Terrova thrust question

Guys,

I got a new (2017 model) 80-lb Terrova trolling motor this Spring. Put it on my 1675 Lund Pro Guide. It seems to work well, but I was a bit surprised at the “feeling” of relatively low trust/power. I’m going to trouble shoot some more and test my 2 group 31 batteries (one is new, the other was not. So that might be to blame). But I also saw in the long owners manual (sheesh), there’s a way to “calibrate” the trolling motor to the size of the boat. Has anyone done that, and do you think it would make any difference? My assumption is a 80 pound thrust motor on a 1675 should be more than enough ‘oomph’. But just seems a bit weak compared to the old PowerDrive V2 I had. Like I said, might just be battery issue.

I have noticed on my friends 80# Terrova, it seems to be a little slow when first engaged, but that it builds up speed quickly after. So if were still and I kick it to 10, I’m not thrown off balance by it. My powerdrive is more instantaneous.

Could be. I noticed that I had to punch it to about 4 or 5 to get to 1 mph. Granted the Pro Guide is heavier than my old boat. But just seemed low thrust. Hmmmm.

I have a 5 year old 80lb terrova with group 29 batterys and a 18’4″ prov tiller. No experience with a powerdrive trolling motor but ive never thought my terrova lacked necessary power or thrust and my prov is definitely a larger boat than your pro guide. I would say depending on wind i rarely use mine above above 4 (usually run between 1.5-3 to see around .6-1mph) at 10 i would estimate around 2.5 mph max. while it does not jump immediately up to 2.5mph I would say it has thrown people off balance if they are not ready for it.

Thanks. Did you “calibrate” yours when you used it. Or just hook it up and begin using it? My guess is it’s probably a battery issue. My suspicion is one is weak, and the other decent. Which I assume would impact thrust. I’m gonna check into that too.

I’ve witnesses low thrust due to the batteries wired in parallel (12v) instead of being wired for 24v. I’ve never heard of a calibration for a Terrova, other than for the new heading sensor which isn’t related to thrust or anything like that.

That’s the first thing I’m checking tonight – if they’re wired correctly. I assumed the dealer installed correctly, but ya never know. I didn’t realize it would still run if connected in parallel.

Not to hijack the thread but you said you think your top speed is around 2.5 mph on a flat calm day.
Do you think I could gain any speed going from a 24v to 36v or is the top end the same?

EDIT. New thread started for my question.

Tuma wrote:

Not to hijack the thread but you said you think your top speed is around 2.5 mph on a flat calm day.
Do you think I could gain any speed going from a 24v to 36v or is the top end the same?

Not an accurate answer as I am not sure how much speed but I can almost guarantee you will gain some speed. More torque will equal more power to move the prop and more speed it is just hard to say how much more with the very low pitch of the trolling motor prop it might not be a whole lot of speed.

The new Terrovas are set up that way as a safety feature. Personally I like it. Much smoother and safer. And yes there is a calibration feature. I t is more for slowing it down if you put the trolling motor on a lighter boat. I guess you could calibrate it the other way to make it faster.

Got both batteries load tested. One (the new one) was fine. The other was 5 years old and only getting to 80 percent charge according to the test. So I’m guessing that’s what it was. Frustrated the dealer didn’t start me off with 2 new batteries. Live and learn.

Only other issue I noticed was a bit of wire showing on one connection so I might tackle that later. But first gonna try on water and see how it goes.

Keep batteries matched in brand, group size and age! 1 year apart in age not so much of an issue, more than that I wouldn’t do.

Yup. I put in a new one yesterday. Hope it cures it.

shockers wrote:

Got both batteries load tested.

From what I’ve been told, load testing deep cycle batteries doesn’t tell you much. I hope the new battery solves your problem, though.

Yeah. I was wondering that. Both batteries were charged overnight. The new one was still at 100% a few hours after charging. The 5 year old one was down to 80% according to the guy’s handheld tester. So, I figured just better to start with a new one and see if that cures the issue.

Denny O wrote:

Keep batteries matched in brand, group size and age! 1 year apart in age not so much of an issue, more than that I wouldn’t do.

X100

I would say that is likely your problem.

I had a 1600 Pro Sport with an 80lb Terrova. I could pull cranks on the 4 setting.

Hey guys. Figured I’d circle back on this thread. I did replace one battery and now have 2 brand new group 31 batteries on my Terrova. I’ve solved the issues of not lasting a long time – I could probably go a week before needing to recharge.

