Motor Guide Tour

[skeeterator]

I had a new issue during a bfl tournament Saturday not related to the control board. I was going to stow it and move down the lake, picked up the handle and pulled it to release the locking mechanism and ended up flat on my ass. The TINY little cable snapped when I tried lifting it out of the water. I figured it wouldn't be a big deal to run some paracord through the hole, tie it the release lever and be done just like I have 100 times before with my minnkota's. Wrong answer, the diameter of the plastic coated factory wire is really small, couldn't get anything I had through that hole. Took my co angler and myself 30 minutes to release the latch, raise it out of the water, cut out the bad spot of cable, fish it back through the tiny ass hole and get it tied off. Go ahead and order a spare cable for when yours breaks, you've been warned.

On a side note my co angler won the co angler side and it was his bfl tournament ever.

[RFeyoMN]

The pull cord sucks! I broke mine after about 2 months last summer. Their stupid design...you cannot use another cable...I tried a couple different ones. I replaced, and have a spare with tools in the boat. Putting the handle on the new cable is a real PITA too. Many design flaws with this motor.

[M-D]

That sucks! I have wondered about the small diameter and how long it might last.
Any idea what caused the failure, was the cable somehow damaged, worn or do you think it just failed?
Guess I will have to inspect mine now and frequently.

[RFeyoMN]

I had a slight bind in my mount. It was very minimal. It is now gone, and I expect to break the pull cord sometime soon. The actual cable is very, very thin.
It sucks that if you replace their cable(more plastic-less cable) with something better(less plastic-more cable) it will not work with how the cable is fed through the head of the trolling motor. It will be too rigid. They made it so you can't do a 60 second on-the-water repair with a new rope.

[skeeterator]

That sucks! I have wondered about the small diameter and how long it might last.
Any idea what caused the failure, was the cable somehow damaged, worn or do you think it just failed?
Guess I will have to inspect mine now and frequently.

No idea why it broke, I didn't see any wear prior to the break. It's just a crap design and cheap cable for all the weight it's lifting.

[M-D]

No idea why it broke, I didn't see any wear prior to the break. It's just a crap design and cheap cable for all the weight it's lifting.

Guess MG will now have to offer up a improved version if more reports of breakage keep coming up. Thanks for the heads up, I will keep an eye on mine.
What does a guy need tool wise to effect an emergency on the water repair?

[RFeyoMN]

A pair of needle nose and a #20 Torx driver for the handle. A small flat head screwdriver would help with the handle, but not necessary.

[davesz518]

Just wait until your anchor down foot pedal button falls apart. A 2-piece design held together by a screw at the bottom. Screw backs out of the plastic and your out of business. I wrote the company about this design and received the we will pass it along response.

[Macsimus]

The pull cord sucks! I broke mine after about 2 months last summer. Their stupid design...you cannot use another cable...I tried a couple different ones. I replaced, and have a spare with tools in the boat. Putting the handle on the new cable is a real PITA too. Many design flaws with this motor.

Where did you get the new/spare cable? Dealer? I don't see it on their web site.

[06x6spdGTO]

Where did you get the new/spare cable? Dealer? I don't see it on their web site.

https://shop.motorguide.com/products/8m4004183.html

[Macsimus]

Thx ^^^^

[RFeyoMN]

Yep...there!

[skeeterator]

A pair of needle nose and a #20 Torx driver for the handle. A small flat head screwdriver would help with the handle, but not necessary.

Yup, exactly what I used. 2 small flat head screwdrivers would be even better to release the latches on either side of the mount when it's stuck in the deployed position with the trolling motor in the water.

[M-D]

I looked mine over well good tonight, no visual evidence of wear to be found.
For those who have had this issue, is the cable itself breaking or is the crimped on ball at the end of the cable failing?

[RFeyoMN]

Mine broke about 2 inches above where it enters the mount. Definitely not a wear area.

[dett23]

Thanks for info. Ordered spare from trollingmotorparts.com

[RazorCat]

Admittedly, the cable is thin. But, the lift cable on my MG is so easy to pull when I deploy/stow it’s hard to imagine the cable breaking because it’s binding. And I can see it probably won’t handle much abuse (repeated, sudden, hard pull on the handle when stowing). I’ve ordered a spare just in case, but I just don’t see cable failure being a constant issue.

[RFeyoMN]

When you break one...you'll see! The pull cord is like 75% plastic. Maybe more. Having a spare is not a bad idea.

[ss]

I tried a TH Marine cable but it is too large to fit through the holes in the mount.