Black_Blade Posted June 18, 2011 Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 Been looking at trolling motors and thinking I like the Minn Kota Powerdrive v2, my question is with all the various options for them, which to get? Is that i-pilot feature any good as opposed to the auto pilot? I have a spare Humminbird Piranha unit, so was thinking to get the universal sonar feature and plug it in to that unit. Any thoughts and/or suggestions welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
workwear Posted June 18, 2011 Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 i have the i-pilot on my riptide....and i couldnt be happier....the best feature i like is the anchor mode....it could be very windy...hit that button and the boat stays withing 5 ft of that point.....ive recorded tracks and replayed them....amazing...do you really need it???....no...but toys are fun!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike the Pike Posted June 18, 2011 Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 Chris I have the same motor I have the Auto Pilot an excellent feature when it gets choppy when trolling I use my kicker motor at the rear stern I then drop the Minn Kota down at the bow. The auto pilot maintains its course.I was able to take pictures of fish caught and the boat pretty well steered itself.Get the built in transdoucer no wires no fuss no clamps or tie raps. Do it right the first time and you won't regret it. MTP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black_Blade Posted June 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2011 I am trying to locate some online source for some owners manuals that feature these various features, so to get an idea of what they do...like what all the difference is there between auto pilot and i-pilot for instance. Found a pdf for an i-pilot manual, but no luck finding auto pilot as yet. With auto pilot, do you set a certain depth and the motor then follows the contour of the bottom that corresponds to this setting? Definitely going with the built in transducer, pretty sure there is an adapter to be able to attach it to my old Piranha Max 20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFSC Kevin Posted June 19, 2011 Report Share Posted June 19, 2011 (edited) Autopilot will set a direction and use an internal compass to stay in that direction. If you have the ipilot which has the advanced autopilot, it will set a course and use internal gps and stay on that straight line. Normal autopilot will not have this straight line feature... Only the direction. I'm pretty sure minn kota website says this somewhere. Autopilot only has that 1 feature of staying in that direction. Ipilot has many features, including the autpilot, such as advanced autopilot, spot-lock(electronic anchor), cruise control and many more. Also, to let you know, the ipilot on the powderdrive doesn't allow for the operation of a foot pedal. Whereas for a terrova, you can use the remote in conjunction with the foot pedal. I'm very happy with my terrova. Besides being able to use the footpedal, the foot pedal for the terrova is nicer and the deploy and stow is much better than the powerdrive. Edited June 19, 2011 by kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFSC Kevin Posted June 19, 2011 Report Share Posted June 19, 2011 info on ipilot - http://www.minnkotamotors.com/products/accessories/ipilot/freshwater.aspx info on autopilot - http://www.minnkotamotors.com/advantage/freshwater.aspx and click on the autopilot tab near the bottom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooner_jr Posted June 19, 2011 Report Share Posted June 19, 2011 I have a powerdrive v2 on my boat and it is a pain to stow and deploy. I've heard the Terrova is much easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike the Pike Posted June 19, 2011 Report Share Posted June 19, 2011 I have a powerdrive v2 on my boat and it is a pain to stow and deploy. I've heard the Terrova is much easier. Yes hands down the Terrova is the better motor.As for deploying the V2 you get used to it .I find it easy myself. MTP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucG Posted June 19, 2011 Report Share Posted June 19, 2011 I spent all winter trying to figure out which model to choose. I ended up selecting the power drive v2 cause it made more sense for my application. I mounted it on my Lund 16 DLX. I have no real complaints yet, but I've only had it out about a dozen times. The only thing I was worried about was selecting a 12 volt system. But I have yet to deplete my battery. That may be because it is brand new. In regards to the stow/deploy, it definatly gets better as you use it. Right out of the box it is very stiff, but it does break in and it now stoes and deploys without issue at all. How ever If I could have afforded it, I would have went with the Terrova. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now