However, still seems like at the low end (such as speeds 1 to 3) the Terrova has a pretty low thrust/torque compared to my old PowerDrive V2. If I bump it up to 4 or so, plenty of thrust it appears. Just seems like it’d have more thrust/torque at the low settings compared to my old PowerDrive. I did check at the plug and I am getting 24 volts there (27 if my voltmeter is accurate), so may just be the way the new Terrovas are I guess. Also, I’ve told myself that my ProGuide weighs a lot more than my old boat, so maybe it’s just that.

But figured I’d mention it in case others noticed this – or had any ideas.

shockers wrote:

However, still seems like at the low end (such as speeds 1 to 3) the Terrova has a pretty low thrust/torque compared to my old PowerDrive V2.

Hard to say for sure what’s going on there but it’s definitely going to take more energy to get the boat moving if it is indeed heavier.

Now if you’re changing directions or turning, it could be that your hull is designed to track better at trolling speeds than your old boat making it slightly harder to turn. That would actually be a good thing.

I have a 1775 impact with an 80# ulterra. I played around with the boat scale settings some. It’s at zero by default. If i set it to +2,it would over correct on spot lock. zero worked good. I think all the scale does is affect ramp up speed,not the overall power of the motor. Just my experience.

saddletramp wrote:

I think all the scale does is affect ramp up speed,not the overall power of the motor. Just my experience.

Agree. Would also suggest to use the auto pilot for speed and let the motor make the adjustments.

-J.

Interesting. Thanks, guys. I’ll check into that.

shockers, I know you fish the river alot. If you are running the foot pedal and making constant, short burst adjustments when holding your boat in place, run the speed all the way up to 10. The new Terrova will not toss you out of the boat like an old Powerdrive will. I think that is by design.

Still getting used to my new Terrova, BTW. Also upgrade from Powerdrive.

-J.

I’ve been using the hand control. Not foot.

But yeah. I will say it’s not as “sudden” as the old power drive.

Could be I’m just too used to the old power drive. I will keep experimenting.

Jon Jordan wrote:

Agree. Would also suggest to use the auto pilot for speed and let the motor make the adjustments.

-J.

Obviously you mean cruise control for speed.

To the O.P.: You have a different boat and a different trolling motor. Of course it won’t react the same.

Ron wrote:

To the O.P.: You have a different boat and a different trolling motor. Of course it won’t react the same.

True but this is something I’ve been wondering as well as I’m in a similar boat. ok, ok, long morning and needed a bad pun. Apologies

I had a 14′ boat with a 45# PD V2. Settings 1-3 would move it nicely.

Now I have a 17′ boat with an 80# Terrova. Seems like I need to be at 4 our higher to do anything. Buddy’s boat is a very comparable 17′ with around a 55# PD V2. When I’m watching him there’s a lot of 2-4 when we’re casting shorelines.

It’s my second season with this Terrova combination. Was just guessing that’s the way they are but never asked before today. Didn’t know if this was a model thing or maybe a 12 vs 24 volt???

The calibration thing is for spot-lock. You can scale the responsivness to the size of your boat. The same trolling motor can be put on boats that could be 2000 lbs different. Mine (WX2100) seems to do just fine on the default (0).

Ah. Ok. So yeah….the calibration thing might not do anything to what I was wondering about; it’s probably just for spot lock. Which seems fine to me.

I’m going to keep experimenting but my guess is there’s just more low-end torque on PowerDrives compared to Terrovas. Just a guess. As patk pointed out, there does seem to be a significant difference in the 1-3 speeds/thrust/torque in a powerdrive vs. a Terrova. At least on mine. What I’ll also do is go in my buddy’s boat – which is about the same size/weight as mine – and watch how his Terrova pushes his around at the low settings.

I’d agree that I’ve seen a difference between a PD and Terrova when at those low 1-3 settings, but in the end, does it really matter? The Terrova has such nice features that the difference in the thrust at those low settings is irrelevant to me.

Well, it makes me feel a bit better that it’s not just me then. I do really like the Terrova compared to the Power Drive – better spot lock and docks/loads way easier. Just seems odd that the low-end thrust/torque would be lower on the more ‘advanced’ unit.

Apples to oranges. You just need to retrain your brain to a new cause-effect scale. Just that simple. Now get out there and catch some fish.