I had a near identical situation just a couple months ago when I was installing a new 80 lb. Terrova iPilot on our rig. Roughly the same length of wire from the trolling motor to my batteries. I went with 6 gauge.

 

If you did 6 awg on an 80 then I'm sure I'll be fine. What plug did you go with? I'm looking at the MarinCo one.

 

Get a battery tender or similar plug. Marinco is the biggest POS.

 

The Marinco and the Minn Kota plug are both garbage. Battery Tender is definitely the better choice. The very best is a Power Pux if you can swing the coin.

 

Pretty much any battery plug meant for trolling motors is not worth owning - and will certainly cause trouble down the road... The only exception I know of is the Battery Tender plug (but it's not cheap at around $80...). I installed one on my work skiff more than two years ago and it's been fine in hard commercial service with a Minn Kota Terrova 24v. model..

Hope this helps "Aren't boats fun?"

 

I just looked at the chart and I am surprised to find the 40lb models have a larger wire requirement than my 24v 80# terrova. I have always used 8 gauge when my batteries are in the front half of the boat and 6 awg when I've had batteries in the back.

 

The 12V require the thicker guage wire.

 

Guys, the wire requirement is based off the amp draw of the motor not the voltage or thrust. You MUST follow the charts and gauge wire appropriate for the amp draw and voltage drop for length of wire or risk tripping breakers or worse… starting a damn fire! I don’t have a chart in front of me but there are plenty available on the www.

 

I would want that battery upfront personally

Thoguht about it. Gas tank is up under the front deck which is where the battery would have to go as well and I'm not a fan of the battery basically touching the gas tank. Also, it makes a differnece on how it handles chop. Boat was getting pretty wet a couple weekends ago when running out with the battery up front and once I removed it I was surprised how it affected it.

 

i've used the marinco for a couple years without issue. But that's mainly freshwater. I would not use it if i was regularly going to be in salt water. It can hold water inside it.

 

I would want that battery upfront personally

 

4g is usually perfect

 

Why is there practically no options then for a TM plug for 4 awg?

 

I’m pretty sure those wire gauge charts are for a round trip run not just one way?

I have a bow mounted 12v riptide 55lb thrust trolling motor. Battery switch it’s wired to us about 6’ away and I used 6amp duplex marine cable with a blue seas circuit breaker mounted directly underneath a powerpux. That size cable seemed crazy at first but supposedly it is what it is. I’d go with what the chart recommends and avoid having any problems down the road.

Even if you’re not running the tm at max power if it got tangled up in braided line or weeds I assume it could make it spike and possibly burn up undersized cables.

 

If you will allow me to be blunt, Marincos SUCK. I spent more time cleaning out corrosion than anything. The Battery Tender is not cheap but WAY better.

 

I know nothing about how trolling motor plugs hold up. Just installed many. Nobody has complained yet. I am with jcdesigns about the wire. Follow the chart as close as possible. And yes larger 24 and 36 volt systems are not pulling the same AMPS as a 12 volt system.

All that being said. Run a quality 6 awg wire and you will be fine since you are at the shorter end of the scale. Just be sure to mount your breaker as close to the trolling motor as possible. Like in the hatch. No more than 2 feet from the plug. That will reduce risk of fire.

 

I would swap it around put the battery upfront and the tank in the back if possible. I know it gets tight on both ends.

 

Just in case anyone ever comes back to this post, I went with 6 AWG. Talked to experts at multiple boat stores in my area that said I should be fine with 6 AWG. They said companies have to list 4 AWG for liability reason and that would be running it at the absolute max.