Ipilot

I've been looking into the minn Kota pilot. Was just wondering if it is worth it and is easily used. I was wondering if you can use a foot control with it or if a foot control even comes with it. Basically wanting any input at all. I would be using it for fishing brush piles and spider rigging for crappie. Also use it for fishing deep water during winter by just easing around. Would it be used well for doing these things.
Thanks ahead.

I used mine to spider rig and fish brushpiles today and I could not be more pleased with the performance. I have the Terrova with I-pilot. I have used it for apx 20 days on the water so far and I can easily say it is worth every penny. I use the pedal and the remote. I know that if you get the MK PowerDrive you cannot use the pedal with I-pilot. I would not like to loose the pedal. When spider rigging you can use the record feature to repeat the cource that you just did or you can record a cource with your main motor then go back over it with the tmotor and you can select your speed to the nearest 1/10th mile per hour. Very Cool!!! I have been doing my spider rigging at 3/10 mph. The motor will vary the rpm's to counter the varing wind gusts.
You can search in the forum and find more info.
I highly recommend this T-motor

If you get the Terrova with iPilot already installed, it comes with the remote and foot pedal, and both work at the same time.

I love mine.

x10

i have the power drive with ipilot,i can use footpedal too with my power drive ipilot because theirs a guy on crappie.com that makes a box that allows this.i love mine ,but i mostly troll and spiderrig with mine

I have terrova with ipilot factory installed. love it. I have used it 12-15 times and have yet to use foot control. awesome unit! worth every dollar.

Terry

I have a 2 year old Terrova Riptide ST 80 with Co-pilot/Auto pilot. I am considering purchasing the i-pilot add-on. I have purchased an extra co-pilot remote for a spare and trolling unit has had very little use. I am assuming the co-pilot remotes would be of no value and I would need to purchase a spare remote exclusively for the i-pilot. Is this true? Also is there a market to sell the co-pilot piece I change out & the new spare remote? It's a $400.00 investment and all I would gain is the spot-lock it appears, just want to make a wise choice.

Thanks to those that help

Foot pedal is not easy on your foot...

How can I get ahold of this guy? I looked but could not find any thing about it

go to Crappie.com and look in the off topic forum until you find a post from "canepole". That's the gentleman's handle. He's a retired Electrical Engineer from NASA.

yep ,that be him

we stayed on big swells into the wind yesterday....you shoulda seen the faces of the guys fishing by us when we both were on the back deck casting.

I have the terova with factory I pilot It is worth every penny to me at the end of the day I am not tired from standing on one foot and am not sore either I have been spoiled! I LOVE IT!!!!!

Can you help us out. I registered and search all over the site and I can't find what you're talking about. Thanks

The only CanePole I could find is a soldier in Iraq. I too own a MinnKota PowerDrive and HATE it with a passion. The iPilot is a worthless piece of [censored]. It won't hold on an acre of water much less over a brush pile. And you can NOT put a wireless foot control on it...that is straight from the factory after I bought one that said in big letters on the package it was specifically for the PowerDrive.
I'm glad you guys with the Terrova are happy with your purchase but, DO NOT buy a PowerDrive if you want it for the iPilot feature, it will NOT work as advertised, period!
I'll gladly discount mine to anyone that wants to buy it.
Okie Bob

I sent him a message for you guys letting him know you are looking for him.

Thanks.

OkieBob, I've had my PD V2, that I added Ipilot to, on the water about 30 times now and I love it. I put out a buoy on Falcon, in the wind, and if It had been in the middle of a brush pile I would have been able to fish it great. I have heard a few guys with your same complaint so I would contact Minn Kota and ask for warranty. You guys must have gotten a bad batch because mine and several others work perfect. I will say though, there is a major learning curve with these things, but once you master it, IMHO, it is the best thing since sliced bread.

I am interested to see if you get this fixed, thinking about buying one myself, since its the only TM that works on my boat



Josh, is he back in Iraq?

I've had this TM for almost a year now. I contacted BPS about the problem (where I bought it) and they had a factory guy contact me. He finally called and told me to take it in for warranty repair which I did. They replaced the circuit boards in it and I put it back on my boat with same exact results.
It may be that I don't know how to operate it but, I've tried everything and it won't hold within 50' of a marker bouy on a calm or windy day. Maybe that is close enough for some fishing but, I fish small pvc condos for crappie and have to stay on top of them. If I'm 50' away, I might as well be a mile away.
The advertisments on the PDV2 came out claimed a 5' radius..and I know that is 10' diameter. I'd be happy if it did that, but, it doesn't come close.

Rick

No he isnt in the military...and if you are going to buy one, get the terrova dont mess with the powerdrive....I have heard nothing but complaints on the PD and nothing but happiness from the terrova

JS, I'd have to agree with you on that. Stay away from the PD and go with the Terrova. At least you can get a wireless foot control if you don't like the 'spotlock' feature.

He hasnt responded to me yet, here is a link to his profile. hopefully he can help you out

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/members/cane+pole.html

im 62 with back issues, it is a godsend for me, u will not be disapointed! go to minnkota website watch videos on the terrova ipilot

I love mine. Very worth the money.

