I am looking for a deep cycle battery that I can use camping as well as use on the trolling motor for my canoe. Weight is the main issue. I can deal with any issues as far as battery life or how long it will run the trolling motor. The main issue is weight, so what is the lightest battery out there. I can't spend hundreds of $$$ but not looking for the cheapest thing out there either.

I can't respond on the type of battery, but I think to use the battery from the trailer in the canoe is NOT a very wise thing to do. If you tip the canoe, there goes your battery. at best get a second battery for the canoe and leave the one alone in the camper. It would be bad enough to have your battery at the bottom of a lake, it would be just as bad to have your trailer battery at the bottom of a lake!We rented a canoe once, and lost everything at the bottom of a river! Camera, clothes, food, drinks, everything with it tipped on us. Our kids said they'd never go in another canoe again.Fast forward. Kids pretty much grown, no longer camping with us, and we purchase our own canoe. BUT! I got outriggers! They actually cost more than the canoe. We've NEVER tipped the canoe. It's so stable, I can stand and fish!So, unless you have something like this, you really need a separate battery for the canoe. It will tip over ... sooner or later!

DutchmenSport wrote:I can't respond on the type of battery, but I think to use the battery from the trailer in the canoe is NOT a very wise thing to do. If you tip the canoe, there goes your battery. at best get a second battery for the canoe and leave the one alone in the camper. It would be bad enough to have your battery at the bottom of a lake, it would be just as bad to have your trailer battery at the bottom of a lake!We rented a canoe once, and lost everything at the bottom of a river! Camera, clothes, food, drinks, everything with it tipped on us. Our kids said they'd never go in another canoe again.Fast forward. Kids pretty much grown, no longer camping with us, and we purchase our own canoe. BUT! I got outriggers! They actually cost more than the canoe. We've NEVER tipped the canoe. It's so stable, I can stand and fish!So, unless you have something like this, you really need a separate battery for the canoe. It will tip over ... sooner or later!Maybe I should have been more specific. In addition to using the RV we also float and camp out of the canoe with a tent. I want a lightweight battery to use on the trolling motor and also use to charge phones and use the fillet knife when tent camping. Also, everything is in water proof bags or tote and they float so when you tip over (it happens but not often) everything floats. You just have to gather it up and go again. The battery is strapped into the canoe so it does not fall out.

JnJnKatiebug wrote:I am looking for a deep cycle battery that I can use camping as well as use on the trolling motor for my canoe. Weight is the main issue. I can deal with any issues as far as battery life or how long it will run the trolling motor. The main issue is weight, so what is the lightest battery out there. I can't spend hundreds of $$$ but not looking for the cheapest thing out there either.Well if you don't want to spend hundreds on a deep cycle lithium battery that is the lightest on the market than your stuck with lead acid or AGM type that is heavy, it would still be better to have a battery for the camper and the trolling motor, 2 battery's surly cant break your bank right.. :W

This isn't going to work.Get one deep cycle battery for a camper, and one marine "hybrid" type for a motor. House battery people usually have at least 90 AH, it weighs over 55 lbs but for a trailer weight doesn't matter. It has to be deep cycle.Marine for your purpose can be 40-60 AH, less heavy. This one should be a hybrid, kinda in between deep cycle and starter battery. Get Optima Blue Top (or Yellow Top, don't remember the difference), if you can afford it. Though people with trolling motors often carry a cheap hybrid battery from places like Walmart. I put a 2.5 HP 4-stroke motor on a canoe with floats/amas similar to yours. Weighs 30 lbs, runs 4 hours at trolling speed on one liter built-in tank. Though I'm on sea, lots of wind and currents, trolling motor would be too weak.Lithium is an interesting idea, but I haven't heard of anybody using it on canoes. A small 20 AH for electric bike weighs 20 lbs and costs ~$900. The problem is that they come in 36, 48 and 52V, this is a typical voltage of a bike motor. Don't remember if there are any 12V. If you really want to spend a lot, get Torqueedo Outboard. It's a trolling motor with a proprietary Li battery. Expensive and not too popular.

DutchmenSport wrote:I can't respond on the type of battery, but I think to use the battery from the trailer in the canoe is NOT a very wise thing to do. This.What happens if you want to keep something in the RV running while you are out in the boat ?? A LOT of things won't work without 12 V power. That includes some propane appliances.Get a proper battery for the RV and then whatever kind of junk you want for the boat; WalMart usually has good prices but you get what you pay for.

