battery placement ???

Troutkiller2006

Junior Member
88 dually. im hoping to do the wiring today. whats in their now is in really good shape, nice and neat, but i cant make heads or tails of whats what. was really hoping to save this work for later when i have the cash for all the batteries i need and just run what she came with. but im gonna go ahead and redo everything so at least ill know whats what should i have a problem on the water.

question is, where should i mount my batteries? im concerned about weigt, balance, that sort of thing. i think moving weight forward will be a good thing. but how much weight and how far forward? weight in the nose can change a lot. and we do a good bit of camping out at the islands where we run 20 miles out with all our gear in what is sometimes rough water. but the boat will be mostly just fishing in as shallow of water as i can get it in. those shallows are usually about 5-15 miles out there but occasionally 50-60 miles to some of my spots at chandeleur. so im trying to put as much thought into the setup of this rig as my brain can handle, lol.

heres the specifics... 88 dually with a 225 2stroke that weighs 480lbs. 24 volt trolling motor that requires 2 batteries. and i have always liked to run 2 batteries for the boat its self and leave the trolling motor batteries independent from all other systems. so thats 4 batteries! boat will mostly be fished with two adults, one adult and one child and occasionally momma will come along. on rare occasions i will have 4-5 adults on board but thats only if we going wade fishing. i dont like a crowded boat. FYI, the deck layout on a dually is exactly the same as a center console.

heres my options as i see them. for the trolling motor i can mount the batteries in the aft end of the forward storage compartment, one on each side. where the stringers are glassed to the side shell i can make a shelf and mount them on top of the stringers. wont take up much useable space that way. there is plenty of room in the consoles for baterries but that could be room for other things too. and of course, the factory locations in the stern.

my first plan was to mount the trolling batteries forward as stated and put the two boat batteries in the port console. i like that way best but am worried about moving too much weight forward. i could also put the boat batteries in the aft compartment and either leave the trolling batteries forward or move them to the console? or i could put all 4 in the two consoles but i hate to give up that much space under both of them.

never had this thing in the water so this is all guess work and any advise will be greatly appreciated. and i know that theres the very real possibility that im making more of this than i should, but i do that sometimes,lol. thanks in advance
 
I'd put her in the water first and see how she does, you might not need to change anything about the current set up. I do know that you'll need to run at least 2 or maybe 1 gauge cables to your engine if the engine batteries are much further forward than the aft bilge area. The 1 guage gets expensive quick, plus you'll need hydaulic crimpers to put the ends on.
 
dont mean to sound like a smarta$$ bradford, but dont do much good to put her in the water without batteries,lol. what ive got now is a hot wire lead in the starboard aft box, but no ground. and a hot and negative lead in the port box but they go to the timer switch for the livewell and splice off from there. hot going to stbd and negative going forward. apparently the po removed those expensive battery cables. he did tell me that he ran all 4 baterries in the aft boxes and that he recommended moving them forward cause she sat a little low in the stern. he ran a 150 4stroke, about 30 pounds lighter than mine. and id like to use one of those boxes for my oil tank and trim tab pump.

biggest problem im having today is a total lack of energy! that shipyard and this heat are making me feel old today! might have wasted a vacation day cause i aint accomplishing crap today!

with that said, maybe your right. maybe just run new leads to the fuse box, install my new fuse box and hook up the gauges and the motor. dont have any money for batteries and cables this week anyway. might can get her in the water this weekend and go from there! but then what do i do with my oil tank? lines arent long enough to mount on the port side. i could easily mount it in the bilge, and would like to, but i worry about it being too low down there? this is why i hate wiring
 
Find out the weight of the batteries and fill some 5 gallon buckets to roughly the same. Put them in the boat and see how it sits, this will also allow you to move them around to see what works best.
 
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