Electric Winch or Minn Kota i-pilot

[PeterKroll]

Re: Electric Winch or Minn Kota i-pilot

I can't see the problem. A piling drilling rig, big hole through the floor, drop the leccy straight in. Apart from sinking, no worries.

[ant1971]

Re: Electric Winch or Minn Kota i-pilot

Thanks for all the replies, id have to price up the 80lb thrust model, still need to do more research, and i will speak to the guy who makes the boat ive got just to see what he thinks.

Ant

[Sweetlip]

Re: Electric Winch or Minn Kota i-pilot

Would definitely get the 80 lb thrust, 60" shaft model for that size of boat.

That will require two 12V deep cycle batteries. A couple of 130 AH Trojans will do the job very well but will cost a bit over $600 in total for the two batteries from a competitive supplier. Add to that a 60 A circuit breaker at around $60 from a competitive supplier and the cost of a couple of battery boxes @ $48 for the two and whatever length of extra cabling that you will need from wherever in the boat you intend housing the batteries @ $10 per metre plus perhaps the quick release bracket at $150 (cheaper from Amazon) and you can get an idea of what the leccy will actually cost you.

Nonetheless, highly recommended.

[dadstinny]

Re: Electric Winch or Minn Kota i-pilot

Someone mentioned if you use the Ipilot for anchor lock it can move up to 30ft is that correct?

[Force3]

Re: Electric Winch or Minn Kota i-pilot

Plus the cost of a decent charger. If you fish regularly and on consecutive days you will need 2 chargers for 24V. I have my minn kota set up with an Anderson plug, just unplug the motor and plug in the charger, will charge the 120Ah AGM overnight.

[Sweetlip]

Re: Electric Winch or Minn Kota i-pilot

Plus the cost of a decent charger. If you fish regularly and on consecutive days you will need 2 chargers for 24V. I have my minn kota set up with an Anderson plug, just unplug the motor and plug in the charger, will charge the 120Ah AGM overnight.

Ah yes - forgot the charger.

Add $300 for something like a 15A CTEK charger from a competitive retailer. (Highly recommended.)

[LittleSkipper]

Re: Electric Winch or Minn Kota i-pilot

Sweetlip! You sound just like a BCF salesman? I'll bet money on it you are?

[Sweetlip]

Re: Electric Winch or Minn Kota i-pilot

Sweetlip! You sound just like a BCF salesman? I'll bet money on it you are?

I would take your money on that bet because I am not such an animal.

It is just that I installed an 80 lb 60" shaft iPilot recently and everything is fresh in my memory. Seeing how an 80 lb Minn Kota performs in a fast flowing current on my 15 ft Quinnie suggests to me that I would not want anything smaller than that size and I assume a similar conclusion must be reached for the boat mentioned above.


Actually I bought nothing from BCF for the job...

iPilot Minn Kota and quick release bracket from Whitworths (September boat show sale);
Batteries, circuit breaker, battery boxes and cable from Springers Solar at Tingalpa (Manager was very competitive when pressed and very courteous);
CTEK Battery charger from RVTEK.com.au (Great price, very quick delivery);
Genuine Andersen plugs from eBay (very cheap compared with, say, Whitworths. Very quick delivery.)

See! There is no BCF in there at all.

[BLOOEY]

Re: Electric Winch or Minn Kota i-pilot

Someone mentioned if you use the Ipilot for anchor lock it can move up to 30ft is that correct?

Yes 100% correct actually pretty disapointed at the acuracy in wind and current of the anchorlock. It chews through the batteries because it is hard on the power to get back to where it was also. Auto pilot is the go for accuracy and battery life once you work it out. I wouldn't be without a leccy for throwing lures around though having said all that. Ben

[dadstinny]

Re: Electric Winch or Minn Kota i-pilot

Yes 100% correct actually pretty disapointed at the acuracy in wind and current of the anchorlock. It chews through the batteries because it is hard on the power to get back to where it was also. Auto pilot is the go for accuracy and battery life once you work it out. I wouldn't be without a leccy for throwing lures around though having said all that. Ben

30FT Is pretty big when near rocks / structure / boats or similiar and trying to stay put !

[Sweetlip]

Re: Electric Winch or Minn Kota i-pilot

Yes 100% correct actually pretty disapointed at the acuracy in wind and current of the anchorlock. It chews through the batteries because it is hard on the power to get back to where it was also. Auto pilot is the go for accuracy and battery life once you work it out. I wouldn't be without a leccy for throwing lures around though having said all that. Ben

That does not seem right to me. I have actually been quite impressed at how well Spot Lock holds my boat in a quick current at a working distance close to beacons. I thought that the stated tolerance was about a 5 ft radius and my impression has been that that seemed about right in my experience. My experience is a bit limited at this stage but I have used Spot Lock close to beacons in big outgoing tides such as at the fiveways on Tiger Mullet Channel at the 'Pin and the boat stayed well in position.

Is your experience with an 80 lb unit or a 55 lb unit?

Certainly, it is because of that sort of an issue that I chose to go with an 80 lb thrust unit when I might have gotten away with a 55 lb unit for much of my usage. The costs of equipping an 80 lb unit are considerably higher than a 55 lb unit because of the extra battery plus that a 60 A circuit breaker, as needed for an 80 lb unit, will cost $60+ versus $24 for a 50 A circuit breaker as is readily available at Whitworths, Bias etc.

[BLOOEY]

Re: Electric Winch or Minn Kota i-pilot

Sweetlip my experience is with a 55lbi pilot unit as the old RT55ap did a great job for me for many years. The issue is the time it takes for it to realise it is going in the wrong direction on spotlock, sometimes it gives up completely and you have to try again in strong wind. As stated it can be very dangerous if near structure. Also the wireless connection can become to weak and this also can stop the motor at a most inopportune time. Be smart when using it and try to position yourself stationary in the wind and current before hitting spotlock and it usually gets somewhere near where you hit the button give or take some distance. Ben

[Mer-Sea]

Re: Electric Winch or Minn Kota i-pilot

Hi, Ant1971,, I'm coming in hear a bit late. I have fitted one to my Signature 520 half cabin and couldn't be more happy. In soming up fishing for reds it's a weapon!!!

[Mike Delisser]

Re: Electric Winch or Minn Kota i-pilot

Someone mentioned if you use the Ipilot for anchor lock it can move up to 30ft is that correct?

From my experience it depends on how you've set the speed, if you have it set low and only slightly more powerful that the prevailing conditions it will kick in and correct at about 5 feet off your mark. The higher you have the speed set the further you can drift off the mark before it corrects. I think it's all in the instructions.
Cheers

[whereswoody]

Re: Electric Winch or Minn Kota i-pilot

Could you fit this to say a 6.5 plate boat??