Battery weight | Good Sam Community

31 Replies

Almot
Explorer III
Feb 09, 2016
Mex, I would expect a better range on canoe than on inflatable. Still, 40 AH is not much.

Canoes are more efficient under motor than inflatables. A dull bow of inflatable, a "hump" under water where you sit, and energy is lost in flexing hull. In unloaded canoe with 2.5 HP 4-stroke I can't open throttle more than 1/3-1/2 - it's already running 11-12 mph and 2 or 3 ft of bow is out of water, this is with me sitting in the middle and operating with tiller extension. Same motor on inflatable can't make more than 7-8 mph, and fuel consumption is much higher.
MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
Feb 09, 2016
With a Sevylor inflatable, and Shakespeare motor I got around 3 hours of propulsion out of a group 27 105-amp hour marine battery. No wind, a flat calm lake. A brand new Interstate fully charged battery. If that kind of limitation doesn't tweak your beakie....go for it.
Almot
Explorer III
Feb 09, 2016
MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Hands down, beats everything else.

Nope. Sail when you can, paddle when you have to.

Tipping over with those stabilizers (or a simpler model like the OP has) is nearly impossible. Having a small outboard wouldn't hurt either. It really sucks when you are trying to get to destination before dark, fighting headwind and currents and making one mile per hour.

With electric motor a 40 AH battery is on the smallish side, yes.
tonymull
Explorer
Feb 09, 2016
Some things to consider...at 40AH's you will only have 20 that you can actually use. Otherwise you will ruin the battery in no time. Also if you have no means of recharging you will also ruin the battery quickly. You can't discharge to 50% and then leave it that way for long. It will just carry less and less charge till it's useless. The lithiums look pricey, but you can use all the AH's without damage so a 20AH lithium is equivalent to a 40AH lead. And I'm not sure but I think lithiums survive being left discharged far better. A 20 AH lithium will cost you close to $300 vs $50 for yours but it will last you many years while yours will be lucky to survive a trip or two. And a 20AH lithium weighs less than 10 pounds I think. I have a minn kota endura 30 and, according to minn kota, at medium speed you will get 2.5 hours from a 40AH battery. They also state "Failure to recharge lead-acid batteries within 12-24 hours is the leading cause of battery failure." I don't know how long your trips are but if you cannot recharge within that time frame I would not use an expensive lead-acid battery. You are likely to ruin whatever you use so that $50 Exide is probably a good choice. I guess your only option is to find room for a solar panel.
pianotuna
Nomad III
Feb 09, 2016
Hi Mex,

I have this really big water tank on top of my rv......and a low head turbine. *grin*
MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
Feb 09, 2016
Hands down, beats everything else.
westend
Explorer
Feb 09, 2016
That oughta' work.
Happy canoeing and stay low on the canoe. Tipovers happen **** quick.
JnJnKatiebug
Explorer
Feb 09, 2016
I took the advice offered here and ordered a sealed battery.

Apex Battery
JnJnKatiebug
Explorer
Feb 09, 2016
I thought I made it clear but I will try again. I have a MH with 4 Trojan T-105's in it. They are not going anywhere. I only need this battery for trolling motor on a canoe and tent camping if I want to power something small. If it goes dead I can paddle, it is a canoe. Don't want to jinx it but I have never turned this canoe over. I float what I call lazy rivers and camp whenever I decide to stop.

Here is what I am going to use. At 23 pounds and 40AH I will use it until it goes down and get the paddle. Thanks for everyone's input.

Stowaway Battery
dewey02
Explorer II
Feb 09, 2016
JnJnKatiebug wrote:
I am looking for 40 pounds or less. I think I will go with a smaller less AH battery. I can paddle if it goes down. I use the trolling motor on the lowest speed to conserve battery power. We sometime float up to 30 miles per trip. Over half of that will not require a motor as the current takes you right along, but in the big holes of water with little or no current you have to paddle. I don't mind the paddling but it takes away from the fishing, thus the trolling motor. I may have to bite the bullet and get the Lithium Ion but $450 for a 10 pound 35AH battery is a little hard for me to grasp. Some of my friends have Yeti ice chests, I don't get that either. They just have more ice to take home than I do at the end of the trip.

Depending on which model of trolling motor you have, travelling at a lower speed may NOT conserve battery power. The lower cost Minnkota trolling motors use the same amount of juice at all speeds and just burn off the extra (at low speeds) in heat.