is iPilot all that?

[jopheso]

Seriously considering getting an iPilot this winter and it looks like they run about 1800 bucks new. Im wondering if they are as cool as they seem to be. the spotlock feature seems huge, plus the idea of running a track seems real nice when you are banging the banks for reds.

For those of you that have gone from a standard TM to iPilot, has it lived up to your expectations?

[Clampy]

I love mine. Expect a learning curve.
Spot lock is awesome if you have a constant current or wind.

[jopheso]

Originally Posted by Clampy

I love mine. Expect a learning curve.
Spot lock is awesome if you have a constant current or wind.

do you drive it with the remote only? what happens if the batteries die on the remote?

[Clampy]

Yeah. Remote only.
Keep spare batteries. If they die you screwed.

[Sightwindow]

I fish close to the motor head. It's pretty easy to quickly turn it to the angle you want with your hand. And yeah, that's probably not the best thing to do for it. But in the beginning old habits die hard.

[jopheso]

so it is possible to turn the head of the unit. that's good to know.

[speck-addict]

It's not good to. It messed it up.
Oh and it only works till you go so far offshore. Won't work more then like 9 miles out. (The anchor function only)

[cajun bill]

Originally Posted by jopheso

Seriously considering getting an iPilot this winter and it looks like they run about 1800 bucks new. Im wondering if they are as cool as they seem to be. the spotlock feature seems huge, plus the idea of running a track seems real nice when you are banging the banks for reds.

For those of you that have gone from a standard TM to iPilot, has it lived up to your expectations?

Only used mine twice so far, but the answer to your question is YES!!!!!!

[cajun bill]

Originally Posted by speck-addict

It's not good to. It messed it up.
Oh and it only works till you go so far offshore. Won't work more then like 9 miles out. (The anchor function only)

HUH?

[Visco]

Originally Posted by speck-addict

It's not good to. It messed it up.
Oh and it only works till you go so far offshore. Won't work more then like 9 miles out. (The anchor function only)

Are you sure that you do not have an issue with yours? I only say that because I used mine in NC while trolling for kings about 12miles off shore.

The Ipilot uses GPS to know where it is at, so it should not matter where you are unless there is heavy cloud cover that was effecting the signal.

Anyway... sorry for high jacking the thread.

I love mine, and one thing I would suggest.

When you go to get one, ask the dealer which one he thinks would work on your boat, then go with the next biggest one.

I was told the 80 thrust 60" shaft would be good for my boat and now that I have it, I notice that if there is a strong wind (15mph or higher) that varies then it will work very hard to stay on the spot. I should have gone with the 115 thrust 60" shaft.

Good luck

[skeeter77346]

You will love it after 5 mins or less. Go play with knee on a buddy's boat.

There is a foot-control that plugs in the pigtail and you can run it like a bass boat, IF the remote takes a dump. I have had 4 I-pilots on my last 4 boats and the foot pedal, but never needed it. Did test the foot pedal to make sure it worked properly.

On the I-Pilot, you can set the heading make a ham sandwich, open a beer and not worry while the TM does it's thing, as you slowly putt putt out of an area. Great for working the shoreline as you mentioned. Also, if you have guests, run the TM from the console and let your guests have the front of the boat.

Yes, there is an up charge for that, but I see it as a small premium to pay for that convenience. My 2 cents.

I have the 36v 112# thrust unit.

[speck-chaser]

AND Then Some!!!!!

[rustyb]

I like mine and didn't take long to get used to. And the spot lock works anywhere. I used mine 37 miles offshore. I don't really know of any negative reasons not to have one.

[Crawl79]

It would be hard for me to go back to a regular trolling motor. I don't have the I-link function but didn't see that as something I needed. Very happy with spot look and holding a heading even with wind and currents.

[speck-addict]

Then it must be mine. Spot lock wouldn't work on mine offshore. It kept making 3 beeps. It was aggravating me.

[biglaketiger]

I watched a guy with 5 folks in his boat hold on spot in the marsh last fall with a 30mph north wind blowing while I was fighting to hold my boat on anchor he was ripping the flounder, it was a good 2 hrs and this fellow never had to look back till he had his limits. I told him he should have filmed it for a IPilot promo, I was very impressed to say the least

[1fastmerc]

I bought the foot pedal just as a backup plan in case the remote battery died. There is a learning curve but I do enjoy mine.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk

[toolpush]

Go ahead and buy it, you will not regret the investment. I did not hesitate to put one on our new boat.

[rustyb]

Originally Posted by speck-addict

Then it must be mine. Spot lock wouldn't work on mine offshore. It kept making 3 beeps. It was aggravating me.

Mine did the same thing. It turned out to be a loose fitting in the plug. It would lose power and beep 3 times. Changed plug and problem solved. Might be your problem. I sure aint no ipilot expert.

[2200blazerbay]

We did some reseach and contacted minn Kota about the difference between the salt water and fresh water with the foot control. All the gears are the same And he only thing that is different is an anode. Shaft is composit and the gears on the top of the head are mostly composit. So I went with the Terrova because of the foot petal and transducer. Haven't used the transducer but the foot petal is a major plus. Also I love mine.