Can someone that is good with MinnKota products tell me what the difference in the Terrova and Powerdrive models are? I’m looking at getting a new bowmount and am unsure which one I should get. Any help would be appreicated!
Thanks
MNwalleyehunter
Post deleted by Scott Steil
Quote:
Here is my abbreviated version. The PD is a cable drive and the Terrova is electric drive (that is my term) I use the Powerdrive because I need it to be responsive, the downside is I have to be in the front of my boat to use it.
The Terrova has a foot pad that can be operated from anywhere in the boat, the down side is the foot pad. In my opinion, they are not as dependable as the cable drive. You have to decide how you are going to use it. Both are very good motors, I do prefer the DP.
Scott, I think you’re thinking of the Maxxum (cable drive, must be at the front of the boat) vs. the Powerdrive or Terrova.
Both the powerdrive and the terrova are electric drive motors. It is no secret that the powerdrive pedals were (are?) less than resilient. I went through a pedal a year, on average…sometimes more, sometimes less.
I’m running a terrova 101 AP/US2 on my new boat. Improved pedal design, improved stow and deploy. I like that the power cuts off when the motor is stowed. Accidentally step on the pedal while trying to crawl off the bow to the trailer while loading, and you’ll understand why.
Long day, you are right Jason. Ignore all that.
Quote:
Quote:
Here is my abbreviated version. The PD is a cable drive and the Terrova is electric drive (that is my term) I use the Powerdrive because I need it to be responsive, the downside is I have to be in the front of my boat to use it.
The Terrova has a foot pad that can be operated from anywhere in the boat, the down side is the foot pad. In my opinion, they are not as dependable as the cable drive. You have to decide how you are going to use it. Both are very good motors, I do prefer the DP.
Scott, I think you’re thinking of the Maxxum (cable drive, must be at the front of the boat) vs. the Powerdrive or Terrova.
Yep, that’s right (Scott was thinking of the Maxxum. Both the Terrova and the Powerdrive are electronic steer.).
The Terrova has some very nice features. I find it much easier to operate. The foot pedal is far and away better than the Powerdrive. The Terrova also has a better stow and deploy feature. If you can swing it, get the autopilot. When you add the autopilot to the rest of the Terrova features you get about the best boat control imaginable. 
The Terrova is cross breed of PD featuires with a “Maxxum type” foot pedal controller but cable free. Have been considering the new Terrovas but think I will end up just increasing my PD to a 101 instead since I am so use to it. The Terrova foot pedal, IMO, too closely resembles the maxuum set-up and haven’t got myself to use one enough.
-Richard
Is the Terrova as responsive as a Maxxum or do they turn slowly like a powerdrive?
Have they fixed the autopilot yet, or does the artificial intelligence still take over on those heads? Some days, those heads spin worse than the girls head on the exorcist! If they did fix the compass for the autopilot, what did they change?
Thanks for all the replys. I’m definitly not getting a Maxxum, I had one on my last boat, and since I purchased a new boat (2001 1890BT warrior) I will be using my bow mount for steering while trolling while I use the kicked for power, so I want a pedal I can bring all the way to the back of the boat with me. I will be getting the Auto Pilot, haven’t decided about univerisal sonar though.
Thanks again
If you don’t like the Maxxum, you probably won’t like the Terrova either. The terrova is similar to the old Genesis and Pinpoint pedals if you have tried those.
-J.
The only reason I don’t want the Maxxum is becuase I need to be able to run the bowmount from the back of the boat, so I will be able to do that with both the powerdrive and the Terrova
The Terrova foot-pedal features heel/toe steering and left/right button press steering that is very similar to the pd’s. I run a pd 70 ap us, that i picked up cheap reconditioned, otherwise i would have went with the terrova. One thing i really like is that the terrova foot pedal also has an ap on/off switch. That would definetly be nice to have.
The Terrova Foot Pedal is more reliable and operates better than the Powerdrive in my opionion. I had issues with the PD and have been running the Maxxum ever since. Last year I got to try the Terrova and it would be hard to make that change over from cable drive. But, if you need to use it while stearing while troling the Terrova is going to be your best option.
You can add the co-pilot to them and control everything from a wrist unit. Very cool. You can run the motor from anywhere in the boat, or across the yard. 
Quote:
You can add the co-pilot to them and control everything from a wrist unit. Very cool. You can run the motor from anywhere in the boat, or across the yard.
Or get a second remote and program it to your buddies co-pilot when he’s not looking. (30 seconds tops)
Then mess with his head when your out on the water. 
From my experiences and for what you need it for I would do this, Get a 80 lb terrova, universal sonar and Co-pilot. I personaly would not get he auto pilot.
I did not find the auto-pilot worth the money, so I would save on that and get the co-pilot. Very nice to be able to run the motor with just a slight tap of a finger.
Also with the new co-pilot for the terrovas they have a feture that lets you hit one button and it will go to max power and back to normal when you hit it again. Nice to have on a windy day or fishing in current to quickly correct your steering.
Universal sonar is nice. No need to worry about ever pinching the cable or transducer slipping.
The foot pedal for the terrova is also nice for the fact that you can either use it has heel and toe steering or left and right button steering. The speed dial is also easier to use than the slider in my opinion.
Hope this helps
Is the Terrova foot pedal compatible with a Genesis motor by chance? I have a Genesis motor that works great, but there are times that the trim doesn’t necessarily work. It will stoy and deploy fine, but every once in a while, if I want to raise or lower it just a little, it won’t work.
JD
Quote:
Is the Terrova foot pedal compatible with a Genesis motor by chance? I have a Genesis motor that works great, but there are times that the trim doesn’t necessarily work. It will stoy and deploy fine, but every once in a while, if I want to raise or lower it just a little, it won’t work.
