Trolling Motor Issue Help Please!!!

I have a 70lb minn kota maxxum that is brand new... The batteries I purchased are deep cycle and are brand new... I get on the lake and the trolling motor lasts mabye 3 hours and it acts like it is on low power when it is on high... the batteries are almost dead... What causes this? Could I possibly have defective batteries or is there something else I can check on my boat?

Thanks,

What size batteries? Check voltage at each battery a few hours after fully charged to see if they are holding a charge correctly. Is the maxxum a 5 speed or variable speed?

Variable speed... and I couldnt tell you what size batteries to be honest...

are you sure you have it hooked up to 24 volts?

Are you sure the batteries were fully charged when you started?

Variable speed should hold a charge a lot longer than that. Check voltage on your batteries and make sure it is wired correctly

I know this sounds silly, but you might try yanking the prop off and checking to see if you have fishing line tangled around the prop shaft.

You have your batteries hooked up wrong. Make sure it looks like this.

Sounds like he is running on one battery. Have hit this before. 3 hours is about as long as one 12v battery will last.

Thanks for al the responses I will check everything suggested this weekend and let yall know what I find.