How to Shorten Your Trolling Motor Shaft (Super Easy) 

A smaller diameter metal pipe also works great to protect the wires. Just push the wires through the metal pipe as you insert the pipe into the trolling motor shaft. It keeps them safe as you cut the shaft. Also best to have the motor upside down to keep debris from falling down into the motor.

*Great little trolling motor **enjoyable.fishing** recommend had it hooked up to my 15 foot old town canoe and it pushed it pretty good with me and my son (220 pounds each).*

Use a wood dowel, zip tie wires to dowel and push wires down pass the cutting point, cut shaft and wood dowel.

Like Chuck said, use a 24" piece of 1/2" EMT conduit to sleeve over the wires. Also you can use a hose clamp to fasten on the outside of the shaft' This would give you a great line to follow when sawing that shaft and a good straight cut. Great video.

If you use a tubing cutter to cut down the shaft, you do not have wo worry about cutting any wires and it makes a nice clean cut. Since it is plastic and thicker than tubing it takes a bit more turning of the cutter to get through the plastic, but worth it.

Great video. But I would personally get a metal tube that is slightly smaller than the shaft, put the wires through the tube and then feed it "into" the shaft opening, put the shaft on a vice, and then cut the shaft with a hacksaw. Much easier. :)

Excellent thanks exactly what I need to modify my trolling motor to suit my needs. Greetings from New York.

Man that was great!! I’ve been wondering how to do that when I put a trolling motor on my Kayak 👍👍 you did a nice job on it 👏👏👏

A pipe cutter would be fine to use without risking cutting the wires.

Thanks much, liked the way you got the wires out of the way.

Try using a copper pipe cutter do you don’t need any power tools to cut the shaft down and you don’t need to protect the wires with anything

Great video. Super helpful. Shots and explanations very clear. Bought a Minn Kota for my one man pontoon and the shaft is too tall to use comfortably. This is exactly what I was looking for.

Hi, do the black and red wires coming out go to the battery or pwm. What are the yellow and white wires for?

I feel like one of those tube cutting tool that you screw in and twist the blade 360 until you cut the tube would make this so much faster and easier.

Kids got some pipes on em

Be careful, all your small bits of metal will end up in the armature or brushes of the motor ...maybe you could arrange the motor to be above when you drill the hole....great video!

Dang man, thanks... I've been scrambled on b how to get mine cut down, certainly didn't wanna by a short one when I have a great Minn Kota already..

Thanks for the video, sure would like to have seen you install the cap so that we can see the benefit of the item.

Me and my buddy did one on a MinnKota 45 Edge

I bet one of those rotating pipe cutters would work even better to cut that. I have a motor in the garage I need to shorten, might try the pipe cutter to see if it works.

Hi friend! good video. Can you replace the original shaft and put a shorter one to avoid cutting?

I liked the technique and was curious about your oneobjective cap mentioned but never shown. Then I went to your store and could not find it either. Also, it looks like you have some interesting fishing accessories...like a hook holder/line protector for rods, but that page is not active. A little feedback is my best way to pay you back for the info.

I have to do this for my crappie brakes

just slide a pc of copper tubing over the wires and use a fine tooth hand saw or jig saw with fine tooth blade to cut it, but I guess both methods work fine. thanks for the vid.

Great video very helpful

I tried cutting mine with a pipe cutter, to avoid hitting the wires, and it was not a clean cut, now my motor head is a bit loose. I may have to cut it shorter using this technique.

I can use tubing cutter to cut only out side metal part without touch those wires.

Purpose of the yellow and white wires? Reason being I'm fabricating a pool vacuum "riptide" style and want to use the motor from a trolling motor.

hey, what did you do with the excess length of head cables please? Did you also shorten them or other? Thanks.

Nice and easy

Thanks for the tip. I'm mounting a 50 lb thrust Minn Kota to the back of my NuCanoe F-12. I have the transom mount installed. How long should the shaft be using your measuring method, to optimize this motor to my Frontier 12? Also, what battery would you recommend? Thanks again.

How do you put the head back on?

Good deal.

how can i aquire one of those caps good idea on the shortening

Could’ve just get a tube cutter which would been better and faster that way you don’t have to be afraid of cutting the wires

pipe cutter to cut shaft

May I ask folks....is there a performance reason to shorten the trolling motor length? I do understand the longer shaft can result in the motor head gettting in the way of me on the kayak, etc...but is there another reason to shorten the shaft? Thanks!

Use a small pipe cutter , much easier and safer

😂

Could the shaft be shortened to 20 inch?

use a copper pipe cutter next time , you won't have shavings go down into your shaft

For the love of god file your hole so the wires dont cut. lol good job otherwise.

all that shit is falling down into your motor

Screaming children

Was not impressed by handy-work. Reminds me of your fishing skills.