Have any of you upgraded your Minn Kota PD to I-Pilot w/BT? Questions....

[Still Afloat]

I hope they float!

Negative. They are waterproof but they don’t float. Don’t ask me how I know.

 

[Still Afloat]

The size of the float needed to get neutral buoyancy would be very large. I mean....It's not a set of boat keys.

Maybe a little inflatable remote life vest is needed here?

 

[LDUBS]

The size of the float needed to get neutral buoyancy would be very large. I mean....It's not a set of boat keys.

I just weighed mine. 6.5 oz (or 0.4 pounds). I agree, a floatie might be asking too much.

 

[Still Afloat]

Add a couple these to that overgrown remote.

 

[CRS]

@CRS, I continue to learn a lot on this thread. The way you connect tracks to avoid a sharp turn makes a lot of sense. Thanks for sharing these points (no pun intended).

I also use the outboard when trolling and steer with the TM. The part I highlighted above -- are you talking about if you ever had to use the emergency track or using iTrack in general. Seems iTrack should work with an outboard motor running, as long as we don't turn the boat with it.

The power of the outboard could over power the steering of the trolling motor and cause a problem. The speed needs to be down so the trolling motor will be able to steer. I have an electric outboard and it will push the boat right past a turn if it's running on high, a gas motor would certainly push more. You are using the TM to steer with for trolling so at that speed things would work. I have only used my emergency track once for an emergency. I got caught up in the fishing and stayed too long, darkness made navigation impossible. I deployed the TM called up the track back to the dock and sat back and blindly returned. Most times I use the "emergency" tracks to be able to get out and to return and be able to do setup and pack up without needing to steer. Of course this only works when boat traffic is light, other boats will cause interruptions.
When the wind is strong I use the outboard to assist the TM and that works great.
Something I missed about the tracks before to keep in mind, being point to point when you start be sure that the direction of the nearest point is in the direction you want to go. If the nearest point is in the opposite direction the boat will head for it then make an abrupt 180 to go the intended direction. The points are not displayed so be ready to stop the track and manually steer a bit farther in your desired direction. This is only a problem if you have lines out.

 

[LDUBS]

The power of the outboard could over power the steering of the trolling motor and cause a problem. The speed needs to be down so the trolling motor will be able to steer. I have an electric outboard and it will push the boat right past a turn if it's running on high, a gas motor would certainly push more. You are using the TM to steer with for trolling so at that speed things would work. I have only used my emergency track once for an emergency. I got caught up in the fishing and stayed too long, darkness made navigation impossible. I deployed the TM called up the track back to the dock and sat back and blindly returned. Most times I use the "emergency" tracks to be able to get out and to return and be able to do setup and pack up without needing to steer. Of course this only works when boat traffic is light, other boats will cause interruptions.
When the wind is strong I use the outboard to assist the TM and that works great.
Something I missed about the tracks before to keep in mind, being point to point when you start be sure that the direction of the nearest point is in the direction you want to go. If the nearest point is in the opposite direction the boat will head for it then make an abrupt 180 to go the intended direction. The points are not displayed so be ready to stop the track and manually steer a bit farther in your desired direction. This is only a problem if you have lines out.

Excellent info, thanks again. And yep, I was talking about at trolling speed.

 

[thill]

I agree - some nice information here.


6.5 ounces? Ouch! That's pretty heavy, but I guess half of it is battery weight.

I'll have to get used to the remote. I'm used to the tiny Copilot/Autopilot remotes. I wear mine like a watch most of the time. Or buy one of the mini remotes that I'm seeing on Ebay.

 

[LDUBS]

I agree - some nice information here.


6.5 ounces? Ouch! That's pretty heavy, but I guess half of it is battery weight.

I'll have to get used to the remote. I'm used to the tiny Copilot/Autopilot remotes. I wear mine like a watch most of the time. Or buy one of the mini remotes that I'm seeing on Ebay.

Three AAA batteries.

 

[KevinWI]

I just weighed mine. 6.5 oz (or 0.4 pounds). I agree, a floatie might be asking too much.

The ipilot link remote weighs in at 7.8oz.
My Android phone weighs in at 7.9oz.
The rechargeable lithium battery pack is quite small, but not 3 AAA's.

 

[thill]

I guess it's going on a lanyard around my neck. Or maybe I'll mount the main remote to the console and use a micro-remote mostly, if it's too big.

