GobbleDog Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 2 weeks ago, my 10+ y.o. MotorGuide was having trouble so I took it in for repairs. The guy just called me back today..... $400.00 to repair it. Needless to say, I told him to forget it and I'll come by pick up the corpse. So now I'm in the market for a new trolling motor. I've got a 16' fiberglass Bass Tracker. My old motor was a 24 volt/55 lb thrust (which was more than enough power). I read the other thread "Bow Mounted Trolling Motors" and now I've got a few questions: Which is better Minn Kota or Motor Guide? My old motor would spin in circles if I left the power on and took my foot off the pedal - I hated that! Do the new one's still do that? Which is better MK PowerGuide or MK All-Terain? Does anyone sell used trolling motors - other than E-Bay? And finally, why did this happen to me? I'm a good guy. I hate having to spend $350+ !!! > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlinrogue Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 I like the Minn-Kota All-Terrain.I've used both,and this is the best I've ever had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dotz Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 I had a motorguide brute that was 45# thrust on my boat. It went to running on 6-12 instead of 12-24, the guy told me it lost a magnet. So I bought a Minn kota all terrain and absoulutly love it. It is the best money I ever spent on this boat. I have an old (85 model) minn kota on my jon boat and never had a problem with it. I think Minn kota's are hard to beat. That is all that will be on my boat from now on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddpuppy Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 About a year ago I broke the notch off the bow gaurd mount on my Minn Kota. It is what holds the spring and shaft collar in place in the mount. When I carried it to the shop the guy told me that the Motor Guides were bad about that, but it was the second Minn he had seen it happen too. Ordered new parts and fixed it with J.B. Weld, and a 1/4" piece of key stock before they came in. I like my minn kota. No experience with the difference in the motors it's self though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shad_Master Posted April 22, 2005 Share Posted April 22, 2005 I've been a Minkota man for several years now. My old one had the flat pedal that you rock side to side to turn and it would sometimes get stuck and spin me around in circles, but a little WD-40 usually took care of that. Now I have one with the front to back peddle, it's hard to get used to the change, but they are a workhorse. Last night I saw part of a show that was talking about a Motorguide TM that can be set to follow the contour of the bank - you set it to hold at say 14 1/2 feet and set it on continuous and it will pull you around a point. They probably don't give these things away, but it sure looked cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GobbleDog Posted April 27, 2005 Author Share Posted April 27, 2005 Well, I went and picked up my dead trolling motor today from the fix it guy. While I was there, I asked the guy what type of trolling motor he recommended. He said MotorGuide sells digital trolling motors that NEVER break down. He said the old analog trolling motors are the ones that everyone has problems with. When I asked him what he thought about Minn Kota's PowerDrive, he said take a look around there were a few of them laying around his shop waiting to be fixed. He said Minn Kota doesn't even make digital trolling motors and MotorGuide is currently dumping the remainder of their analog motors into the market for cheap. He said don't buy em, spend the extra money to get a digital one. I felt stupid for admitting it, but I had never heard of trolling motors being either analog or digital. In any case, I know the guy was being honest with me because I know him personally and he doesn't even sell trolling motors. He only fixes them. So according to him, the best trolling motor you can buy is a MotorGuide digital trolling motor. When I asked him about that neat remote feature on MinnKota he said MotorGuide has plans on making something similar to that in the near future but doesn't currently offer that feature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoSo71 Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 Iv'e gone through 2 sets of bearings on my Minnkota 35N (17lb) It's used for my 8ft boat.. Mainly it's because of the weeds I encounter on small lakes getting tangled up.. I'm going to look at Motorguide next.. On my 16ft Lowe I have a Minn 55# It's a little sloppy but works.. ZoSo71 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT Bagwell Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 I put my Minn Kota Maxxums through some crazy beatings and they continue to work just great. The shaft is unbreakable and the prop is super tough. Check them out if you are interested. JT Bagwell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hipster_dufus Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 i am running a MK on my 14 ft jon.i have both MK and MG motors, that i use on my transom. the MK i have never had a problem with, the MG is held together with duct tape and wires. i dont believe that the word digital applies to a dc motor.the only thing digital on it would be the controls, and they are just switches.i think the word digital is used for marketing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.T. Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 I used a minn kota on my 12" jon boat for about a year, motor was probably10-15 years old. Other than being a little small it ran great, couple of the knobs were cracked but no big deal. I just wanted a newer stronger motor. Bought a new minn kota and love it, this is my second season with it and its doing great! Just fyi the old one is still in my shed and still works, keepin it as a back up just in case Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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