I will be purchasing a new trolling motor and would like to know what is the difference in a 12 Volt, 24 Volt, 36 Volt Trolling Motor? and how would I have to rewire for a 36 V or 24 V. My boat is a 1982 Ranger with an original Mercury Thruster Trolling Motor. Not sure if it is a 12 or 24 V?

Please reply.

Thank, jlaw29

The more voltage you have the more amps you have available to run for extended periods of time. The 36 volt system is pretty much the standard these days for modern bass boats. You can have power all day in windy or current conditions.

The way you wire the batteries is by attatching the wire from the ground of one battery to the positive of the next battery and so on. The directions that come with the trolling motor should show you the correct way to wire the motor.

I hope this helps!

36V connection <+ ->--<+ ->--<+ -> = "series" connected
(3 batteries)

24V connection <+ ->--<+ -> = "series" connected
(2 batteries)

12V connection <+ ->
(2 batteries) ( ( = "parallel" connected
<+ ->


assume 100 amp hour rating for each 12 volt battery
With series connected batteries the amp hour rating remains constant while the voltage is additive 12+12+12 =36 volts @ 100 amp hours
12+12 =24 volts @ 100 amp hours


With parallel connected batteries the voltage remains constant but the amp hour rating is additive 100 + 100 = 200 amp hours @ 12 Volts

the available energy is determined by the number of batteries you have and not the voltage so 3 batteries in parallel contain the same stored energy as 3 batteries in series - hope this offers some additional help on this topic