Trolling motors with spot lock I pilot

I have been looking into new trolling motors but I am a little slow on understanding the options... I would like a 24 volt 60 in shaft 70lbs ... I like idea of no foot pedal..With the national shortages they are hard to find and on line ordering makes me nervous... Just looking for plug and play motor..All the his info about blue tooth smart phone is confusing..Any help will be greatly appreciated...Thanks

Huntfishcrappie...I had to buy my Minn Kota Power Drive online in Feb this year because they weren’t available anywhere around Green Bay, and I wanted to be sure to have it in time for open water season. I bought it along with the quick release mount from Factoryoutletstore.com.

Like you, I was leery about buying something so large and expensive online, but at the time it was my only option. So I pulled the trigger, held my breath, and hoped for the best. Well...the motor arrived via Fedex three days later in perfect condition, and the quick release in a week. Couldn’t have gone smoother. Of course you have to do your own research and decide for yourself who you trust...but that was my experience with that particular company. I see now that they’re back ordered just like everyone else. 

As far as installation, set up, and use...I’ve had no problems at all with my Power Drive. I’m just an old guy with an IPhone and I found it easy to pair up with the remote and my phone. Minn Kota even has a free app that allows you to control your motor with your phone should something happen with the remote. The entire system works as advertised and is very user friendly. 

I’d encourage you to go ahead and buy your Minn Kota. You won’t regret it, and you’ll wonder how you ever got along without it. Good luck to you. 

I just put a Terrova I-pilot 60 inch 80 lb on my boat.  I did get the foot pedal and remote and find I use both.  I put a new Helix in the back and moved my Lowrance HDS gen1 up front using the universal built-in transducer.  I did have to get one cable with it but was able to use my old power chord.

I thought there was an adapter cable to connect the transducer to a Lowrance. The Humminbird adapter I think was around $25 or so. MinnKota calls their 200khz trolling motor transducer US2, which stands for Universal Sonar. The ones that come with the built in down or side imaging transducers I believe are more manufacturer specific. As Charipar mentioned I'm pretty sure you can still get the co-Pilot or i-Pilot controller for the PowerDrive V2. The co-Pilot is the simplest and cheaper one. You replace the one side panel on the trolling motor with the new one with the controller built in and you're ready to go. But again, I thought on the PowerDrive V2 once you connected the new side panel you couldn't use the foot pedal. I always carried a spare battery in case I ran out of power. Something like a CR 2025, readily available and not expensive. It says what the actual battery number is on the back of the remote. Good luck!

Yes sir all information helps... I run Lowrance which is not compatible with minn kota..  the power drive is the unit I think is what I would like. The models above have built in transducer in them Hummingbird compatible..Still  looking at info. I appreciate your input.... Finding one is going to be a problem back ordered till june is what I am finding..                           I just updated to the Hook 2 with triple shot last year and I bought a panoptix ice package this year so I am trying to get the best on a budget... Good thing my wife is understanding and let's me fish as much as I can...

It can be confusing but once you figure things out the advancements made are pretty amazing. I've can only comment on the MinnKota line, I've been using their remote control unit(s) since they first came out with their "co-Pilot" series. When they came out with the i-Pilot I upgraded, and when they came out with the i-Pilot Link of course I had to have that! With all these earlier generation of products there was/is a handheld remote. The trolling motors came with a foot pad, but the only time I've ever used any of mine was just a 10 second test to make sure it worked. The PowerDrive V2 trolling motor (and others) that had the small detachable foot pad was compatible with all these earlier products. If you had one of these you could purchase the kits to add the remote control features. Most units now come with them pre-installed. These earlier models didn't have BlueTooth capabilities. Can't remember for sure, but the earliest models I thought was either foot control or remote, only one could be hooked up at a time. But I can't remember that for sure. Regardless, the co-Pilot and i-Pilot models don't interact with your locator. You use the remote to control your speed, direction, follow a straight line, spot lock, etc. With the i-Pilot Link it's more advanced when connected to a Helix (or higher model) locator that has a network connection. You run a cable between the Helix control head and trolling motor and you have even more capabilities. For trolling you select a contour on your Helix LakeMaster map and tell the trolling motor to follow the contour. For example you're on Mendota and want to troll the 15' contour around Dunn's Bar. Set your trolling speed and the motor does the rest. You'll follow the contour all around the bar. You can hit the SpotLock (electronic anchor) if you want to hit a spot by casting before starting to troll again.

The latest generation can do even more. These are the BlueTooth models, but don't let that scare you away. You still have the remote, only an improved version (including TouchScreen). But I believe if you want to update the software on the i-Pilot Link on these models you do this over BlueTooth while paired to your smart phone. If you don't have one, or are concerned about doing the upgrade, there are people/places out there that will do it for you and it shouldn't be too expensive.

The only reason I'm going into more detail than you're probably needing/wanting is I've had so many people of the years that have made expensive equipment purchases, only to find out if they'd been better informed of what was out there they would have been much happier with their purchases.

I use the trolling motor and features like SpotLock pretty much every time I'm on the water (usually 100+ times while there's any open water). I plan on getting the BlueTooth trolling motor myself this year, mainly because of the improvements (supposedly) made in the SpotLock feature, which I use constantly. The earlier version can have inconsistent accuracy, advertised as 5' accuracy, but I've seen much more than that. Since I use mine to drop the camera down on possibly a small object that I've found with side scan, it can get frustrating, especially with poor water clarity.

Basically don't let all the fancy terms scare you away. Look over the manufacturers information to see what you think you want/need, watch some GOOD youtube videos of people who know what they're doing and are showing you how it works. Once you figure out what you want call their customer support, tell them what features you want and they'll tell you what you need. Try to figure out also if you'll ever want to tie the trolling motor to your locator. If so your choices will drop because there's less connection possibilities. It may be smart to change out the locator at the same time if you really like one manufacturers product.

Lastly, if you can find someone willing to take you out in their boat to show you how their unit works in the real world that can really help. I've taken quite a few people out over the years, but with 2020 Covid, and so far this year I've done none of this. But check the LakeLink postings on lakes in your area for people talking about their equipment and see if you could work out a time to get a hands on look.

You are right, you and myself are all looking for the same things but supply can be a factor. As far as the features, I believe the Bluetooth refers to pairing it (connect to) your cellphone and control the trolling motor with your phone. I-Pilot refers to the unit connected to your fish locator and following a contour line on your map or using GPS to go in a straight line or stay in one spot (spot lock). A feature that had been out for many years was Co Pilot which could be added to your Minnkota trolling motor and use a remote control to operate it, versus the foot control that they come originally equipped.

I hope this helps!