03-01-2013, 06:46 PM
My boat is stored every night in a drive-thru garage attached to my house. There's heat lamps for winter. I have a lot of motors because I can't ever be without one working, and I know Minn Kotas pretty well from repairing them (personal) for the past 25 years. My extras are stored in my cool, dry basement. I did run Motorguides for about 5 or 6 years back in the early 90's, but they were worse, and harder to fix.
There's probably not many people in the country that put more hours on a remote-controlled trolling motor than me. Mine are "ON" anytime I'm fishing, not just a surge or on-off tap here and there. The remote never leaves my hand. They are built to sell, and to build a "good" one, they'd cost twice or three times what they do, and sales would plummet. Lots of plastic, poor connections (that can be improved with heat shrink), cheap motors for electronic steering, poorly sealed lower units, and low-end Korean circuit boards. That's pretty much what makes up a trolling motor. But, we all need 'em!! The shafts are strong. The props are tough. The removable mounts are easy to operate.
If you think 400-some dollars is worth having a spot lock and several different auto-pilot features, just know its not flawless. With a foot pedal, remote control, and a little effort, its not too hard to control a boat though.
As for "yours", yes, its a Power Drive, and they pretty much keep going, and going, and going. No frills! Put an i-pilot on it, and, well, . . . let us know in a year! I'm sure you'd enjoy it while it was working. I do like mine, when the **&&%%## works.
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There's probably not many people in the country that put more hours on a remote-controlled trolling motor than me. Mine are "ON" anytime I'm fishing, not just a surge or on-off tap here and there. The remote never leaves my hand. They are built to sell, and to build a "good" one, they'd cost twice or three times what they do, and sales would plummet. Lots of plastic, poor connections (that can be improved with heat shrink), cheap motors for electronic steering, poorly sealed lower units, and low-end Korean circuit boards. That's pretty much what makes up a trolling motor. But, we all need 'em!! The shafts are strong. The props are tough. The removable mounts are easy to operate.
If you think 400-some dollars is worth having a spot lock and several different auto-pilot features, just know its not flawless. With a foot pedal, remote control, and a little effort, its not too hard to control a boat though.
As for "yours", yes, its a Power Drive, and they pretty much keep going, and going, and going. No frills! Put an i-pilot on it, and, well, . . . let us know in a year! I'm sure you'd enjoy it while it was working. I do like mine, when the **&&%%## works.
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