Deploying a Minn Kota V2

Recently bought a new to me fishing boat and it came with a Minn Kota V2 bow mount trolling motor. The motor is in excellent condition and works very well if I can get it deployed into operating position !!! Instruction say to release catch clamp then push down on shaftvwhile pushing forward to slide motor off the storage cradle. Well I pushed for all I am worth, twisted, pushed with my whole body and finally got it off the cradle, then everything moved easily. Sprayed some silicone lube on shaft and cradle like instructions said. returned motor back to store position after working as much silicone lube into the cradle as I could. Tried again to deploy the motor....hard as hell to get this thing off the cradle !!!! Am I missing something, or is there a trick to deploy this motor ??? As difficult as it is to deploy, not sure I want to wrestle this thing off the cradle to be able to use it.... Hope you good folks have some tricks or tips to make this job much easier ......

I think the V2 is the PowerDrive Model, which is what I have.

If you don't move the depth collar up by the control head, you could have a very hard time deploying the motor. But, I don't think that is your problem because it would only happen once.

Sometimes mine gets hung up. That usually happens when I'm a little too gentle pushing the deploy lever. When that happens I pull the shaft back with a quick jerk to make sure it is fully seated and the hook is back over the latch collar. Then I push down pretty hard and fast on the deploy assist lever. That pops the motor free and down she goes. There is an instruction for adjusting the latch collar, but I have no idea if that would be part of the issue.

Check to make sure that the motor can pivot a full 90° from storage to run positions. As you can see the little ramp that the foot has to climb over before pivoting and dropping in the water- maybe the motor can't pivot enough and it's binding up.

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Thanks for the ideas, however the latch is clear, just the **** shaft appears to be stuck... Once the motor head clears the cradle it is easy as pie....I weigh 165 lbs and it takes everything I have to get it off the cradle...thinking mabey I was missing something. Bought the boat used and only have a basic owners manual. That sayscto push down the catch latch while pushing down the motor shaft and slide forward until motor clears the cradle. Well I forcefully push downbthe latch and mske sure it is cleared the collar, then push, twist, use my bodyvweight to try and get it off the cradle!! Shoukdnt be that hard....guess I am gonba have to see if there is a spot I can get a pry bar/ stick into to help free it from the cradle. Any other suggestions will be greatly appreciated !!!!

airshot said:

Thanks for the ideas, however the latch is clear, just the **** shaft appears to be stuck... Once the motor head clears the cradle it is easy as pie....I weigh 165 lbs and it takes everything I have to get it off the cradle...thinking mabey I was missing something. Bought the boat used and only have a basic owners manual. That sayscto push down the catch latch while pushing down the motor shaft and slide forward until motor clears the cradle. Well I forcefully push downbthe latch and mske sure it is cleared the collar, then push, twist, use my bodyvweight to try and get it off the cradle!! Shoukdnt be that hard....guess I am gonba have to see if there is a spot I can get a pry bar/ stick into to help free it from the cradle. Any other suggestions will be greatly appreciated !!!!

Click to expand...

I agree, it shouldn't be that hard. When you push down on the latch lever it should kind of pop the motor hear out off the cradle. I would look for some obstruction or misalignment. Maybe some part is bent. I wonder if it wasn't mounted on a flat surface could that cause the whole thing to rack out of alignment. Probably not your issue but just a thought.

LDUBS said:

I think the V2 is the PowerDrive Model, which is what I have.

If you don't move the depth collar up by the control head, you could have a very hard time deploying the motor. But, I don't think that is your problem because it would only happen once.

Sometimes mine gets hung up. That usually happens when I'm a little too gentle pushing the deploy lever. When that happens I pull the shaft back with a quick jerk to make sure it is fully seated and the hook is back over the latch collar. Then I push down pretty hard and fast on the deploy assist lever. That pops the motor free and down she goes. There is an instruction for adjusting the latch collar, but I have no idea if that would be part of the issue.

Click to expand...

This deploy assist lever you speak of...is this the lever that lifts off the collar to allow the shaft to slide forward??? Making sure I am not missing a part here....

[/quote]

I agree, it shouldn't be that hard. When you push down on the latch lever it should kind of pop the motor hear out off the cradle. I would look for some obstruction or misalignment. Maybe some part is bent. I wonder if it wasn't mounted on a flat surface could that cause the whole thing to rack out of alignment. Probably not your issue but just a thought.
[/quote]

Pop the motor head off the cradle......nothing moves at all when I push the latch down to release that collar, that is where my issue is, seems like something is holding the motor head from sliding forward off the cradle....

