Further North

I would ask around about PowerDrives. The general consensus I have is that the foot pedals are terrible.

I'd laugh...but that's not funny...until much, much later. One of the benefits towing with an SUV with a lift gate that goes up...

Also: Smaller vehicles and skinny roads. Not sure if it is still in play, but there used to be a limit on the width of a vehicle in Japan...go over it and you were subject to very heavy annual taxes.

I just went from 215s to 205s this spring...the 205s are narrower (about 0.40") , but slightly taller. My Goodyear 215/75R-14's were 26.7" diameter, the new 205 Kumho 857's are 27". 0.30" difference. It your trailer is set up so that much difference gives you a problem...you've got other issues that need to be dealt with. I highly recommend the Kumho 857s, but recognize you might not be a place to wait for them. The odds of your guy having them in stock are pretty close to zero. They are an 8 ply, D load range tire (2271 lbs @ 65 PSI on a single axle for each tire - I doubt your boat weighs anywhere near 4542 lbs.) with a higher speed rating (a Q Speed rating is 99 MPH and really is a way to judge how well the tire is made and balanced) than most trailer tires...all good stuff, and they have deeper tread than most as well.

I don't understand...the distance from the hitch ball to the axle stays the same, right? That defines the turn radius, and the wheelbase of the vehicle. I raise my tailgate to back in as well, too much dyslexia in my family to not...

That's thnkin' outta the box!

The red thing under my brackets is just a reflector. Brake lights sit forward and to the outside a the back of the step. the inside corner is visible in the 2nd picture. My trailer is wider than 84" by a bunch. Tough to measure, but I'd guess it pushes 102".

Good stuff, I agree. An alternative knot is the FG - I find that the main line really bites into the coating on the Surflon leaders and holds it tight with a knot much smaller than the Uni-to-Uni.

That's it, right there. What's right for me isn't right for everyone else...and vice versa.

Gotowe.

Yep. All of that.

I'm a shallow water fisherman much of the time...just upgraded from Terrova to Ulterra. While auto-deploy is nice...power trim is the best feature on the motor for me as an upgrade from the Terrova. Foot pedal is a significant upgrade as well - slimmer, and with spot-lock on the pedal you can lock while you're reeling in a fish if you're sorta coordinated. I've had two cable steer trolling motors...one lasted two trips, the other was gone after the first trip. Too much fiddling around, constant tuning...can't walk around the boat...didn't like them. I've never understood the need to make directional changes so fast that I'd need a cable steer...but I absolutely get that some people need it.

That'll work...for a while...until the slits tear out...or the green pads wear through in the middle. ...either of which will happen in the middle of the longest week long fishing trip you take to the most remote place you can go where you can't get replacements...Like Ontario, abut 9 miles north of Ignace... I think the OP should do whatever he wants to try to save a nickle...but at the end of the day doing it in a way that'll last is the best option. I tried all kinds of "budget" fixes on a Lund Pro-V where the bottom of my transom looked very close to what the OP pictured...it just chewed stuff up...and usually pretty fast.

The green pads will fall out at some point...ask how I know... I tried most of the cheap ways around this...none of 'em worked long term. Best to do ti right from the get go.

I fish a local lake that is very Canadian shield-ish; it goes from deep water to wrecked lower unit really fast: ...on side imaging you can see the trenches (some with abrupt stops) that folks have cut in the bottom. Worse than that....is that they drag skiers, wake boarders and tubers through those spots that are only a couple feet deep. If someone falls off in water than shallow...scares the hell out of me...

^^^ THIS ^^^ Fish comes up, rod goes down...into the water if needed.

I power load almost all the time...and I do a lot of it on unpaved landings. I was thinking of this topic as I loaded my boat last night... Power load does not mean full throttle and using the prop to dig a hole in the lake bottom...it means doing all the right things, including getting your bunks wet and getting the trailer in the water far enough so that it's just a nudge of the throttle and you're on and ready to go.

I went to braid on my LTX...solved the low line capacity issue. I use the bright green Suffix 832 so I can watch my line better...there's a 6' - 8' leader on there, either fluoro or co-poly.

I would guess that fall 2017 will be the first opportunity for any real sale pricing.

That'd be my bet, but I'm wrong on a regular basis. There might be a "sale" that'll drop the price some, for a short time at a regular retail "holiday"*, but an overall price drop would surprise me. You could probably get sweet deals on the old tech between now and the time the new ones come out though. *Think Christmas, tax return time, spring fishing sales, fall inventory reductions on fishing gear...stuff like that.

I doubt we'll see much for price drops on the Ultrex (unless it doesn't sell well) in early 2017. The Terrovas and Ulterras were dropped because of new tech that'll be available in '17.

I ran that transducer on the bottom of a Terrova with e Transducer Saver for 4 years, worked great.

I did this this spring...Went with a Abu Garcia LTX and a 7' 1" St. Criox Rage rated for 1/16 - 5/16 oz lures. Worked great. Then I broke the tip off the rod. Was going to be not far from the St. Criox Factory a couple days later, so I stopped by...they have quit making that rod...so even though they had a couple stll in stock, I went with a 6' 10" Avid with the same lure weight ratings. It works well too. It'll toss a weightless Senko a stupid distance. I'll be curious what rods get recommended.

Wayne...I'd challenge that. If someone hasn't seen both the bow mount 360° and how Terrova/Ulterra TMs work, it's hard to get a handle on it. I had a helluva time explaining it to folks, but I can show it to them in 10 seconds. Thanks for mentioning that - I had not seen it. Looks pretty slick, I wonder how it lasts long term? I assume it voids the warranty on th emotor though, so it's at least another full season out for me. Similar to what my buddy did above?

Tte motor shafts on the Terrova and the Ulterra rotate...and they also slide all the way up and down within the housing as they deploy. Both stop you from using the the bow mount 360°. On the cable steer trolling motors, there is a "shaft within a shaft" that rotates...and the shafts do not slide up and down within the housing, so you where you mount the 360° can stay in the same place. A friend of mine did this: Worked great until he ran the transducer into the bottom and bent the mount... I'll let the experts weigh in...but I doubt it. What I'd really like to see is a DI transducer with the US2. We're long overdue for this, IMO.