Hello, All. My neighbor had a trolling plate attached to his outboard while he was waiting for his trolling motor to arrive. After it arrived I bought his plate for my stern drive. I have a 5.7L Mercruiser and the plate wasn't doing much so I decided to use it in reverse gear. The flat surface of the boats stern plus the plate worked great! I put a steering lock on my steering wheel (turned a little off center) and the boat follows a graceful arc with no help. Also there's no concern about getting tangled in the prop, which happened while fishing on my neighbor's boat a couple of times. As a bonus, I was lucky to see an infommercial for a serrated prop from RONCO. It will work in reverse in ice up to 1/4" thick. Only $19.99!! This extends my season by months! My neighbor spent $3,000 for his trolling motor and hasn't talked to me since. Happy ice fishing, Gary
