Extending trolling motor wires may seem tough unless you’ve done this job before. But, it’s not that tough if you can go through proper instructions along with tools.
The necessity of trolling motor extension comes from the boat weight distribution lacking. So, here, we’ve designed this article to guide you step to step on how you can extend your trolling motor wires.
Completing this article will allow extending the trolling motor accurately which will ensure an accurate boat performance.
How Long Can Trolling Motor Wires Be?
Commonly, the trolling motors come with an 8 gauge wire length. But, it’s not that you’ve to be fixed in this measurement. Because the length of your trolling motor wire depends on the model of trolling motor.
And, if your trolling motor requires a longer length of wire, it means the gauge will be lower. But, in maximum cases, the standard length of trolling motor wires is 25 Ft.
Extending Trolling Motor Wires
If you can extend trolling motor wires properly, it’ll bring you all the significant advantages. And, the boat will offer its highest performance.
When You Extend Trolling Motor Wires
When you install a trolling motor abruptly to your boat, it will change the boat weight distribution quickly. As a result, this weight distribution gets complicated by heavy-duty batteries. And, this is the situation where you’ve to decide on extending your trolling motor wires.
Extending trolling motor wire will help you uneven the boat weight distribution. Therefore, you can easily avoid risk and maintain all the safety issues.
Advantages to Extend Trolling Motor Wires
If you expand the wires of your trolling motor, it will ensure no performance loss for your boat. But, remember, you’ve to make sure high-quality connecting wires are to be benefitted from the electric flow and solid connection.
Step-by-Step Guide: How do you extend the wires on a trolling motor?
There are some key points that you must follow to ensure your trolling motor won’t have trouble with power loss. Let’s see how you can extend the wires on your trolling motor-
Step-1: Ensure the Appropriate Gauge Wires
It’s highly recommended to use proper gauge wire while extending the trolling motor wires. And, if you want to get the accurate gauge wire, you’ve to go through fixed measurements.
Have a look at the given chart below and find out your actual gauge wire measurement-
| Model of Motor |
MAX AMP Draw |
Wire Extension Length(AWG) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25ft | 20ft | 15ft | 10ft | 5ft | ||
| 30lb | 30 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 10 |
| Engine Mount 101 | 50 | 8 | 6 |
4 | 4 | 2 |
| 40lb | 42 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| 80lb | 56 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| E-Drive | 40 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| 70lb | 42 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 |
| Engine Mount 160 | 116 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Step-2: Choose the Necessary Kits
Once you finish deciding the right gauge wires, you’ve to go for the kits that are necessary for extending your trolling motor wire. Here’s the list-
- Two Sets of Cables/ Wires
- Electrical Tape
- Red Positive Wires
- Black Negative Wires
- Wrench
Step-3: Plug in All the Connectors
Take the two of your wire sets and plug them in such a way so that these two connectors can be connected with each other. Remember, you’ve to connect one set of wires to the battery and another set with the trolling motor.
Step-4: Attach the Wires to the Terminals
Now, you’ve to go through the ring terminals and the corresponding terminals. Attach the wires of your battery to the corresponding terminal using the ring terminal. Use electrical tape to protect and seal properly the wires and the terminals.
Step-5: Connect the Positive and Negative Wires to the Terminals
Now match and connect the positive and negative cables and terminals. Connect the red positive wires to the battery positive terminal.
And, the same way, connect the negative wires to the battery negative terminals. It means black to black and red to red. Take a wrench and tighten the connections through a wrench.
Step-6: Grab the Wire and Extend
If finished connecting the positive and negative wire to the battery terminals perfectly, grab the wire and extend as per your requirements.
What Gauge Wire Do I Need to Extend My Trolling Motor Wire?
If you want to get an easy and quick extension of your trolling motor wire, you must choose the right brand for gauge wires. It will allow you to keep the balance of your boat without impacting your trolling motor performance.
However, there are certain types of heavy-duty gauge wires available on the market to get dependable performance, for instance, the Minn Kota wire extension kit. Here are some more quality gauge wires-
- Newport Vessels Extension Kit
- 14367-6 Trolling Motor Wire Gauge
- Rig Rite550 Black 8-Gauge Wire
How to Run Trolling Motor Wires: Diagram
Here’s a diagram to make your way easier to run your trolling motor wires. Check out the diagram given below-
Extending Trolling Motor Wire: Diagram
The image of the diagram below will help you understand how to extend trolling motor wire. But, check out the motor size, model, and battery voltage before you take help from this diagram-
Image: Minn Kota Diagram
Conclusion
Extending trolling motor wires will allow you to be safe from all the unwanted risks. But, it’s a little daunting to understand the right wires for the trolling motor that you can extend.
We’ve gathered all the necessary information in this article so that your tough job can be easier. We hope our article will be your right partner.
