Trolling motor for a 191FS?

[JGL]

Looking for input on required motor thrust for a 191FS. I would like to keep the cost, battery weight and complexity down by going with a Minn Kota Power Drive 55 lb. thrust, 12 volt setup. Does anyone have experience with a trolling motor mounted on a 191FS?

[ILLOGICAL GGC]

24v power drive with auto pilot is the ticket. i had that on my 186 cool bay and it would troll all day with power to spare. providing you got room for 2 batteries that is
GGC

[JGL]

Looking for input concerning required motor thrust for a 191FS.

[ILLOGICAL GGC]

sorry--i forgot to give the thrust on mine. i wouldnt go less than 65lbs. and at 24v you will be able to troll all day.
GGC

[Tabasakwa]

I use a Motor Guide 24V unit at 74 lbs. thrust on my '04 191FS. Works great.

[nymart]

I have a 82lb Motor Guide 24V on my '05 191F/S. I agree with the others, you really need to go with 24V and at a minimum 65lb to really move the boat.

[JGL]

Thank you for the response concerning recommended thrust. I would like to go with a 24V system but have a concern with the battery storage location. I believe the boat is pre-rigged for trolling motor battery storage in the starboard aft compartment. My concern is how will having 3 batteries (2 deep cycle and 1 starting) at that location affect the ride and performance of the boat.(I don't have trim tabs) Those owners with a 24V system, where do you have your batteries located? Where did you mount the onboard battery charger/maintainer? Since the addition of a trolling motor would be a rather expensive addition, I would like to get it right the first time.
Thanks for the input.

[Tabasakwa]

All three batteries are stored in the rear starboard compartment on my '04 191FS. The onboard charger is mounted on the starboard compartment "wall" as well.

I don't notice an issue with ride quality at all (running a very heavy Honda 115 4S) but the boat does have a slight list to starboard due to the weigh of the batteries and the helm station.

[nymart]

All three of my batteries are in the aft battery storage compartment as well. It works out better for me as I have both a Yamaha 150 and a Yamaha 9.9 as a kicker so the batteries more or less offset the additional weight of my kicker. I haven't pursued an onboard charger yet (hoping for a xmas present) but I will probably try to run that along the wall of the storage compartment as Tabasakwa did.

[jergofish]

I plan to purchase a 195 in the fall and was wondering which trolling motor to mount.

It sounds like I should go with the 70lb Riptide AP for the motor. It's a 24 volt system. Can it be charged from the engine, I'll be running a 150 Yamaha. I understand that Minnkota makes a three bank charger that will charge and maintain both the engine battery and the two twelves for the 24 volt system without having to disconnect the 24 volt link. I'd also like to be able to have the engine recharge the trolling system when running. Battery splitter? A way to charge both 12's without having to disconnect the 24 volt link when charging from the engine? I looked at the Minnkota site but could not find any info.