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| I am in the final stages of specking out my new boat. Ranger 619. I am having trouble deciding whether to go with a cable or electric motor steering drive on my trolling motor. Any comments one way or the other would be helpful...Thanks in advance. |
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| Hiya,
Kind of depends on your fishing style, both in terms of where you fish in the boat, and the kind of water you are on. Elec. steer models are nice if you like to be able to stand in the back or the middle of the boat, or move around a lot. The down side to them is slower response time when it comes to tight turns and rapid direction changes. They are pretty fast, but not as fast as a cable driven model. If you are usually on open breaklines, over open water, or following fairly deep contours, an elec. steer is nice for the versatility (as far as where you run it from). If you are on a lake where avoiding rocks, stumps or whatever is an issue, and you spend a lot of time thrashing around in shallow water, and so need to be able to turn quickly, get a cable steer. The down side there, of course, is that you'll only be able to run it from the bow.
Cables break, and that gets held up as a negative on them a lot, but elec. foot pads wear out as well. I have one on my old Lund, and have to replace it every other year or so. Eventually they start getting a mind of their own.
Since I spend a lot of time on LoTWs, I got a cable steer for the boat I keep there. Wouldn't want an electronic steer model up there frankly, but if you only take a couple trips a year to hazardous water, it might be ok. If you do get a cable steer model, spend the extra $ and get one with a dual cable pull-pull system. They last a LOT longer than single cable models, and are usually tension adjustable to boot. The MotorGuide I have on the Tuffy is at any rate.
Cheers,
RK |
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| Rk hit the nail on the head.
I use cable and would never use anything else. My Minn-kota Maxxumm held up great this year to lots of abuse. If you use them and use them alot, the more bells and whistles will give you the most down time.[8)]
Keep it simple and powerfull. Always max out the amount of lbs thrust. Will save on the motor and the amount of juice it uses.
I use 74lbs thrust, 24 volt. |
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| thanks for the replies. |
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| I have always used a cable Minn Kota Maxxum, and have had great luck. They have been very dependable for me, I have always surmised that there would be less to go wrong with them.
I have used a Pinpoint a couple of times, and the feedback through the foot pedal was quite impressive, the best and easiest I have ever experienced. The price and my good experiences with the Minn Kota, however, have always prevented me from buying one.
Zach |
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| I am on my second boat equiped with a Minnkota Maxxum troller. These have been far and away the best trolling motors I have ever run. I have been running Bass and Musky boats since the late '70s and thes motors are outstanding. My current electric is a Maxxum 74 lb 24 volt. I don't know what kind of water you fish but I can go through the "shallow slop" better now than ever before. I also purchased this motor with a very long shaft so as to keep it in the water when fishing deep on big water when the wind blows. Remember when buying your trolling motor to get one with plenty of power because you can always turn the power down but may not be able to turn up the power if your motor is too weak.
Let Em Go...Let Em Grow.....Mike |
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| I have to agree with the above posters!Minn-Kota Maxxum 74#-24volt,best electric I ever owned and will continue to own!Going on the 3rd season on mine and we fish from the end of Feb.untill Nov.30 and mostly current!I have never replaced anything but a prop that I shredded on a stump.I also like the big foot pad for wearing Sorel boots too! Jeff |
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| I'm with all you guys on the Minn Kota Maxxum motors. I'm on my second boat with a Maxxum motor and I think they are the next best thing to sliced bread. On my first boat I went thru 3 Motor Guide motors before I got smart and purchased a Maxxum motor and it was great even up until I sold the boat.
Good Hunting, Jeff<><
www.don'tbuyamotorguide.com |
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I have a minnkota auto pilot and love it. It''s like having the invisable man steer your boat for you while you fish.The bottom line is friends don''t let friends buy motorguides.[:((] I like my minnkota ,and I know what I don''t like , so good luck.
good hunting to all
mike
www.motorguidesreallydosuck.com |
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| I agree with these guys as far as Minnkota being the way to go. I do prefer electric steer as opposed to the cable driven types. I don't feel that you lose much response time with an electric steer motor. I now have a genesis 74lb. thrust and I love it. If you like to fish suckers in the late fall, I feel this is your best option. You can nestle up anywhere in your boat and operate your trolling motor effectively. I have owned powerdrives in the past and never had any kind of problem with one. I think the genesis offers you the responsiveness of a cable steered motor and the comfort of an electric steer. I don't know about you, but I would prefer not to be balancing on one foot when the fish of a lifetime hits, or when I'm fishing in high winds. So I guess it's a matter of what you feel is going to make you fish as effectively as you can in the conditions you are faced with. |
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| A lot depends on your personal fishing preferences and style. I spend up to 16 hours in the boat at a time and found that the cable steer foot controls gave me a sore back. I did like the responsiveness of the cable system but with high foot pedal just did me in.
I've since gone to a PinPoint 3700 trolling motor and love it. For one thing, the low pedal doesn't give me a sore back anymore, regardless of how long I'm in the boat. I fish a lot of stumpfields and haven't found the electronic steering, especially in the PinPoint to be a detriment at all. Another thing that I like about electronic steering is when fishing rough water and the prop blows out of the water, it continues in the same direction. My old cable system used to swing wildly when it would come out of a wave. Plus, if I feel like it, I can take my foot control just about anywhere in the boat, I'm not glued to the bow if I don't want to be.
Other pluses for the PinPoint is the depth control and shore track feature. It does work as advertised and is pretty darned slick to use. They can make boat control a non-issue, set the motor and forget about it. These motors are also very stingy when it comes to battery use. I fished hard for 4 days in Canada and still had batteries left when I was done fishing.
It's also nice to have the networking capabilities of this system and I like having a digital readout of water depth and temperature right in the trolling motor. I've since added 2 top of the line PinPoint locators to my boat (7520's ?) and I love the resolution and detail that these locators show. Now, I have a bow and console mounted locator and don't have to fool around with hose clamping a transducer to the trolling motor. It's a little thing, but I was constantly screwing up the cable or the transducer when I had them clamped on.
But that's just my, your opinion may vary.
Steve @ G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods. http://www.herefishyfishy.com |
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| I'm with Steve on this I have the same Pinpoint set up as Steve. This was my first season with the Pinpoint 3700 I wish I would have gotten it sooner
See ya at the shows
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| I have the Minn Kota 50# thrust Power Drive, with a 48" shaft. I fish from the back of the boat with the 20'cable and low profile control which has been great. Get the next length longer shaft than the size you think you need so that big waves won't be a problem. Attach your motor to the boat with stainless steel nuts, bolts and lock washers. Nothing could be worse than a nut fall off and big waves hitting your boat (not from personal experience but rather observation) or rusting of your nuts and bolts. |
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| I love the Minn Kota Autopilots. I think if I weren't mainly fishing a lake that's shaped like a big shallow bowl (Lake St. Clair) I'd take a look at the Pinpoint.I dont find the Autopilots unacceptably slow when fishing tight to structure on manual mode, and being able to set a course along the weed edge and concentrate on fishing is really nice. |
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| Thanks for the replies. I ordered the minnkota maxum, 101 lbs thrust, 36 volt system. I am going with the cable drive system. |
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| I think you'll be happy with the choice you made. I prefer the cable steer myself. You can steer the boat by foot, keeping you hands free and not have to look what way the arrow on the motor is pointing. After time you'll get a feel for it. When your toe is down the boat goes to the left, when your heel is down your boat goes to the right. |
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