Great Lakes Bass Fishing Forum

As any of you who have ever fished with me know, I've had nothing but trouble with my Fortrex trolling motor since I got it 3 years ago.  Being a dealer I knew when they would be available so I pre-ordered one and got one of the first ones in Michigan.  Kinda like buying a first year model car, I might have wanted to wait a year.  I'm sure Don Watts felt the same way for a while until Minn Kota made things right with him.

The main pivot point had a tolerance stack up issue that the engineers at Minn Kota didn't think was going to be an issue on the very early models.  Too much slop in the main pivot bushings caused the motor to tip and twist when being deployed or retrieved and it simply ate the plastic bushings to a point where it would then shear off the four 1/4-20 screws that hold the whole thing together.  That first season while fishing Hardy Pond in the fall I nearly thru the entire motor into the lake when those 4 screws all broke at the same time.  Only the steering cable and the rope handle in my hand kept it from going overboard.  Well, Minn Kota "fixed" it under warranty and I thought nothing of it till it did it again the next spring.  They fixed it again but now I was skeptical.  Sure enough, it did it again this summer and I've limped thru the season with a very sloppy mount that would in no way ever line up when you retrieved it.  Had to put it into the "fork" by hand every time.

Long story short (I know, too late!) I called Minn Kota again this week, explained the situation to the lead technician Chris and he agreed, I had a bum mount and it shouldn't be my problem to keep getting it fixed.  They are sending me the entire mount free of charge.  It seems they are very aware of the stack up issue and agree that it should never have been sold that way, and the new ones have tighter tollerances and they are using a stronger material.  I should see the new mount tomorrow.  So now my fortrex will be 2/3rds new... only the shaft and motor will be original.

So if you are having similar issues, call Minn Kota service and ask for Chris.  He was very helpful.

Glad they are fixing the problem for you.

No kuddo's for selling defective equipment though :(

On the motorguide side of things... I have had three different 24v Tours over the past year.  All of them mounted and performed as expected except one. The pin holes were off location by 3/6'' of an inch causing it to not go into the stow position. It was an easy fix but it was still not to spec.

I wonder if these parts, from both manufactures, are made in mexico/china? I dont know?

I do know that Minn Kota changed suppliers for the mount.  New supplier, no more issues.

My new mount arrived today!  Think I'll have time to swap it onto the boat before Martin's wedding at 2:00 tomorrow??  ;D

In my book, it would be a perfectly fine reason to be late.