Maxxum vs Terrova?

Looks like I’m going to be in the market for a new trolling motor soon. I have a 19 ft Smokercraft with a 24 volt trolling motor system. Right now I own a Motorguide 62 lb. LazerII rf. I know I need at least 80 lbs of trust with my boat size and weight.
My question is should I go cable or wireless again? I do a lot of vertical jigging in cold weather where I might be wearing pack boots, and have found it easier to pick up my wireless foot pad and run it with my left hand while I fish with my right.
Right now I’m leaning towards the Terrova with the wireless transmitter. I’m tired of having problems with trolling motors. I have never owned a cable drive before, but they might be more reliable. I have had a Minn Kota Power Drive before this one on another boat, but found the steering motor to be too slow in windy conditions for my liking. What do you guys think… cable or wireless?

I really like my terrova especially for jigging, for a couple reasons, first and foremost the autopilot helps me stay more on a spot, without spending so much attention on the steering,I found with the Cable drive I was tottally tied to the trolling motor, no matter how tight I had the screw to hold the motor in place it slipped, and I’d be off my spot and no longer verticle.

Secondly the co-pilot with the autopilot on the terrova allows me to get up and get my own bait instead of bugging the person in back, since I can’t take my foot off the maxxum.

I like the maxxum except for the issues I posted, if I were more of a bass fisherman cruising shorelines and such it would’ve been great, but want to hold exactly on a spot without being 100% tied to a TM and only a powerdrive/terrova can do that. I feel my boat control is 10 times better with the terrova, and I don’t have to apologize to a bunch of people for my poor boat control (Think Redwing in spring )

The terrova also turn quicker than the regular power drives, but I never felt the power drive was too slow either in think in large part because I use the auto pilot 95% of the time so I never get too far off course in the first place, it’s also quieter.

Then again lots of people run maxxums one their walleye boats for jigging, this is just my preference.

After having the chance to use both I would have to say my vote goes toward the maxxum. Both have their advantages and I’m sure you can get used to either one. We’ve been running the maxxum on our boat for almost a year and I have absolutely no complaints about it. I can take my foot off of it and it wont move up until I hit about 75% then it will turn on its own. I love it for dragging jigs just because of the instantious control. If I have to turn instantly I can do it. I haven’t used it with boots on yet but I don’t see any problems with it because of the size of the foot pedal.

I’m used to the Maxxum so when I tried out the terrova it took some getting used to, I’m sure you will be happy with either choice.

If you decide to go with the Maxxum get the pro, you wont regret it!

You got me curious. What do you mean by you can take your foot off and it won’t move up until you hit about 75% and turns on by itself?

I’ve had both motors and don’t think you can go wrong with either, just gonna depend on your own personal preferences. Personally, I was never a fan of the power drives. Too slow to react, and I was used to the heal/toe steering of the maxxum foot pedal. The thing I like best about the maxxums is their instantaneous steering reaction and durability. The terrova reacts faster than the old powerdrives, and the new foot control with the heal/toe steering is a vast improvement. I have also really appreciated the autopilot feature for a number of reasons. For me, the terrova is a more versitile motor. If I’m working a weedline or shoreline, just set the speed, autopilot, and then fish. Works great for a stealthy way to pull spinners. Also like being able to drop the bowmount and use it to help control the nose of the boat when trying to pull crankbaits in a strong crosswind. The terrova with the autopilot just offers me so many boat control options.

Fazer,
Since the boy isn’t around I will try to answer your question. What the boy is referring to is with the tension screw on the Maxxum adjusted pretty tight you can take your foot off the control and it will run the direction it is set. When power setting is up in the higher range (about 75% or more) the torque is too much and the motor will start to wander. My question for you is it mainly for the river or lakes. On the river I don’t feel like not having the Autopilot puts me at a disadvantage. On lakes it might be a different story. We looked hard at both motors before we bought this Spring and we went with the Maxxum because it is a workhorse and so reliable. The Terrova is a new entry so we didn’t feel like being the testers but so far all I have heard is positive. I don’t think you can go wrong with either one but I can say that we vertical jig and drag jigs alot in the early season and the Maxxum has served us very well.

Dad hit it on the nose. He also reminded me that the first time I ever used the maxxum was durring the Freeze Your Butt this spring and I was wearing big boots. The foot control worked great with them on.

Thanks for the clearification. I do a lot of vertical jigging and dragging also. Sometimes the wind is swirling, and gusting so bad that I have to pick up my current foot pad and run it by hand, which I can do sitting or standing faster than if I use my foot. Either way I go, I’m going to have to retrain myself on something new. I do like the idea of putting the trolling motor down in auto pilot when dragging or trolling to control the nose in windy conditions when you’re trying to follow a specific path. Thanks for your input.

Fazer, I’ve never owned a pd before but as for the maxxum, I can tell you that I use mine alot on the river in very shallow, rocky water and it is extremely durable. This is my second season with it and already the skeg has over half the paint off of it and lots of scrathes and dings but still performs flawlessly. Great motor! Also I know the pd’s are a son of a gun to deploy but with a tug of the rope the maxxum is in the water.