Foot Controlled Motor Guide Pro Series 70# TM on my first Bass Boat- '07 Tracker PT 190 TX. (Trolling Motor issue).

I just got my first used/new bass boat and the transducer wire on there was so tight when I got it thus limiting the up and down of bringing the TM on the boat and putting it down in the water. So my friend and I re-wired the the transducer and put a 'loop' about midway up the shaft and it seemed to help allow the TM turn left and right easier as well as make lifting it out of water much easier so it had enough 'clearance' to get up onto the bow and into the base.

Anyway, the TM was working perfectly yesterday after trying this out but today I had a new issue. The foot pedal was locked in a neutral horizontal position and it would not go down on the heel or the toe and was basically 'stuck'. I couldn't get it to work at all on the water today and it seemed like something was 'tight' again with the wiring and not sure where. It didn't seem like the transducer wire was the problem this time around, but not sure what was causing the issue...

Anyone have experience with this where the foot pedal seems locked and will not allow you to toe down or heel down to turn left or right? Thanks for any help/tips!!!

O, one final thought... my buddy did a hack job fending today as we delaunched and prepared to dock before I went to get the trailer. Basically, he did not fend the boat heading toward the dock and unfortunately my TM slammed right into the bulkhead (thankfully not the hull/bow damaged) but the TM shaft bent a good 1" out of alignment so now the shaft rests a little right of middle and not properly on the base of the TM. Any ideas on how to fix?

Ugh the trials and tribulations of being a new boat owner and not having much previous experience besides rentals LOL. At least I didn't forget the plug!!!

Thanks in advance for all ya'll help!

Your problem is the bent shaft. The part thats inside the top is bent and wont allow it to turn inside the other bent shaft.

You need to replace both shafts. The top housing and the lower part.

no no the bent shaft happened AFTER the fact. The motor was not turning all day and the icing on the cake was my buddy not fending and allowing the TM to ram into the dock.

So I'm trying to figure out what's up with the TM not turning... this is before we bent the shaft today...

any help is appreciated here.

My thinking is wiring because when I was playing with the wires- pulling/giving slack or moving them around, the foot pedal would start working...

You may have already fixed the origional problem but it wont turn right with the bent shaft and it can stop it from turning at all. Pull the head open and disconnect the cable and verify the foot pedal and cable are ok . This will also allow you to rotate the motor and shaft by hand. Then you will know.

buy a minn kota and youi can run into all kinds of stuff

you can straighten the shaft, not easy but can be done. sounds like the turn issue is with the foot cables, pull the head and check to see if the gears are locked up or something has become wedged between them. next would be to check under the pedal and see if the previous owner overtightened them, you just need to mess with it till you figure out what is causing the problem as it can be a number of things.

On the Motor Guide foot controlled TMs there is a pulley near the back inside the foot pedal. If the cables get too much slack the cable can jump the pulley and get jambed between the pedal housing and the pulley. Check that first because I'd bet that is it, if the cable is jambed there the TM steering will lock up.

You will have to lossen the cable tension thru bolts on the front of the pedal to get enough slack to get the cable back on the pulley. Back off the jamb nut and run the cable thru bolts all the way in.