18 or 36 hole battery??

I have had very poor reliability from 2 36 hole batteries over the years neither ever managing to complete 36 holes! . On the other hand I have managed to play 36 holes on a 18 battery a few times (not a demanding terrian course admittingly) so was wondering has anybody else found this to be the case with thier power trollies?

I'm in the latter of the situations you describe with my Go Kart Dave.  I have an 18 hole battery and it's never let me down yet on a number of 36 hole days on a variety of courses.

The frustrating thing I found was that the 36 hole battery only ever managed around 27 holes , and they are not cheap. James does yours have a power indicater? as we mine your left in the dark and just pray it'll get you round.

I have a 36 hole battery which does 2 rounds with ease. And would probably do 3 rounds (although Ive never done 3 in a day ) as it seems to have plenty of power left.

Adrian,thats incouraging ,  what make would that one be? What type of bag do you use heavy/light?

No it doesn't Dave.  I haven't ever tried it for more than 36 holes so don't really know when it runs out.  Will have to try that at some point.

My 18 hole battery when new would do a long and challenging terrain course (Donnington Grove) and still be showing as full power when running back to the car, and I'm sure would've done another 18 if asked to.  If I do 36 in a day now, it will do it if I run it on low speed, keep it on easier terrain, give it some manual assistance and give it a 30-60 minute 'top up' in between rounds.  Given it's over two years old and has done well over 500 miles, it may just be getting old.

Now I'm at a club that has two courses, doing 36 in a day is a more frequent event so I think a 36 hole battery is the way forward.  I did consider getting one when I bought the trolley but was advised they have a shorter life than an 18 hole if you rarely use it for 36 holes or on courses that have a heavy toll on batteries

I don't know what make the battery is as it came with a cheapish (£150) trolley off ebay. but I've had it for over a year now using it twice a week and it shows no sign of slowing down.

36 hole batteries perform best when they regularly do 36 holes in a day then get a full charge cycle. If you only do 18, charges are only top ups and therefore long term performance is reduced. 

In my experience Dave it all depends what you call a 36 hole battery, Iv'e seen many advertised as 36 hole but to me they will struggle because they don't have the ampage,

For example, the least ampage Iv'e used regularly on a reasonably flat 18 hole course is 17 amp hour. Some companys advertise 24/28 amp hour as 36 hole batteries, but in my experience they can sometimes struggle to do 36. I am currently using a 33 amp hour and that will do 36 quit easily, but I would recommend charging the battery as soon as possible after every round, for better performance. http://www.golfshake.com/scripts/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/regular_smile.gif" title="smiley" width="20" />

I recently purchased a 36-hole batter for my Motocaddy. I somehow managed to squeeze 54 holes out of it (albeit on nigh on flat courses), and it stil had a little bit of juice in it if you put it on a reasonable setting. 

36 holes can be managed very easily if one carries the bag, even do another nine in the evening.

I wasn't going to say that John...

Why not, Tim, I know you carry your bag now.

Hmm, trolley or put my back & knees out by lugging a weight around & dropping & lifting it around 100 times a round??

I challenge anyone to carry their bag around my new course for 36 holes & tell me they feel ok?

http://www.golfmagic.com/equipment-news/why-carrying-golf-bags-is-madness/4888.html

I wonder how many people on here that carry have a bad back??

You are a wimp, Floody, I spent 20 years playing the scratch circuit in this country, all events being 36 holes a day and some events over 72 holes over 2 days, in which I carried until I was 62.

John,

Been called worse things

Do you think you current health in regard your kness & back would be in a better state now if you hadn't carried for all those years??

For instance you can no longer walk & have to have a buggy when playing golf. Do you think this would still be the case if you had an electric trolley back in the day??

hi John, Yes I do suffer now and maybe you are right that it could have been prevented, but you have to remember that no one used a trolley, let alone an electric one in my early days of playing.

Having said that, I did carry uintil my first heart attack and was still off 6. The buggy I need is because of a severe lack of breath if trying to walk briskly to play golf.