MinnKota fails me again!

I hate to sound like a broken record, but I am at my wits end as what to do for a trolling motor! I have a 3 yr. old PowerDrive with universal sonar and in that time I have either brought it in or bought new pedals 6 times!!! It wouldn’t steer to the right, so I brought it in, worked great for a couple of months until Sunday….back to it’s old tricks. It’s just one thing after another with this dang motor! I’m not completely ready to jump the MinnKota ship, possibly considering a Maxum, but does anyone have any suggestions? Anybody own one of the competitor models that they are happy with or maybe suggest a different motor in the MinnKota line? Warranties are great, but I want to spend time fishing, not running back and forth to the warranty repair guy! Thanks for any help, I’d appreciate it.

maybe you just need to break down and buy a whole new motor. you could have gotten a monday or a friday motor. j/k anyway, I woulnd’t jump ship yet, but you will find out mixed reviews from all brands of motors. some love em and other hate em. it comes down to what you prefer.

so tell us what kind of fishing you do with your motor, what size is your boat and what size motor you have on now.

thanks

shane

A buddy of mine has experienced the same type of problems, only his is with the ability for it to turn on and off. Every time he fishes in the rain his pedal quits working. He’s on pedal 4 or 5 in three years.

I have a motor guide, cable steer, and have beat it to death over 5 years without a problem. As nice as it would be to have the ability to point the motor in a direction and take my foot off the pedal, I am very apprehensive to ever go away from the cable steering. I don’t ever see anyone complaining that those quit working.

I love maxxums. Never had a significant problem. Some walleye guyes don’t like having to keep their foot on the pedal, but I like the reliability. I’ll say that I’ve heard of guys going to the keychain-type hand control on the powerdrives to avoid wearing the footpedal and had good results.

I had a rheostat/speed wheel go out on my Maxxum once. But that’s it over the last 6 years on two regularly used boats.

Edit: You’ve heard the stories about AlvinMack’s boat, and that might explain his Maxxum’s problems as well!

This may be worth a try. I was having same problem with a PowerDrive on an old boat. Tried a few different pedals, no help. Then after putting in a new set of batteries, everything worked 100% again. (And yes, I thougt the old batteries were fine…..go figure.)

Mack, what kind of problems are you having on your maxuum?

A buddy of mine basically had similar problems, more/less.

He called Minnekota direct.

He basically “instructed” Minnekota to send him a brand new trolling motor, overnight, via truck, with a box and shipping label/instructions so he could send them their junk motor back.

My opinion on this is that you have gone beyond your expectations as a consumer with the problems you are having. If I were you, I would demand a new trolling motor and tell Minnekota to take the bad motor back.

Be firm and strong, yet kind with your words.
If the person you talk to cannot authorize what I just passed onto you, then ask for that person’s supervisor. If that person’s supervisor doesn’t help you with the above info,……….ask for that person’s supervisor. Keep pushing until you get someone with the authority to do what is written above.

It does work, I’ve seen it first hand. Just do not accept “no” for an answer.

Good luck and plan about 2 hours on the phone when you make the call!

The Maxxuums (cable-drive) are what I use. They are almost identical to the Evinrude ones before Minnkota bought them. For instance, the pedal is exactly the same as my old Evinrude trolling motor.

I hear numerous stories again and again and again about the foot pedals on the Powerdrives giving out. I’ve only heard one story of a cable breaking. I’ve been using cable drive trolling motors for 22 years without a problem.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! Just to clarify, I have had problems with the foot-controller itself, but this latest problem is in the actual motor-head….that is what I was told by the guy that fixes them anyway. It’s the second such problem in 2 months. I think I’ll try Gary’s approach first and see how that goes. Perhaps if I tell them I want to pay the difference on an upgrade to the Maxxum they’ll be more willing to deal? If not, well I have a trolling motor I’ll sell somebody REAL CHEAP!

I have had 3 different Autopilots which have a similar pedal to the Powerdrive and all of them had problems. There are contacts in the pedal that can be cleaned which may help, but most likely you need a new pedal. I now have a Genesis that surprisingly has been trouble-free. I hear that they have REAL problems.

I’ve had several MinnKotas and 1 Motorguide…and that was an absolute lemon so I came back to Minnkota. I’m not happy to hear all of the problems you guys are experiencing because my Minnkotas have been pretty flawless (so far) and I expect to get one of the new powerdrives with the new footpedal this Spring. HHmmmm, maybe I should wait.

Slip- Minn Kota’s service has not let me down yet!

I have used Maxxums exclusively for years. Sure, I’ve had a few issues, but they out-weight the alternative… .

Maxxum is the only way to go!!! the only thing that I have problems with is the little pin that holds the dang thing together has a tendency to slide out in rough water. I’m on my 5th Maxxum and they have all done that to me. I’m running a 101 Pro right now and its a little different set-up but still need to carry a hammer in the boat…Other than that, they are great trolling motors

Same here. I’ve been running Maxxums exclusively. Many problems yet many more days without problems. I run them into everything under the water I can find. Minnkota has always made it right. They typically go above and beyond what they would have to do as well.
No doubt it is frustrating, but you won’t find a better motor in a different brand name. Both Minnkota and Motorguide are great motors. They each have their followers.

Phishirman- I thought I was the only one who had to tap the dang pin back in after a long, rough run… .

I would gladly do that than have my motor not work though… .

Get a cable drive Maxxum. There is a reason everybody on tour runs them. They work!! I had my issues with the PD units on my first boat and that was the last one I owned. The Maxxum is a solid motor and problems are a rare thing.