Tried my i pilot (terrova) out today for the first time and SWEETNESS. I purposely spotlocked on a point/dropoff that goes from 7ft to 23ft in about a 5ft span, so it's pretty much a dropoff, just to see how good it's stay in that spot. Well it'd move back to 14 ft then kick back on to take me to the 7ft, so it moved about 3 ft before turning back on. Pretty good! The only problems I have with this thing is #1. I hate the way it mounts and hangs so far off the front on the top cap. (I had to use the quick release bracket because the way my boat is made (Skeeter), just looks very weak). 2. I looked up once and the coil wire was wrapped around the shaft 3 times, I about choked thinking the US2 might have broke from being stretched so tight. But so far it makes fishing so much easier not having to fight the wind anymore.

Hey Okiebob, sorry to hear the pd sucks so badly! Would you ever buy another MK after having the problems you have had? Have you talked to MK to see if they'd let you upgrade to the Terrova for a little additional charge?

x10

One thing I have noticed with mine is if you move around in the boat it seems to move, you may be changing the location and angle of the reciever just enough to cause it to move. Same thing happens when some one in the back of the boat moves around.

must not be the same cane pole as from here, or he got out of the military.

Problem is, if I keep the toon and install the ipilot, the only platform is the PD, not the teranova.....its that or buy a nautistar

Gout scout,

Make sure you are careful with that qucik release bracket. I heard a guy last week at the crappie masters tournament on Texoma hit a big wave and now there is a terrova on the bottom of Texoma. He said the quick release bracket can be to quick sometimes

TB,

Sell the toon and get a nautic star. If you cant make a mounting braacket for the terrova to fit on the toon then I would get the fortrex. I dont see why you couldnt come up with somethin

Yeah not real fond of it! I almost made a bracket out of steel instead of this plastic contraption. That is my one problem with this sucker! They couldn't find a better way for it to mount or make it have a longer base . Thanks for the heads up, I'll check it after a rough water excursion.

canepole,is usually at his lake house on the weekend but should respond to u when he gets back home

I have one and when it is working it works well. Right now something is jacked up. It won't kick into high gear. Runs only on slow and the response would make a snail seem fast. I need to take the dang thing of again and go have warranty work done.

I've heard this from several people now, but have never seen it happen with mine. The most mine will wrap is about a full turn, and then it reaches a limit and spins back around.

I wonder if it is just a glitch in the software?

Not sure since it was only the second time I used the Terrova and the first time I used the I pilot. I'm not even sure how it happened because I was spot locked on a point, then pointed it west, hit the auto pilot, put a few rods in locker box, looked up and gasp! Maybe it was 2 wraps (wasn't expecting to see it so I didn't pay that much attention at first) but still that poor old little ducer cable was tight.

Several times I have been spot locked and have seen it get wrapped around one full time. Then without me doing anything it has unrapped itself automatically when still on spotlock.

Its the cats meow for deep water fishing, which is most of what I do in fresh water. I use it almost every day during the week...never had the foot controls hooked up cause the remote fits my needs totally. It has made my anchor obsolete, which is fine with me.

The mount is the only downside I have found to the unit....and even that is workable if you pay attention.

ML just wondering what is your beef with the mount. Thats my main complaint also. I dont like how far outboard the motor and prop must sit. But if that is what I have to endure for all the other unique, very advantagous and now indespensable features, I will not complain too loud and try very hard not to run into a dock or bridge piling head on.

My complaint against the mount is on my Skeeter I have to use the quick release bracket, if you havent seen this thing then I'll try to describe it. Its a rectangle block of plastic with a chunk of the middle cut out of it. The chunk just sits in the hole and has two little rods that hold it all together. But the little chunk doesn't give very much to bolt to and on my Skeeter the chunk sits so far forward I had to put screws in the front two holes and bolt the back two. I wish they had made the Terrova mount longer for better bolting (and we wouldn't need the quick release) and a option to slide the unit back so it does not stick off the front so far.

Sorry, I've been without a computer for a few days and then out of town for a week. Wanted to get back to everyone on this topic.
First, I did talk (email) to Cane Pole and he does not have a way to add a wireless foot control to at Minn Kota with iPilot. The PowerDrive V2 does not have this capability and that is what I was looking for.
Second, I don't like the way the mounting bracket sits so far outboard either. I can live with it but, I don't like it.
Third, I constantly have to watch the cord (paranoid?). I just can't trust it now that I've seen it wrap around itself more than once.
And lastly, yes, I talked to the MK local rep and all he offered was to take it back to service. Did that, didn't help, won't do it again. I did NOT ask him nor threaten or anything like that to send it back or ask for my money back or ask for a trade in. I figured if he cared about making me a happy customer, he would have offered. Since he didn't, well, guess you can imagine what my next TM won't be!!
I know Kyle and many others are very happy with MK and I'm tickeled they are. But, they have the Terrova and not the PowerDrive.
Also, just FYI, I did some checking and have learned that the new GPS satellites are now being launched by the USA. They are not online yet and I couldn't find out when they will be. They will only be for military and no commercial availability is anticipated for several years, at least. Also, there are several other countries launching satellites for GPS. Russia, France and China were the ones mentioned. I would speculate that some enterprising capitolist will figure out a way to utilize a few of these satellites for a very accurate new product pretty soon. Be watching, when it does become available, I suspect the error will be in inches and not meters.
Okie Bob