Wilderness Systems Helix PD Pedal Drive - Propulsion Device for Radar 115 and 135 Kayaks

Well from all the reviews on this product, and from what I read. Some people complain about this product. This was broken,or screw stripped out. I got my pedal drive today. I checked everything out. Nothing was missing. Nothing was broken. I got most of the drive put on my kayak this afternoon. The only trouble I had was trying to feed the lines threw the small plastic tube on the kayak. Couldn't get the lines to come out the back of the kayak. This has nothing to do with the pedal drive I bought on Amazon. I highly recommend this product.

Works great use it every weekend.

Wow, even though this is expensive, the utility is worth the $$. Not having to switch between the paddle and my fishing rod is priceless. Only downtick is price, but this is quality crafted. You can tell they have learned from the initial design and updated some components like the pedals and the mounting of the locking mechanism. All in all very pleased with my purchase.

Was slightly worried to buy an expensive pedal drive in "Like New" but the deal really paid off. First thing I did was to inventory every piece and part listed in the manual. Install was not hard at all. The pedal drive is amazing and so far has been impressive. The Steering cable for the rudder came loose at the Lever End, but was easily fixed and I now understand better how to operate the rudder. Most complaints of breakage or poor performing parts, seem to be all about abuse or the install. Use your head and take your time to install the drive and you should be fine.

Poorly designed rudder system. It doesn't go up or down very easily if at all. Also parts were missing. 5 stars otherwise.

I almost gave up on kayak fishing until I got these

My advice to you - KEEP SHOPPING. Do not purchase this product.I'm a bit disappointed in this.When the drive arrived and I started the assembly, I found that two screws in the latch assembly won't come out so I can install the latches.I called Wilderness and spoke to a very nice guy who told me in essence:- Yes, we are aware of this issue,- Contact [email protected] and provide your proof of purchase and contact information- They will get you a kit to fix the problem.I have a couple of problems with this:- If you already know this is an issue, why not take my information and get the kit in the mail without my having to reach out to someone else?- Better still, include the kit with the new drives you are selling?I'm sure it's only a minor annoyance but I had planned to take it out this weekend to try it out but now that will certainly be delayed by a week and will induce an over all delay in using the drive system.For $1,100 you'd (or at least I) think that the manufacturer would be ahead of this; or at least have a better solution than to contact the warranty people.-- Followup after a month's use1. Customer service (Wilderness Systems) is not very responsive; they do eventually get back to you but they state they have a high call volume.Either they have a lot of quality issues or they are severely understaffed. I'm thinking the former.2. I've used the kayak (which is great) with the pedal system (no so great) a few times. I've hit a submerged object twice and the pedal system does not fare well when this happens. The small brass fittings fail and the hold-down system has totally failed now making the pedal drive un-usable.While I don’t fault Wilderness Systems for my accident (hitting a submerged object) I do have a problem with the design that is not tolerant of such an inevitable incident.Makes me think this is not a good product for actual use.The pedal system works well otherwise. Just don’t hit anything underwater.3. The rudder.- Note that my son also has this system and his works well so I'm pretty sure it's not the installation or both would have the problem I am about to mention.There's a string you pull to raise and lower the rudder. No matter how hard you pull on mine, the rudder won't raise or lower. The one my son has works, we have checked the installation steps and they are installed the same so we're pretty sure it's not that.There's a lot of tension on the strings that perform this function; the strings that are used for this are not well designed and prone to failure (IMO).I wish I had bought a different kayak with a better designed pedal drive. To spend $1,100 is quite an investment for a not so well performing device.

Install was not too difficult, but overall this device has flaws. The rudder is useless in water of any size, even slow-moving rivers of the upper Chesapeake. Pedal arms detached despite installing multiple times and just way to limited control. It failed me four times in two trips, once out in the middle of the Upper Chesapeake-that was a tiring paddle back to shore. I have initiated a return and will instead look into a trolling motor as backup.