Z19 Lithium Trolling Motor Battery - 24v or 36v

[MichiDan]

Folks,

I am in the planning phase of upgrading to a Z19. I currently have a 16ft aluminum Lowe and run the Garmin force TM on a 24v lithium. I run it in the bottom 25% of the power range the overwhelming majority of the time and since it’s such a lightweight boat I can easily run it four or five days of fishing like that before charging. In talking with some people who run 19 foot boats similar to the Z19 there’s some debate on whether the 24v is enough so if anyone has experience I would love to hear it. I primarily use the TM to pick my way along water edges but also like to spot lock over structure and points. I have a few really good open water spots that are pretty exposed to wind, demanding more draw to stay on the location. If the 24v is even borderline insufficient or would drastically reduce my battery life to the point of being a hindrance to multiple day trips I would probably opt for the 36v. I just don’t want to spend the cash if it’s not necessary.

FWIW I almost always fish alone for now (kid getting old enough to come along in a couple years) but having a bigger boat I would bring friends and neighbors out with me more often. Thanks in advance!

[Joker_114th]

Personally I would prefer more power,FWIW.....

[jtrac]

I had a 2018 Z19 that had an 80 lb Fortrex. It was adequate for my style fishing which is similar to yours. No lithiums though, just a couple of lead acid batteries to run it. When I started shopping for a new boat I was leaning toward a new Z19 or Z20. The Z19 Pro's still come standard with a couple of lead acid trolling motor batteries to operate the Ghost tm on 24 volt. I got side tracked a bit and would up with a Triton 19 TRX which comes standard with a 36 volt system for the Ghost. I've never had a 36 volt anything and I must say there is a difference in the power it provides. As soon as I got it I sold the AGM starting battery and the 3 lead acids and went all lithium. The tm batteries are 50 ah Ionic and even after a 6 or 7 hour day, which is long for me, they're still above 80%. If you do wind up with a Z19 Pro model which has the Ghost tm one of the benefits is you can just push a button and change it from 24 volt to 36 volt. If the 24 volt works well enough all is good but you do have the option to go 36 volt by just adding a 3rd battery. If I remember correctly there is plenty of room in the Z19 battery compartment for a 3rd battery.

[MichiDan]

Thanks Jtrac. Excellent information. Exactly what I was looking for. I’m not going with the pro model since I already have a Garmin network I really like so I’m sticking with the Force. The cool thing is that TM automatically detects if it’s a 24v or 36v so I won’t even have to worry about switching anything over. Based on what you’re saying it might be worth the extra cash to go 50ah or 60ah 36 lithium. Thanks again!

[Topwater All Day]

I have a 2018 Z19 and a 24V 80lb Ultrex - no issues with power at all and it moves the boat just fine. I run the Ultrex, 3 Humminbird Helix 12's, M360 and ML along with all the accessories with my battery set up. Here is what I posted about my battery set up in another thread:

I went with the 24V kit from Impulse Lithium last August and have been extremely happy with the setup! It came with a 12V 105 ah cranking battery and a 24V 60 ah trolling motor battery, a single bank ac charger and the Impulse charge-on-the-run converter. I've yet to have a day on the water were either battery got below 60% and have run two days without charging. Also, charging takes about 3-4 hours total. Awesome setup for me!