FirstPriority Posted February 20, 2017 Report Share Posted February 20, 2017 It's time to drop the coin. Give me some feed back. I have a PF 2200. I like getting into the flats as I can but also do lots of fishing in the rivers, bridges and spans, and shallow reefs. I want a GPS controlled system.. I am capable of deploying the motor (plus I have a 10 year old). Going with a 60" shaft without question What size thrust and why? MK or MG and why? My dilemma is I currently have a 24v system and while I would make the jump because I don't want to be underpowered I also don't want to waste the money on a new charger, extra battery and reconfiguring under my center console. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hurricane Posted February 20, 2017 Report Share Posted February 20, 2017 I don't know that one is better than the other today, its all about which you prefer and costs. I have an Xi5 its great, anchor lock is spot on, has plenty of power, and is quite. At the time I bought it the Xi5 anchor lock was way better than Minn Kota, but I've heard they have fixed it now and its as good as the Xi5. Take a look at the remotes. The Xi5 remote is small and doesn't have a display. Its nice thats it small, but some indications of speed setting, heading lock, or spot lock would be nice. It does beep, but sometimes I can't tell if its an on beep or an off beep. The MK remote has a display which is nice, but the remote looks huge and I'm not sure I would want to lug that around all day. One other thing to consider is what chart-plotter you have and if you have a Power Pole or Talon. Xi5 will link with Lowrance and Lowrance will link with Power Pole. MK will link with Humminbird and Talon. I have heard of MK deploying while underway. I guess there is something extra you have to do to lock it in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstPriority Posted February 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2017 hurricane- what size thrust are you running on your MA. also your suggestions with remotes and link to my HDS are a good point to ponder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt. Tyler Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 I run a 60" shaft 112lb iPilot on my 22 Pathfinder. Wouldn't use anything else. The new model they just came out with is AWESOME. The anchor/jog feature is crazy accurate. I also couldn't live without the display screen on the remote. It's important to know exactly what your motor is up to. I got the 36V because you can't have too much power. I Tarpon fish a lot so I'm on that thing all day. If all you did is flats fish then a 24V would be fine. But if you Tarpon fish or fish rivers or heavy current, then do a 36V. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hurricane Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 2 hours ago, FirstPriority said: hurricane- what size thrust are you running on your MA. also your suggestions with remotes and link to my HDS are a good point to ponder. I have an 80lb on the MA. I had a 22 Pathfinder previous, had an 80lb MK (hand unit) on it. Thought it to be enough, but here in Tampa I didn't fish heavy current often. Only heavy currents here are around the bridges, and I don't fish there too frequently. I would follow Capt. Tyler's advice on choosing between 80 and 112. Send SeaVuPlay a message, he has an Xi5 on his Pathfinder, see what he thinks of the power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaVuPlay Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 Xi5 105 36v 60" shaft. Moves the 2005 22 Pathy TE with 5 anglers, full Livewell bait, full release well with fish, plus gear tackle, cooler with food and drinks well across large flats, and keeps position locked in faster current at the big bridges of Tampa Bay. Older 24v MK riptide 74 lb was to underpowered with same setup, slow, near highest thrust to try to maintain boat in current. Like Gabe said, older Ipilot wandered more than Xi5 at the time, so I went with the Xi5 and haven't been disappointed. Newer MK Ipilot apparently have corrected the spotlock for better anchoring. Sure the smaller Xi5 remote would be better with display for power, direction, & thrust strength but I can just adjust speed by how fast the boat is going. Direction I get by looking at how trolling motor head is pointing & where boat bow is going. I wouldn't want a bigger and heavier remote than what Xi5 has. My Powerpole remote is on same lanyard and no problems wearing all day long. I run 4 batteries that easily fit in Pathy center console with 3 for trolling motor, 1 for house/cranking/electronics. My battery switch can combine both battery groups if needed for cranking if the main house battery runs low. I also have stealth on board charger that can charge batteries on the go. Actually found myself running trolling motor batteries down more when had 24v trolling motor setup as needed to run the 74 lb thrust TM at higher thrust to move the pathy. I can run the 36v 105 TM all day with less max thrust to get boat moving and with less drain overall on batteries. 60" shaft also better as I get less prop out of the water when dealing with big waves/ boat wake. Now having the 36v, personally I wouldn't go back to a 24v setup with less max thrust on the Pathy. The only time Xi5 has trouble is with slack tide, no current movement and little wind. Then it wanders probably bc there's not enough boat direction change or movement needing adjustment by the TM. The other time is directly under lower bridge spans fishing as it loses GPS satellite contact. Universal Mania was my best price by several hundred dollars over everyone else with free shipping also. As for self-deploy, the local MK repair shop Betts advised against it if used a lot, many days in a row like charters as more likely to breakdown with overuse. Average angler with only several days a month would be ok. I also bought a bike handle that I attached to the Xi5 shaft really helps lifting TM out of water to restow, instead of grabbing TM head. I haven't felt