 

[LDUBS]

I can see how the remote could be a pain in the neck depending on your fishing style. For me, it isn't an issue when I'm trolling, which is most of the time. Using the remote for occasional corrections doesn't interfere with fishing. If I were working a bank over by tossing rubber worms I could see how it might be more of a pain. Foot control might be preferable in that case, IDK.

 

[Challenger]

I use a pear shaped carabiner with a short strap attached to a belt loop.

 

[thill]

I can see how the remote could be a pain in the neck depending on your fishing style. For me, it isn't an issue when I'm trolling, which is most of the time. Using the remote for occasional corrections doesn't interfere with fishing. If I were working a bank over by tossing rubber worms I could see how it might be more of a pain. Foot control might be preferable in that case, IDK.

That's a good point. I am usually fishing over deep structure, (Spot lock!) but I sometimes troll the edges of the grass beds early morning. That is why I'm excited about being able to record a track.

My nephew loves to bass fish, working a shoreline, but I often sit back and let him do his thing while I use the copilot and keep him in the zone.

You hit it on the nose about my nephew - He recently talked his dad into selling their I-pilot for a foot controlled motor for just that reason. I would have bought it, but it was a freshwater model.

Maybe carrying the remote won't matter so much. I guess we will see.

 

[thill]

I use a pear shaped carabiner with a short strap attached to a belt loop.

Oh, I like that idea! Sounds better than having something bouncing off your chest all day.

I always wear my keys from my belt loop, so that might become my go-to. Thanks for sharing that!

 

[Challenger]

 

[thill]

It's warm today. I think I'm going to go pull the TM and upgrade it this evening. Looking forward to this!

 

[KevinWI]

View attachment 118748

That's exactly how I use it....it actually comes with all the components to hang it like that.

 

[KevinWI]

It's warm today. I think I'm going to go pull the TM and upgrade it this evening. Looking forward to this!

It's an extremely simple conversion. good luck.

 

[influx99]

I’ve had Minn Kotas on different boats and here are some of my experiences.

I have friends with the Minn Kota Powerdrives (12v and 24v, fresh and Riptide saltwater models) on their tin boats. I hate the deploy feature on them. Others may say "you'll get used it it", but honestly it's clunky. Another thing that's annoying is the power drive 24v is only 70lb thrust. The Terrova 12v is 80lb.

I have a 22' bay boat and a 14' tin boat. I put a 60" Riptide Terrova 36v with iPilot Link on the bay boat. The iPilot Link allows me to control the motor from my Humminbird Helix 10 GN2 from the center console which is nice. Of course it also uses a remote as well.

When I went to upgrade from a hand-control Riptide 12v 48" on my 14' tin boat, I decided to go with a Riptide Terrova 12v 55lb thrust but did not get the iPilot Link feature since it's unnecessary to control the motor from the graph. I bought it because of the superior deploy mechanism. Plus the Terrova has a heading unit (separate puck) that allows you to use the "jog" function which I like. From my understanding, that is the only function of the heading unit.

The downside to the 12v Riptide Terrova is that it's shortest shaft length is 54" which is longer than necessary for a 14’ v-hull tin boat.

The Terrova was about $200 more than the PowerDrive.

The downside to all of these motors is that if you ever want to do anything like Livescope (Panoptix) or 360 degree imaging, it's nearly impossible. You will see some crazy rigs you can buy to mount those transducers on the motor, but overall they just aren't intended to be used with remote control trolling motors that can spin completely around and have a full shaft that deploys through the mount knuckle.

It is also a pain in the neck to do a clean, functional down imaging transducer on the trolling motor. I finally did the YouTube video hack of running the cable through an air compressor hose but it is not fun and you still really need to keep an eye on it for pinching when you stow the motor.

Spot lock is a game changer for how I like to fish (in current/wind on structure, slow fishing in the winter, etc). The autopilot and cruise control features are great for running shorelines. They do get funky in current though (best to go against wind/current when using those features). I guess the new models have a “drift” function that maybe takes care of those issues.

You can get a ‘mini remote’ to control the basic functions of the motor (spot lock, etc) that is much easier to deal with than the large remote the motors come with.

 

[Tin Man]

Great thread! Learning quite a bit so when I get to finally use my new Terrova, I'll know what to expect.
The new remote is a heavy one.
I'll be purchasing the available foot pedal so I can have both options. The carabiner is also a great idea...however I often fish with shorts that have no belt loops.

This is the remote my new Terrova came with....

New MK Remote