Help needed choosing a trolling motor

I recently purchased a 1996 Bass Tracker Pro Tournament modified-v. The boat has a 75 hp Mercury on it, and a 42lb thrust Minn Kota All Terrain bow mount on the front. I used the boat several times and I wanted to upgrade the trolling motor. My wife surprised me for Christmas with a 70lb thrust Minn Kota Powerdrive V2 54 inch shaft. There was an issue with delivery, so I don't have it in hand yet. Before I get it, I still have a chance to change motors(with the wife's blessing of course), so I have some questions.
The old trolling motor had a 36 inch shaft, is the new 54 inch shaft too long, is it adjustable down from 54. Any opinions on the model, ive read about the electric steer turning much slower than cable steer, is it really that much slower?
I am new to the boating community, any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Re: Help needed choosing a trolling motor

there is a latch on the front of the shaft that allows you to raise/lower it in the water, if your old 36" shaft would reach the waterline fine, then this may be overkill, but will work it will just have the head a little higher off the deck. If you have the option to change it, and the v2 is the one you want, the shortest length offered is 48" so wont make a lot of difference

Re: Help needed choosing a trolling motor

Thanks for the info JDA! I don't know if I want The v2 for sure, figured I would ask some people with experience in the area, maybe discover some good and bad points of some of the models.

Re: Help needed choosing a trolling motor

Since the shaft is adjustable in length, it doesn't hurt to be a little longer than needed, just don't drop it all the way, one thing I also noticed about the V2 70lb models they are 24V, not sure if your current motor is 12 or 24, but may play a factor, if it is 12, you could rewire it for 24, there are a few good threads on it in this forum

Re: Help needed choosing a trolling motor

The difference in speed of a cable steer vs electric steer is not a concern. If you are continuously swinging from full right to full left really often you might not like the lag, but the up side is a bump of the pedal turns the motor just a bump. Cable steer motors have a tendency to "over-steer" so you end up with more foot work. I've used Minnkota PD's on my personal boats and have had zero issues with them. You do realize that the 70# thrust requires two batteries wired in series to achieve 24 volts. You do NOT want to use the starting battery as one of those two batteries.

Re: Help needed choosing a trolling motor

Man, thanks for the quick responses, I'm happy I found this forum! Silver tip, thank you very much, you put my mind at ease on the Electric steering. Also, thank you for your concern about the 24 volts, I already purchased a second deep cycle battery and I am lucky enough to have a brother who is going to rewire it for me.

Re: Help needed choosing a trolling motor

Just in case there are questions about the wiring -- here ya go!

Re: Help needed choosing a trolling motor

Thank you sir!

Re: Help needed choosing a trolling motor

The V2 is essentially a Terrova without the bells and whistles. You can add the wireless remote and the GPS auto pilot to it later if you want. I also prefer the 54" because I can set it deep when the water gets rough and not have it comming out of the water all the time. The V2 is the work horse and is what I would buy. During normal conditions it does sit a little high and I had to adjust to it being in the way when I'm flippin but other than that it isn't a problem.

Re: Help needed choosing a trolling motor

Thank you Steve, the motor sitting high when adjusted was a worry of mine. But as you pointed out, a little adjusting will work. I think I'm over thinking it, I'm going to go with the power drive and not look back. Thank you!