Go to the Maxxum if you keep having pedal problems. My powedrive has served me well for years with no pedal problems but I know of others that have had the pedals go bad. The Maxxum may be the better fit for you. We’ll be testing the new Minn Kota Terrova in 2007. They have a new pedal design, as does the new 2007 powerdrive. I think we’ll have our own James Holst beat on a new Minn Kota for a while and see how they hold up on the river. That guy goes through the pedals.

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We’ll be testing the new Minn Kota Terrova in 2007. They have a new pedal design, as does the new 2007 powerdrive. I think we’ll have our own James Holst beat on a new Minn Kota for a while and see how they hold up on the river. That guy goes through the pedals.

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Yup’er. I go through a new pedal every month and a half. Talk about a pain. I’d love to put the Terrova through the paces over the course of a summer of guiding to see if this new unit has been improved to the point that previous issues with existing motors have been eliminated.

Wade… you bringing one with you at the end of the week? Make mine a 36 volt, please.

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Wade… you bringing one with you at the end of the week?

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We’ll have to talk about that over a cap’n coke.

Captain. Scotch. Tequila. Your choice my friend. I’ll see you and T1 on Saturday.

You betcha will! She and I are looking forward to it!

If so many are having problems with the foot pedal, why not go with the wireless remote? I don’t use my foot pedal, but I imagine everyone has different ways of trolling.

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If so many are having problems with the foot pedal, why not go with the wireless remote? I don’t use my foot pedal, but I imagine everyone has different ways of trolling.

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Personal preference I would assume. I was lefting wanting a few more features after trying them. Others love them. If they could add a power setting indicator then they’d have the starts of a remote that would work for me. To make it even better a head direction indicator for use in the dark from the back of the boat would be a HUGE plus for a couple patterns I fish.

Here’s an example of why the wireless keypad fell short for my needs… I use small variations is thrust setting needed to maintain a consistent speed to locate current seams that can’t be found with the naked eye. Using the wireless I found it very difficult to keep track of “bumps” in power and how that related to changes in speed which would indicate those little current seams that walleyes just love to hang around.

With the footpad it is easy to keep one eye on the front mounted GPS and keep track of everything. A speed setting of 4 gives me a 1.2 mph forward speed 20′ off shoreline heading into the current. That same power setting of 4 gives me a 0.5 mph forward speed 25′ off the same shoreline… and I just found a nice little current seam that can be hard to spot with the naked eye on a windy day or if there’s no debris in the water.

I am one picky son of a gun when it comes to boat and speed control.

Slip- When you call them and they give you a hard time and keep putting you on hold….take deep breaths and don’t rip the phone off the wall. I know you can do it buddy!

Who knows maybe they will send you a new one or give you a heck of a deal on a better model.

I have ran both Minnkota’s and Motorguides. Both are good motors. Have had some issues with both. And as Eric said, ran them into everything under water. Minnkota has been great service. Sent me new motors twice!

Using the copilot is a good suggestion, but like James said, it doesn’t work for everyone. I use mine quite a bit but use the pedal a lot too.

The new copilot for Terrova has some new features that should help us out a bit. Here’s the description:

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The world at your fingertips — the wireless CoPilot remote control accessory lets you control speed and steering from anywhere on the boat. It also activates the AutoPilot™ and high speed bypass functions on Terrova motors. CoPilot provides you every fish-fighting advantage on a clean, uncluttered deck, while freeing you from being ”locked” to the pedal. Terrova motors equipped with CoPilot offer more ways to control your motor! Instantly switch between maximum speed and your original speed with a simple touch of the high speed bypass button; you also get one-touch AutoPilot activation to keep you on your desired course.

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The new features are the high speed bypass button and the one-touch Autopilot activation.

Autopilot is a wondeful thing when it is working on all cylinders.

Copilot is great but I still use the foot pedal too so I get the best of both worlds. I haven’t used the autopilot much [forget about it most of the time] so I can’t comment on that really. The new features sound nice on the new model Wade is talking about. If anyone is thinking of getting a new trolling motor Wade has great prices, great service, free shipping and no tax if out of Iowa. Can’t say enough about Wades service. Its Tops.
Thanks, Bill

[quoteI am one picky son of a gun when it comes to boat and speed control.

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This may explain why you catch more fish and most of us.

Oh no, is it true???, I got my new boat last summer and I have an autopilot pd 55. I just had it in today to get a new circuit board and compass. (was going nuts on autopilot mode) I had a cable control motorguide previously for 5 years without any issues, none!! Now I spend twice as much $$$$ and I see others have had this problem and others, just great. Ed Shilling MinnKota service in West Allis, Wi was excellent and very helpful.

I had the opporturnit to attend some training of Minnkota motors at the Johnson Outdoors headquarters in Mankato last week. I got a first hand look at the way the motors are made from the very start to the last staple going in the box of a finished motor! The engineers showed us what DIDN’T work and what they have changed, especially in the footpedals. From what I was told and saw, they have made some fantastic quality control changes. They reduced the steering “dome switches” from 4 to 2 in the foot pedal…which cuts the chance of issues in half. They also have changed the plug where the pedal plugs in by the motor. That was a major soruce of problems for them. Corrosion and shorting out were the main problem. That resulted in lots of issues with the foot pedals.

The new Terrova has some great design features as well. Should make it much easier to run the foot pedal! Time will tell if all these new and improved designs will pay off! They sure sounded and looked like great improvements. Time will tell. Steve