I took my 1974 wellcraft airslot sport 165 open bow boat with the motorguide 70 lbs foot controlled trolling motor to gravelly point to fish and test out my raymarine dragonfly 7
downvision and chirp sonar fish finder and map charting GPS , I fixed the trolling motor by pinching the foot controlled steering cable with a 1" drywall screw into the hole to pin down the cable inside the steering rack gear.
I deployed the trolling motor into the water after we got to the boat ramp very excited. I started the motor and the cable snapped right away. The motor lower shaft started to spin freely again. I knew the cable probably came loose again but I thought I pinched it down really tight. So, I needed to open the power head cover and have a look. I was debating whether to open the power head on the water at the boat ramp, because parts could drop into the water. But, we just got to the boat ramp and I was really anxious to see what is going on inside the power head. I kept telling myself I will be careful. As soon as I loosened the 3 screws and opened the cover of the power head, 2 things flew out and dropped into the water - bummer. I looked closely, Sxxxxx - my steering rack gear was gone, so was my coupling for the directional sign. I was really mad about myself. Now, I am going to have to junk this trolling motor. I don't see any point to invest any money into this crap. So, I started to research for new trolling motor with 70 lbs push and above. Man, they are so expensive from $600 and up.
An idea came to me after a good couple night of sleep. I am just going to convert this foot controlled trolling motor into a remote controlled for turning left or right. I already built a variable speed control using PWM parts I bought and built for this trolling motor. Now, I just need to make it turn remotely.
Stay tune when I have pictures and videos to show you in the next few days.
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