Trolling Motor Thrust Calculator
Calculate the minimum and recommended trolling motor thrust for your boat based on length, weight, and fishing conditions.
Inputs
Results
Recommended Thrust
31 lbs
≈ 7 bags of sugar
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter your boat's overall length in feet (e.g., 16 ft for a typical bass boat).
- Input the loaded boat weight in lbs — include passengers, gear, fuel, and the motor itself.
- Select the worst conditions you regularly fish in: calm lake, moderate wind, river current, or rough water.
- Read the Recommended Thrust in lbs — choose a trolling motor at or above this value.
- Check Battery Capacity Needed to size your deep-cycle battery for a full 8-hour day.
- Use Runtime on 100Ah Battery to estimate how long a standard battery will last at average throttle.
How the result changes with Boat Weight (Loaded)
| Boat Weight (Loaded) | Recommended Thrust |
|---|---|
| 680 | 18 lbs |
| 1,880 | 50 lbs |
| 3,320 | 88 lbs |
| 4,520 | 120 lbs |
What each input means
- Boat Length
- Overall length of your boat in feet. Longer boats present more surface area to wind and current.
- Boat Weight (Loaded)
- Total weight of the boat including gear, fuel, passengers, and equipment.
- Typical Conditions
- The worst conditions you regularly fish in. River current and rough water demand significantly more thrust.
What each result means
- Minimum Thrust
- The bare minimum thrust to move your boat in the specified conditions.
- Recommended Thrust
- Recommended thrust with a 25% safety margin above minimum for comfortable operation.
- Battery Capacity Needed
- Amp-hours of battery capacity needed for an 8-hour fishing day at average (60%) throttle.
- Runtime on 100Ah Battery
- Estimated runtime on a standard 100Ah deep-cycle battery at average throttle.
How this is calculated
Worked example, using the default values
- Identify Input ParametersBoat Length = 16, Boat Weight (Loaded) = 1200, Typical Conditions = 0 = 3 input(s) provided
- Calculate Recommended ThrustRecommended Thrust31 = 31
- Calculate Minimum ThrustMinimum Thrust25 = 25
- Calculate Battery Capacity NeededBattery Capacity Needed60 = 60
Engine last updated . Checked against 2 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators.
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