How I Loathe My Minn Kota Terrova Ipilot

[Slade House]

So for the past year I've been running a 80lb terrova  iPilot trolling motor on my 2005 bass tracker pro team 175.  Ive probably used it about 5 times a week for the past year.  I have had more problems and issues with it than i can't count (at least one a week).  I am getting it reparied and selling it and buying the motorguide Xi5.  also I'm selling the humminbird 998Si i just bought on ebay and getting the HDS-7 Gen 2.  

·       The motor that steers the terrova makes so much noise that you cringe every time the motor turns.   I know for a fact that the noise from that has spooked the fish.  Its loud, really loud.  The worst thing is that at iCast 2014, Minn Kota had their new version of the same motor the "Ulterra"  that had some cool features : automatic store and deploy , spot lock on the foot pedal, etc.  BUT the d**n thing still made so much noise.  I played with the thing for a long time and even the engineer made a comment that in their board room executives were commenting on the noise.    so it doesn't look like they're going to fix the problem anytime soon.  Sometimes I think people are in denial that they spent a good chunk of money on a product with poor product quality that might actually be hurting their chances catching fish. 

·       For it to shut off when you stow it , there are 2 little magnets (tiny ones) that need to be aligned on the side of the handle release  , otherwise it stays powered on. within like 4 months I couldn't get the magnets aligned so i would have to push the handle releasein just a little bit, or i would really have to pull hard against the arm release to get the thing to power off . well that must have weakened something else, because then  i had the metal bolt break that connects the arm release to the side plate and when i was pulling my boat out of the water onto my trailer  the entire shaft fell forward and deployed , dropping like a rock (cause its so d**n heavy) and  In the process breaking a chunk of plastic off both the depth collar and the motor cradle

·      

·       then there have been the ghosts in the machine i call them.  The  one day the thing just randomly started turning left and kept spinning left over and over again for now reason.  i had to cut the wires to the battery just to get it to stop before it destoryed itself.  randomly jumping to full speed when its on spot lock for no reason.

·       The spot lock does an ok job , its less of a spot lock and will  swing way too hard in this direction, so you then swing back hard in the opposite direction , then back the other way.  really only when their is a good steady wind does it work good. if the wind is variable or its dead calm it sucks.  

·       for 35% o the time ive had it The Ipilot remote itself does this thing where it will just turn off (even with new batteries) and to get it to turn back on I have to bang it against my leg 7 times or i have to rotate the batteries in it. This is really awesome when you turn the propellor on and then 20 seconds later you can't turn it off with the remote and you have turn it off on the foot pedal or bang the remote till it turns back on. It will do this 20 times a day or more.  (it did it again today) 

·       Do you need to put a transducer on your trolling motor ? forget about it, you can , but the problems you will incur are so frustrating that you might just blow a fuse yourself. The speaker for my hydrowave mounted on it became a daily chore of having to resplice it every day

·        So now i have a trolling motor that i have to manually disconnect it from the battery if i want to power it off at the end of the day, the depth collar and motor cradle are cracked so the shaft and motor and the electric housing don't lock fully together (there is about 1 inch the electric motor will go before the d**n thing will actually turn. when i want to stow it , i have such a long process of getting the thing up and out of the water that its maddening.

 

Out of all the things that really sizzles my bacon the most  , it’s the remote constantly having issues staying on.  So many times that’s caused extreme headaches for me.  But the noise made when that thing turns just sucks , period, there is no denying it.

 

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[slonezp]

Easy fix for the remote. The battery is too thin. Put a dime between the battery and the back cover and the remote problems will disappear. I've had Ipilot since its ***. First on a Powerdrive, then an 80 Terrova and now I run Link on a 112 Terrova. I run a HDSI transducer without issue because I took great care and detail installing it to prevent the cable from getting pinched. Personally, I don't believe the noise affects fishing but it is a common complaint from guys who switched from cable steer. Have  you contacted Minn Kota about the other issues. The motor is warrantied for, I believe, 3 years.

[tomustang]

I have never spooked a fish from the steering shaft noise, only from turning the motor on past 2 around fish.

Had the remote go out a couple times before but not enough to really be concerned about it, thanks for the idea slone.

