bobby b.

The good news is that Garmin has already shipped a new Force - it will be here tomorrow, no cost to me. The BAD news I just talked to Ulrich - they are 2 plus months out on repairs but I whined and they will get me in in mid August - they have 130 boats awaiting service. Garmin will cover the cost of the repair. If you are wondering why I just don't replace it myself, read on. Some advise regarding the Force: if you are buying new, have it installed by a Garmin approved dealer - the warranty is 3 years versus 1 year if you install it yourself or an unapproved dealer installs it. as Bill said, avoid the software updates or have an approved dealer do it - if it ain't broke, don't fix it (I struggle with this as I like perfection in these kind of things, ,i.e. I had gotten use to the boat backing up when I spot locked but I thought I might as well fix it when I was doing the graph updates - bad decision Now I'm wondering if I want to do anymore graph updates? The one plus out of this - I getting a whole new unit and I think the 3 year warranty starts over. Bobby

Pretty gutsy - I'm impressed I don't understand why they cannot replace the electronic (computer) guts of the Force rather than junk the whole thing - maybe the electronics are so sealed up that you can't get to it.

There are lots of threads in this forum indicating all the positive aspects of the Force trolling motor and Garmin stuff in general including lots of positive comments from me. However, yesterday I just found a big negative. After reading the above comments I decided to do the latest updates on my graphs and troller. The graphs are relatively easy and as usual the update worked just fine. Although I have done updates on the Force a couple of times without incident, this time NOT SO. After the update Active Captain indicated that the new 4.0 version was on the motor, but the motor would not restart. As indicated in previous threads, Garmin support is and was again excellent however the motor was totally ruined in the update -the technical term is "bricked". There is some indication that power to the motor was interrupted during the update. Don't know. According to the Garmin tech because I was going from 3.0 to 4.0 there is actually two upgrades involved which means that the "flashing lights" on the troller needs to happen twice, once for each of the updates. I saw the two sets of flashing lights and thought the process was done. The good news is that Garmin is going to send me a new troller and since the troller was installed at the Ranger factory on my new boat and Ranger is an authorized "dealer" Garmin will pay for the installation work to be performed at Ulrich - also an authorized dealer. So in summary, I still like all the Garmin stuff on my 2021 Ranger Z519 but the troller has been kinda of a pain with latch modifications, software upgrades. Also I had previously posted a noise problem I was having with the Force. Also I wonder how Garmin will handle this kind of issue in the future. My motor is still under warranty - what if it was not - $3000 out of pocket for a new unit because of a software update issue. Also the tech admitted that one of the Active Captain screen prompts is incorrect - telling the user to complete the software update using the Chartplotter which has nothing to do with it. Note to self - PERFORM FORCE SOFTWARE UPDATES WITH THE GARMIN TECH ON THE PHONE so that if it goes south maybe they will pay for it even out of warranty. Also look for an extended warranty. Sorry for the rant but I won't be fishing for a couple weeks I guess. Bo would have said I should have bought the Motorguide. Bobby

I bought one of the CC-6-174. Amistad - very nice - now there should be no reason for me not to catch lots of fish everyday. 😀 Thanks Bill. Bobby

Prays for Bo

On Android phone use Smart View and if your TV is new enough it will show up in a list and pick it. If not new enough you can buy an add on device for the TV.

Do you know what has been wrong with the Garmin Force???

we already had on buoy lost this yea from a big boat tying up to it.

A neighbor just got a Malibu M240. The boat has this blower contraption on the lower transom that shoots out horizontal and 6 computer controlled ballast tanks. $225k.

Gramin says 6 inches. I have more than that. On the 50 inch shaft I'm not sure how one could have less than about 6 inches because at least than about 6 inches the motor head would not be in full contact with it's support in the stowed position. For those considering a new Garmin install consider the longer shaft length in that if you add a turret for the Live Scope transducer mount you need clearance to the prop so it does not hit the transducer. Also on my Ranger Z19 the 50 inch shaft is just barely long enough so it does not come out of the water in big waves.

Randy, I could only lift it slightly due to the location of the Live Scope turret above the prop . It did seem to reduce the sound previously described. I wonder now if the sound is always there and not normally noticed but in my particular setup the sound is somehow amplified. Bobby

So is the Cape Fair area particularly Bridgeport to Woolly all trashed up again from the recent downpours?

