1999 Century 2280 Tunnel Hull
LOA 21' 8"
Weight of boat 2170 dry

Going to install a Riptide
Talking with two different boat shops and getting conflicting info. One says 24 volt 80 lb thrust and the other says 36 volt 101

When I lay on the bow with my finger in the water, the top of the bow is is about 18 inches out of the water.

Opinions as to what voltage and shaft length. The boat will spend 99.9% of the time in the Aransas Pass and surrounding areas for many years.

Thanks

101 for sure. Not sure about the shaft length. The dealer can tell you that. Either the 52" or more than likely, the 62" shaft.

Thanks
Leaning that way

I have a 22ft CC bay boat. I fish N Texas lakes in open water and in the wind a lot. Purchased a new I-Pilot Terrova trolling motor a few months ago. My previous TM was an 80 lb 24 volt and I never had a problem but was concerned the Terrova might need more thrust. I ended up going with the 80 lb 24 volt unit as I don't have room for a 3rd TM battery. All is well, it has plenty of power to hold in a stiff wind. That said, if I had room for the batteries I'd go with the 36 volt unit for the extended run time.

I also went with a 60" shaft. Again, in open water in the wind the longer shaft holds a lot better and only costs a few dollars more.

Just spent some time on the phone with South Texas Trolling Motors and they are telling me to go 101 lb thrust, 36 volt and the Riptide ST. I was leaning towards the SF with just a hand control due to the saltwater environment and less electronic devices to fail. They said that they have had only one come back with any problems out of hundreds. I have to go down there and take the boat to them to get actual numbers on installation, shaft length etc.

This will be my first trolling motor and am thinking of going dry cell batteries. Has anyone ever heard of using a solar panel trickle charger to "add" to the batteries while out on the water? Not sure as to how long these things last etc. Most of the fishing will be partial days and the boat is kept in dry storage where electricity is available to keep them topped off while on off days.

If you have an electronics engineer (or good tech) run for you the numbers, he can show you that a solar panel can never produce enough power to significantly recharge or even maintain a trolling motor battery being used while on the water. Boaters though can find them from salesman that love to sell/install them.

What do you mean by dry cell batteries? Traditional Flooded Wet cell andsealed absorbed glass mat (AGM) marine batteries are both liquid acid filled. A true gel cell marine battery is not currently readily available for boats running trolling motors.

Your present battery options are traditional flooded wet cells or AGMs. If you get an AGM battery, make sure the charger you have has a special switch setting to use an AGM specific recharge profile so it does not just make use of the standard flooded wet cell profile. An AGM compatible charger is not a true AGM charger.

If you go with the 36V 101, be careful on the faster speeds to not lose your balance fall overboard when changing directions. Please don't ask me how I know this.

Yes I think I meant AGM batteries. I am new to this and it can be a bit mind blowing. I suspected what you say about a solar panel not being able to do the job...maybe as a trickle charger between trips but not for what I was thinking. I am going to purchase the whole deal as a package and told the guy today that I wanted it all working together and correctly so I will ensure that the charger is the proper type. Thanks

Ok, I won't ask how you know but again thanks for the heads up. That would make a bad situation to be thrown overboard and try to catch up with a runaway boat and trolling motor.