New trolling motor ripped off the boat

My new (April 2013) Terrova with I-Pilot popped up and launched itself when I was running about half speed at Steinhatchee, FL. I had been running all day and was returning to port after about an 8 mile run with a light (1 foot or less) chop. When the motor hit the water the force ripped the whole unit off the boat. I have run on rougher water at the lakes near home. Has anyone ever heard of this happening before? Could this be some kind of defect in the latch which holds it in place?

Sorry to hear that. I have heard of this happening before for 2 reasons:
1- the locking mechanism is not fully "locked"
2- the collar that adjusts the prop depth was not slid all the way down

I just got a Terrova 80 iPilot Link and there was a tag on the motor very explicitly stating to move the collar down any time the boat is in motion.

Nonetheless, sorry to hear about your bad luck.

Yea, mine had a little 1" long sticker down at the bottom of the shaft an NO, the collar wasn't pulled all the way down there where it should have been. Like the Led Zeppelin song says , "It's nobody's fault but mine". The end of July will be a year since it happened, but I still sometimes reach for the cord on the butt-kicking machine. I talked with Minn Kota afterwards and they said if I could produce the unit, they would restore it under warranty. They told me of folks who used their sonar and anchor to find and pull a unit up from the bottom. I had not insalled my unit at the time, but there were 4 cell phones on that boat that could have marked the coordinates. I guess I was in shock and didnt have the sense to think about that at the time. Again, where's that butt-kickin machine? I have replaced the unit and now have a velcro strap connecting it to the hand rail. So, it can't deploy unless the strap is unbuckled. Thanx for your post. I hope other folks will read this and take the necessary precautions!

badtomatoes said:

Sorry to hear that. I have heard of this happening before for 2 reasons:
1- the locking mechanism is not fully "locked"
2- the collar that adjusts the prop depth was not slid all the way down

I just got a Terrova 80 iPilot Link and there was a tag on the motor very explicitly stating to move the collar down any time the boat is in motion.

Nonetheless, sorry to hear about your bad luck.

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