Foot control - Cable or Elec?

[EBass]

I was just recently at the motor clinic since I like to run into boulders and got on the topic of upgrading. They said the elec foot control is much faster than they used to be and it has a low profile. So that got me thinking to what the FM bass guys use.

I have a 70lb Minnkota Maxum with US built in and cable driven foot control.

Was looking at the 80lb Minnkota Terrova with elec foot control and option to add ipilot. No US built in.

Anyone use the elec foot control or has anyone had both and what are the pros vs cons?

[Deitz Dittrich]

Cable all the way.. I am to the point now that I know which direction its pointing. I just know.. by the height and level of my foot.. Whenever I run elect, I always feel I have to look down at the arrow.

I did fish with Ham from HSO here, and he has the one where you can hold a spot?.. Its a minkota, with a hand held device.. He hit hold spot, and I'll be darn, it held us.. Which was nice.. But in the long haul, when running a crooked weedline, or running docks.. no thanks, I'll keep my cable.

[Cecil]

Cable for sure. Just more solid, quicker when you need it and like D said, you can feel what direction you are pointed by where your foot is.

[Aaron Carrell]

Cable for sure. Just more solid, quicker when you need it and like D said, you can feel what direction you are pointed by where your foot is.

+1 for Cable here as well. Used both quite a bit (brother-in-law's boat has the electric pedal) and I absolutely hate the electronic due to having to look down too much. If you fish IN pads or slop quite a bit and use your trolling motor, you'll value the cable much more as well!

[Superduty]

Cable. It doesn't use battery power to steer!

[OLY]

Cable all the way. Every time I jump up front in my buddies boat I end up doing circles with the stupid electric control, HATE it

[grab the net]

No doubt about it, cable all the way

[bobbymalone]

I've got electric (MK PDv2 55lb) and I'm happy with it. I'm sure the technology has improved, but the cable on the old motorguide ('82) that came on my boat was so freakin stiff and unforgiving that the pedal could really only go in one place. Which meant I was either positioned funny or using my left foot. If I tried to switch the pedal to the other side of the boat the twist would always flip the pedal over on it's side. I probably could have lived with it, but I couldn't live with 28lb thrust on my 17.5' fishing boat. If you exhaled too fast it would overpower the trolling motor.

I'm also a fan of the electric, because I can stash the pedal out of the way when I'm not using it.

from an amateur part time float tube bass pond fly fisherman, in other words I don't know what I am talking about

[RK]

Cable. I know it's something I'd get used to, but every time I run a servo steer I'm afraid I'm going to get a BWI. I can steer my cable mount, back up, hover, whatever, without even looking at the thing. Plus there's just less to go wrong with them. I've tun MotorGuide Tour Editions for years, and other than one with a bad internal transducer, I've never had problems that weren't self-inflicted (and usually of the pre-Cambrian Shield granite variety).

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[shortfatguy]

I run a minnkota power drive v2 with ipilot. My previous motor was a motor guide cable drive. I will never go back. Nice to not have to keep your foot on the pedal. I can set the speed by gps and even record and save a track up to 2 miles long. Also has the feature that holds your position. I have never had a problem with the battery wearing down on it.

[mww24]

I had a powerdrive with autopilot and copilot on my old boat. I now have a maxxum cable drive on the newer boat. I prefer the cable now. It took a bit of getting used to. Like was stated you dont have to look down near as much. I just wish it was more powerful. It's only a 55lb. I'm saving for an 80 maxxum right now.

[TonkaBass]

cable

[mojoputter]

Had cable hated it, if I had a bass boat maybe a better fit, now have elec and love it. When i'm not using the foot pedal it can be stored away. When walleye fishing just keep the remote attached to wrist and works perfect.

[delmuts]

Another for cable!

BUT!!

Stop and think how you/what you fish for and where.If your working in and out of weeds most of the time, and don't want to repeat the exact route again the cable is the way to go.

If you're working alot of breaklines or drop offs where you may want to go back and work the same pattern again, or to be able to hold a postion and not have to constantly deal with the foot control, then elect. would be a good choice.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

I went electric since thats what Im much more comfortable with. I can steer without looking down at the motor head just fine, same as some of you do with cable. Spend enough time with a unit and you get used to it. I like that the foot pedal is much more low profile, its a little more comfortable to me than having my foot raised all day. Also one of the big sticking points was that I dont have to have my foot on the pedal to hold a direction which is great in rivers and wind. I put the motor on continuous and let her go and can walk anywhere in the boat without going off course.

[kg2]

I use both. I got away from electric steer (AutoPilot) back in 1994 when I bought my first bass boat. I ran cable-steered motors (48 All Terrain, Maxxum, Maxxum Pro, and then Fortrex) until this year. Last winter I had a bracket made so I can pull off the Fortrex and put on a Terrova with i-Pilot. My plan was to use the Terrova off-shore and the Fortrex when beating the bank.

I haven't put the Fortrex back on yet! The i-Pilot (spot lock) has made me a much better deep water fisherman. (That in conjunction with SI!)

[BassNut33]

I have an electric on my boat due to the fact that it was on there when I bought and the wife feels that the 800 bucks I want to shell for a cable drive is better suited for paying bills and buying furniture. Anyway, my friend has a Maxum on his and it is so much easier and more convenient for Bass fishing. I feel the main advantage is that you have total control of your direction while you are running the motor. With the electric, to change directions you have to stop running the motor, turn the head and then run it again. I suppose you could use the continuous run, but I feel like that is more troublesome yet.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

You can easily steer and keep the motor running with electric.

[Nick Kuhn]

You can easily steer and keep the motor running with electric.

I do it all the time to follow a weedline.

[Get'n Jiggy]

Motorguide Gator Mount cable

[Larson15]

Cable without a doubt. Minn Kota Fortrex or Maxxum

You wont see electric on any tournament bass boats and like previously stated I know what direction i am going all time without having to look. The other thing too is that the electric motors are a pain to deploy and pull up on a bass boat.

[EBass]

I like my cable control too. I'll stick with that. Thanks for all the responses.

[ssaamm]

I was about ready to start the same topic. My old MinnKota Autopilot is dieing a slow death. I've hit the head so many time on dock poles that it's held on by epoxy and two hose clamps. Looks like a Sanford and Son model. I don't have a seat up in the bow to lean on. Do you need one with the cable driven variety to keep you balanced? If you take your foot off the cable driven I assume the motor can swing around? Does the pedal take up a lot more space than the electric control? Thanks for the info.

[Larson15]

You will be totally fine without a seat to keep balanced. 75% of the time I don't use my butt seat. When you take your foot off of the pedal of a cable driven motor it does not move. The pedal will take up a little more room height wise since it operates back and forth like a seesaw.

[Esox_Magnum]

I spend 99% of my time on the bow casting and the best thing I have done with the new rig is sell the POS Maxxum and put on a Terrova, I can fish docks with the best of them and get alot more casts in by not having to be married to a pedal. When I need to leave the bow for anything I can leave the motor on and not have to worry about it going where it wants, any corrections that need made I can do by remote. And no butt/leaning seat needed.