I have a Minn Kota 55 lb foot control. All the way up its still 3 or 4" below the water and hits bottom alot. I was wondering if I could take the foot off & cut 2 or 3 " off or if its not that simple? Anybody ever done it?
Can you shorten a trolling motor shaft?
BREEZE
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Everything I found on the Google was shortning the top but that wont help anything. I cant remember for sure but I think its a fortrax 55. I can adjust it 10 or 12" but all the way up its about 4" under the water with 3 or 4 up front fishing. If 1 or 2 people goes to the back its fine but would be nice not to have to make people get up and down off the deck all the time.
It wouldnt be alot but all we have to do is move a 200 lb person to the back in some shallow places we fish and it goes fine without hitting, other night I just stayed in the back after a while and let the others fish without hanging up. When I would go to the deck we was anchored out again. My buddys boat with a hand control we can move it up as far as we want and never have to slow down in the same places. Mine with one in front and 1 in back all the way up barely splashes the top of the water. So when you put 4 up front and none in back its deeper than it has to be.
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994 Posts
sounds to me like its an overloaded boat issue not a troller issue....
You most definitely can cut them down, but it is a pain in the ass. I bought a MK101 from a walleye fisherman and cut it down for my bass boat. You have to completely unhook the head and all of the wiring. then you have to unthread the heat treated bullet motor on the bottom. Pull the wires down past where you want to cut if off. Hack the amount off that you want. the difficult part is getting the right bevel for the head to mount back on. the shaft is kind of cupped/tapered, so you basically have to have a drill bit slightly smaller than the shaft but small enough to not crack it. It's hard to explain, but i learned everything i needed to know from google. Just make fo sho that you completely clean all of the heat treat gunk out from the threads of the bullet and reapply thread sealer on the motor to keep out moisture.
Took me about 1 1/2 hours once i dug into it. I would do it again if needed.
Took me about 1 1/2 hours once i dug into it. I would do it again if needed.
nearly all carp boats are overloaded by the time all of the equipment is loaded.
But, i guess i don't understand why if there is more shaft between the troller head and the mount why it couldn't go up higher?
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1,037 Posts
False.
Disagree. Walk around a tournament. Unless it's a comercial hull or a homebuilt, there will be a weight requirement. By the time you add all of the lights, generators, converters, 3 guys, etc etc, most factory made boats are near or past their weight limits.
Heck, I'm over in my bass boat with 3 guys and a cooler of beer!
Glad I got a custom hull lol...but I'm still a lil confused as to how this is exactly happening...A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS. ..what size is ur boat...we had a 1648 w 3 guys all over 200 and never seen an issue like this
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It's not a "you think we're gonna sink er or what?" issue but almost guaranteed you have more weight in the boat than your coast guard plate allows. Take a look at yours and you'll be surprised at how little weight the boat is supposed to handle. Wait until you sink a boat, it'll open your eyes to what overloaded really means. It did to me at least...
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I'm like a few others here, a picture will explain a lot. I wouldn't even try to back the shaft out of the motor housing. I replaced a composite shaft three years ago. The shaft and threads from the old shaft took some serious abuse. Heated it to loosen it but it still didn't just spin out very easy.
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I'd like to see an actuall picture of the problem as well. From the pics of Fortrexs that I find it looks like the head should come up to within 8" +- of the base. I can't picture how that's a problem.
But if it still is, perhaps it's easier to raise the mount than shorten the shaft?
But if it still is, perhaps it's easier to raise the mount than shorten the shaft?
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479 Posts
Not sure if you need to or not, but yes you sure can. Just do the opposite of what I did to extend mine. Take the top head off, snip the wires, cut the shaft off where you want it, cut the wires to fit correctly (shorten them), solder the wires back together, heat shrink them, drill a new hole for the head to attach at the top of the shaft, and stick er back on. Super simple. I did that when I made mine longer. I just added wire rather than took some off, and added a foot long steel pipe at the top and drilled a hole for the head to screw in to. Very easy fix to an aggrivating problem.
P.S Heat shrink is your friend, and so is silicone
P.S Heat shrink is your friend, and so is silicone
Here is a couple of pics. It's not to much of a overload issue. It's a 1756 express rated for 5 or 625 pounds so it's rite on the edge some nights. Its more of a needing a fan issue trying to fish a couple of places that keep a lot of 10lb buffs that's only 6 or 8" deep. In my buddy's 1448 we don't hit bottom much but I'm mine we are always having to get unstuck. 
when you get to the collar with the 2 hex head screws that's as far up as it will go. Its actually a all terrain troller now that I look at it.
when you get to the collar with the 2 hex head screws that's as far up as it will go. Its actually a all terrain troller now that I look at it.
The upper shaft that adjusts is about 2" diameter, then the collar. Out of the inside of that shaft it's about a 1"shaft to the troller head. It adjusts around 16" all the way up is all the way up but I would like for it to go maybe 3" higher. I just wanted to know if it just clamped on or was something special inside if I cut it off a couple of inches.
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