One advantage the fortrex gives you is the ease that it can be deployed and retracted. I find the pedal on the fortrex very "smooth" and does not require a lot of "force" to turn. I say this coming from a 12/24 evinrude (like turning a tank). Can't compare it to a Maxxum but when I was doing my research it was pretty much a no brainer to go with the Fortrex from what I read on various forums. Only downside I had was to convert my electric on the boat to a straight 24v system. My previous trolling motor was 12/24 and it wasn't set up to run a 24v system.