Thread: Hand Steer TM

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  1. #1
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    Hand Steer TM

    I'm considering switching from Fortrex foot control to hand steer on mt RT188. Anybody done this or have his set up ? The bow "feels" tight and I wonder if changing would help . I have a Master Repair extension that fits the shaft of the hand steer to eliminate leaning forward to change direction. Add a Big Foot on off switch for convenient on /off. Appreciate the comments.
    Last edited by lukethedog; 08-30-2020 at 01:13 PM.

  2. Member
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    #2
    Had hand steer on a bay boat. They suck.

  3. Member
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    #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Cbump View Post
    Had hand steer on a bay boat. They suck.
    Agree 100% .

  4. Member Jeff Hahn's Avatar
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    #4
    In the late 1980's, my buddy at Santee had a hand control TM on his Ranger. During our annual trip there, he had to go to work one day and let me use his boat. I had a foot control on the 16 foot Fisher Marine Marsh Hawk that I had at home. So, for the first two hours I used his TM, I HATED IT! After that, it was a breeze and I have owned nothing but hand control TM's ever since. To me, a hand control has many advantages over a foot control TM. I can stand on both feet when the water is rough. I can turn around and cast to the rear without twisting around like a pretzel. And, there are far fewer parts to break and require service. That being said, the spot lock feature of the new TM's might change the equation for me on my next boat...I haven't decided.

    By the way, I would STRONGLY recommend the T&H Marine Sure Foot on/off switch over the Big Foot. The T&H version has a hard plastic cover over the button and, as a result, they will last many years longer than the Big Foot switch that has the rubber cover on the switch exposed to the elements. I always put an on/off switch on each side of my deck so that I could easily reach it no matter which side of the boat I was fishing out of.
    Last edited by Jeff Hahn; 08-31-2020 at 08:17 PM.
    "The man of system is apt to be very wise in his own conceit; and is often so enamored with the supposed beauty of his own ideal plan of government that he cannot suffer the smallest deviation from any part of it…He seems to imagine that he can arrange the different members of a great society with as much ease as the hand arranges the different pieces upon a chessboard.” Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments

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    #5
    I have one on my bay boat. There ok you will get used to using one hand to turn it and eventually you won’t even think about it. I have found it has some advantages over foot control. But I will say on a very windy day it can be difficult to control the boat as you can’t make quick adjustments like with a foot control. I find myself using my knee to turn it a lot as well.

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    #6
    Thanks for the replies, I've always used the on/off foot switch.

  7. Member
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    #7
    I used a hand control for 20+ years so i could stand on two feet. It had some down sides in the wind and current as you're costantly correcting but was still better for me than standing on one foot. However, i recently bought an Ultrex and it has the best features of both hand and foot control. The 'N' direction feature doesnt get much attention, but I use it far more than spot lock- point where you want to go and it goes there correcting for wind and current while you stand on two feet with no interruptions to fishing. It was so worth the investment!

  8. Member
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    #8
    I have never liked hand control TM's but I have a buddy that will not have anything but one.

    He bought a Saltwater one off eBay to put on his and added an extension to it.

    To each their own but I prefer the foot control style and I use remote a good bit of the time as well.
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    #9
    One of the upside to me for hand control is my livescope. Like point and shoot . I think with an ultrex, or any other fob type of motor, always compensating that an additional arm would need to be added just for livescope.

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    #10
    I've had both and both have their advantages. I had a 20' fish and ski boat for 10 years and during that time I had a lot of back / sciatic pain. Using a normal foot controlled trolling motor would just send my pain into orbit. I went with a hand controlled motor with the extension and it really helped my pain. I also liked having both feet firmly on the deck in rough water. I would tighten the lock around the motor enough so that I could set the direction and pretty much turn loose of the extension and the motor wouldn't move. Then all I had to do was work the low profile foot switch or if just easing along a bank I would set the speed and put it on continuous and have both hands and feet free! I kind of miss that set up although praise the Lord my back pain resolved itself after many, many years and now both of my bass boats have foot controlled motors.

  11. Member
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    #11
    But some extra foot switches. They tend to go bad at the worse time.

  12. Member
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    #12
    My previous hand steer were wired so if foot switch goes out I can still use handle. But good thought �� to have a spare.

  13. Member
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    #13
    I have had hand control all my fishing life (around 30 years). Said I would never have FC. Just purchased a used RT188 w/ edge FC. Now that I've used it for 3 or 4 months it's just fine with me. Just bought a Ultrex FC yesterday and am so looking forward to what that technology brings. One good thing about a hand control is I have never broke a steering cable. But like previous comment said, make sure you always have an extra foot switch with you. I would go through about one a year. But I fish a lot.


    Have a good one and thank God for it!

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    #14
    Had hand steer on a bay boat. They suck.
    Me, too. I even put an on/off switch on the deck and it still sucked.
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    #15
    I used a hand steer for many years. Me and my partner had both our boats rigged the same. I thought about it for my new boat but got a Power drive 50 instead. couldn't really find a hand control I liked. They were simple, pretty much on off and speed control. We beat them to death on big waters. They always worked. Nice weight savings on the front of the boat also. I had the big foot handle which I liked. Floor switches would go bad at times so we had spares in the boat. We also wired ours direct to the batteries, no plugs to go bad, so we had a nice clean front of the boat. My partner had a switch on each side of the front depending on which side of the boat we were facing.
    If i ever upgrade my trolling motor I will look at hand control hard!

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    #16
    Solved my dilemma. Bought a new to me Xpress H20B.

  17. Member Panama's Avatar
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    #17
    I have friends in Florida that use a hand control for one reason...it has a reverse. There is a lot of trash there in the water like grass, pads and weeds. With a FC if the prop starts to wrap in weeds you have to bring it up and remove it by hand sometimes. With a hand control a lot of the time you can hot reverse and the prop changes rotation and backs out or unravels the grass.

    That said, I very much doubt I will ever use anything but an ULTREX with spotlock and the cruise control feature. I love the ULTREX.
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  18. Member Mechanic Bob's Avatar
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    #18
    Nice part about the hand control, don't have to worry about cables, control batteries, finding the remotes, over / under correcting, ...
    With the Big Foot and extension handle, seems great to me. (Spend the savings over other models on more LURES!)
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  19. Member tcesni's Avatar
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    #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Panama View Post
    I have friends in Florida that use a hand control for one reason...it has a reverse. There is a lot of trash there in the water like grass, pads and weeds. With a FC if the prop starts to wrap in weeds you have to bring it up and remove it by hand sometimes. With a hand control a lot of the time you can hot reverse and the prop changes rotation and backs out or unravels the grass.

    That said, I very much doubt I will ever use anything but an ULTREX with spotlock and the cruise control feature. I love the ULTREX.
    While not perfect, a Grass Goat will reduce the amount of vegetation problem. I have a small boat I keep in Ontario that is equipped with a hand control TM and I find it to be a total pain but it didn't cost me much.

  20. Member BigEasy's Avatar
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    #20
    If that hand control on your Canada boat is on the stern that’s the pain. At least it was for me on a couple of boats that had them that I owned.

    I use a bow mount hand control TM on my jon/skiff boat and like it very much. The only time that it becomes a problem is in the wind but, that’s more of an issue with a light boat.

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