Fish-Hawk.Net

I am planning on upgrading my trolling motor before the spring comes and I have been reading and trying to compare Minn Kota and motorguide..

What I want out of the unit is the ability to spot lock and have sonar built into the lower unit so I can have a graph at the front of the boat

Just wondering what people on here have/prefer etc

I sell Minn Kota, so my opinion may be a little jaded, but reports that I have gotten at the store is that the Motor Guide spot lock leaves a lot to be desired. I have an Ultrex mounted on the front of my Phoenix and I have been very impressed with it.

Ed

I have the minn kota ulterra mounted on the front of my Larson fx 1750 and love it. Spot lock works great even in high wind and current situations. I have never had any problems with it, so my vote would be minn kota

MInnkota all the way.

I had one MG for a few years and nothing about that motor (cable driven one) made me want to buy another. Some people like them, some people hate them. I am the ladder.

Motorguide:
Your option here is Xi5. Both have wireless pedals which I have heard reports of losing signal to the head which results in you having to reset the pedal while on the water. For a while, the biggest selling feature of these models was the pinpoint GPS held you in a smaller circle of your waypoint and the head turned faster when switching directions but with the newest motors from MK, this is no longer the case. I believe both MG and MK will hold you within a 3 foot circle of your spot locked waypoint.

MInnKota, Your options for spotlock are a lot bigger here. You have the following to pick from.

Powerdirve V2: If you choose this option, know that the foot pedal is the weak point. They seem to need replacement often but this isn't an issue for you since you want spotlock and this unit doesn't come with a pedal when equipped with I-Pilot. From experience, this is the only MK product I will not recommend. The pedal is also a little different than a traditional pedal. To turn left, you push the left side of the pedal while your heel is on the power button. You want to turn right? you step on the right side. It takes some getting used to and the other models have a better, more traditional foot pedal. The deploy system is terrible and both deploying and stowing is just downright awkward. I have used both the original ( my dad still has one) and the V2 model and they do work, I just find the Terrova to be a better motor for the extra few hundred it costs (and it's worth it).

Terrova: I had this motor on my old boat equipped with I-pilot and US2 (MK's built in sonar). Just note that the US2 is only for 2d imaging and all that is required to get this to work is an adapter for whatever unit you have (it can be used for Lowrance, Humminbird and Garmin). If you want DI or SI, you will have to attach an external transducer. Stow and deploy was quite seamless with this motor and the newer ones have lift assist which makes it even better. When equipped with I-Pilot, you can still use the pedal or the remote. The nice thing about the new ones opposed to the old ones is there is a button for spotlock on the pedal so unless you want to record a track or use the jog feature, you really do not need the remote. The newer ones are supposed to turn a lot faster than the one I had but as long as you realize there is a little lag here, you learn to compensate quickly.

Ulterra: Now, I have never used this unit but it is basically a Terrova with an auto stow and deploy feature with trim built in. This means no cumbersome tasks of manually stowing and deploying the motor and if you want to adjust how deep the motor is, you push a button instead of reach down, loosen a nut and manually pull up or push down the shaft and tighten everything up. This is MK's top of the line electric steer motor.

Ultrex: This is the unit that will be on my new boat. I was lucky enough to have a fishing partner last year that had one and I got to use it a bit. The motor has every feature that the Terrova has (with I-Pilot or I-Pilot link) but has a power assisted cable steer design. The head of the TM turns just as fast (or faster) than a cable steer with all of the advantages of an electric steer with GPS functionality.

Now the one thing I did not touch on was the difference between I-Pilot and I-Pilot Link. The Link has more features than I-pilot like the abilty to circle a way point at varying offsets. You can set it to circle 30, 40- 50 however many feet around a spot lot location. Because the link can be hooked up to a fish finder (via an Ethernet cable), you can store more waypoints/tracks and also follow contours from the maps (maps you make yourself through Autochart live or Lakemaster maps which should be available soon for out areas). Whether you require I-Pilot or I-Pilot Link is personal preference. Knowing how I fish and that my main target is bass, I did not see the need for the Link. At the time, there was no inkling that Lakemaster would be available up here either so that meant I would have to make my own maps and I didn't think that would be something I would do often.

Sorry for the novel but I will close in that I do not believe the MG product is any better than most of what MK has to offer (Maybe the Powerdrive...). In the end, only you can make the decision but for me, the options would be either the Terrova or the Ultrex depending on what you are planning to do with this motor. If you are fishing anywhere near docks or obstructions, the Ultrex will turn faster and act more like a cable driven motor. If you are primarily using this for open/deep water for spotlock, I would stick with the Terrova. You really cannot go wrong with either, but one will have more advantages depending on how you fish.

Adam

I'm on my second Powerdive V-2 55 i-pilot.

The first one was a foot peddle that I converted to the i-pilot. Loved it. Bought it new in 2010. Broke the shaft, my fault. Lifetime warranty. Replaced by Minn Kota. No issues. There's no pedal with the Powerdrive i-pilot and that works great for me. I hang the remote off my PFD and it's very handy. I mostly fish for walleye but when I'm bass fishing I use the spot lock to stay put.

I don't have the transducer, but it would be a nice feature.

Bought a new boat in October with another Powerdrive V-2 55 i-pilot (new version). Like it better the the first. Remote is designed a bit different so there's a learning curve. The spot lock works much better. I use it when I'm rigging my rods, reeling in a fish, netting, taking a leak, anytime I don't want to drift.

The new remote takes "AAA" batteries and has replaceable parts if required. You had to replace the remote on the older i-pilot.

The new i-pilot works very well and has lots of great features. The auto pilot is the best. I use it a lot for trolling. The track record feature is very good for following contours. I make a contour map with my Humminbird Live Map and then run over the contour with the I-pilot recording the track. The i-pilot will keep running along the contour as much as I want.

Minn Kota is owned by Johnson Outdoors who also make Humminbird. I've used the Humminbird repair service in North Bay and they're outstanding.

The Prop Shop in Kingston is a Minn Kota service depot and also provides great service.

The only thing I know about Motorguide is they're owned by the Brunswick Corporation.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

Minn Kota user here for years on multiple boats. No issues on my end.

RJ

4 seasons on Motoguide Xi5 not a single issue. Love it.

the biggest thing I noticed between my motor guide and minn kota is the mk is a lot better in grass.

reefhawg wrote:4 seasons on Motoguide Xi5 not a single issue more. Love it.

Me too!