trolling Motor Dillema

[Big Dave2]

Last fall I purchased a 1991 lund angler 16 ft boat w/console. It came with an almost new Minkota Maxxum 55 lb thrust trolling motor. What I was wondering is, how do these motors compare to the minkotas with the electronic controls like the auto pilot? I am 6'5" and I am finding that the bow of my boat is not that comfortable of a place for me to run that trolling motor with the big foot pedal. I was thinking of selling it and getting one of the type I mentioned above. I see that they come with an 18' cord on the foot pedal and then I could operate it from the back of my boat. Any one know of any reasons why I shoud or shouldnt do that? Any one interested in buying the Maxxum? How about a trade? My neighbor actually wanted to trade his auto pilot for my maxxum but mine had a shorter shaft.

Thanks for any ideas, Dave

[uffdapete]

Is a remote foot pedal an option for that model? I have a friend who has a boat with one and he can control his bow mount from anywhere in the boat.

If you can't get it to work for you how new is the motor and how much are asking?

[Big Dave2]

Thanx for the reply uffdapete. I am interested about the remote foot pedal idea, but I went on the Minn Kota web site and I dont even see a mention of such an item. Does anyone else know anything about these?As far as the motor I have, It is 2 years old at the most and used very little. I dont know how much to ask for it yet though. I will get back to you on that. I have been doing a little research and it seems that the maxxum is more expensive than the power drive motors. That seems kind of backwards to me but they must be a tougher motor or something.

Thanxs, Dave

[volksdriver]

Dave....Last year I put a MinnKota PD60 (PowerDrive)on the bow of my Lund s-16. This motor comes with more than enough foot control cord to operate from the rear of the boat, which I mostly do, and the 60 lbs. of thrust is LOTS for my boat. I opted for the longer shaft (54 inch, I think) to insure adequate depth when operating in choppy water. Great motor, absolutely no complaints. Hope this helps somewhat.

[fishinphyl]

Big Dave2 - just email the Minnkota people and ask them. They are really good about answering your emails during business hours.

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Phyl

[Havin' Fun]

Just an FYI, don't get a foot control that is remote. Buy the cord. I have a corded one and don't have any trouble with it. I have several friends whose remote isn't very remote anymore. Basically they struggle to get it to work any more than about 5 feet from the motor.
Good luck

[TUMBLEWEED]

Get a corded foot pedal!! I've seen first hand how "well" those remote units work.
A buddy of mine had one for a little while.
It was constantly having problems,and was in the shop for tranceivers and such a couple of times.

[Guest]

BigDave. The two types of trolling motors being mentioned here are power driven heads or cable driven heads. With a cable driven, the reponse is much faster than the power driven but you need to keep constant pressure on the pedal. With the power driven head, the response is slower but constant pressure is not needed to steer, Although in windy conditions both motors will need a solid foot on the pedal to stay on course. As far as the Auto-pilot. Some like it some hate it. My opinon is its a gimmic and very expensive to repair. Foot pedal size is smaller than the cable but not enough for your situation. You can however move the power driven pedal to almost anywhere in the boat with the 18 foot cord. Its sounds like you may have a narrow bow for your size and you do most of your fishing sitting down where your knees are taking up alot of room. Not sure what kind of fishing you do, you may want to go with a transom mount motor on the bow or a transom mount on the transom. Good Luck

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