Does anyone have one? Pros? Cons? Fortrex or iPilot? Tell me all about experiences with iPilot. Love Fortrex but iPilot sure sounds interesting. Thinking of getting one. Can't decide though. Going on an 09 Skeeter ZX 200.

Had Terrova iPilot for about 6 months now. I like it a lot as far, but it has it's drawbacks. The anchor function is great for offshore fishing.

Cons--
Not the best design for deploying/picking up out of water. Piss poor to be honest.
The way it mounts allows for a lot of wobble up the shaft. This will eventually lead to problems with the mount. I bought a small ram mount to secure the head to the floor to eliminate the wobble.
It's a little noisy due to the electric steering. I don't think that makes a big enough difference in the water though. I think the noise is mainly above water.
You can't use a Lowrance Spotlight transducer with a digital TM.

Thx for the input. I figure it would be a pain in the butt to learn how to operate so I think I'll go with the Fortrex.

No problem learning to operate it.

Find someone on the lake that has one and use it for a few minutes. I'm always on Rayburn. You're more than welcome to play with mine if you're ever on there.

I have had both, and for me the Terrova with iPilot is the hands down winner. You just have to condition yourself to use it differently than a foot control motor, and if you have run a FC like I have for 30 years it takes some getting used too. With that being said the benefits of the Terrova far outweigh the negatives in my opinion.

Agree with yankhardreelfast but is very easy to learn how to operate and like the follow contour and anchor feature but as stated deploy and pick up is the pits when you are 70

I have one and no issues with it other than more work to put an external Xducer on it. The internal one does not work so great and no SI/DI with it.

As far as deploy or stow issue mention in post by YankHardReelFast - here is what I did and it works great! Buy a "Quad Gear UTV Grab Handle" which velcrows on the upper shaft and does not interfere with any function and you now have a grab handle to lower and lift the motor with ease! Cost is $15 from Cabelas, Tractor Supply, Bass Pro or any other sports store. You only need one...and PROBLEM SOLVED! No more reaching over too far or losing balance or grip on the motor. Check it out! Thanks!

I really like my Terrova I pilot, it was easy to learn and is great for me since I fish alone a lot...can operate from anywhere in the boat...if you are wanting to connect it to your hummingbird sonar you need the I-pilot link, not the same as the I-pilot...cons: I agree it is not the easiest to remove from the water...but easy enough to deploy, I tried to use a add on transducer but it is almost impossible to keep the extra cable from interfering with the auto pilot or anchor function...The Terrova has a built in transducer that works but wont support side imaging. I like that when you pull it up and have it stowed it disables all power to unit...so no worry about accidental operation. Although there is a little noise on the operation, it maybe just my hearing but the noise from turning is barely noticeable to me....overall I am very happy with it and really enjoy fishing with it...

I have the Terrova I pilot 101, it is perfect for my style of fishing, not 1 complaint other than without a slide mount it does stick out too far, I just got used to it and don't ever think about it anymore, some days we just drift and never use it but usually we do and it's great. Batteries last 2 days +. If I ever get another boat it will have one on it.

I switched from fortrex to terrova i-pilot link. I love it. I have si/di with clean cable install. No loose wires anywhere. Deploy and stowing can be a pain. But takes no physical effort at all.

I love mine.. well worth the money. I use mine all the time and the batterys don't drain as much as you would thing. I got the 60" shaft because I fish big water. Love it.. I was fishing the mcdonalds at rayburn this year and on the last day the winds really picked up. I fished off the point of an island in deep water and it held me there like a champ. I do recommend the slide bracket so you can tuck it back to the boat when your loading and unloading. Best money you can spend. My biggest bitch is some of the features like follow contour only work with the lakemaster chip. Navionics is so much better than lake master.

I'm loving mine so far. The "spot lock" feature is the deal !!! The hardest part for me was getting used to the foot pedal.

I have had one now for three years and would not want to go back to foot control. I use the steer buttons instead of the foot pedal and it is so comfortable to stand flat footed on the deck all day compared to one foot on the pedal.
Auto pilot will keep the motor pointed to whatever compass heading you put it at and it will hold course in some really rough water. Spot lock is just awesome too.
It did take some getting used to steering but it seems much easier to me than foot steer. The biggest con for me is that you have to look at it to know which way it is pointed compared to foot control where you know which way it is pointed by the angle of your foot on the pedal.

I as well was told to use the steer buttons rather than the pedal and that was the ticket for me to much easier operation.

The ease of use is fantastic and the spot lock is suck a great feature!

But....

I didn't realize that I weave in and out of timber without looking down. I actually need a cable steer so I can tell which direction the TM is pointed by the angle that my foot is at rest. Not sure if that makes sense but the electronic steering doesn't give you feedback on your TM direction because it is just sensors under a stationary pedal instead of the pivot of the traditional cable pedal. A windy day on the water and I realized that I need the cable style, immediate response steering. I found I was having to look down at the TM constantly to see where it was pointed where typically my subconscious just drove the boat while my eyes were dedicated to fishing.

It isn't for me but obviously a lot of people like it.

Jackson