Fed up with "Remote Troll"

[Mike]

I bought my remote troll new 4 years ago and every year the steering motor has failed. The first one was replaced under warranty because it failed after about 3 months. The other two have come out of my pocket to the tune of $260.00 a piece. At this point I am going to remove the steering motor from the remote troll bracket. I will be installing a rigid bar to fix the trolling motor in place and mounting a "panther" steering system on my kicker. Each time I have contacted Remote Troll about the motor failure they act totally shocked and say something to the effect of " this is highly unusual we just don't see failures". I talked with one of the local mechanics at the Gorge and he said he won't install remote trolls anymore because they don't back their product up and they fail far too often. I emailed Remote Troll this evening to express my disgust and let them know I will no longer be supporting their product. It is so frustrating when things like this aren't dependable it takes the relaxation out of fishing when your constantly wondering when the next failure is going to occur. In my opinion if I were in the market for a remote steering system for my kicker I would stay clear of Remote Troll. I was also curious if anyone else has had issues like this with their remote troll, or if I really am just that unlucky.

Rant over,

Cheers

Mike 101cheers101

 

[mtncat1]

i have replaced one motor on my direct drive unit , because some times it would lock up in one direction , i put a new motor on it a few years ago and it ocationally does the same thing if i let it cool off for 10 minutes or so it starts working again . i think the motors have a overheat circuit breaker in them . i have over all been happy with the several units i have had over the years . i tried troll daddy and they were complete garbage.

 

[smokepoles]

My few years ago my buddy had a brand new on fail fishing on the Gorge. Detached the linkage and jury-rigged a fix with a fiberglass rod duct taped to the tiller handle. 50 cent fix for a $1000 unit. Never able to get it right, and he went with a direct link to his motor. No more issues.

 

[Propnut69]

I bought my remote troll new 4 years ago and every year the steering motor has failed. The first one was replaced under warranty because it failed after about 3 months. The other two have come out of my pocket to the tune of $260.00 a piece. At this point I am going to remove the steering motor from the remote troll bracket. I will be installing a rigid bar to fix the trolling motor in place and mounting a "panther" steering system on my kicker. Each time I have contacted Remote Troll about the motor failure they act totally shocked and say something to the effect of " this is highly unusual we just don't see failures". I talked with one of the local mechanics at the Gorge and he said he won't install remote trolls anymore because they don't back their product up and they fail far too often. I emailed Remote Troll this evening to express my disgust and let them know I will no longer be supporting their product. It is so frustrating when things like this aren't dependable it takes the relaxation out of fishing when your constantly wondering when the next failure is going to occur. In my opinion if I were in the market for a remote steering system for my kicker I would stay clear of Remote Troll. I was also curious if anyone else has had issues like this with their remote troll, or if I really am just that unlucky.

Rant over,

Cheers

Mike 101cheers101

I feel your pain when your remote troll quits working. Mine quit working right in the middle of the bb derby this year. Turned out to be a bad plug from the battery to the motor. Simple fix but still a pain. I bought my original remote troll way back in about 1990. I was replacing the cord about every year. About five years ago I replaced the original motor,went to the wireless remote ,replaces all the cables,and replaced the wood. Now over the years i have replaced the cables a few times.but knock on wood ,I have been lucky when it comes to the motor. The original motor was still working after I replaced it, but i figured it was just a matter of time before it went out also.

Mike, is yours the new direct drive unit ,or does it still have the cable? I wonder if the motor is undersized with the direct drive units, and that is what is causing them to fail so frequently. I don't have any real grips about their service dept, but then again I'm not having the same issue that you are either. We all value our fishing time to much, to be worrying about what is going to fail next. When we lose confidence in a product,it's time to move on to something we can feel good about,and not worrying when it going to break again. Good luck and let us know what way to go,i just might be looking at a different method to steer my kicked in the future.

 

[Mike]

Thanks Propnut, Yes this is the newer direct drive model, The latest direct drive unit is the updated version with the faster gear ratio in it, which made fishing in a stiff breeze much easier. I will say that as far as customer service goes Jerry at Remote Troll is a very nice guy. I think he does genuinely care about his customers and product. I believe on the first unit I bought out of pocket he gave me 15% discount on the unit. As you stated it's just time to move on and give something else a try. I have several buddies that run the Panther T4's on their boats and they have little issues with them. I like that the panther mounts to the tilt tube of the kicker, keeping the unit high and dry. I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the T4 last night, they are not cheap, but they are cheaper than a remote troll with wireless option. Once I have the T4 installed I will be sure to check back in and let you know how I like. Now the only thing left on my list for repairs is the trailer hub and spindle that burned up on me on the way home yesterday 4moremney bandmyhead all it takes is money haha!


