Does anyone have a MInn Kota power drive trolling motor?

[hybrid man 1981]

I was thinking of buying one of these and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions about them. The one I am looking at is a 40 pound and I have a 16ft stratos fish and ski. Any advice is appreciated.

[Fishwright]

I have a 55 pound Power Drive and really like it. I put the Co Pilot on it also. These are great trolling motors. The only thing you must be careful with is ALWAYS unplug it when you charge your batteries. The circuit boards in the controls are delicate and cannot be subjected to all of the voltage from a battery charger. I burned a circuit board in mine the first summer I had it. After I talked to the repair guys and learned this I have not had any more problems.

[MLTSPCS]

My father has a 55 on his 16 1/2' fish and ski and it works great. They are a little stiff/tight to get into the water at first, but the more you use them the easier it gets. His has the transducer built into the lower unit of the trolling motor and it was easy to hook up to his lowrance finder w/the universal sonar cable that he ordered w/it. Don't know about the lower thrust or the ones w/out the built-in transducer, but his came with instructions to use 8 gauge or heavier wire from the battery to the tm and to install a manual reset push-button type breaker. You might want to check on that before installing so that you can be prepared with all the parts to hook it up. I've been out with him on his boat several times since I installed it and I swear it seems like you can't wear his battery down even after trolling on high on a long windy day. The tm that came on his boat was only a little over half of the thrust of his new one and it would run that same battery down twice as fast and it didn't even have anything else running off the tm battery. With the built-in transducer you are running the tm and a ff off the same battery and still getting a longer run time off a single charge. So other than the stiffness at first, it has been a wonderful addition. He loves his and says it was money well spent. Good luck. CJ.