Over the years, I've had trolling motors from Evinrude, Mercury, Minn Kota, and Motorguide. I guess I'm an unabashed fan of Minn Kota, but I am a little biased as they are made in my home state of Minnesota. I had one Motor Guide, and it worked fin, but I didn't like the handle on it- a big D ring kind of assembly. The on/off switch was in the D-ring kind of like a trigger, and that switch gave out. I bought a simple push button switch, drilled a hole in the bottom of the handle and wired it up. Never gave me any other troubles, and was still working well when I sold the boat. Gotta say go with as much of a Minn Kota as you can afford;. Keep your eyes open for a good deal on a used unit. If you need to save money on the battery, there's no reason you couldn't start with a used car battery from a junkyard. No, they won't hold up as well as a good deep cycle battery, but it would get you on the water.
