I would also suggest buying a trolling motor harness when buying wire unless you have some experience and a proper crimping tool to do it yourself. They usually charge about $5 depending on the type and size of lug but they are done with a proper crimping or mechanical connection in a shop environment instead of laying in the floor of the boat with a cheap crimp tool and break strands of wire and damaging others where corrosion is allowed to set in. They will also apply heat shrink at the termination for that charge. It adds up but I have found it to be worth the extra expense. I have a proper hydraulic crimp tool that is supposed to be universal but the lugs and terminations are not universal....they are designed for a specific crimp tool and work best when that tool is used. They will work with any tool....I have beat 'em flat with a hammer and a chisel and squoze them with a pair of 9" Kliens but a proper crimp tool makes a big difference. Properly applied heat shrink is equally important. For specified loads, battery cables and power feed cables I always pay for the factory assembly UNLESS I know I can buy the proper lug for the crimp tool I have access to.
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Wire gauge to feed a trolling motor
- Thread starter Lilly001
- Start date
Trolling motors are usually supplied with a #8 or #10 wire from the factor for connecting to the source.
There are a BUNCH of trolling motor plugs made with #10 and #8 conductors and they are fine. This is based on a tap rule where connected loads are allowable with smaller conductors in short lengths. It is not ideal however. It will work and is common practice in all electrical work...from simple low voltage electronic circuits to high voltage distribution systems. It is done for cost savings and space savings in some instances, neither of which is, in my experience, a consideration when it comes to a fishing boat where owning one means one is not overly concerned with sound financial decisions and space in wiring compartments and under decks is not normally an issue. They are also used because most people are comfortable making a #10 butt splice with commonly available tools. They work but they ain't ideal.
I always use an Anderson style quick disconnect to connect a high ampacity load that is going to be disconnected from time to time. They are relatively inexpensive and almost fool proof in their simplicity and are re-usable. The absolute worst trolling motor connections I ever installed were made by trolling motor manufacturers. They are way to easy to install poorly and will cause problems. An Anderson style disconnect will not, in my experience. If they work at all they will work for ever without any issues. The only time they do not work is when they are not installed properly where the traditional plugs will work fine until they heat up and fail, and can fail catastrophically.
Lilly001
Senior Member
Thanks for all of the information.
If I might impose for a little more,
Do you have a name for the wire company you mentioned?
And my new proposal is two lengths of 4 gauge with factory crimp on both ends.
I looked at the Anderson connectors but they make two sizes it seems. 4 gauge+ and 6 gauge and less. That causes a problem going from the long 4 gauge wire to the 8 gauge trolling motor wire.
Or would something like the battery tender plug work better?
I have a 16 ft Grumman stick steer similar to your Panfish and a Minn-Kota 55 Ipilot mounted on bow. I used the existing wire (8 or maybe 10 gauge?) that was in the boat and put a 60 amp breaker at the battery. I've had this setup for almost 6 years now with no issues. Trolling motor will pull my boat 2-2.5 mph at 10 speed depending on conditions.
Best Boat Wire | Marine Grade Wire Products
I hope that ain't violating any forum rules LOL....I ain't affiliated with them in any way other than having spent an inordinate amount of money with them over the years.
If you have a Minn Kota or a Motoguide and it is fairly new the factory pigtail is most likely #10. It is for certain on Minn Kotas and has been for a long time....I am not as familiar with Moto Guides and other brands but if they are fairly new they most likely have #10 conductor from the factory regardless of the motor size. The Anderson 175 has a wire range from #10 AWG to 1/0 AWG. It will work with most newer factory wiring but requires a reducing bushing from the standard 1/0 contact. The Anderson cut sheet says that the bushing part number is 5648 BK or 5648 for the 175 connector for #10 AWG and #8 AWG wire. The bushing goes onto the smaller wire and wire and bushing is inserted in the 1/0 contact and crimped in the same way the contact would be crimped without a bushing. The bushings look eerily familiar to an Ideal Splice Cap crimp sleeve only longer and they don't have the inward flare at the end to prevent wire from sticking past them.
