Originally Posted by truthdweller

Yep, good questions...

When I became a first time kayak owner of this TANK, I quickly succombed to the DIY circles and PWM units were, and still are, the mod for brushed motors. In my research, I learned of the higher end RC brushless trolling motors w/built in PWM, and thought, "Wonder if I can do this?!" That was the catalyst to do something different, and to accomplish the PWM goal, which brushed motors are not.

As far as your other question as to why not use the controls on the motor well, I do, haha! No, there's more to it than that...

When solo (the majority of the time) I would use the forward pedal slot for the motor, and use pedals for the rear, to have both. Those pedal owners quickly realize the hands free blessing pedals are to maintain position, especially on windy days! When in this configuration, it's precarious to reach the motor. The RC is ideal for this, with steering done with the rudder in the rear. One draw back...I can't raise the motor, ugh! When I'm tandem, the forward seater can not only operate the motor with RC but manually steer the bow, this is HUGE, enabling the yak to be turned in 14' circles, and raise the motor as well! If he/she is busy, I can pull the tether back to me, and I can operate the motor. Remembering also when the motor is RC, it's fixed in 5th fwd speed, and can't be operated manually.

Did I consider all this prior to taking this on? I tried but no, I trialed and errored ALOT which, as you can see, is still in the trial stages. Pedal RC? Thought about it but, didnt seem practical. Pedal RCs are for higher end brushless motors that can rotate, fwd/reverse etc. Wish I had a Minn Kota motor w/ RC & spot-lock! Kayaks come with them now!

I hope this clears up a bit of your cofusion...it confused me too!