I don't know what you're getting at having problems using a ducer on the terrova?

[scrutch]

Minn kota has excellent customer service. I would certainly think they would be all over these issues.

Good luck with motorguide. Keep us posted.

[Long Mike]

I have had my Terrova and iPilot for about three years and have had no problems with it at all.

[ksboy]

Everyone gets a lemon sometime. Sounds like you got yours. MK should stand behind their stuff. I'd give CS a call.

[Sam]

Slade, may I suggest you copy and paste your post in letter form and send it to Minn Kota.

 

The company needs to know about you problems so they can fix them on future models.

 

The company also needs to replace the unit you have with a new one, no questions asked, and pick up the installation charges plus the FedEx charges to send your current unit back to their factory.

 

Robbie at Propeller Dynamics in Hopewell, Virginia, who works on trolling motors told me to stay with Motor Guide. He likes the Motor Guide products much better than the Minn Kota's.

 

Good luck and please follow up on what Minn Kota tells you and agrees to help you in any way.

[BassnChris]

I'm on my second MG Xi5.

The first one looked at me and said "goodbye"........see video here: http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/136864-giant-trolling-motor-eating-lake-monster-or-fish-and-general-crappy-day/?hl=%2Blake+%2Bmonster

I have seen a few gremlins in my second motor. I hate the pedal......at times it will turn way too much .....May be me not learning the pedal....don't use it much.

I think my issues are related to my being used to the cable steer.

But my point is the motorguide xi5 can have issues too.

I was very disappointed in Motorguide not replacing my motor......they said because it was due to a collision ...you can see in the video I'm not going fast at all.....the mounting plate failed....poor material and or design. I won't ever buy another motorguide mounting plate again.

See minn Kota says.....good luck.

[BillinDurham]

Thanks Slonezp!  I've had that problem with the remote for quite some time.  At first very occasionally and I thought it just needed a new battery. Recently it became unworkable.  I'll try the dime but am sure it will work.

 

I have my TerraNova mounted on a Jon Boat and it's worked well for me.  No room for cable steer, better than a tiller and it can be operated from anywhere.  The anchor function wanders a bit too much but the compass steering is what makes it all work for me.

 

As I sometimes fly fish for spooky carp I can tell you that they can hear everything... but they don't necessarily react to everything.  The motor generally doesn't spook them as long as the prop doesn't hit anything. The steering motor doesn't spook them unless it's 'blipped'.  Extending or retracting the motor spooks them every time just as a sliding foot on the deck will.

[Hi Salenity]

They are noisy and less than perfect but spot lock and autopilot are great features.

[Red Sutton]

Is there a setting on the Terrova remote so when u hit spotloc it doesn’t whip the boat one way then the other

[Mbirdsley]

Only had my trolling motor hooked up for 1.5 months but, I love my terrova.  However, I am quality tech where I work and sometimes even with a ton of quality checks. Bad product still gets out.  

[Red Sutton]

U have any problems with spotloc whipping boat from one side to other when u turned it on

[Guitarfish]

I was thinking about this last night coincidentally. (Minn Kota and spot lock).

 

This thread is 5 years old so the info probably doesn't apply.  Might have to start a new thread,

[jbsoonerfan]

13 hours ago, Red Sutton said:

U have any problems with spotloc whipping boat from one side to other when u turned it on

A couple factors at play here, at least I think. 1. When you hit the SL button your TM thinks you want to sit right there, so if you are on 8 or above your TM is going to have to whip the boat to stop in the exact spot where you hit SL. 2. Always position your boat into the wind with your TM when you hit the SL, it won't whip your boat if you already are faced into the wind since that is the way it wants to turn your boat.

[S Hovanec]

Sounds like you got a lemon.  My buddy is a full time guide in NY and has been running a 112 Terrova since 2016 on his boat.

[Captain Phil]

I have an 80 pound Terrova on my boat and I couldn't be happier.  I was a Motor Guide guy for years.  Finally took the plunge and I will never go back.  I've had a pile of Motor Guide trolling motors and they break too.  Noisy?  Not mine, it's so quiet you can hardly hear it running.  The auto pilot feature is fantastic.  My Terrova is relatively new.  I suspect there have been many improvements in five years time.