Trolling motors with AutoPilot?

[BTPF]

I grew up fishing with a minnkota auto pilot and even though it did mess up here and there it was always a pretty solid trolling motor.

I am looking to buy my Dad a trolling motor for his boat and have been looking for one with autopilot. Is minnkota the only brand that makes these with autopilot?

Also whats the different between 12 and 24 volts? He does have 2 batteries in his boat.

I am pretty sure I am going to go with a minnkota auto pilot but I read somewhere that some company bought them out and they are on the downward spiral. Is this true?

[VMS]

I have not heard anything on the downfall of MinnKota..they are a top notch company from what I know personally.

Minnkota makes the only autopilot that allows you to stay on a straight line. Pinpoint trolling motors, on the other hand, have a similar capability, but they are able to track a depth and follow the countour, or a certain distance from shore. Definitely a nice motor, but costly (over $1k).

As for hook-up, the 24 volt system will run with some more efficiency...and you will see a bit of extended time on the water. How much, I do not know since I only run a 12 volt system. There will be a little more to pay with a 24 volt, but some/many feel that the extra money spent is justified.

I used to run a 12 volt system with two batteries hooked in parallel. Hooking in Parallel allowed me to run much longer between charges....easily going 4 days (on the rig it was with) without charging.

I hope this gives you a start, and I hope others can fill you in more on the 24 volt system.

[Reeldoctor]

I have not heard of any problems with Minn Kota as a company we are a authorized service center for Minn Kota. Our advice on the 12/24 is if you have anything over a 14 ft. boat and have the money and room for a 3 battery system (2 for the electric 1 for everything else) go to the 24 volt. If you caculate the amp draw of 43amps per hour of a 12 volt 55 lb. thust motor with 120 amp battery at full speed it will run 2.8 hours, then take the amp draw of 31amps per hour of a 24 volt 65 lb thurst motor (running at 83% to equal the 55 lb. thust of the 12 volt) with two 120 amp batterys it will run 7.9 hours. The only draw back is the weight and cost of the extra battery.