motorguide trolling motor bracket easier unlocking and lifting
 

well I had the typical issues with crooked alignment on the locking pins of the gator mount getting jammed making it a PITA to raise the motor so after confirming everything was level and solidly mounted I did the file thing to free things up and now it no longer gets jammed.

anyway while testing operation I still found it took a lot of effort pulling the rope to overcome the spring tension on the rope. moving it by hand it was obviously not the spring tension or the slide doing it since it moved without undo effort so I looked at how the string was set up to pull on it . I noticed it just looked wrong because it went over a centering pin that I assume was there to keep the string lined up and pulling from the center and realized this was an uneeded extra drag to overcome to release the locking pins since it was so close to the slide point of attachment that it served no purpose since the string could not get out of alignment that close to the point of attachment anyways. so I untied the string and ran the string straight without going over this centering pin and retied it to the slide. it took about 40% of the effort away from releasing the locking pins. the string guide loop on the end keeps it centered so it pulls the string straight and evenly without that extra pin being used at all.

jerry rig, shade tree mechanic, whatever you want to call it, its a way to greatly reduce the effort you need to unlock and lift your motorguide motor.

just wanted to pass this info along in case someone finds it useful

Another way that helps.....

Is to push down on the "head" and then pull on the cord.

I will have to look at mine to see if the cord is installed your your was.

Yep I fixed that on mine a long time ago.

well this isn't about the upward tension thing, you still need to press down on it to release it in the stowed position because of the spring tension but this trick will help that part too.

this is mainly about the difficulty in unlocking it from the down position.

I think the first time you use these motors it puts a little twist in the frame and the pins start to jam after that so that's where the filing thing comes in to give it a little more clearance so they don't jam.

if you haven't done anything to it then your string is over that pin too, its the way they tell you to install it but if you don't go over that bar its soo much easier to unlock the motor to lift it

There is a much easier and better soliton called by a Minn Kotta and be happy happy happy! Lol I have had both a Minn Kottas are by far superior to Motor Guide!