Minn Kota V2 Powerdrive autopilot/copilot mods that worked...

[Cane Pole]

I tried the cutting the rubber and the grinding modifications. It helped some, but was not enough to let me easily release the motor.

I had an old rubber handled paint scraper that I wasn't using (never planned to either). I took the scraper plate and hand knob off and ground (melted) the surface to kinda fit the "nub handle" on the Minn Kota. I then moved the plastic collar (release jam) right above the motor on the shaft up about a 1/4 inch. This made for further extension of the motor from the cradle when pushing the deploy handle.

This thing now works fine. Easy, easy to deploy and the motor is not loose in the cradle. It is not a thing of beauty, but it is functional.

Sure glad Minn Kota makes a long shaft. The handle would not work if the shaft was 6 inches shorter.

[Charger]

Looks good to me. We just installed a new V2 on my dads boat. We also noticed how hard it was to deploy. Maybe with a little use it will be easier.

[BleuGhill]

For all the great things I've ever heard about Minn Kota's......

I just bought and installed a V2 Powerdrive (40# thrust - the ONLY model with no transducer!) and I'm afraid there just aren't enough mods to redeem it. For $380 plus shipping, it's an engineering abortion IMO. The base isn't nearly long enough, because by the time I left enough overhang on front for the pivot to clearance the boat, there was barely enough base to bolt it to my boat, a 16 foot Lowe (Tracker type). All 4 bolts are within 6" of the aluminum lip at the very front of the boat..and even that took so doing!!

The next thing is that the shaft is 48" - long enough for a pontoon or Queen Mary! Sheesh! If you adjust it with about a foot sticking up in the air, it's just begging to hang a a lure somewhere on that coiled Powerdrive cord. Letting it fully down would plow up every stump and rock in the lake!

Finally, the greatest Rube Goldberg detail of all: once the TM is deployed, the dern transducer cable is flopping around in the water because you can't attach it to the shaft (since the shaft has to slide up and down)!! So you have to leave all this slack down in the water flopping around beside the shaft, plus when you raise it there's slack laying everywhere just waiting to get caught with a crankbait. You just can't make this into a workable situation!

Hard to deploy is the least of my problems ha ha! And that whining motor on the Powerdrive? Minn Kota should be ashamed. Really, overall, this thing...with it's plastic sides held on with cheesy pot metal screws...is the bottom of the barrel for a trolling motor. The only positive I saw to it was the robust motor. Period.

I'm going to give myself a couple days to figger out this beast, and if the mods don't just flow from my brain, it's going back to the dealer. Problem is, I don't know what to buy back to replace it with! My old Evinrude TM with 36" shaft was bulky (the stiff cables sucked) , heavy and awkward, but boy it worked and fit the boat fine.

Just what the heck kind of bow mount TM can a person get nowadays that fits a 16' Tracker-type aluminum? All the Minn Kota's seem to be made for Goldberg barges.

Sorry for the diatribe (but it just so happens to be true..).

[Cane Pole]

Ghil,

I saw some of it coming, so I kinda planned ahead. My boat came with a Motorguide. I didn't want to drill any holes, so I got a stainless steel plate at the local scrap metal place and cut and drilled the plate to fit the existing holes. Next I drilled and tapped the plate to fit the Minn Kota quick release. No problems here. Look at the pics in my post. Notice that I stuck the Minn Kota about 4 inches out in front of my boat. All went smoother than silk.

I got the built in transducer and the 54 inch shaft. I like this rig real well.

However, I do understand your frustration. Sux when things don't work right.

[skiptomylu]

I have the new Terrova and have no trouble pulling it back up with the way they release. Just push in the little bar on the front and push it down and pull on the head and it tilts Right back to be pulled in.

Were your mods to deploy or to stow? Or maybe both?

[drill instructor]

thats the only problem that i have had with the powerdrives, and now i guess the Terrova fixed it. I guess that will be my first purchase when i get back, if wifey lets me But she dont know about the welcome back fund for myself

[SpeckWick]

I too installed a PD V2 on my Tracker PT175 this spring. As for performance, I am thrilled. Much more power than the MG that came on it, and the variable speed control is awesome. I have recently started doing a lot of trolling. At the lowest speed, in constant run, it barely uses any battery. That makes a huge difference over the guzzler I had. It does, however, stick sometimes when trying to deploy. I've come close a time or two to falling head first over the front in rough water deploying it. I got a 55#, and it also has no transducer. Mine is mounted with the whole clamp style adapter, and the hanging wire is a bit of a concern. But with all the thick stuff I've beaten and banged around in, no hang ups so far. Overall, I'm happy with it, though.

[coony278]

I just put one on my 17' bass tracker , I like it ok , it just sucks on deploying it. They really could have came up with something better on that.

Coony