Deckhand Users?

[WoodGuy]

I have been thinking of getting an anchor retreiver, but haven't seen any reviews on the Minn Kota Deckhand 40. I guess the smaller 18/35 units had a few issues with gears and davits. Anyways, has anyone here used one or owned one? I have seen them in every catalog and none sell the anchor to go with it . Lotsa cabbage to shell out, but I cover alot of area when I fish and the dropping/lifting gets old at the end of the day . I just sold my 25hp Evinrude today and I have a little mad-money .

[Shellback]

I had one of the small Deckhands on my old boat, a 16 foot tiller deep-V. The mushroom anchor that came with it wasn't much good if there was any wind. Any other style anchor wasn't practical with it as it could only store a mushroom style. If you have to get up and down to throw it in or stow it, you might as well just do without it. Never had any issues with the mechanics of it, always worked fine. I think it only stored about 50 feet of line also, which ain't much. The big model looks nice, but a bit pricey. Some of these discount tool joints, ( Harbor Freight etc) sell 12 volt winches pretty cheap. Depending on how your boats set up, you might be able to get away with one of them.