A little help please. Because of the fact that I am first realizing what senior citizen actually means I Intend to move up a little to a Minn Kota with 80pounds thrust in either Terrova or Fortrex. I need a unit that actually has the easiest deploy/stow feature. Which one or the same? HAppy Easter and will thank you for your time and efforts. Drew s/w WI
Don’t know about the Fortex but I replaced my Powerdrive with a Terrova last summer. The ease of deployment and stowing, compared to the Powerdrive is amazing.
Just upgraded to a Terrova to and no contest between it and my old PD…
Terrova with I-pilot. It is cheaper to get the I-pilot when you get the terrova.
I have a Fortrex and love it. It has an assit lift cylinder which is nice.
X2 on the i-pilot, worth every penny!!
First things first, I am surprised there weren’t more lawsuits over the Pd/auto pilot stow/deploy. I nearly went over board numerous times in rougher water trying to get them up or down, it was like wrestling a greased pig. Often it took as much strength as I could muster….
I am 6’1″ 230. Easily the worse design in fishing products for many years. There is absolutely no comparison between the fortrex/maxxum family vs PD/auto pilot from a stow/deploy perspective. The fortrex/maxxum motors are easily stowed and deployed by pulling a rope. At no time do you need to get on your knees and wrestle with it. The new hydraulic lift assist on Fortrex/maxxum pro makes it incredibly easy, even the 101 is no problem.
That being said, the new Terrova stow/deploy is much easier but still not nearly as safe and easy as a cable drive motor.
If your main concern is ease of deploy your decision is not an easy one. However consider how easy you want using the motor to be. The terrova with Ipilot is absolutely amazing and can be used from any position on the boat and will sitting down or standing on 2 feet, one could argue you could even take a cat nap while using it.
The maxxum/fortrex will require you to stand on one foot to operate it or sit down. All within 3-4 feet of the front of the boat. Fatigue is an issue with Fortrex if you use your motor a lot. 90% of my time in the boat is on the front trolling motor.
Hope that helps.
I have a Terrova, and I have to say that it is NOT easy to deploy. I have one that was rebuilt from the head down, so I imagine that maybe it’s still new and needs broken in a little, but wow, it should really be easier than this.
Some days it can really be a challenge to get the shaft to slide through the motor base. But I will say that after you get it down, it performs very well.
In fact, if anyone has any idea on how to make it deploy easier, I would be willing to listen to your ideas. I get the idea that spraying WD40 or something like that along the shaft would only gum it up.
Don’t know what to tell you about your difficulty deploying the Terrova, Brian. I have no issues at all as long as I remember to push the lever in and then down.
Actually I never had an issue I though was a problem with either my old auto pilot or my terrova, but I can say the cable mounts were IMHO much easier to both stow and deploy, but you couldn’t get me to get another cable drive, I love the remote control and the auto pilot and ipilot way too much, I found I couldn’t get my own bait trying to hold a spot in rougher waters with a cable drive.
Thinking about it, Deploy isn’t a problem in my world, stowing is a little more cumbersome, but again I’ve never claimed it to be a problem, IMO.
When I get some time to play around with it, I have an idea I’m going to look into. 
More on this IF it works. If not you’ll never know 
get the fortrex. lift assist cylinder plus way easier to just pull a rope. i think its your best bet
It really comes down to which will work for you. Cable control rotates faster. The motor head has auto pilot. It’s not really comparing apples to apples.
I got rid of the cable drive and back to a PD in the Terrova due to the fact I was stuck to the pedal at all times and limited to the bow, now I can sit and have a snack or answer the phone or whatever without the boat wandering off course, or in a circle, my fishing partners not near as mad at me anymore…. 
I just switched to a Terrova after running cable drives for 10 years. I have only run my Terrova once. I think I will love the I-pilot, but it will certainly take me a while to get used to the pedal and the delay in steering. I do miss the instant steering of the cable, but won’t miss being tied to the bow, especially in high current or wind as indicated above.
As far as stow and deploy, I find the Terrova to be a piece of cake. It is way lighter than yanking up on the cable steer motors I’ve had. If I had to pick between the two strictly on ease of stow / deploy, I would go Terrova.
Stow and deploying my 1 plus year pld Terrova is the easiest thing to do on my boat next to turning on the big motor.
To start, Rotate key, run. Deploy, Push lever, hang on to it! Done. Stow, Lift and a click, Done!
Thanks for all of info you gave me on my decision making.
The Terrova and Fortrex are two different types of deploy / stow. Both deploy and stow easily. The 80# motor is the same. You Have to decide the type of fishing you want to do.
Do you want to steer the boat from the bow only? Choose the Fortrex if this is the case.
Do you want to move around in the boat while trolling / fishing? Choose the Terrova if this is the case.
The Terrova also can come equipped with the iPilot, which is another conversation, but the iPilot is awsome.
J-man
I use ArmorAll in my shop. Sounds like something else is causing your deploy problem.
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