I bought a new Lund 1800 in 2007. I equipped it with the terrova 80#. I do not think that I have ever needed a bigger trolling motor. I also use it to steer when using the kicker, but at this time of year i only use it to go about 1-1.3mph trolling harnesses. I use Sears AGM batteries which run about $280 or so, but they easily last the day (8-10hrs) at this time of year. I will say that if I run the TM at 9 or 10 it trips the circuit breaker, but i usually run at a max of 7.5 or so, and that is late in the day when the batteries are starting to run down. All things considered, I think 80#/24volt is perfect. My unit is 68" from bottom of the trolling motor to the top of the minn kota, even though the exposed shaft only measures48". Hope that helps some.