Terrova Questions & Compatibility?

[WillFishforBeer]

More than any other potential upgrade, I need spot lock. Narrowed it down to the Terrova based solely on price/capability. (Motorguide Xi5 was in the running but it seems like a plasticcie such and such, and a wireless foot pedal seems like a lot of profanity waiting to happen.)

But man I hear the Terrova getting dragged here A LOT. Is it really that bad? Is the no-feedback foot pedal that awful? (I do a lot of no-look steering with my current cable driven Motorguide). Also I read a lot about the preference for using the remote control, but I still can't wrap my head around that. With two hands in use actively fishing, and motoring around docks and weed lines in the wind using the foot pedal..., man, I don't have three hands.

And equally as important... I'm currently running all gen 1 Lowrance HDS units. Will the built in Terrova transducer work with my HDS7 up front? (Yeah, that will get upgraded in the future but I'd like to standardize on Lowrance going forward.) I have a feeling the answer is 'no', but I just don't know. There's a mountain of knowledge to learn about boat electronics and I'm admittedly very ignorant to it all.

[Fishysam]

I learned on powerdrive and terrova, had a terrova on my bass boat for years before ultrex brought spot lock to the game. A couple days on the water you will have the steering figured out enough. They are lighter than the ultrex btw thats faster hahaha

[mrsturggie]

Foot pedal on the terrova sucks but the remote works well. Built in us2 transducer works well with hds units. There used to be a micro remote option to put a remote on your rod that I had on my favorite 3 rods. Control was at your thumb. It steers a bit slow but once you get used to it it’s very easy to operate. Also kept the standard remote on a carabiner on my belt loop so it was very accessible at all times also

[Woody b]

I got a Terrova because I wanted spot lock, and wanted to stick to 12 volts. I liked it, and had no problems. The foot pedal was easy enough to get used to. It was a pain to connect my active target transducer to it. It also was to tall, and too far forward for my cover to fit properly. Deploying and stowing it was a pain, especially with my active target stuff on it. I fell out of the boat once stowing it. I was reaching over to stow it and a wake boat wave caught me by surprise. It was totally preventable, and never even came close to happening again. I never had any problem with it.

Why did I change to something else? A combination of reasons. There is no solution that I know of for putting an Active Target transducer on a Terrova that you can turn independently from the trolling motor. Several people with Tracker boats had cracked bows that were said to be caused by the small footprint of a Terrova. (I believe a stabilizer like a ram mounts tough claw eliminates this though). Once (only once) the wind was too much for my 12 volt motor. I recently changed to a Motorguide Tour Pro, 24 volt and 2 Ionic batteries. My old 12 volt Ionic 125 is now my cranking battery. I had a transducer mount from LSmounts for my active target transducer. It works great. I like pulling on the rope to deploy and stow instead of leaning over the bow to grab the motor.

Once again, my Terrova worked great.

[Haughton]

I use the micro remote with a belt clip so it is close to my right hand. Often times I will make corrections after a cast, before a cast or just stop reeling...etc. I can make corrections without looking or a quick glance, it is just muscle memory after awhile. Have been using remotes on my last 2 TM, using a foot pedal at this point would feel foreign.

I did fish for many years in the front of a jon boat with a paddle and it not only taught me to cast with either hand or paddle with either hand but the timing of corrections. This is in the trees of lake bistineau or caddo lake, so to me, much like the wireless remote, is just normal.

I'm sure if I got a tm with a pedal, it would become easy or normal... Like I say, it is just muscle memory and how you approach a dock or such. Some people hate the idea of no pedal and I get it.

[Bradrodfish]

People have many opinions about the product they own. I work on them and I must say they are the most solid unit other than the Ultrex, with spot lock. It is up to the individual as to how a unit preforms.
Micro remote, STD remote or foot pedal, each will find you your comfort zone. It just depends on the individual.

[Les Young]

Didn't take me long at all to get use to my terrovas foot pedal. I also use the remote when i'm cruising down a bank looking for brush piles for crappie & turning the pole mount with my right hand while sitting in the double seat bench i now have at the front deck. I also bought it in the 60" version which makes it pretty easy to stow & deploy while standing without bending over to do it on my stratos.

[JER-1 BIG BASS]

Terrova is great ,on my second one same boat 24 volt 60” shaft 80 lb thust
hydra sport 205 heavy old boat, 225 Johnson ho on back. Over 12 years.
The foot peddle can be a pain in ass sometimes, remote is great , I’ll just sit on rod cover lots re tie ing , and remote is handy.
its wate4 proof and floats usually have it hooked on my belt or somewhere I can get it easy if I would fall in, and remote drive boat back to me.

[Boostr]

Stowing was the only issue I had, but once you get used to it is fine. Great TM

[Bluzharp]

I had a Terrova on my old Tracker. It was pretty good but I eventually grew tired of the electric steering. Spot lock and autopilot worked well and i used them both a lot. It hangs over the front when stowed and my boat cover would not fit properly. I broke the collar that steers it twice just bumping in to logs while fishing. Not an expensive part and not too hard to replace except for the lift assist spring. I like my current Ultrex a lot more but the Terrova was ok.

[Bluzharp]

Also the pedal was too wide to fit the tray in the boat. I made a custom tray to fit it, but I ran it on an aluminum plate over the tray for a while.

[WillFishforBeer]

OP followup here... Boy I didn't know what I was missing! Yeah, the spotlock is truly awesome, but I think I like the maintain-heading function equally as much, surprisingly. And I've been getting SIGNIFICANTLY longer run times from the same batteries than my old 71lb Motorguide. And I concede that I've been using the remote control much more than I thought I would. What a machine!

[Les Young]

I got a Terrova because I wanted spot lock, and wanted to stick to 12 volts. I liked it, and had no problems. The foot pedal was easy enough to get used to. It was a pain to connect my active target transducer to it. It also was to tall, and too far forward for my cover to fit properly. Deploying and stowing it was a pain, especially with my active target stuff on it. I fell out of the boat once stowing it. I was reaching over to stow it and a wake boat wave caught me by surprise. It was totally preventable, and never even came close to happening again. I never had any problem with it.

Why did I change to something else? A combination of reasons. There is no solution that I know of for putting an Active Target transducer on a Terrova that you can turn independently from the trolling motor. Several people with Tracker boats had cracked bows that were said to be caused by the small footprint of a Terrova. (I believe a stabilizer like a ram mounts tough claw eliminates this though). Once (only once) the wind was too much for my 12 volt motor. I recently changed to a Motorguide Tour Pro, 24 volt and 2 Ionic batteries. My old 12 volt Ionic 125 is now my cranking battery. I had a transducer mount from LSmounts for my active target transducer. It works great. I like pulling on the rope to deploy and stow instead of leaning over the bow to grab the motor.

Once again, my Terrova worked great.

I have a 60 inch terrova & actually feel safer than i did with a pull rope because i can stand up without bending over the stow or deploy it.