Trolling motor talk

[Hillbilly SQ]

Thats a great way to describe it.

I was eyeing those Minn Kota trolling motors with the i-pilot today in Cabelas but just can’t justify it when my current motorguide works fine and I picked up a Lowrance Elite ti9 last week.

looks like you’ve made your decision.

Well, fishing has always been more important to me than car audio so I put a $2200 trolling motor on the nose of the boat last year but won't spend $900 on a pair of midbass speakers, lol. And want to put a bigger and better graph on the front because my Lowrance Hook 7 is a turd in a punch bowl compared to the Garmin Stryker 7sv on the console when it comes to image resolution. For example an underwater bridge shows up clear as day with the Stryker even with 2d sonar while looking at the same bridge with the Hook has me questioning wtf I'm looking at. Hard to tell what's under me a lot of the time with the Hook 7And reading a depth finder with bifocals is a real PITA. Actually still recovering financially from buying the Ultrex and the system build on the truck. The system in the truck ended up costing way more than intended but have finally learned to buy once and cry once within reason. This is why I'm way more likely to waffle forever before finally pulling the trigger. Research, willingness to pay the price, and justification for my needs have to all agree with each other.

I will say this much...once you spot lock in 20+ mph wind and not have to fight to hold your position you'll kick yourself for not taking the plunge on an Ultrex or similar unit soonerIf you're just a bank beater and/or fair weather fisherman I wouldn't bother. It's all about what your style and priorities are just like car audio and anything else.

[JCsAudio]

I’ve been doing research on tolling motors and decided to go for the MotorGuide Xi5. It has all the features of the Ultrex and can integrate with the GPS maps on my Lowrance Ti9. After a lot of careful research it seems to be a great TM. I have last years Lowrance Hook 7 and it’s not bad for a beginner but I know what you mean. There is a big price difference too between the Stiker and that Lowrance I think.

If you have your transducer mounted on the transom then I assume you have the other hooked up to the built in one on the Ultrex?

[Hillbilly SQ]

I’ve been doing research on tolling motors and decided to go for the MotorGuide Xi5. It has all the features of the Ultrex and can integrate with the GPS maps on my Lowrance Ti9. After a lot of careful research it seems to be a great TM. I have last years Lowrance Hook 7 and it’s not bad for a beginner but I know what you mean. There is a big price difference too between the Stiker and that Lowrance I think.

If you have your transducer mounted on the transom then I assume you have the other hooked up to the built in one on the Ultrex?

Coming from a former Xi5 owner I highly suggest you DON'T get one. Trust me on this. Mine was quirky as all hell and there's no consistency to the foot pedal whatsoever. The spot lock falls on its face in stronger wind too. When I upgraded to the Ultrex I decided I couldn't sell my Xi5 knowing what it was doing so I gave it to my buddy to use as a spare when the old Maxxum he has is down and he has cussed it numerous times. It will go nuts and try to throw you out of the boat, it will keep going when you let off the momentary button on the foot pedal, it will make a beeping noise everywhere you've spotlocked in the past, the wireless foot pedal chews through batteries like crazy, and the list goes on. Yes there are many people that are happy with the Xi5 but the Ultrex is just a more solid motor and you can navigate tight areas with way better precision with it. I could have very well just gotten a turd when I bought my Xi5 but just about everyone complains about the foot pedal being unpredictable. On the flipside my friend's uncle who fishes professionally (Scott Suggs) is having issues with the spot lock on his Ultrex not holding from time to time. He also spends more time in his boat fishing in a year than most do in 10 years or more and every company makes a bad one every now and then. I think he still gets a new Ranger z520c every year or two but a pro's rig and everything in it has A LOT of hard miles on it once they're done with it. Scott does do Major League Fishing on TV and they have to use the boats they supply them with on the show still I think. Could be wrong but I also don't think he's as hot and heavy with FLW anymore. I was going to use the built-in ducer on the Ultrex but Scott doesn't speak very highly of it and said to just use the one intended for the graph. For a new graph on my rig I'm torn about what I want to do. I want to at some point have linked graphs to share waypoints. Might just bite the bullet in a couple years and put a couple nice 9" graphs on. Lowrance, Humminbird, and Garmin is a Ford vs Chevy vs Dodge debate and I'm a bang for the buck kind of guy so I drive a Ram. At the time of purchase the Garmin Stryker seemed to be the best value and easy to use too. Can't link the one I have though and the map is just a white screen with blips so I use my old Lowrance hds5 for mapping only.

[JCsAudio]

Well this is disturbing to read about. How can something that costs $1600 be that bad? Maybe the Xi3 without the pedal is better. I know the early units had issues but the newest models based on all the information I gathered seem to be better. Now I have to rethink this and maybe just getting the proven top dog in this game is the safe bet. This is kind of similar to your midbass decision, lol.

