co pilot

I am thinking of adding the copilot system to my trolling motor and am looking to get some input on the system. Is it worth it or not.
Thanks

Worth every penny.

-J.

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Worth every penny.

-J.

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Yup, same here.

Jami

me three

Well I have a different opinion, worth every penny and then some Seriously boat control from anywhere in the boat. I also think boat control is one of the most highly overlooked aspects of a great fisherman.

I liked mine until this weekend when I had to replace the remote. 50 bones yikes. Looks like 5 dollars worth of plastic to me. I still won’t be without it though.

When things get to cold or windy at the bow I like to hide behind the full windshield and run it from there. Also, if you have someone who is a little wild with their casting. You can send them to the bow without giving up boat control This way the rest of us get to keep the hooks out of our clothes or skin.

FDR

The Co-Pilot is even more awesome if you have the autopilot feature. I use this for trolling harnesses on Green Bay and Winnebago. I just make minor adjustments with the copilot and I have free hands to take off boards, net fish, reel fish in, bait hooks, etc…

It’s like having a first mate that doesn’t take up any room.

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The Co-Pilot is even more awesome if you have the autopilot feature.

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Not to steal this post ,but where can I get some information on the auto pilot feature ?
My brother has that on his trolling motor we were wondering what is was.

The autopilot is a compass based autocorrecting feature in some Minkotta PowerDrives. You point the trolling motor in the direction you want to head, and push the autopilot button. This will always turn the head back to the direction you faced it to originally.

Remember, this is compass driven, not contour driven. It will not automatically keep you in a certain depth range, it will simply aim you towards a certain direction and keep correcting itself back to that direction. It works great for trolling harnesses on big water.

I don’t use my co-pilot a lot but when I do, it is worth every penny, especially when trolling in rough water

One thing about the auto pilot system though, at least on my boat (which I bought used) it doesn’t always work right. I have autopilot on my minnkota that I don’t bother using anymore, because it will sometimes (every 15 minutes at least) starts turning in one direction, then just keeps spinning around. A friend of mine has the problem that when a boat goes by in front of his, the autopilot on his trolling motor seems to try to follow the boat. I was told the reason for this is there are several different systems for auto pilot, some which use image recognition to try to keep the boat straight. Don’t know how accurate this is, but it would explain my friends problem.

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One thing about the auto pilot system though, at least on my boat (which I bought used) it doesn’t always work right. I have autopilot on my minnkota that I don’t bother using anymore, because it will sometimes (every 15 minutes at least) starts turning in one direction, then just keeps spinning around. A friend of mine has the problem that when a boat goes by in front of his, the autopilot on his trolling motor seems to try to follow the boat. I was told the reason for this is there are several different systems for auto pilot, some which use image recognition to try to keep the boat straight. Don’t know how accurate this is, but it would explain my friends problem.

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Well I would say that is totally inaccurate.

Auto Pilot works on compass heading alone, the only real issue the auto pilot does not account for would be a cross wind or current anthing pulling or pushing you “sideways” while you are heading in a direction, the boat will still track the same direction, but you can move either to the left a little or the right a little if the current or wind pushes you. (does that make sense?)

There are however several issues people have, I’ve had them in the past, I was always able to resolve them.

1. Compasses are calibrated, after a period of time they can become uncalibrated, any service shop should be able to recalibate it, something about “pot” being adjust to 1 volt IIRC, not 100% what all that means. That fixed my problems for a couple years…

2. New compass, I was given a new compass under warranty by Minn Kota ( my unit was a very new model of the restyled black ones you see now early 2001)I did the install myself, never had another issue in the little over a year I owned it afterwards. When my motor started acting up again from the last cal, I just replaced the compass, and it was good again.

For me I’ve always been able to get mine to work again 100% I use my autopilot probably 95% of the time when my TM is running.

Personally I love the autopilot and would not have a TM without it, along with the US, the co pilot I can kind of make due without, but I wouldn’t want to, it’s just too nice of an option, again boat control is highly under estimated IMHO by many people.

Yup what they said, love mine

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Worth every penny.

-J.

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Yup, same here.

Jami

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I use my wireless co pilot and the auto pilot every time I go fishing. I have a new foot pedal that I don’t use. I fish from the back of the boat, so this is rather handy.

What’s a foot pedal? Are they new?
Seriously, get the copilot you won’t regret it.

Got tired of looking up after putting new bait or what ever and find I was going in circles.

Auto for me.

I got one on the way. I’m looking forward to using it.

Jim