Lots of very good info on batteries. Thanks all for the info, helps me stay alert to ;my batteries.

I usually get 2-3 years out of my batteries.

NO SUCH THING AS "OVERKILL!" Especially when it comes to Direct Current power.

I run mine till they stop charging well or holding a charge (TM batteries that is). I had Trojan SCS225's and they finally gave up the ghost this last week and were only good for about 3-4 hours in the wind so I just went to wallyworld and replaced them with Everstart 29's.

theres only a about 20 bucks difference for the 1000 mca battery compared to the smaller one, around 100 bucks at autozone, so i think i will go that way..

I carry a long set of jumper cables for that time when I need the boost to get started or to help someone else who needs the boost. Been used a few times on my end and the same for helping others. There is usually somebody out there willing to help or in need of help. The starting battery always goes out when you are a million miles from your launch site, so be prepared, and if there is nobody else around hope your trolling motor batteries are up to the challenge of a long, slow ride back to the ramp. Been there and done that a couple of times too. Ray Roberts is a big lake to cover and it is indeed a long slow ride back to the ramp when you can't get the big motor started.

I "thought" my trolling motor batteries we okay last summer. Had one that didn't seem to want to charge up all the way, even after leaving them hooked up overnight. Should have swapped them out. I went to Lake Winnsboro to fish a club tourney, starting before daylight. Went to my first spot (still dark) and dropped the tm into the water. Nothing. The light indicator on the MK barely showed anything. I pulled the tm out of the water and the prop would barely spin, even on high! It was slick calm too and it would just barely pull. I fished the best I could till about 8 am then was going to head to town and buy some batteries. Luckily, I bumped into another club member and told him what was up (in case they wondered why I was putting my boat on the trailer so early). Lucky for me he had thought his tm batteries were going bad so he had brought a new set (2) of batteries! He left them at his BIL lake house on Winnsboro (where we had all planned to stay the night). So, I drove over there and swapped them out and was back on the water in no time. My point is, if you think they are going bad, they probably are so it's better to replace them now instead of waiting till you're fishing.