Like or dis like....???? Does it turn fast enough to avoid stumps ect..

Thanks

For the kinda fishing I do I love it. The Anchor lock feature is the best. For bass fishing in shallow water not sure how well it will work.

Love mine. I've hit many a stump with it, but no more than before.

It's great to set a direction down a bank line, set the unit on 2, and basically fish that area thourghly and slow without standing on the trolling motor. I spend more time away from the TM than on it now (and have a lot less back pain).

Spot lock is great for retying or fishing a deep water hump.

I can't decide if the IPilot or StructureScan is the best investment I've made so far.

Another vote for the I-pilot. I mostly fish deep water structure and it is the cat's meow for that. I absolutely love mine.

We use them on our bay boats and we like them. There not as bullet proof as the hand control units or the cable drive units but there beneficial for holding the boat on a point or ledge to fish. The biggest problem we've had with them is each one has had issues with the release to deploy the motor and release to bring it in. The screws have a tendency to back out and cause problems with the lock not unlocking. As for turning speed, it's fine.

If you are in thick trees and lots of stumps it is not that great. Yes, for open water it's great. If I only fished stumpy tree filled lakes I'd sell mine.

One thing I should add...if you have need for repairs, be sure to get someone that knows the I-Pilot.

I crashed mine in some rip rap on a dam and the guy that "repaired" it, unknown to me, reversed the wiring. The spot lock of course wouldn't work correctly and the motor overheated the wiring and melted down a battery. The guy that did the "repair" after three months of trying could not figure out what was wrong with it.

I called Minn Kota out of frustration and they immediately asked me to mail it to them. Within a couple of days they put it on the bench, quickly discovered the wiring reversal and fixed it. They also put on a new shaft, new motor all at absolutely no charge to me. They were great to work with and quickly got me up and running again....but just wanted to point out that not all repair shops are equal it seems especially when it comes to I-Pilot. Minn Kota service, on the other hand was totally outstanding.

Good suggestion, I had the same problem. Mine has the built in transducer that stopped working, took it to an authorized minn kota warranty service shop they said they fixed it by replacing the transducer. It still didn't work. I phoned the shop, talked to their more experienced repair tech who told me to check the transducer cable which often becomes worn and breaks internally due to the TerraVova binding the cable tightly as it turns around and around when using spot lock. Sure enough, that was the problem. I gave the new cable more slack and have not had anymore issues.

I love it for the way I prefer to fish, it's not for everyone and do get the longer shaft.

Add my vote as +1 for the i-pilot. Absolutely love it when I took it out for the first time. Set your waypoints and go; no fooling around with the foot pedal. Probably increased my fishing time by 60% and landed more fish. Spot lock is great for off shore fishing and re-tying. Best investment I have ever made.

One suggestion, get the adapter plate so that you can remove it before loading onto the trailer. It does stick out quite aways.

Here are some more threads on the i-Pilot topic:
http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbt...lot#Post7104672

or

http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbt...lot#Post7104080

I really like mine.

I was looking at my buddies the other day and he had the same problem with the way it sticks out on the nose of the boat. That is my other concern...I not going to lie..I'M tough on my equipment..I FISH !!!

All that being said in still looking to buy another one, let me know if anyone wants to sell a 60 inch shaft terrova. Even if it's only a 24 volt I can make it a 36.

I posted another post about having a problem with my i-Pilot. After talking to a minn kota rep he believes the GPS receiver isn't communicating with the unit.

This being said, I've had mine for close to a year now and used to love it but am begining to think I might recommend going with a normal hand operated or foot operated model.

I have had three remotes now, $120 X 3 (though two were from the cracks in the remote which i hear have had a recall now even though I had to pay for my two)

Have had to replace the seal on the Azimuth Drive unit (Steering Motor) though that was covered under warranty. I believe that went out because I was using mine in the salt water and pretty large waves which my guess is the up and down motion over time wore out the seal??

I put some very serious hours on my boat, (prob 300 or more last year) and am extreme example of wear and tear but I just wanted to share my experience with the thought that somebody might be contemplating these things.

I do love to set a heading and not touch the trolling motor again, and the spot lock feature. That being said I have had quite a few experience now that stopped me from using the trolling motor that day when I would have been fishing like usual with a hand controlled model.

If I have to replace this GPS receiver and its not covered under warrenty that will be $350. Add that to the other remotes I've had to purchase and you may just find you i-Pilot adds up to a lot more money in the long run.

By the way, I'm in Dallas now and need a good Minn Kota warrenty place on the east side. Any suggestions?

Just tried mine out today love it used it in 20 mph winds for about 4 hours only used 1/4 of the battery's
Put it on a 16 ft alumacraft with the 70 lb thrust it never has to go over 3 in the speed really conserves battery life
If you are lookin to put one on a smaller boat go with 24 volt and you can go all day on a charge

I hope they can hold up - I just bought one.

Got it installed (some problems getting is mounted on the Bay Stealth (had to buy the quick release mounting bracket Minn Kota MKA-21 Quick Release Bracket just to get it mounted and even with that it’s not exactly correct) and the I-Pilot NOT working straight out of the box).

Got it installed and a new I-pilot from Minn Kota – they were very helpful on I-Pilot.

I've been a foot control guy for 40 years - I never have to look down at the motor to see which way it's pointing (I just know by my foot position - but with an electronic motor steering on the Terrova – you have to look at the head of the unit to see where it’s pointing – there is no way around that).

I got it for the spot lock – for White Bass, Hybrid Striper Fishing (really so I can walk away from the trolling motor – let it maintain/hold the location while I’m free to walk around the boat helping others on the boat). Also I like the Auto-Pilot features to set a direction to move in and it holds that course via GPS while I’m doing something else, and I’m beginning to see where the remote is very functional standing at the console (or anywhere in the boat to navigate with).

Honestly I think it’s a great TM for beginners (no real experience required) it takes care of a lot things that the user does not have to have skills to do.

And I think it’s good for the experienced user, you can capitalize on it’s features to free you up.

But for Holding to a specific spot (a tiny spot) like for Crappie fishing a Bush Pile – I think you will have to use the foot control.

But I do hope it holds up – I’ve worn out several Minn Kota Maxxum (not the motor so much but the mounting/base – fishing everyday – it’s tuff on TM’s).

We’ll see how it holds up for me in the next few years – but I do think this technology will take over the TM market – it is the next generation.

Could you image buying a TV today with a remote? I don’t think that’s even possible,