New user here. Enjoy the website and the good info.
I have a question regarding the minn kota all terrain vs the powerdrive. I am getting the 40lb thrust with the 48″ shaft. Heard some rumors that the power drive is much slower to react to turn commands than the all terrain. They aren’t much different money wise, just wondering if the ability to run the powerdrive from anywhere in the boat is a blessing or a curse.
Thanks for any insights.
Matt,
I have a 55 lb Powerdrive on my boat. I have not tried the All Terrain. The motor has exceeded my expectations. It has performed flawlessly. I’m especially pleases with way it handles weeds. Have banged it against rocks and bottom all with no problem. Seems real responsive to me. It does take a bit to turn all the way around when you want to back out of somewhere. Good motor and the graphite composite shaft is great. I have the long cord on the foot pedal and it serves me well because i only have one graph on the console. I can run it from there. Can’t wait to try out the Co-Pilot feature. couple of guys who post here give it rave reviews
I ON THE OTHER HAND i HATE THE POWERDRIVES SLOW TO REACT AND USE MORE BATTERY POWER THAN THE ALL TERRAIN OR MAXXUM ! POWERDRIVE USES POWER TO TURN THE MOTOR AND THE PROP! WHERE THE TERRAIN IS CABLE DRIVIN I COULD ONLY GET 3-4 HOURS ON A CHARGE! 
I dislike the power drives very much. I have had there steering system go out after a year. An all terrian or maxumum gets my vote.
Here’s the deal with the difference in these motors.
If you want to hold your boat in a specific position, get the cable steer motor. The Maxum or All Terrain. The cable steer is instant. You can go full left to full right in a split second. Great for vertical jigging or shoreline casting.
If you want to use the motor for trolling, get the Powerdrive. The newer Powerdrives are a bit faster than they used to be, but still slow compared to a cable steer motor. The Powerdrive can be upgraded with the Co-Pilot and steered from anywhere in the boat. Something that may or may not be important to you.
Good Luck with your choice.
Jon J.
Glenn,
I haven’t experienced any problems with the steering. I’ve heard of many problems with the Auto-Pilot models.
basstracker: MAYBE YOU NEED A NEW BATTERY
Seriously, I have fished for 2 days (approx. 16 hrs) on a single charge. Of course, the trolling motor isn’t running at full speed the whole time. 3 or 4 hours seems like a very short time unless you are using it instead of your outboard. 
Matt,
I have used both cable and powerdrive models from minnkota. I perfer the powerdrive because when working a shoreline the motor wont change directions when you take your foot off the pedal, which enables me to move around the boat, re-tie, or do whatever and still keep the boat on coarse. It is also pretty handy that you can drag the foot pedal to anywhere in the boat if you want to. In my expirence with cable drives the minute you take your foot of the pedal the motor turns and your heading in a differnt direction than you want to be (especially in rivers with strong current).The powerdrive is less responsive than the cable drive, but I have a transom mount trolling motor that I use when vertical jigging or in extremely windy conditions.
Hope this helps
I’m going to put a transom mount for added control. What pound thrust would you suggest for a 17 ft boat? 30? 40? or go 55 on the front and back?
I have a 55lb. on the front and a 36lb. on back of my 16 ft. The 36lb. does a fine job on my boat, but I probably would have gone bigger if I had bought it brand new. It never hurts to have alittle more power. One thing I would suggest for you to do…. is to turn the head around 180 degrees. This allows you to use the forward speeds instead of reverse when holding the back of the boat into the wind or current…..it makes for alot easy boat control
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