Any way to shorten Minn Kota Shaft?

[fishyman]

Is there??

my minn kota bow mounts shaft is about double what i really need, and it ends up getting in the way if i want to fish really shallow water.

[rayke1938]

First off stupid question. Are you aware that you can adjust the depth it goes to. Just means that the head sits up higher which I find handy as I can see what direction its pointing whilst I am sitting down.

If it gets in the way when fishing its quite simple to shorten. Unscrew cover off head unit and note what the wiring connections are on the circuit board.

Undo wiring tage to circuit board and then unscrew the screw that attaches the head unit to the tube and remove the head unit.

Carefully cut the required length from the tube. If you are worried about damaging the wires just slide a small length of ally tube down over the wires.

I cut down the tube of a 28pounder by 6 inches to put on my yak and didnt have to shorten the wires as I was just able to push them down the tube. If you have to shorten the wires just measure about how much longer than the tube they are so you then know how long to have them when you cut the tube. Mine had the normal push on type terminals that you can get from super cheap.

You will also have to drill a new hole in the tube to reattach the head.

If you want I can drop into fishhead some time and show you what I did.

Cheers

Ray

[fishyman]

yeah the thing is, because my punt is so shallow, if i slide the collar down so the head unit is out of the way the prop is well below the bottom of my boat and tends to run into things well before my boat is out of water which is how its been broken twice now.

i thought it should be possible as the shaft is essentially just a hollow tube holding the wires.

might give it a go this weekend

Thanks for the advice ray if i have any troubles ill have to take you up on that offer

[Davo_Dinkum]

never thought about this .but it could be a good thing .

interesting.