Trolling motor & fish finder question

[boogullman]

I am in the process of modifying my 14ft Jon Boat. I have cut the back bench seat out and intend on useing it to house the batteries and for storage (life jackets, anchors, etc.) I have a 30lb. & 42lb. thrust trolling motor currently one for the front and one for the rear. As well as a fish finder. What gauge wire do I need for the trolling motors? Can I wire all these strait without breakers, fuse, etc. (not sure what any of these things are). I have to remove the batteries for charging so I was wanting to have gator clips to connect to battery and was just going to crimp with fish finder wire, is this ok? Do they make a lug of some kind I can mount in the front and rear of my boat so I can keep the gator clips on my motors as well. I sometimes use them on other boats and don't want them to be specific to my jon.

Lastly, I plan on a new trolling motor this year for the front. A 80lb. thrust 24 volt variable speed. I'm going to keep one of the current motors on the back. I know I have to have another battery but how will I wire those? Possible to keep the gator clips? Sorry for all the questions, wiring always gives me fits and my smoke test method has not always worked out well in the past. :lol:

 

[redbug]

I would ditch the gator clips right from the start. they are not a quality connection and will cause several problems including shorter battery life
6 gauge wire should be fine and when you get the new motor that wire will still be good
I would also install a breaker and put connectors on your depth finder and hook it directly to the battery with the in line fuse that it calls for

 

[boogullman]

I would ditch the gator clips right from the start. they are not a quality connection and will cause several problems including shorter battery life
6 gauge wire should be fine and when you get the new motor that wire will still be good
I would also install a breaker and put connectors on your depth finder and hook it directly to the battery with the in line fuse that it calls for

What is a breaker? Where do you get them & the connectors? I guess I could go ahead and go with a plug of some kind and then make a adaptor for the plug with gator clips if I needed to use it on another boat without a plug.

Also, is 6 gauge wire 6 gauge wire? Can I just go to my local electronics store and pick up whatever 6 gauge they have?