I have an older stratos 16' fiberglass bassboat. It does not have much room at the front for mounting a trolling motor. My current motor is a 12volt old Motorguide with a 36 inch shaft. It had to be mounted at a large angle just to get the screws installed. In this angle, even with the short shaft, the head of the motor hangs out over the port gunnel, which is not ideal. I want to replace it with something similar, however, most of the newer models I have seen have even longer shafts. I have been looking at a minnkota powerdrive, but not sure there is room to mount the quick release mounting plate. Has anyone run into this and how did you correct the situation?

Can you post some photos so we can see it? Thanks

I can't comment on the issue at hand, but I would highly advise against the Powerdrive.

I used one for about 15 years on my family's fishing boat and it had constant problems, especially with the pedal. It's also very loud and takes forever to turn.

Pick out another model is my advice.