Need to put a new trolling motor on my bass boat this week. I need it by the weekend, so I'm a little limited in what is available locally, but plan on taking a ride out to Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops tomorrow to pick out a new unit.

The boat is a 17 foot fiberglass hull, with 115 Johnson ooutboard. Current trolling motor is a weird 12/24v 50lb Motorguide Stealth, probably at least 8-10 years old. It is noisy, and when we managed to break the mount last week, I decided to replace the whole thing instead of just the mount.


Currently I'm thinking either the Minn Kota Powerdrive 70 (24v 70 lb) with possibly their universal sonar transducer built in (currently running an Eagle Pro depth finder) or the Minn Kota All Terrain 70 (24v 70 lb) which is a bit cheaper (a lot cheaper without the transducer).

Any feedback would be appreciated, especially from user with experience with this class motor.  I'm not willing to step up to a 36v system at this point, so please limit discussion to 24v units.  Thanks -

You might try this in the Bass Fishing and Crapie section. Look under Trolling Motors-24V. Freshwater.

Dont know about the eaxct model, but I used to have the top of the line minn kota for silent trolling my 21ft whaler.  It worked great and didnt make a sound. Held up to saltwater too.

I have a 1 year old Power Drive 50 that I will sell you.  I bought a different boat that had a Motor Guide trolling motor on it so I don't need it anymore.  It still has a year warranty left.

That said if you do a lot of fishing stay away from the Power Drive series.  Not because they aren't a good motor...but because they aren't convient.  First they are electric driven, which is good because you can have that 18 foot control cable but it's bad because you have to wait for the motor to turn the trolling motor.  But the big thing is the mount and the way you put the motor in and take it out of the water.  With the Power Drive you can't just flip the motor up and put it into the water.  The motor portion locks into the mounting bracket.  So you have to bend over, push the top of the trolling motor down to get the motor portion over the mounting bracket, then you have to push the whole trolling motor shaft horizontally until the motor completely clears the bracket, only then can you tilt the motor up and put it in the water.  Taking the motor out is the same process just in reverse.  It's a pain in the ass especially if you are going to be doing it all day long.  

Of the two choices I would definately go with the All-Terrain.  There might be better units out there but I'm not familar with them.

Unfortunately, the 50 is a 12V unit or I would take you up on your offer.  

How long does the process you describe take?  Or is in simply just a PITA?  

With my current motor it's a matter of pulling the motor up, then making sure that it's turned the right way so that I can use the velcro strapping to hold it down (necessary if there is remotely rough water and I plan on going up on plane). The head of the motor is very long and the cabling very stiff, so if I don't get it just right, I can't strap it down. So any improvement over that would be a plus to me.

Quoted: Unfortunately, the 50 is a 12V unit or I would take you up on your offer.   How long does the process you describe take?  Or is in simply just a PITA?   With my current motor it's a matter of pulling the motor up, then making sure that it's turned the right way so that I can use the velcro strapping to hold it down (necessary if there is remotely rough water and I plan on going up on plane). The head of the motor is very long and the cabling very stiff, so if I don't get it just right, I can't strap it down. So any improvement over that would be a plus to me.

That's how the trolling motor on my new boat is, that that frustration times 10 for the Power Drive.  It's not difficult just a pain.  The trolling motor shaft is flexible so when you push down on it the shaft bends and the motor doesn't get high enough to clear the mount.  When you are trying to get the motor in the water quick this is guaranteed to happen and cause massive frustration.  With my current cable driven motor I can change direction 360 degrees in a couple of seconds while with the Power Drive it's fairly long, I don't remember how long but you will wait for the motor.  The good thing is the Power Drive motor isn't limited to one full rotation as the cable driven one is.  But again if you are trying to do something quick the Power Drive will slow you down.

Also I never really got the hang of the Power Drive foot control.  The slider for the speed is extremely soft while the rest of the controls are stiff.  If you are trying to adjust the power and move just a bit you go way past the speed you wanted to be at.  Often I would bend down and set the speed with my hand because I couldn't make a fine enough adjustment with my foot.

When you go to the Bass Pro Shop take a close look at the mounts and controls.  Ask them if they can show you how they operate.

Currently I'm thinking either the Minn Kota Powerdrive 70 (24v 70 lb) with possibly their universal sonar transducer built in  


Good choice i just installed the exact same thing but get the auto pilot verson and remote i put it on my fishin rod and now i can drive the boat from any where

Quoted: Currently I'm thinking either the Minn Kota Powerdrive 70 (24v 70 lb) with possibly their universal sonar transducer built in   Good choice i just installed the exact same thing but get the auto pilot verson and remote i put it on my fishin rod and now i can drive the boat from any where

Apparently the AutoPilot option can be added later, which was one of the factors making me lean towards that unit. I'll have to consider SWIRE's opinion as well, though.  I will check the units out when I'm in the shops and see what works for me.

