I left mine down one time trying to load mine on the trailor. It hit hard and stopped the forward motion of the boat, how it kept from tearing up, I'll never know.
Pulled a good one on my trolling motor a couple of weeks ago. Managed to leave it down and took off with the outboard. Major mental lapse on my part. I guess that's what I get for fishing three people out of a two person boat.
The actual motor part and the shaft are fine. I did manage to tweak the mount a little. Now it doesn't lock and the transducer is tilted a little.
Question is should I try straightening it or should I just look for another bracket/mount? I don't have a problem with purchasing a new bracket its just that my trolling motor is a vintage 1985 Minn Kota, and not sure that I can find one or if one is even still made.
Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions.
And by the way, we did catch some crappie despite the trolling motor casualty.
Thanks, Cale
I left mine down one time trying to load mine on the trailor. It hit hard and stopped the forward motion of the boat, how it kept from tearing up, I'll never know.
Hey Cale:
You should be able to bend it back enough to get it to latch if you do it a little at a time using a block of wood and a hammer. If you break it that will be a good excuse to break down and get a new one!
Mine is an Evinrude, but I hit mine hard one time and thought I had bent it, because it wouldn’t latch. I was going to try to straighten it (what would I be out anyway) I found out after I loosened everything up it had just slipped in the mount and was able to put it back and retighten everything again. Metal will have stretch marks if it bends, and plastic rarely bends it will break look it over good and if you don’t see these signs then loose all mounting screws and nuts and try getting in the locked position. Then all you have to do is level the motor with the ride of the boat and tighten everything back up. I hope it works out for you like it did for me, good luck.
_____________________
may your livewells stay full, and your rods stay bent.
Kevin