[Hillbilly SQ]

I bought my Xi5 Summer of 2016 so they might be better now. My buddy will agree that it works fine the majority of the time if you can get used to the pedal and the remote works great. His tournament partner that's basically taken ownership of my friend's '95 Charger 186vf likes the Xi5 too despite its quirks for the spotlock feature even though he still prefers a cable steer (my buddy is about to inherit his grandpa's 01 Champion 196 and has been running the Champion full time for the past year and a half since his grandpa isn't fit to drive anymore). I just know that when I'm in a stump pile or really tight area I need my motor to do what I want when I want with no wiggle room whatsoever. What I like about the Ultrex is it works like a cable steer but there's zero steering torque. The Xi5 is quieter than the Ultrex but no one seems to think it makes a difference when fishing. It might when they're extra spooky but you have to take the bad with the good. And the Xi5 weighs A LOT less than the Ultrex. I about hurt myself bad when I lifted the box with my Ultrex in it. Just the mount for the Ultrex weighs nearly as much the whole Xi5. My boat has better holeshot with the Ultrex, lol. Lost 1-2mph with the heavier motor on the nose. When my buddy replaces the 70lb Maxxum on the Champion he's thinking about going with the new trolling motor Lowrance has out now that's brushless and supposedly extra quiet. I bet his uncle has one on his next boat since he's always been a Lowrance guy so we'll wait for Scott to give it the ultimate torture test. Like I said, he puts the miles on a boat and is a self-made millionaire from fishing so he knows his stuff.

[JCsAudio]

The Lowrance Ghost is an awesome TM but it’s $3000 so that’s out of my league for this weekend warrior. I can get a Motorguide Xi5 with aluminum quick release plate and all the hardware for pinpoint GPS gateway to work with my Lowrance Elite Ti9 maps/autopilot for $1759 out the door. The Ultrex is undoubtedly better and would run me $2500 from the same source with quick release bracket and I’d have to upgrade my electrical to 24 volt from the current 12 volt system it currently runs. Not a huge deal but something else to consider and because I run Lowrance electronics I wouldn’t be able to utilize my Lowrance maps with the Minn Kota unless I spend another $1000 plus on a compatible Hummingbird fish finder.

My biggest gripe with my old but still working Motorguide TM is that it’s just an old school cable operated pedal unit. I fish a lot on my own and on those windy days it gets tiresome constantly fighting the wind to keep my position when I find the fish. Just being able to have the trolling motor hold a position would be nice and even better would be for it to drive itself under the control of my Lowrance Elite Ti9. The actual TM weight is something I hadn’t considered too. I’m working with 115 horse in a 1300 IB boat so it kind of matters to me a little.

I’m willing to accept that it isn’t going to be as good as a cable steer and as long as the spot lock anchor feature keeps the boat within a 5 foot circle without making tons of noise or acting crazy, I’ll be happy. I just want to make sure if I spend $1800 that I get something that fulfills my need and isn’t a total turd. Reading all the reviews it seems like both have their fanboys and hatters, kind of like Ford vs Chevy.

BTW, you know of any good Forums or other social media I can join so I can learn more?

Thanks Billy, I really appreciate your input.

[Hillbilly SQ]

Sounds like the Xi5 will be your best bet given your needs then. Make sure you get a good warranty tooOn the 12v vs 24v debate my boat weighs less than yours does and I wouldn't be without a 24v with 80lb thrust. It's no different from having 1000 watts on your subwoofer vs 600 watts. There's been times when it took everything my 80lb thrust motor had to hold me in place but those were extreme conditions that most sane people wouldn't have dare taken on. My boat also sits high up front so rarely have to worry about a big swell swamping it while spot locked in big rollers. The lake I fish most of the time is in a wind tunnel in the mountains so it can get nasty in a hurry with an east or west wind across a 7-8 mile long lake. It's also a sailboat lake because of the strong wind. You can save weight by going with a pair of group 24 batteries and they'll hold up all day most of the time. They'll be tired at the end of the day if the wind is strong but still better than even a great big single battery on a 12v. The price difference on a 55lb 12v isn't enough to justify choosing it over the 80lb thrust 24v in my opinion. It's a buy once cry once type of situation. On the flip side if a 12v is doing good for you now then a 12v Xi5 should do OK for you also. Like I said, headroom is addictiveI'm not sure how the wind is on the lakes you fish so just going by what I have to deal with around here.

