzuki dealer hooked the cables of my new Suzuki 300 up to my Lithium 12v in 2020.... same battery was on a Suzuki 250 for 4 years before that....

I'm sure the manufacturers have their reasons. My experience has been excellent with the lithiums in my boats.

Understand what you are saying. Not arguing your comment. But I have to go by what Yamaha and Suzuki and Mercury say as policy in print.

Lithiums are great. I have them in my boats. I just don't use them for cranking batteries per the engine manufacturer.

Good advice to your customers. They should follow it.

Frankly speaking I wish they would just come up with a solution. Dumb with the trend to lithiums that the engine manufacturers were not ahead of the curve on this.
I'm with you… I want to use them for cranking and everything. Saves weight…. Boat performs better, they last longer, no damn water to worry about. They are a win win….albeit they initially cost more. I think lead acid batts for boats will become a thing of the past shortly.

Gunny,

do you have a way that I can call you or reach out to you with some questions I have about this stuff?

Yes, the voltage components of the staring and charging systems don't like the voltages and currents off of lithium batteries, typically LiFePO4. I saw a more detailed explanation of why it is a problem somewhere and read through it, but I think it was more that the alternator has to deliver current somewhere and if it doesn't do it at the right voltage the lithium battery might not take the current at that voltage and it can kill the alternator.

I use a little racing car AGM battery to start my outboard. Plenty of cranking amps and all it runs is the tilt trim and the digital tach.

Everything else is on the Lithium house bank. It will easily run the radio, lights, sonar, and trolling all day.

Don't know about the alternator issue but if my lithium gets the wrong charge voltage the battery will go into a sleep mode.

Can you share some info on that AGM? Size and weight… cranking amps? Much obliged sir.

If you have an email I can reach out to you.

I think this was the issue: if a battery controller stops taking a charge, and the alternator has nowhere to output to while the engine is running, it can kill the outboard's alternator, or something like that. Same reason you never turn off your battery switch with the outboard running.

I'll look up the brand and post it. I found it on Amazon but it is made by a specialty battery company out in California. Mine is like 500 cranking amps and is about 17 lb and smaller than a riding mower battery. The trade off is limited reserve capacity but all it is doing is starting the outboard and powering the trim motor a few times a trip so it's not really an issue.

Plan to spend some money and time designing your charging system for Lithiums as well.

Thanks. Appreciate you.

We have a Eagle Performance charger that has a large male plug with five or six prongs. Chittum has a female receptacle on the skiff. Lot's of wiring. There are three leads on the 24 volt battery and three on the 12 volt. Some leads have multiple wiring. Eagle coded the charger to handle each battery's specs..,...

Found it: it is a Tomioka Racing B1700 model. 17 pounds 500cca.

6.9"x4"x6.2" dimensions so quite small. It is lead acid AGM so won't have compatibility problems with outboards not designed for lithium yet.

They have a bunch of sizes to choose from. JEGS has a similar line they carry called Braille, apparently.

This is all some really good info… I didn't consider needing a 12 volt to jump the main engine battery.. I have had to do that before. I guess the 36 volt lithium wouldn't work for this? Maybe stick to 3 12 volt Li batteries.

My charger can use the 36v to back feed the 12v starting for a jump. I can change the features via Bluetooth on my phone. I think it will also connect to my Garmin but haven't figured that out yet. I will have to hire a 5 yr old to teach me all the new tech....

fullback44 said:

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This is all some really good info… I didn't consider needing a 12 volt to jump the main engine battery.. I have had to do that before. I guess the 36 volt lithium wouldn't work for this? Maybe stick to 3 12 volt Li batteries.

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As Grem mentioned, the PP Charge has an emergency start function that will pull power from the trolling battery and put it into your cranking battery in an emergency. A cheap jump pack is also worth keeping on board just incase. I will say, I would not recommend the PP charge if you are going to run 3 separate trolling batteries. The Charge supplies 36V and does not supply 12V to each battery. Some people have issues with balancing the middle battery in the series.

No wrong answer either way, just lots of options!

We looked at both ways within our company. After getting lots of input from our dealers, end users and our pro fisherman…. Both for fresh and saltwater …. We decided to go with 3 12v for trolling motor.
We put Minn Kota 5 bank chargers as standard equipment for both our freshwater and saltwater products.
It would have been simpler for us to use the single 36v battery but it was not what our customers as a whole wanted.
The 5 bank charger handles the 3 12v troll batteries, the cranking battery and the dedicated electronics battery.
The charger works for Lead acid wet cell , AGM and lithium. You can set each bank for a different type of battery if needed by simply pushing a button for each bank.
Wiring is straight forward and easy.