TM decision Dilema.............

Sonny.Barile · July 6th, 2008

I have been obsessing over trolling motors for two weeks. I want to put a bow mount on my boat and I also need to put some decking on the boat to accomidate it as the boat doesnt have any bow decking. I have looked at the Motor Guide Wireless, Minn Kota Powerdrive, and the Minn Kota Edge.

The Motor Guide is cool and needs the least space to mount. The Minn Kota P2 looks juat a little bit bigger. The one I really like is the Edge. It is slightly cheaper and has an old fashioned pedal (no electric steer) which to me is the least likely to have problems. Only problem I see is the size of the mounting. Does anyone have one and can tell me the size of the deck I would need to mount it. It is hard to tell from the pictures. I can only get about 24 inches max. of deck on the boat. I cant just go get one cause of where I live...it has to be mail ordered so it wouldnt be easy to return if it didnt fit.

Pleas help...............my brain hurts from thinking about it....

Spike-A-Pike · July 6th, 2008

Sonny, I'm still using the Motor Guide that came on the boat and I am at least the 4th owner of this particular boat. I read the reviews and it doesn't appear that the wireless are living up to user expectations and none of those users that took the time to take the pole do it unless they have an ax to grind. If their was a way to figure out how many are being sold to happy users to busy fishing to write a review, then you'd have some comparative data to analyze, otherwise, its just a W.A.G. (Wild A__ Guess).

King Bait Co. · July 6th, 2008

Email Minn Kota they have emailed me back when I had questions on my trolling motor. I am sure they well give you the spec's for mounting it. You can also get a refurbesed (wacky spelling) trolling motors at half the price. My buddy got one the other day his freind at the boat shop said he hasn't had any trouble with them in ten years. Well their was one he sent back to minn kota and they just gave him a new one to make it right. 90% of the boats I see on the water in Nebraska have Minn Kota's. I found out Bass Pro will swap a Minn Kota for a motor guide on their new boats for no extra charge as long it is the same price or less. My personal opinion is minn kota is the way to go.

Sonny.Barile · July 6th, 2008

Well....after many hours spent looking at fishing boat modification websites I have narrowed it down to getting one of the electric steer models because it requires the least mounting pad space. However.....after reading the two replys I got, I am still deadlocked between the MotorGuide and the Minnkota.................
I am so confused...............!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cadman · July 6th, 2008

Sonny,
It really is a personal choice. I originally had a 30 lb thrust Minn-Kota power drive on my first boat. never had problem. Then I upgraded to a 60 lb power drive, never had a problem with the motor. Now I own a Terrova, so far so good. The only thing I can say negative about the power drives was there foot pedals. After 3 or 4 years the little contacts that turned it left or right would wear out. It seemed like the right all the time. Maybe I should then always go left. Other than that I've been happy with Minn-Kota. My buddy on the other hand always had problems with his Minn-Kota. I don't know if it was him or the actual product. It's a tough call. I think if you buy new, you'll have the peace of mind with a three year warranty.

BassAddict · July 6th, 2008

I use a 82 lb motorguide digital with foot control, It uses cable steering and I much prefer that over the power drive systems My boat came with the minkota power drive and it did not turn fast enough for me. One thing I have noticed that people who own the remote control ones dont like it cause they are always playing with the remote with there hands while the are trying to fish.

yankee jigger · July 6th, 2008

I dont know the types of water you fish but i do a lot of river fishing for walleyes and one thing i know for sure is my next trolling motor will be 24v.
I hate running down the battery before the day is over.

cadman · July 7th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassAddict

I use a 82 lb motorguide digital with foot control, It uses cable steering and I much prefer that over the power drive systems My boat came with the minkota power drive and it did not turn fast enough for me. One thing I have noticed that people who own the remote control ones dont like it cause they are always playing with the remote with there hands while the are trying to fish.

You are absolutely right. All the power drives I had were slow in turning. Also the cordless models went through a lot of batteries. I also don't own a remote, too much screwing around. The Terrova took care of the power head turning problem, and is a 24 volt system. So far I love the new Terrova.

Quote:

Originally Posted by yankee jigger

I dont know the types of water you fish but i do a lot of river fishing for walleyes and one thing i know for sure is my next trolling motor will be 24v.
I hate running down the battery before the day is over.

I'm with you on that. On my old boat I had two 12 volts wired in parallel. I used to fish the IL and WI river a lot for walleye and sauger, and a single 12 volt won't cut it on a river with the current.

Sonny.Barile · July 7th, 2008

Yeah I know the 24v is better. My problem with that is just no room for the second battery. Also.....I like the old school pedals better too. I think you are more in control with it. The left right buttons being on seperate sides will probably take some getting use to.........However, the electric steer motors have much smaller mounting requirements, and having any type of bow mount is going to beat what I have now.

Cadman...I checked out the Terrova on-line. I dont know the major diferences in them but the pedal sure looks more old-school. It is a little bit out of my price reach though. I have a budget of $525 and that has to get me a tm, mounting materials, and a circuit breaker.

Anyone use the ranger style circuit breaker from Cabelas? It has a switch on it which makes me think it would be usefull.

fish devil · July 8th, 2008

where in NJ do you live that you need to mail order a TM?