Help me decide what to do with my trolling motor

[jethro]

I have a 2004 Minn Kota Power Drive motor on my boat. It came on the boat I bought a few years ago. Ever since I got it, it acted up from time to time which I originally thought was the plug, because I would wiggle the plug and it would work again. So in my infinite wisdom I cut the big, molded plug off the foot pedal and the motor, in an effort to splice them together. But when they were cut off I was able to continuity test them and the plug was working flawlessly. At this point I finally decided to do some research online and quickly discovered this is a common problem and means the control board needed to be replaced. Found online at Northland Marine, it's $75. But I also need to replace my foot pedal, or at least the control board and wire/plug, which is $58. A new pedal is $11 more so I would just do that. LONG STORY SHORT, gonna take $150 in parts to make this old trolling motor good again.

Knowing this motor is 12 years old, would you guys bother to drop $150 into it or would you look into a new motor completely? I'm just concerned this is like an old truck... once stuff starts going, it's like going down a rabbit hole and pretty soon I could have a new motor for what I replaced in parts.

The motor is a 50lb thrust and although I am constantly annoyed by how hard it is to deploy, it's the perfect power for my small 14' side console.

 

[richg99]

Over the years, I've had a number of different trolling motors. Even owned a Powerdrive, too. I thought the power drive was too slow to react.

Right now I have a bow mount Minn Kota 45 lbr.
It has a cable foot control and, candidly, I don't like it. The steerng base moves around too much and the cable is too stiff, IMHO.

I think the setup that I liked the best was a transom mount; reversed head; home made mounting, manual TM, mounted on the bow. I think it was easier to deploy; easier to steer (manually) and I spent more time fishing and less time correcting where the d#$% thing was going.

Of course, if I wanted to spend thousands or more, I could have a self-deploying; remote controlled TM. But, I am not going to spend such a lot of money for a TM on my little tin boat.

Just the way I feel. richg99

 

[jethro]

I agree, the Powerdrive is slow to react. I'm not sure how happy I am with it, but I don't exactly know what I would like better. Never thought of using a transom mount on the bow... I have a transom mount now. I assume you have to remove and reinstall each time you trailer? Or do you just strap it down?

I was, last year, considering taking the head off my transom mount and trying to finagle it on my Powerdrive- temporarily, but I was worried it would have different power management and might burn the motor or the board in the head. But I might be able to change the motor too. That would be pretty good, a Powerdrive mount (which kinda sucks, but stows away nicely) with a handle. Hmmmm....