Found this topic on another forum, appears there was an issue deploying this particular model. To make a long story short it seems the plastic material looses its ability to slide from UV rays. Upon a recomendation I used a plastic grease to coat the shaft and latch lever. No particular kind just a very slippery silicone grease I use on my radio control toys. Once the lube got worked in to all the surfaces things became much easier!!! Also greased the cradle itself and the motor housing where it rests.... Now the depth gage must be slide down the shaft to keep the motor from self deploying in rough water. Seems this trick has been helpfull to many others with this model.

Good stuff Airshot. About every 100 hours when I do the routine maintenance, I spray the TM shaft with silicone. I started doing that because the depth collar is difficult to slide up the shaft. Sounds like I was addressing the problem without even knowing.

airshot said:

LDUBS said:

I think the V2 is the PowerDrive Model, which is what I have.

If you don't move the depth collar up by the control head, you could have a very hard time deploying the motor. But, I don't think that is your problem because it would only happen once.

Sometimes mine gets hung up. That usually happens when I'm a little too gentle pushing the deploy lever. When that happens I pull the shaft back with a quick jerk to make sure it is fully seated and the hook is back over the latch collar. Then I push down pretty hard and fast on the deploy assist lever. That pops the motor free and down she goes. There is an instruction for adjusting the latch collar, but I have no idea if that would be part of the issue.

Click to expand...

This deploy assist lever you speak of...is this the lever that lifts off the collar to allow the shaft to slide forward??? Making sure I am not missing a part here....

Click to expand...

Yes, exactly. That big lever that lifts the hook off the collar. I would have called it a release lever but Minn Kota never asked me!

Gosh, this problem seems to have been around for years. Another "solution" I read is to push down on the control head at the same time as pushing the release lever.

LDUBS said:

Gosh, this problem seems to have been around for years. Another "solution" I read is to push down on the control head at the same time as pushing the release lever.

Click to expand...

Did that many times but the condition of the sun faded plastic kept it from sliding !!! The first time it took two grown men to get it to slide, I was not aware the latch lever also pushed the shaft downward. Same with that sliding collar, would not slide in any way until I lubed the shaft. I woukd think MK would put that in the instruction book and the lube may well slow down the damage from UV rays.

Thinking the silicon grease would be better than the silicon spray I'm currently using. Going to get some this week and add it to my routine maintenance schedule.

Yes, the silicone grease works far better!! I tried the spray and it did very little....DOW 111. Valve lube is a very thick long lasting silicone grease that is waterproof. Rub well into the plastic and let it work its magic...

Try some Ballistol……the stuff guys clean guns with. It reconditions plastic without harming it…..leaves a fine film behind almost like waxing a car.

sonny.barile said:

Try some Ballistol……the stuff guys clean guns with. It reconditions plastic without harming it…..leaves a fine film behind almost like waxing a car.

Click to expand...

That would be great as long as it dies not have petroleum products that could harm the plastic, I will do some research, I know the Dow 111 is made for rubber/ plastic

I'll tell you something else about these trolling motors. It is hard to get the boat up on a plane when you forget to raise the bow mounted trolling motor. No need to try this yourself -- just sayin.

sonny.barile said:

Try some Ballistol……the stuff guys clean guns with. It reconditions plastic without harming it…..leaves a fine film behind almost like waxing a car.

Click to expand...

Have used it before, great stuff, but in this situation the silicone grease is better, longer lasting by far and better for the plastic components. Been using the Dow 111 for a good many years in industrial applications with excellent long term results. So far it has been sucessfull in this application

LDUBS said:

I'll tell you something else about these trolling motors. It is hard to get the boat up on a plane when you forget to raise the bow mounted trolling motor. No need to try this yourself -- just sayin.

Click to expand...

I knew that…..but.won’t admit to why I know :LOL2:

airshot said:

Found this topic on another forum, appears there was an issue deploying this particular model. To make a long story short it seems the plastic material looses its ability to slide from UV rays. Upon a recomendation I used a plastic grease to coat the shaft and latch lever. No particular kind just a very slippery silicone grease I use on my radio control toys. Once the lube got worked in to all the surfaces things became much easier!!! Also greased the cradle itself and the motor housing where it rests.... Now the depth gage must be slide down the shaft to keep the motor from self deploying in rough water. Seems this trick has been helpfull to many others with this model.

Click to expand...

As already mentioned I don't have a problem deploying the TM but the stop collar is kind of hard to slide along the shaft. I bought a small tube of this stuff from my local ACE hardware shortly after reading this recommendation. I just got around to applying it to the TM shaft (no need to rush these things).

Holy cow, this stuff really does the trick. I wanted to circle back and say thanks for the recommendation.