Buying new trolling motor?

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Minn Kota Terrova iPilot 80lbs thrust.

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Have this one (saltwater version), 2 yrs old now. No issues. Has made fishing so much more enjoyable, easier for me being that I always have kids with me.

Bought the foot petal to go with it, use that mainly for freshwater trips, remote mostly for saltwater.

I saw a neighbor installing one about a month ago, so I thought if he can do it. I can do it. Hopefully it goes well!

I have the fresh water version. I grabbed mine used off of FB. Trolling motor, remote, bank charger, 2 batteries, quick release bracket and a foot pedal for $700.

I installed it up myself and wasn't bad at all. I went from a 12v to 24v so added a battery and had to get a wire to connect negative to positive to make 24v system.

Foot pedal is very nice. Much rather that than the remote.

Definitely get it. It's the most important thing on my boat behind the main engine. It will literally change your life for the better. Its THAT much better than a normal trolling motor.

Get a foot pedal. It gives you a hard wired backup for when your remote dies or goes overboard. Nice to have for bass fishing and redfishing as well.

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recommend upgrading to the ulterra

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Not me, and I have had both. I have never seen a terrova fail to deploy or stow (man-powered) but I have been involved in several ulterra crap-outs. I was with a minn kota tech every time so we were always able to fix it, but again I never had to work on a terrova.

Get self deploy as several have mentioned. It is a great feature

I bought a used Terrova in 2020 for $1100 (with pedal, puck, and remote) from a guy in Texas. I'd definitely recommend the foot pedal and remote regardless of which you think you'd use 100% of the time because both are so dam nice to have. My gf can use the remote control super easily, while I would much rather use the foot pedal.
The quick release bracket is a must imo in case you need to do any work on the motor, it takes about 30 seconds to remove the whole trolling motor with it installed and you can lock it onto your hull. Another good thing about the quick release mount is it comes with all you need to install it in about 30 minutes with a drill, I'm not handy whatsover and was able to install it really well one night with the boat in the lift.

I had a lower unit seal loosen on mine after a couple of years and it was replaced free under the Warranty, Minn Kota is great at standing by their products.

Only thing I can't comment on is the different transducers since I use mine solely for the motor.

I really don't understand the attraction to that style at all.

To be totally transparent, some of the failures were not really the trolling motors fault I guess. One time it was because it was all balled up with marsh grass. Mine failed to stow twice when it was on my buddies boat, once from marsh grass and once it just crapped out.

They seem to be extremely reliable, but it can't be made as reliable as a terrova. You don't have to worry about a terrova controller blocking out the deploy function because it thinks its messed up.

I've had a fishing trip ruined by my trolling motor before (dropped the remote and it broke) and I had to fish on anchor / tied off all day. You can't go back to fishing like that with a spotlock trolling motor sitting uselessly on the bow after you've taken a day off, woken up at 230am, drove 3 hours in the truck, an hour in the boat. It will make you want to quit fishing. A terrova link with a heading sensor and foot pedal for a hardwired backup is just the exact right amount of reliability vs badass tech.

I have the 24v Minn Kota Edge 70 lbs on a 17'1" glass boat. It hauls arse if you need it to fight wind. Otherwise, it runs all day on 3 of 5 speed setting.

What I like about mine is that it is old school reliable. It does not have all the bells and whistles of self deploy, remotes, etc. It just works and the price is right. Minn Kota Edge 70 lbs

That said, spot lock is a great feature I've used on other boats that the Edge does not have.

It's the 870 pump in a world of benelli's.