I’m going to be taking a week long remote trip and would like to be able to recharge my trolling motor batteries. What type of charger do people use?
Boats & Motors
Solar Charging Batteries
Battery Tender’s Solar Charger is the perfect solution. Everything depends on battery capacity you need, or how many amp-hours it is used in a day while cruising.
I have a Minn Kota. It’s what was available when I decided to install something like that. There’s another brand out there that was getting quite a bit of chatter on fishing websites 7 or 8 years ago but I couldn’t track one down. I can’t recall the brand off the top of my head. Mine was around $200 so it’s not a ridiculous investment.
I have noticed that since I’m constantly topping my batteries off they’ve lasted longer. Running out of juice in my TM batteries is no longer a concern and I’ve had a few seasons where Ive rarely plugged in my on board charger because this thing keeps them charged.
A different thought....depending on the size of your main engine you might want to look into installing a DC alternator. I put one on my boat a few years back and can’t imagine life without it. Concept is simple. When your main engine is running this thing directs amps into your trolling motor batteries. So when you make a run across a lake it’s topping those batteries off.