At Garmin's request I did send a audio/video file (mp4) and I just now see that I can attach an mp4. If it goes you will need to turn the sound up on your PC. http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=88037

There has been allot of discussion on OAF regarding the new trolling motors and the reliance on electronics. I really like the Force and all the Chartplotters and Livescope and have said so on this forum. In recent times my Force has began to make "clucking" noises when it turns (rotates) under power. I called Garmin about this and as others have reported their customer service is outstanding. In this particular case Garmin reports and they have heard of this in at least two cases and in two cases have retrieved the unit and replaced it with a brand new unit. In these two cases Garmin indicated that they were unable to reproduce the problem. In my case they want to wait to see what happens particularly since it is unclear how long it will take to get it a new unit. I also want to wait rather than be out of service for a long period of time. I talked to my friends at Branson West Marine and they indicate that have seen some failures and likewise having problems getting replacement units. So I say all this to keep you all informed AND PLEASE REPSOND IF YOU HAVE HAD THE "CLUCKING" NOISE" I SPEAK OFF. Bobby

As a test turn off all the chartplotters and try the anchor lock - it will anchor at the correct spot. This would be a good question for Garmin - I just got use to dealing with it.

Are you saying you want the Ulterra? I had one of those - I loved it, the automatic deploy because I'm old and lazy. I switched to Garmin on my new Ranger because of the Live Scope and I wanted everything talking to everything else. The Ulterra did not hold the anchor lock well and had some other issue but again I like the auto deploy. I think Babler said that the Ulterra was " a bunch of parts trying to get away from each other" 😀 Very true. Try the Force you will like it. Easy deploy and stow even for an old fart like me. If a person needs a setup that will never let them down while fishing, he better get a row boat.

The Force is great for all the reasons given in this thread and other older post regarding Garmin. The Force connects perfectly to the Garmin Chartplotters. If I had to say anything negative about the Force it would be: Although the anchor lock never disengages (like my MinnKota did) and holds position perfectly , for some reason when I engage the anchor lock the motor always backs up about 10 ft as if it was taking the GPS location of the Console chartplotter. Also I do not like the location of the power switch which is under the unit when the troller is stowed. I use the trolling motor circuit breaker to turn the troller off and on which is located near the main battery switch in the rear of the boat. Also I have it setup to auto turn off after 2 hours.

So those guys up that way, what's the debris field like from Aunts Creek up to Wooly? Can one run at speed without worry. Thanks Bobby

Bridgeport bridge closed. Found out the hard way this morning.😒

Fished out of Baxter, Mill Creek, and Indian Point Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from about 11 am – 3 pm at the latest. Fished the White from Baxter up to about Point 9, Fisher Creek, and Cow Creek. Thursday the wind was nasty particularly in the afternoon east of the Kimberling Bridge. Caught about 35 – 40 fish total with Tuesday being the better day. Maybe 6 keepers total. One day found fish on primary rocky points, the next day further back off those points in the creek, and then in the pockets adjacent to the primary points. Thursday and Friday were smallmouth days. Did catch 6 SM in a 40 yards stretch in Cow. Saw fish on beds on Friday as the wind was a little calmer. Water temperature in the lower to mid 60s. Most fish caught in 15 fow. Tried to find that smallmouth bite that Bill B. had the previous Saturday but no joy. All fish caught on watermelon red Zoom shaky head, split tail ned in California Craw or Mud Minnow, or ¼ oz craw jig/trailer. The swimbait did me no good, maybe because I was not on those gravel flats. Catching not near as good as the previous week, I’m thinking because of solunar thing and high barometric pressure or because just about the time I would find them it was time to go home or maybe because I don’t know what I’m doing half the time. Enjoyed the week and looking forward to next week.

Roy, I don't go up the White past about Big Creek - sorry - others on OAF will probably chime in to answer your question.

Been getting a few myself accidentally.😀 - they go back in just like the bass.

Thanks guys - I want to get back up there but I guess I stay down on the White for a few more days - been doing OK on the White.

Do you have a notion of the amount of debris further down river - like down to Wooly or Piney?

So I had a deck boat that I would use for fishing and wakeboarding but it was just to hard to trailer around so it stayed in the dock but then I got too old for the wake board /skiing so I bought a new Ranger last year and have been trailering it all over TR and trying different places and have come to like the Cape Fair down river area the best in part because I've done better there fishing and because the Cape Fair marina ramp is the best in that it is in a protected cove where the wake boats can't pound the ramp while I'm trying to load/unload. But then these heavy rains dump all the debris and messes things up. Please excuse the wining.