Minn Kota Fortrex 112 dropping into water

[rdh]

I just replaced my Maxxum 101 hand-held trolling motor with a new Fortrex 112 hand held motor. I had it installed at a local shop. My first trip was yesterday. The motor has a fatal flaw. No matter how much I tighten the collar, the motor slowly slips deeper and deeper into the water. It turns easily even after I tightened it so much I'm afraid anymore will break the collar. The cam lock handle to tighten it is much smaller than my Maxxum's and I eventually tightened it as much as I could by hand. Anymore and I'll have to use pliers.

Has anyone had this issue? What can I do about it? Does the cam lock/depth assembly have any "teeth" that would provide grip based on the direction? Perhaps the collar is mounted upside down and I'll have to disconnect the top so I can slide it off and reverse it?

[rdh]

Doh! I had a shop install the motor and unlike my Maxxum 101 there are two collar devices. One for steering and one for the depth. The shop had the depth collar snug against the bottom of the top of the unit. So it is basically out of sight and I never noticed it while fishing. I am used to having to only work with a single device and the one I was tightening up looks, was in the same place, and is essentially, the same as the collar on my Maxxum. I went out last night and examined the motor to see what my next step was going to be. That's when I saw the other "quick-release" collar at the top of the shaft just under the control housing. I'm sure dropping it down on top of the other collar and locking it into place will fix my problem.

The worst part of this? I picked the manual up and went thru it and there is a section on setting the depth and it mentions both collars

[mark poulson]

You're human!!!
Everyone has left the plug out, or forgotten to unhook a trailer strap. Usually both, and more than once.