The most durable batterie for a trolling motor

[518bassin]

Irrespective of the brand, the life of your battery will be inversely dependent on: 1) the number of charge/discharge cycles; 2) the depth of discharge; 3) the amount of time spent in discharged state. You need to make sure when purchasing the battery that it has not been left to discharge too long. Some batteries have a "recharge by" date sticker on them so if you purchase them before that date you should be fine. In any case, I always bring my own multimeter to check the voltage of batteries before purchasing. I pick the battery with the highest possible voltage. I would never buy a battery with a voltage of less than 12.25V, which represent 50% charge. When you use your battery you need to avoid deep discharges (below 12.2V) and need to recharge ASAP after use. If you discharge your battery to 12.00V or lower, leave it like that for a week before recharging and repeat this cycle a few times you will kill your battery in no time.

I agree -
excellent points. I keep a battery tender hooked up to mine 24 X7 when I get home- (a blue top optima with split cells) and will be looking into a method for charging while I drive to the puff

I talked about this in another post and dont own one myself but there is something called a Stay-N-Charge that hooks up to your alternator on your boat AND onto your truck alternator so you can charge the batteries on the way to the lake, while your making your runs to your fishing holes, and on the way home.

[Mardayo]

I have a 36 volt Minn Kota 101, my boat is a 2005 and still have the original three Minn Kota battery's that came with the boat. At the end of the season last year they were not holding a charge all day so I will need a new set this year. I was thinking of going with optima's but the Minn Kota's lasted five good years so why change brands?