I have not used the bushings but probably should have....I just double up the wire in the standard contact and crimp it but the bushing is a far more efficient and safer way to do it because what I did and do is not a great idea. I have been thinking about replacing mine with the bushings - thats how I found out about them....when I was having interference with my electronics I though a bad connection at the plug might be the problem so I cut it off and hard wired it and it seemed to help (it eventually proved not to help). Wanting to use a plug I started doing some research and ran across the bushings. Again that wasn't my issue causing my interference but I was a big dumbie and thought I had solved it LOL. I have known people who would double up the wire and build up solder to make it big enough to crimp but that is not a good idea either....soldering dc joints is a good way to cause yourself a lot of problems when that joint is subject to high current, variable voltages and movement. It will work until it doesn't.
Anderson is a name brand of connectors marketed by Ideal and are very good products but there are a bunch of similar ones available that are probably made in the same plant in China but are not branded Anderson and are a little less expensive. I have probably used them in the past but I don't know this for certain. Buying Ideal Anderson Connectors is not overly expensive and if you do go the bushing route it would probably take some looking to find a comparable unit and bushing and at the end of the day you probably will save about $10 or so. The plugs are about $10- $15 a piece (you need 2) and the bushings are about $3-$4 each (you will need 2 for the trolling motor factory wiring). I would add the protective boot (about $5 each, 2 required) and the protective cap (about $3 each, 2 needed). About $50-$60 total which ain't cheap but they will last forever and will not cause any grief in my experience. They are designed for industrial applications and according to the website they are designed for 10,000 operations which means plugging and unplugging 5000 times. Thats a bunch LOL. I have used them in a bunch of industrial applications and I have never known one to fail if it worked initially....I have installed them incorrectly and had other people do so and they wouldn't function properly but if they work initially they will work forever.
Lilly001
Senior Member
GTMOdawg thanks for the help I’ve got an order in for 4 gauge.
They are out of stock on the red wire so I just got red heat shrink to label it at both ends.
They are out of stock on the red wire so I just got red heat shrink to label it at both ends.
I did mine with all black feeder wires and used heat shrink at the terminations also. I did use black and red #14 but anything bigger than that I did what you are doing. Even if you don't buy from Best Boat Wire they will answer the phone and answer questions. I have never been there but I have called them a bunch of times and they always seemed open to talking. They in Jesup so they probably good people!
The Original Rooster
Mayor of Spring Hill
Some good info on this thread. Thanks y'all! 
Lilly001
Senior Member
The hardest part of all of this is finding the items in stock.
Im on my second attempt for the Anderson connectors.
And the bushings to adapt from 4 to 10 gauge are like hen’s teeth.
But at least it’ll be done correctly. (I keep telling myself)
Im on my second attempt for the Anderson connectors.
And the bushings to adapt from 4 to 10 gauge are like hen’s teeth.
But at least it’ll be done correctly. (I keep telling myself)
Batjack
Cap`n Jack 1313
Bad time to be trying to find ANYTHING. But, you'll get there.
Hang in there. It is so frustrating. It is amazing how fragile commerce is in the modern era. For 6 months last year Bojangles around Augusta and Aiken could not get steak for steak and biscuits. Seriously. I am pretty certain there is something in the bible about that......
I ain't buying it being pandemic related either....it has far more to do with poor management. Across the board. The same restaurants also have not opened their dining rooms yet as far as I know. They have a facility they invested a couple of million in and are paying taxes on when they could have gone the route of Checkers and save a pile of money. If they are interested in customer service and providing what they provide they will find the items they sell even if they have to take a hit to do so.....blaming it on others is a bunch of **. They should just admit they ain't interested in being in business if being in business means going out of their way to provide the goods and services they provide.