a need to pair the trolling motor to my chart plotter/fish finder and I have a Hummingbird, so can't anyways. Perhaps others could, have the time to do so, or even figure how to. I know where I want to go, just deploy the TM and go. Saving TM routes is nice function, but haven't gotten the Xi5 to replay a saved course. Doubt you will go wrong with either Xi5 or Newer Ipilot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hurricane Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 Well no need to message SeaVuPlay. Great info Vu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grant Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 Yes, the new generation bluetooth I-Pilots (Terrova or Riptide) have MUCH improved spot-lock capability over older models. Just picked one up last Fall. Wandering is no longer an issue. The LCD operating screen on the Minn Kota remote is a definite advantage over the MG. I was seriously considering the MG when I upgraded, but the visual feedback of the MK remote was the clincher. It's about he size of a pack of cigs (100's). If you want a smaller remote, they do offer a little basic model without the LCD screen as an add-on. I've been running 80 lb motors on my 2000V for 12 years. Since I've never had a 36V on my boat, I don't know what I've been missing, so I don't miss it ! Somehow I've gotten along just fine. I do fish some strong currents and big water, just not every time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rckeat Posted February 22, 2017 Report Share Posted February 22, 2017 Just got the new MK Terrova 80 with Bluetooth for Christmas to replace a 10 year old MK 80 Autopilot/Copilot. The new until is vastly better in a bunch of areas. The stow and deploy function includes something called lift assist making it much easier to stow than the old one. New spot lock is awesome. Plus the phone app allows easy uploading of new software. Went fishing on Sunday and the phone app detected new software available for both the motor and the remote and it was easily uploaded to the units from my phone. I think that feature will prove very useful as they work any bugs in the software or come up with improvements. The bigger remote has taken some getting used to. I hated having it dangling around my neck and switched to the shorter lanyard clipped to a belt loop. When I am not using it, I can slip the remote in my pocket without unclipping from the belt loop. Plus the new remote uses regular AA (or AAA I can't remember) which makes battery replacement cheap and easy. But I got so used to the wrist control when using it at night that I really didn't like it at first. I'm very happy so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstPriority Posted February 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2017 you guys!!!! thank you so much for all the info. great responses! i think i just needed that push to go with the 36v system. i am looking at things a bit based on the pocket book and because of the price difference between the MG and the MK i'm going to step up to the MG 105lb 60". Based on responses and my gut i don't think i can go wrong. now just gotta work on saving for the extra battery and the charger. Thanks again to everyone on this forum!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harbday Posted March 4, 2017 Report Share Posted March 4, 2017 sea vu play - i just ordered the xi5. can you post a link for the bike handle? the one i saw on another forum was discontinued. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstPriority Posted March 5, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 http://www.ebay.com/itm/272563381955?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT I just purchased 4 of them. they were $5.00 EACH and free ship. figured if they didn't last too long i would have extras. They still have more to sell. received them quickly from that seller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaVuPlay Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 Harbday, looks like same handle FirstPriority posted, same price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harbday Posted March 7, 2017 Report Share Posted March 7, 2017 On 3/4/2017 at 8:25 PM, FirstPriority said: http://www.ebay.com/itm/272563381955?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT I just purchased 4 of them. they were $5.00 EACH and free ship. figured if they didn't last too long i would have extras. They still have more to sell. received them quickly from that seller. Thanks. have you gotten them yet? the other forum post i was reading suggested the 90mm handle which is discontinued. Does the 110mm fit ok? On 3/4/2017 at 10:20 PM, SeaVuPlay said: Harbday, looks like same handle FirstPriority posted, same price. thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstPriority Posted March 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2017 The 110mm measurement is the length of the grab handle. I chose the 110 to have a bit more to grab. The clamp fits perfectly around the shaft and only leaves a 1/16 of space between the clamp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunFlatsFishing Posted March 7, 2017 Report Share Posted March 7, 2017 Cannondale Lefty stem. Nice!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smilemaker Posted March 7, 2017 Report Share Posted March 7, 2017 When it comes to MG vs Minn Kota I would look at my mds Lowrance go MG Hummingbird go Minn Kota Garmin take a pick As technology evolves they will talk more and more with each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunFlatsFishing Posted March 7, 2017 Report Share Posted March 7, 2017 53 minutes ago, smilemaker said: When it comes to MG vs Minn Kota I would look at my mds Lowrance go MG Hummingbird go Minn Kota Garmin take a pick As technology evolves they will talk more and more with each other. I even heard that they are starting to sync with PowerPoles & Talons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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