Ultrex vs Xi5 Minn Kota vs MotorGuide GPS Lock

[vernon]

2 hours ago, skeeter said:

Great comparisons and valuable info. 

I'm in the process of going with the Ulterra hooked up with/to the I-Pilot Link and discovered early-on that Johnson Outdoors, for some goofy reason, did not incorporate a "groove" in their bracketry that mounts the Ulterra to the deck so a guy could route his Transducer cable up the shaft of the Ulterra and have it stay clear of all the hoisting and lowering mechanisms. Yep, I know M-K builds-in a transducer on the heads of a lot of their motors but it's not a side-finder type.

A dealer put me onto a pricey but well-machined bracket that claims to fix that problem and after I get thru engineering the thing along with mounting the (new to me) Humminbird I'll post more if anyone's interested. 

Hate to admit it but had to sell the beloved ZX210C Skeeter after 18 years and get a ( Arrrgh ) Tritoon set up for fishing due to post-chemo issues.  Nope, not bitching about the chemo, it sure beats the alternative !!!

What I'd be interested in hearing more about is opinions on how the motors on the M-K's and M-G's are comparing regarding noise of operation when you hit the "go-pedal".  Time on this pond has taught me (IMHO) that a noisy trolling motor spooks fish as it is cycled on and off.  Thanks.

Hey Skeet, sorry about the unfortunate circumstances but glad you're still in the game!  

After my one day experiment with the Ultrex I think it might actually be a little quieter than the Fortrex.  Certainly not any noisier and I didn't find the electric motor in the head of the thing to be loud or annoying at all although it's a little weird watching that thing operate.  Kind of like there's a little R2D2 on the front of the boat!

I also always thought that my Fortrex had a little bit of vibration when operating on higher speeds and there's none of that with the Ultrex.

Hope this helps.

[vernon]

4 hours ago, Bill Babler said:

Thanks Dave  When you or Vernon get down I would love to run one of those. 

Hey Bill

Kathy and I will be down sometime next Saturday the 22nd.  I was hoping to make it by the OA event but still don't really know what the odds are of that actually happening. 

Nonetheless, I'll let you know when we're "in country" if you want to try and meet up somewhere.  

We'll be there for the week and are going to be staying at Stillwater's over at Indian Point but I could easily boat over towards your place or State Park if that would be of any help.  

I'm sure we'll be over that way a bunch of times anyways and you know how I love a boat ride!

 

 

[Hunter53]

7 hours ago, Bill Babler said:

Thanks Dave  When you or Vernon get down I would love to run one of those. 

Shoot me a PM with your number and I will give you a call when we get there.  

[Smalls21]

vernon, if your new Ultrex has the built in sonar, they make an adapter cable that will allow you to link your lowrance graphs to the trolling motor.

[Hunter53]

It will work for the transducer. You still need Bird units for some of the other functions though. I have lowrance units and the functions I am missing out on by not having bird units are not a big deal to me.

[merc1997 Bo]

16 hours ago, Hunter53 said:

 The Ultrex will turn just as fast as any foot control troller. It will turn as slow or as fast as you push the foot pedal.

unless they have changed, it is not how fast they turn after they get started, it is the lag time, that i never did like.  maybe they got that part straightened out.

bo

[vernon]

1 hour ago, merc1997 said:

unless they have changed, it is not how fast they turn after they get started, it is the lag time, that i never did like.  maybe they got that part straightened out.

bo

There is no lag that I was able to notice.

 

[vernon]

3 hours ago, Hunter53 said:

It will work for the transducer. You still need Bird units for some of the other functions though. I have lowrance units and the functions I am missing out on by not having bird units are not a big deal to me.

Yep.  This.  The transducer works perfectly insofar as the sonar.  You just can't link the GPS or sonar to the Ultrex in order to utilize waypoints and routes.

Not a big deal to me but it might be others.

Motor Guide has the same issue in that they will only link to Lowrance but won't link to Humminbird.

I understand the corporate affiliation stuff but still seems kind of dumb to limit one's products in such a manner.  Kinda like not being able to call somebody on an iPhone if they have a Samsung or some other brand phone.

Again, doesn't impact me one way or another though.

[Hunter53]

7 hours ago, merc1997 said:

unless they have changed, it is not how fast they turn after they get started, it is the lag time, that i never did like.  maybe they got that part straightened out.

bo

The ultrex works just the same as the fortrex except the foot pedal pushes easier on the ultrex. If anything the pedal pushing easier makes the ultrex turn quicker than the fortrex.

The ultrex is NOTHING like the old/other electric motors on the market!  

[vernon]

11 hours ago, Hunter53 said:

The ultrex works just the same as the fortrex except the foot pedal pushes easier on the ultrex. If anything the pedal pushing easier makes the ultrex turn quicker than the fortrex.

The ultrex is NOTHING like the old/other electric motors on the market!  

I concur.  After all the hype, my expectations were pretty high and the Ultrex honestly has exceeded all of them to this point.