maybe time for a new one

Depends on the speed you run it on, wind etc. Some days thats all I get out of mine but thats when I'm always on it in some nasty wind with it on high. Don't know how old your batteries are either. This spring/summer has been tough on batteries especially now that fishing has gotten into deep water.

no,
my optima batteries will run hard for two days with out a charge, that normal speed in the 30 to 40 percent range, with occationally running around 70 percent.

depends on what kind and age of TM and batteries. newer TM's seem to be much better on battery life, also check your water!

My optimas are 7 years old and run like a scalded dog for longer than that.

My batteries are in the similar condition as yours I fished a tournament last Sunday and by the end of the tournament I had to jump off my cranking battery.

the new prob is when i run it in 4 or 5 it stops after a few min.some kind of short i guess

When was the last you took your prop off and checked for fishing string and junk?

had the boat for 2 yrs and have never checked it. guess i will now

Take it from me, you want to take the prop off often to check for fishing line, grass etc. Once the seals are compromised and water gets into the trolling motor's lower unit, you are going to pay.

I was always told that If you always use half your battery charge, then keep charging from there it will lose charge life vs running the batteries all the way down often and completely recharging them. Not sure if a battery can gain a memory or not.

they say that about all batteries but i would hate to be on the lake with half charged batteries

Our batteries stay strong all day long if new but after aboout 2 years old they have to be replaced. They will still work but wont hold a good charge for more than about 4 hours. We use our boats a little more than the average fisherman does otherwise the batteries would probably last longer.

If you have on on board charger most will not completely charge a battery that has been drawn all the way down. You will need to charge it the old fashion way first then start using the on board charger...this may or may not be the problem but something to consider.