TNeal

97 Stratos, Three year old MinnKota Power Drive V2, 70#. I started having trouble with my trolling motor, it would run and then not and so on. Took it in to be repaired, they said it was wiring and rather than the batteries being jumped at the plug, they're now jumped at the batteries. $200 later my trolling motor runs consisently but it appears to be running in reverse. When I hit the foot pedal to go left, it goes right, there is very little power and it sounds like it's grinding coffee when I put it on full thrust. Any help would certainly be appreciated. Thanks.

No, just any given time. Fishing in open water. First, my dates were off, the last problem was foot pedal related, this problem only surfaced in November. . Now that you say that about overheating, I added a weed chopper that we got from a vendor at our classic in Okeechobee. I'm wondering if that collar might be causing the TM to think it's jammed up and overheating. The collar mounts around the base of the motor and then two extensions that have serrated edges that run down to the prop. I'm going to remove the collar and see how it works next weekend. Thanks for the advice, it is appreciated.

I have a 70 lb MK Power Drive V2 about four years old, the motor will run fine, then it stops responding. If you let it sit for a while (someones ten, sometimes thirty minutes), it will become responsive again and work fine. I replaced the foot pedal and didn't have a problem with it for about six months. Then of course during a tournament it stopped working. I've also replaced the plug twice. It goes completely dead, nothing, and then after sitting it will work as good as it did the day I bought it. The optomistic side I guess is that this downtime gives one an opportunity to bond with their power pole. Any advice/words of wisdom would be appreciated. Thanks.

Has anyone stayed at "Kissimmee Adventures", the photos on line look cool.

I've been to Kissimmee countless times and we've always stayed at Camp Mack. They have nothing available for the weekend we want to go over. Are there other fish camps that someone could recommend? On the lake with decent boat ramps, doesn't have to be Kissimmee, Toho or Hatch OK too. Thanks

97 Johnson 175 FastStrike - Went to Kissimmee to prefish for a tournament in two weeks. Motor ran great first thing in the morning, fished for about two hours. Started to move, had a hard time getting it started, it'd run a few seconds and die. Then I think I flooded it, so I waited a while and tried again. Once I got it started, got on plane, it ran fine up to about 30 MPH. Then it started surging. By surging I mean it was like pushing down and back on the throttle, push and let off. Then it would just die. It would start right back up but do the same thing over and over. We idled to the nearest boat ramp, didn't want to push the motor. Also, any suggestions for a mechanic in the Spring Hill/Brooksville, FL area Thanks

Since Power Pole came out with the sportsman, specifically for bass boats and considerably less expensive, I'm considering buying one. Professional install runs about $300 from what I'm seeing. Has anyone installed one? Instructions on the Power Pole website appear to be fairly easy, but so does putting together a swingset. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Couple developments since my original post.... 1 - I did call Minnkota, they said it couldn't possibly be a defect, it was probably stowed incorrectly...but...if I wanted to take it to a MK service location to have it checked out I could. I took it Central Florida Trolling Motor in Lakeland (863 666 2248) - fabulous folks, checked it out and said it would be covered under warranty. 2 - I've talked to several folks and few have anything good to say about this motor. I finally talked to a guy at BPS and told him about the slow ramp up and that the 70# just didn't cut it (or not like you'd expect it to). He said that motor has plenty of power and that shouldn't be an issue with a 19' boat, said it was probably the way I have the batteries wired. DUH! I've been a hater and it never crossed my mind to think about the way the batteries were connected. I guess this would pose a problem. Good grief Nothing can fix the stow and deploy issue, but if wiring fixes the power problem and warranty fixes the motor, it certainly beats another $800.

Since you brought it up, which one would be the best? This MK was a 70# and had a hard time moving my 19' boat. As far as the weed wedge prop, I cleared more weeds from the prop than it cleared from itself. Thanks

Two years ago I bought this TM, I was disappointed with the time it took to get up to speed and Saturday in our first tournament of the season, it rectified the problem for me. I had just got on plane, and a pin in the mount broke, trolling motor hit the water, busted the prop and bent the steel mounting bracket like it was nothing. Luckily it didn't damage the hull or the deck. The pin which is about a half inch in diameter looks like it broke in half. Has anyone had this problem? Thanks

We've only been fishing tournaments about three years and fortunately we've only been caught in three bad storms. The last one we had bridges and spent two hours tied off under it with several other boats, bad storm. After two hours, we made a run for the ramp, loaded and left. When I checked the weigh in, only five of 32 boats didn't weigh fish. Lightning was popping all over and folks standing up fishing. Lightning didn't seem to bother them. I'm just curious, how you guys handle yourselves in those situations. Do you load and leave or stick it out and if you stick it out, what do you do? Do they make lightning protection for bass boats??? Living in Central Florida, summer fishing you're gonna get wet, that's OK, just not cooked. I always check the weather reports....."showers in the late afternoon" uh-huh ! How bad does a storm have to get before they call a tournament? Looking for advice on safety in bad weather. Thanks

Does anyone have any advice on fishing Lake Tarpon. We've been out a few times and have a hard time catching fish on that lake. Thanks

I'm fishing the AAP open in Kissimmee next month, I hear these tournaments are really well put together for 200+ boats. Anyone fish these before and what's your take on it?

I'm replacing bunks for the first time so I've tried to do some research so I don't need to study up on hull repair as well. I have read several takes on this "simple" project. Tighten the bolts all the way down because the weight of the boat will cause them to adjust and you can snug 'em up when the boat is loaded. Others say don't tighten them all the way, load the boat and then adjust. Staples, Liquid Nail, or both? What about bevelling the edges? 'preciate your help

I bought a used '98 Stratos 282. My trim and gas gauges quit last month. I don't have a manual, and I can't find any information on wiring on line. I've heard it's rare that the gauges go bad it's usually just a fuse. Does anyone have any advice on this. Thanks