Grant Posted November 9, 2016 Report Share Posted November 9, 2016 You know how the instructions for the Minn Kota powerdrive Riptides and Terrovas say to slide the depth collar down the shaft to the mount when running with the motor stowed ? Yea, well, turns out it's pretty good advice. Mine was very difficult to move even when loosened, so I hadn't been doing that for the last 6 years. The motor never budged in it's mount even when the boat was getting pounded in the slop. Well..... I was pre-fishing for a tournament on the Detroit River a month ago, put her up on plane early in the morning and was actually thinking to myself "I don't remember ever being on this river when it's been this smooth and calm", when I look at my I-Pilot teetering back and forth in it's mount getting ready to deploy at 45 mph. Then I said quite out loud "Holy $%!* I don't @#$%^&* believe this is happening". If I had a partner I might have been able to have him keep the bow up and let me crawl (quickly) up there and grab it, but I was alone. My brake pads must have been worn cause I couldn't stop fast enough. POW ! The shaft split and some yet to be identified small parts shot out of the mount. The motor actually hit the hull and left a big scratch, which I gladly accept in lieu of a big hole. The composite shaft, now in two equally long pieces, remained in a nice 70 degree bend. Lesson learned even at my age,,,, follow the instructions. I may have it rebuilt, but I won't have much confidence in the mount after that much stress, so it would be relegated to back-up use only. Enter a brand spanking new generation Terrova I-Pilot with bluetooth ! Well, the touted improvements in spot-lock reliability are the real deal. Over the weekend I bottom fished in 20+ kt gusting winds with 3-4 footers. I knew we stayed put, but the proof was on the GPS screen when we were done for the day. My old I-Pilot NEVER left that small of a "blob" on the GPS on spot-lock. 5 foot radius at worst. Very happy with that. The new "Jog" feature lets you move 5 feet at a time up, back, left, or right. I didn't think much about that until I used it to position right on top of a small pod of fish I had marked. I'm in love. The bluetooth remote control doesn't require a direct line of sight, so no more hollering at my buddy to get out of the way. The controlled movements are fast, smooth, and quiet. It does require an electronic compass (included) be mounted oriented with the keel. It has to be powered, but doesn't need to be wired to the motor. It's bluetooth too. This is a nice machine. The new "stow assist" feature I'm not crazy about. It adds 3-1/2 inches to the shaft length to accommodate the assembly which is also the turning engagement notch. It is basically a heavy duty tape measure spring attached to the motor. It does reduce the felt weight of the unit when stowing or deploying. Trouble is, it reduces it so well that if I'm in those 3-4 footers with it deployed, but without the prop moving, it turns into a yo-yo. If the prop is turning even slowly it stays put, but if not, the inertia from the bow pitching violently made the shaft slide 2-3 feet up and down through the mount, which also takes it out of the steering engagement "notch". Not cool. Talked with Minn Kota about it. My take is they hadn't figured that would happen, cause they said "It sounds like it's working just as it's designed, and there is really no adjustment available on the spring tension". They suggested that if I was going to be in those conditions, that my only option would be to disengage the spring entirely so there would be no "assist". They explained how to do it which seems straightforward, but supposedly there is no reversing the process. Once the spring is disengaged from the motor housing it goes back in the tape measure box and stays there for eternity with no option for re-winding the spring. I'll have to think about it, but I'll probably disengage it since I never had a problem stowing without the assist feature before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernieNC Posted November 10, 2016 Report Share Posted November 10, 2016 Hope the Mod does not censor this but here goes. Spray some Woody Wax on your shaft from time to time. It helps things slide better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grant Posted November 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2016 Well, so far so good.... If my rebuilt shaft ends up too tight I will woody wax the bejeesus out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishtails Posted November 10, 2016 Report Share Posted November 10, 2016 The shaft on your broken ipilot has a lifetime warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grant Posted November 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2016 Yes, it is warrantied since I purchased it new. That saves $440 ! Having it put back together which includes rebuilding the drive motor would run me around $140, but how the steering motor & mount were affected by that much stress is yet to be determined. I can't imagine there isn't additional damage. I swear I saw pieces flying but we'll see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whichwaysup Posted November 10, 2016 Report Share Posted November 10, 2016 Grant, this was really really good information. Like you, I read the instructions and then promptly ignored them, thinking that it would never happen. Obviously, if they put it in the instructions, it HAS happened, but knowing of an actual case does make it more real. I think I'll rub some wax my shaft and start tightening down the collar. Stop it, boys, y'all are just dirty minded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grant Posted November 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2016 I was warned by some of our bass club members that they would deploy on their own, but those guys routinely beat the snot out of themselves and their boats running to Canadian waters in Lake Erie tournaments. I'm bolted together in too many places to do that anymore, so I didn't expect it too happen to me, especially on flat calm water ! When checking other forums I see that it's not that uncommon. I did notice that forgetting to stow the motor before hitting the big engine throttle was mentioned as one possible contribution to the mount loosening up and allowing it to happen. I will confess I have done that on more than one occasion. Yup, from now on I will religiously lube and polish my........... OK, you're right, time to stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nauti Posted November 11, 2016 Report Share Posted November 11, 2016 I typically only slide the collar down when trailering...might look at putting a velcro strap to hold it down when running so I don't have to keep adjusting the collar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishtails Posted November 11, 2016 Report Share Posted November 11, 2016 I like the idea of some kind of strap to hold it when not deployed. It seems to bounce a bit when running and that can't be good for the mounting bolts. Maybe a Yeti tie down bracket or what ever it's called and some velcro or bungie type thing. I'm going to mull this one over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polliwog Posted November 15, 2016 Report Share Posted November 15, 2016 I have a 2 inch wide velcro strap that keeps it in place when under way. Very easy to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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