Battery?

[greenranger]

Need 2 trolling batts...24 volt trolling motor....what do y'all recommend...thanks

[Minners N Jigs]

You're probably going to get a ton of personal experience input on this ranging from: I buy Wal Mart brand, to I use red top this or green top that, etc, etc, etc... All of which is probably very helpful and useful but still may leave you confused. It's kind of like asking favorite color jigs but a little different. Seems to me after pilfering through all of the threads that have been posted on this topic, your "best bet" is consult a guy like Big River Marine that sells and services boats and supplies and equipment and see what his thoughts are. I am only pimping Big River Marine's name because he is the only one I've become familiar with since joining this site, but I've only heard good things about him, never had any personal dealings with him. There may be other paying member/sponsors as highly regarded as he, I just am not familiar with their forum names yet. I only say this because those type of folks are in the trenches daily and see of what types of "problems" other people are having with their equipment therefore, they can generally steer ya in the right direction of what to avoid and give ya some options to choose from. Anyway, hope this helps, and for the record I have got 1 season out of my Wal Mart 12V so far.... True story. Ha !

After initially pushing the post button, I see you're in Georgia, I am in Arkansas, so you may not have a clue of who Big River Marine is. Ooops.

[SLABHOG]

Interstate deep cycle batteries are hard to beat.

[huntinslabs]

Majority of boats I see are rigged with Interstate from factory. But I have had great success using the Walmart deep cycle. Size 31 if you can find em, if not a Size 29.

[greenranger]

That's what I was wondering....if Wal-Mart...autozone , orielys and such had decent batteries....

[Hotwater]

I bought a Walmart deep cycle marine battery that failed after a year. I did not have the receipt but took it back to Walmart anyway. I walked out with a new battery. There was no hassle and no charge. Their batteries generally get good reviews and I have not had any other problems with them.

[papasage]

i have 2 autozone on my pontoon with a 24 volt power drive / i have had them for close to 5 years with no probable .most batteries are made in the same plant might be a different specs. when they were here i got employees to git them when they ram deep cycle and they lasted over 5 years some 7 years .was getting them for $35.00 had a employee renting a house from me got them for $15 .00 EACH .

[EARL KITCHENS]

Go with the GROUP 31 for trolling in what ever brand you choose.

[doggone]

I did some work inside an (X) brand (I'd prefer not to say) distribution warehouse one time back about 1998. I was there for about three days.I watched the goings on and finally just stopped and ask a few questions.

All the batteries came in on a pallet,unmarked.They were sorted by size and type. Inside a small room with multiple shelves were about a 100 different tags.The guys working there would breakdown the pallets,test the batteries,put on a tag,load and ship them.You would not believe some of the names on those tags.

I said is there any difference in any of these batteries? He told me that in general no. That on occasion a special pallet would come in with different specs,but only Sears Diehards came in on a separate pallet everytime.

Now...there are just about two major manufacturers left I think...Exide and Johnson Controls I think?.And I think things have changed since then some. Their are some companies who are buying a really cheap spec battery built to a price point for the economy market.But I do think that most of the "better batteries" are made to the same spec. or very close

I have had good luck with the Diehards....but also had pretty good luck with the Sam's batteries and have a pretty old one from Autozone. (all 29 or 31 class marine some deep cycle and some dual purpose)

But with the inner workings among corporations today hard telling whats happening.

There are a few specialty companies...not sure about them...have heard good things about these but have never tried them

http://www.trojanbattery.com/pdf/Tro...R_brochure.pdf

[MidHillbilly]

I am sure you know the batteries need to be deep cycle and there about three choices in types of batteries out there. The first and cheapest is the standard lead-acid deep cycle battery. Nothing really wrong with these and they will normally last 3 to 5 years if you keep water in them and store properly. The second is AGM which has a glass mat between the plates. Advantage is maybe a bit longer life, not as easily damaged in rough water, will not leak acid if damaged or turned on side, and does not need water addition. Disadvantage is cost. Third and most costly option is spiral plate like an Optima. People that have them swear by them but I can't justify the cost. Same advantages as AGM plus I think they have more capacity for the same size battery.
I looked around and wound up buying Cabelas AGM batteries on sale. I have had them a year and they still hold full charge so far. I would recommend a new digital on board charger if you don't have one no matter what batteries you get. It will charge the batteries and then condition them once charged so you can leave it plugged in and it will have your batteries ready when you are plus they will last longer.
If I had gone conventional batteries, it looked like Academy Sports had the best price when their Exide batteries were on sale.