Mike

 

[Bduck]

I also had an issue with the remote troll but it wasn't the direct drive motor. Bought my for about a $1000 about 5yrs ago. It comes with wireless remotes and a hard cable in event wireless remote quits operating. This makes a good troubleshooting tool to have as well. After 3yrs of good solid use the remote got to the point of working intermittent. Troubleshooting revealed the receiver for remote depicted overheating and had to cool down to operate more. After talking to remote troll it was in that unit and yes it does have a thermo switch which will shut down operation until its cool enough to start working again. Since, I purchased a replacement for $150 with their updated version and haven't had that problem any further. Sold boat just a couple of months back with remote troll as a complete working unit. The direct drive is an upgraded unit replacement for cable drive which is no longer built. When I first bought remote troll it was to replace the troll daddy, as mentioned as garbage in previous post there is no argument from me with that. Remote troll installation also warns not to install with drive motor submerged, it can take the wave action as it occasionally covers it with water. As with any electrical devise moisture will always play some sort of havoc with the destruction of equipment.

 

[Mike]

I also had an issue with the remote troll but it wasn't the direct drive motor. Bought my for about a $1000 about 5yrs ago. It comes with wireless remotes and a hard cable in event wireless remote quits operating. This makes a good troubleshooting tool to have as well. After 3yrs of good solid use the remote got to the point of working intermittent. Troubleshooting revealed the receiver for remote depicted overheating and had to cool down to operate more. After talking to remote troll it was in that unit and yes it does have a thermo switch which will shut down operation until its cool enough to start working again. Since, I purchased a replacement for $150 with their updated version and haven't had that problem any further. Sold boat just a couple of months back with remote troll as a complete working unit. The direct drive is an upgraded unit replacement for cable drive which is no longer built. When I first bought remote troll it was to replace the troll daddy, as mentioned as garbage in previous post there is no argument from me with that. Remote troll installation also warns not to install with drive motor submerged, it can take the wave action as it occasionally covers it with water. As with any electrical devise moisture will always play some sort of havoc with the destruction of equipment.

I tried everything I could think of this last go around. You can here the relays in the wireless receiver click when you push the remote buttons. I also tested voltage on the inside of the 12v receptacle and found 13v, I also disassembled the 12v plug on the direct drive and gently placed it back in the receptacle and pressed the remote button and again found 13v. I think water intrusion is a huge deal on these direct drives. I will say that the sticker on the mounting bracket that says "if the bottom of this sticker is below the water, the bracket is mounted too low" is about 3'' above the water line when the boat is at rest. It definitely sees water on those windier days at the Gorge. I think it needs a rework on the water resistant coating on the wire where it enters the direct drive. Also i wounder how well the wiper on the direct drive shaft clears water as it retracts. I'm half hoping to hear back from remote troll, if anything to give insight on my experience to help them better their product.


Mike

 

[nofish]

I run an older unit with the cable and like others have stated I had toubles with just about every part of the eletrical system.

I replaced the motor with one I found at Napa, before installing it I sealed it with plastic dip. I have upsized all the wiring and the hand held controller, the controller I am using is for a winch. The hole thing is kind of over kill but I know with confidince that when I hit the button to turn, that motor is moving right now.

This is the way I look at anything that has to do with the boat, I have a boat to go out and have fun and if the boat breaks the fun is over so I will over build things to make sure they dont break.

 

[Mike]

I run an older unit with the cable and like others have stated I had toubles with just about every part of the eletrical system.

I replaced the motor with one I found at Napa, before installing it I sealed it with plastic dip. I have upsized all the wiring and the hand held controller, the controller I am using is for a winch. The hole thing is kind of over kill but I know with confidince that when I hit the button to turn, that motor is moving right now.

This is the way I look at anything that has to do with the boat, I have a boat to go out and have fun and if the boat breaks the fun is over so I will over build things to make sure they dont break.

My dad ran one of the old cable models for 15 years on his boat and replaced the cable/remote several times and finally built his own. He cut one of the old school yellow flash lights in half and replaced the lens with a fender washer and put a self returning two way toggle switch in the fender washer. It worked perfect until he got rid of the boat!

 

[Kokaholic]

I have an old cable model, worked fine, however over hauled it when I got it used, since have removed it and mounted kicker to transom and use my Terrova to steer. Much better.

 

[ortizfamily04]

Remote troll not reliable

Have had 2 different remote trolls, the old cable driven style, which quit working on me as well, when I called, they also told me "this never happens" which I know is not true, they redesigned the unit to be gear driven, this one has lasted me 5 seasons, last year the remote troll was only used once..these systems have a defect in them which allows water to leak into the motor. The motor in my current unit is now bad. I am sure that they are aware of this, but this is how they make $$ I talk to people at the docks regularly who also have had many problems. Beware of these systems, they WILL be costly, and unreliable. People should be aware of this. Wish I would have known before I invested in this...