JD
JD, It is not.
A few comments… They have greatly improved the Autopilot on the Terrova. I highly recommend it. James and I made use of it plenty on Mille Lacs last summer.
The pedal is improved as well. I would not compare the Maxxum to the Terrova except that you have the option of steering in a toe-to-heal method, as with the Maxxum, but you also have the left-right arrow option which I find to be very easy. The turning response is tighter and quicker than the Powerdrive. I personally struggle with the Maxxum, but I absolutely love the Terrova, especially when you max out the features with autopilot and copilot. Hope that helps.
We’ve talked about this quite a bit but it is worth repeating… I go through a PD pedal every month or two when guiding (prior to the recent redesign). No exaggeration. The terrova pedal has not let me down yet. And the terrova pedal offers some redundancy in case some thing does go wrong. If the “heel / toe” steering method goes out, you still have “left / right” to make it through the day. For that reason alone the terrova pedal gets a big thumbs up from this guy.
The terrova head steers / turns faster than the old PD’s and I’ve never found myself needing a faster turning head for any reason. I know I hear guys say they like the Maxxum’s because the cable drive allows the head to turn faster. I’m not going to dig on anyone but my feeling on that is simple… watch a guy that has excellent boat control. You’ll never see that guy make big adjustments in direction or speed. Every adjustment is small and controlled to avoid over-correction.
In the past the best reason to own a Maxxum was for durability over the PD’s. In my opinion, if these Terrovas prove to be durable over time, there’s no reason to own the Maxxum beyond personal preference.
James~
Thanks for your great insight on the differences. I think I am going to go with a Terrova 80 AP. I don’t know if I will go with the Univerisal Sonar option, I probably should get it on there, just in case I ever want it then it would be there. Again thanks for all the info.
Personally if I had to choose between universal sonar and auto-pilot… I would go universal sonar. It is just so darn convenient to NOT have that transducer cable running down the side of the motor shaft.
James or anyone for that matter, How often do you guys find yourself using the autopilot?? How easy is it to use, I’ve never had autopilot before so I really don’t know what it all entails.
Thanks
Quote:
James or anyone for that matter, How often do you guys find yourself using the autopilot?? How easy is it to use, I’ve never had autopilot before so I really don’t know what it all entails.
Thanks
Personally, I love it because I’m lazy. I want to enjoy my time fishing, not fight with the trolling motor. What it does… You point the boat in the direction you want to go, push the AP button, and the motor will keep you going in that direction. It has a built-in compass to keep you on a directional path. In the early motors, there were some problems, and guys found the motor going in circles at times. It appear Minn Kota has the links worked out.
I think they’re great. Last season, I really enjoyed the advantage of the AP on Mille Lacs while casting the rock reefs for smallies. We had a lot of wind and I just set the AP to take me straight into the wind and set the speed just high enough that I would creep along the reef at a snails pace. The motor did all the work. If I wanted to use it as an anchor to hold in one spot for a while, I simply reduced the speed to match the wind and the AP would keep me on that spot. There’s not much you can’t do with the autopilot feature. Your use will depend on how you fish and what the conditions are.
I have the Maxxum, my brother has the Terrova. When we fish together I allways run the trolling motor. I have owned Minkota powerdrives in the past and hated them. I have to admit his Terrova with autopilot and the new footpeddle is an awesome setup. It reacts much quicker then the old ones and the autopilot allows me to change baits retie grab a cold one and the boat stays on course not screwing up his fishing. I have to say if I was to buy a new trolling motor Terrova would be the one with autopilot and built in tranducer.
It still does bug me sum when it is first deployed. I have to hit the pedal and turn it to get the shaft caught in the drive.
Quote:
James or anyone for that matter, How often do you guys find yourself using the autopilot?? How easy is it to use, I’ve never had autopilot before so I really don’t know what it all entails.
Thanks
Again, I myself don’t ever plan on owning a trolling motor without either the US or autopilot. On the lake in smooth conditions, the autopilot is nice, on the river the ability to help hold your postion in current, though not perfect, I still constantly “help” the autopilot stay on course when in current, so don’t think it’s hands free, especially in current, really helps me maintain better boat control yeah you don’t need it but it buys me time between corrections on the TM, I only think it helps my boat control.
If I had to choose I’d give up the US before anything else, atleast you can add a cable down the shaft (though that sucks) you can’t however add autopilot. I venture the guess I use my auto pilot 90% of the time, I fish alone quite a bit some I’m moving around the boat at times, and I want to stay on course. It allows me to be able to take my mind and hands off boat control, and still maintain boat control, some of the very best people I’ve fished with as far as boat control go, were running tillers, I’m sure it’s not an accident, (they have to keep their hand on the tiller handle most of the time, and thus controlling the boat contantly) boat control was always better those days, and I almost always caught more fish.
Overall Boat control IMHO is the single of the most over looked skill of being a great angler, sometimes being right on the spot is a huge difference, and when you are there and others are not, you can see it pretty quickly, I’ve had nice conversations with people asking what are we doing to be hammering the fish, and they are not, even though they are within comfortable talking range (very close by) and using the same baits, bottom line is we were on the fish and they were holding the spot tight and so were we. Much easier to do with the auto pilot, IMHO.
Worse case you turn it off or don’t use it you out a little money, but I love it.
Does anybody know if the US in the PD, Terrova, and Maxxum are all the same technology?
FDR
In 2007 Minn Kota changed to Universal Sonar 2 which is improved. The previous Universal Sonar did not work as well. If it says US2 that is the one you want. The main difference is in how they grounded the transducer. This was a major improvement. US2 is the same transducer in all the MK models as far as I know.
Thanks Doc.
FDR
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
