Got a diawa heartland rod 7 ft HLD-dr862m from a friend who does go fishing any more . look up info on it and looks this rod is for trolling and down rigging would it also work good for baitcasting as well ?

Not really. Trolling rods have pretty strong back bones. Mine are all 8' long. You could modify it, but easy to just buy a casting rod.

How big are the grips?

Downrigger rods dont need to be too beefy, we use 7' 6" on our downriggers, 8'9" on dispseys and 10' for boards

the grip is foam padded,  and is about foot long behind the rear reel clamp notch , fits my hand ok , just wonder if being a trolling rod would affect bait casting distance or make the bait casting reel difficult to adjust and create backlash problems.

I would not cast with it. they're heavy, not made for throwing baits all day.

traded rod at bait fish store for bait casting set up set up compared  both  , bait casting rod handles and feels much better !!

traded rod at bait fish store for bait casting set up set up compared both , bait casting rod handles and feels much better !!

what'd ya get!

got a new fenwick hmx c70m-L and a new abu garcia pmax2 pro max  .  Wow what a difference compared to my 20 year old   . 6 foot pistol grip rod and a 20 year old daiwa bw2L bait casting reel .   saw some old reviews about fenwick rods breaking but recent reviews seem pretty positive maybe they solved the breaking problem ??

got a new fenwick hmx c70m-L and a new abu garcia pmax2 pro max . Wow what a difference compared to my 20 year old . 6 foot pistol grip rod and a 20 year old daiwa bw2L bait casting reel . saw some old reviews about fenwick rods breaking but recent reviews seem pretty positive maybe they solved the breaking problem ??

I know a lot of guys are Fenwick fans on here. I am not, ive broke two of them and they're kinda heavy, but if it works for you, good! I think both rods broke due to manufacture defects, both broke first time using them. I think the Max series of reels are some of the best for the money, I still have my blackmax from when I got into baitcasting equipment