Ended up with the Minn Kota PowerDrive 70 with the CoPilot option (wireless remote control the size of a car remote). The AT wasn't in stock at either store and the CoPilot option means I don't have to leave the foot control attached, which frees up space on the front casting deck (which I need on this little 17 footer).

Thanks for the suggestions, folks.

thats the exact rig i have on my 17 foot cat ....................nice setup  

Quoted: Ended up with the Minn Kota PowerDrive 70 with the CoPilot option (wireless remote control the size of a car remote). The AT wasn't in stock at either store and the CoPilot option means I don't have to leave the foot control attached, which frees up space on the front casting deck (which I need on this little 17 footer). Thanks for the suggestions, folks.

What did you think of the action required to put the motor in and take it back out?  The CoPilot is an awesome feature especially since you don't have to deal with touchy foot control.

Quoted: What did you think of the action required to put the motor in and take it back out?  The CoPilot is an awesome feature especially since you don't have to deal with touchy foot control.

I find taking it out quite easy (at least playing with the boat on the trailer). There's a definite trick to getting the motor into the water. I'd play with it for a minute or two and it would suddenly do what I want. I think once I figure out what it is I'm doing to make it release easily I think I'll be able to quickly deploy and retract the motor.

Without the foot control and with the cleaned up wiring for the depth finder (I got the unit with the built- in transducer) the front of the boat is looking much cleaner and I'm looking forward to giving it a workout tomorrow.

Quoted: Quoted: What did you think of the action required to put the motor in and take it back out?  The CoPilot is an awesome feature especially since you don't have to deal with touchy foot control. I find taking it out quite easy (at least playing with the boat on the trailer). There's a definite trick to getting the motor into the water. I'd play with it for a minute or two and it would suddenly do what I want. I think once I figure out what it is I'm doing to make it release easily I think I'll be able to quickly deploy and retract the motor.

That was my experience as well.  You play with it and it doesn't go but then all of a sudden the same movement works.  I never figured out a trick to make it work everytime.

Without the foot control and with the cleaned up wiring for the depth finder (I got the unit with the built- in transducer) the front of the boat is looking much cleaner and I'm looking forward to giving it a workout tomorrow.

Sounds like a good setup.  Report back on your first run and let me know how well the CoPilot works.

Spent a couple of hours on the water yesterday evening.  Was a good time to test out the trolling motor, not the best for fishing. Winds were steady at ~ 10 MPH with 15 MPH gusts, so the open areas of the lake were very choppy and pushing hard on the boat.

The first thing I noticed was that the motor has significantly more thrust than the previous 50# unit.  The boat responded quickly and even in the wind and chop was able to be navigated.  I eventually pulled into a sheltered cove with calm water and the motor worked really well and was dead silent. In the choppy water, not having to deal with the foot pedal was very nice, and the extra foot space gained since I didn't even attach the pedal meant that it was easier to keep my footing in a rocking boat with the clearer front deck.

Getting used to using the remote will still take some time. I need to attach something to the bottom of the remote so that the orientation is clear, otherwise everything I do is backwards. I need to tighten up the mount a lot; the long shaft and high power is flexing the rubber mounting points more than I expected, so I'll need to make sure they are as tight as possible, and if it still moves, add additional mounting points. I don't see any difference in the quickness of the motor turnming compared to the cable drive unit. When I push the direction buttons on the remote, the response is immediate.

The most difficult thing to get used to is the fact that the trolling motor prop has to be turned on and off. WIth the previous unit, the power to the prop was via a momentary contact switch; as soon as I let up on it the prop stopped turning. With this motor I have to explicitly turn the prop off.

On the issue of getting the motor in and out of the water, out is consistently simple. As long as I remember to have the motor turned so that the prop is to the right, it comes right up and locks into the mount.  Putting it in the water is still more problematic. As SWIRE pointed out, you do the same thing twice and it works once but not the second time. It will take some getting used to, but it looks like if I unlock the motor and push and twist the head at the same time, it releases properly.

Thanks for the suggestions folks. This motor should be good for the remainder of the time I own this boat.

I know the foot pedal has a momentary on off switch you push to run the motor, I wasn't aware that the remote didn't have that feature.

It sounds like it will serve your boat well.