Sideshift stern thruster

Last year we purchased a 2005 Mainship 400t with a single engine. It is very difficult to dock with a breeze or current from astern. The sideshift brand looks promising. Does anyone have any experience with them. Positive and negatives are both welcome.
Capt. Bill

There's a discussion going on about this on the Yahoo MS site right now. Couple of owners with 34's have installed the stern thrusters and are happy with them, seem to be a good value.
I'll say here what I said there about the bow thruster, butt ugly

We had one on our Camano, I thought it was good and priced right if I remember correctly.

I have the 5hp bow thruster, now three years old. It works great and is half the price of traditional thrusters. Installation was straight forward but heavy wire to the control box and fuse/breaker is not included, so I would add at least 20% on for these items on top of the thruster itself depending on distance. There were some problems with early models with motor seals I believe, but this problem has been resolved. I would not hesitate to buy one again.

I have the SideShift Stern Thruster on our 31' Trawler. I did an install write up when I purchased it in 2012 (search here for SideShift Stern Thruster) reflections after 4 years...It works great and gives me finite movement when docking in marinas. For most newer boaters, the problem they run into with a single engine trawler, Is that you can't steer when in neutral . This thruster will allow you to slow down by shifting into neutral and maintain complete control of your vessel. For me, I want to go slow in a Marina..... As far as the brand, I installed it myself and it has not let me down in 4 years of use. Some advice, buy the largest SideShift stern thruster on the market. Make sure the bottom of the unit (prop) is exactly at the bottom of your stern (prop should be min 5" below waterline). The closer the propellers are to the water line, the less effective the thruster is. Good luck.