Spectrum Posted December 11, 2012 Report Share Posted December 11, 2012 I'm picking up a boat over the holidays, and going to need to add a trolling motor. It's pretty small and light, 16' and 500lbs without the 50hp merc 4 stroke added in. It's a fiberglass saltwater flats boat (like Hells Bay). I don't fish salt at all. Maybe now I'll get to the coast once or twice a year to fish for reds, but I doubt it. Still, I'm tempted to put a RipTide TM on it rather than a standard Minn Kota. I wanted to ask if any of y'all have either a hand control or a remote/electric steer like the Terrova, and how you like it. Whether you'd do it again, etc. I had iPilot on my last boat which was the ish for Erie, but I'm not trying to spend $1500+ on a TM for this one. On one hand, I like the foot pedal for all the obvious reasons, but it's not the biggest front deck in the world, and there's no way I'm cutting a recessed tray in up there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceaser Posted December 11, 2012 Report Share Posted December 11, 2012 I have had numerous small boats and I have used hand controls on all off them on the bow. The electric steers arent quick enough to respond for me and i felt in less control. A normal cable control foot pedal reacts according to how fast you push the pedal up and down. The hand controls are pretty straight forward and it only takes a bit to adjust to using your hand to steer it. Also if you go with the hand control model think about a foot on/off switch. I used the one called a big foot because it was easy to get and worked well. its a momentary or full on switch so you dont have to turn the speed to zero everytime you want a bump from the motor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishnmike Posted December 11, 2012 Report Share Posted December 11, 2012 Ceaser is right on, the remotes are slowwwwwww so you spend a lot of time correcting due to the lag time. I'm not a big fan of hand controls even with a foot switch because any time my hand is on the motor its not on the rod ready for a hook set. Get a cable control/ foot control if there is any way to swing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectrum Posted December 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2012 Thanks guys. From what I've read and been told, the response on the Terrova is a lot quicker than the PowerDrive. As I said, I had one but never used it to move around or cover water. I got it for the "spot lock" which was killer in open water. So I really have very little to go on, comparing it to a cable steer motor. Fishing around docks, and grass lines mostly, the foot pedal feels like the way to go. I was all set, made up my mind on putting a 24v Maxxum or Fortrex on the boat. The only reason I asked about a remote or hand control motor is because they don't make a cable steer RipTide. The motor, whatever I buy, is going on a quick release mount anyway so if I do go fish in the salt I can always take the motor off. I did run into that Big Foot switch you're talking about, and that I think would be the only way I could deal with a hand control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceaser Posted December 11, 2012 Report Share Posted December 11, 2012 I roll a regular minnkota with a pedal on my ranger but in smaller boats I went with the hand for the same reason you were looking, to save space. But it is a pain compared to a reg. trolling motor. good luck with whatever you purchase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donkeychaser Posted December 19, 2012 Report Share Posted December 19, 2012 I have the Rip Tide, 80 pounds of thrust, 24 v hand control, on my 12 footer. My boat goes really fast with just the TM. The entire trolling set up probably weighs around 250 pounds i'm guessing...good luck with the project and put up a pic in the boat thread... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Power Swimbaits Posted December 20, 2012 Report Share Posted December 20, 2012 I have both cable steer and hand control for my boat. I am sometimes forced to use the hand control due to old back and knee injurys. If you stay in open water fishing slow the hand control with the big foot isn't bad. But, get up close to a shoreline, docks, grass lines etc. and try to fish moving baits stopping and starting, changing direction etc. and it becomes a pain and forces me to make fewer casts and fish slower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWIMBO Posted December 20, 2012 Report Share Posted December 20, 2012 i have electric steer pd 70# on my 16'with the co pilot remote it alowws you to choose if you wanna use remote or foot control i only use foot control and its fine to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPEEDBEAD Posted December 25, 2012 Report Share Posted December 25, 2012 Got the Maxxum 70 on a 16 ft all electric bass tracker jon. 55lb Endura on the back. Both solid with two years of abuse on the 70, 5 years on the 55. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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