For a depth finder I'm strongly considering putting my Garmin Striker 7sv up front and put this guy at the console to replace the Striker 7sv and Lowrance hds5 https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/garm...tplotter-combo

[JCsAudio]

I knew you were going to state that because after I posted I did some more reading and started to realize that the 24 volt motor would be a smart upgrade. I’ve been on the water trolling with my current 12 volt setup for up to 5 hours without an issue but with something like electronic anchoring; I’m imagining that would be more taxing on the battery/batteries. You’ve pretty much convinced me to go 24 volt now, lol, plus not running my TM over 50% would be smart too. The current 12 volt motor never seemed to be lacking though except for maybe on the windiest of days.

On that Garmin Striker 7, I believe that is the unit I almost bought at the end of last season. I think that is a really smart choice. Curious how to handle having two different transducers or where you install the second one? I don’t have a lot of room on my transom to keep two on one side. Maybe you use the built in one on your TM? Having the transducer on the back when I’m fishing the front kind of stinks because by the time I see it on the FF it’s already gone by.

[Hillbilly SQ]

Yeah, once you go 24v on anything bigger than a little flatbottom you won't go back. Even my friend's dad's 1648 (I think) flatbottom benefits greatly from a 24v and all that boat does is tight line for crappie over brush piles. Another GOOD reason to go 24v is just in case your big motor fails while out on the water. While it might not always get you back to the ramp depending on how many hours you've fished and/or where you're at on the lake it will at least get you into an area where someone passing by can easily find you. A lot of people are running a 36v on their heavy fiberglass rigs. Top that with an 80lb thrust 24v will pull less current though a wire than a 55lb thrust 12v. That's how people can have double the thrust and not have to upgrade wiring.

On the transducer issue I always mount the one for the front graph on the trolling motor or use the one built into the trolling motor. The one built into the Xi5 worked fine for me. And there's really no good way to mount an external transducer to an Xi5, Ulterra, Terrova, or any other electric steer where it can spin round and round endlessly. My eyes aren't nearly as trained as a pro's eyes and the reason Scott said the one on the Ultrex wasn't very good could have simply been because he wanted side imaging up front. Not sure if it even does down imaging either to be honest. When I move my Striker 7sv to the front I'll move the transducer for it on the transom to the trolling motor and mount the new one for the Echomap 73sv in its place.

A good forum for all things bass boats and fishing is Bass Boat Central. You do have to choose your words carefully over there because there's so much traffic and tribal behavior and tournament bass fishermen can be some of the moodiest people you'll ever come across. Just ask my buddy who's co-founder of a tournament bass fishing club. That's a big reason I don't fish tournaments because of the drama that comes with it especially when guys come back lite or empty and have nothing but excuses blaming everyone and everything but themselves for why they didn't do so great that day. The trick to being successful is to adapt to the conditions and have several backup plans that involve doing something different from most everyone else. While most everyone else is beating the bank certain times of year my buddy pushes to fish offshore structure and while he won't get as many bites the ones he does get are usually quality bites that are needed to pull a check. It is funny hearing about people catching 30+ fish and coming nowhere near pulling a check while the one who got 1st place and big bass might have only caught 5 fish total that day and you can only weigh in 5 fish. Whether I want to go for a couple good quality fish or try for as many average size ones as possible depends on my mood that day. Lucky for me when I fish during the week I practically have the whole lake to myself for bass fishing. The majority of the 5-10 boats on the 8900 acre lake with 70 miles of shoreline are usually crappie fishing.
https://www.bing.com/search?q=lake+m...59f4ce4024ed1c

[JCsAudio]

Well I’m convinced to go 24 volt now and just have to find a location for an additional battery. The 24 volt option only adds another $100 to the price of the motor itself. Next I have to decide the pros and cons of forgoing the precision of the cable steer for the benefits of the electric steer with GPS. I could get both I know with an Ultrex or similar competitor but not without a cost that may not be worth it for what I do. Most of my trolling happens in lakes where I do not need the precision of the cable steer because I’m not navigating through tight structure often. Having the ability to set a heading and have it keep it there regardless of wind and water currents would be a huge upgrade for me. I hate it when I look down for a moment and then I look back up and my boat is 90-degrees from where it was and heading for the bridge and then having to jump back onto the pedal to make a steering correction all while trying to set up or swap tackle. Not having to be married to a foot pedal or worry about hitting a bridge when fishing up close while setting up a lure would be very nice. Having the TM hold a position and then using the jog feature to move 5 feet at a time would be awesome.

My boat is currently stored away in another location so I think maybe I’ll go down there this weekend and take some measurements and look at locations for another battery. My current TM shaft length is 42” and the closest one they sell to this now is 45”. I know from using my current TM that anything bigger will be problematic. Since it’s a bass boat it sits close to the water.

That lake you fish is beautiful. I do not usually fish anything that big myself although that may change this year. I’ll keep you posted on what I’m going to do as I have time to decide. It was 13 degrees outside this morning so no boating for at least another month. Thank you Billy for helping me out. It’s much appreciated.