Trolling motors

[bobby b.]

2 hours ago, aarchdale@coresleep.com said:

Trying to control the motor from a graph is just a pain in the butt

Useful to those that troll.

[rps]

Last summer I went on a group fishing trip arranged by the place I live. Seven people and a guide. We chased swipers. Two of us had fished seriously. I sat next to the guide. He was a Lowrance field tester with the latest greatest sonar and troll motor. Set up correctly, the integration of forward, side, and down scan with the troll motor was amazing!

Of course, my best estimate of equipment and set up costs was North of $15,000.

[aarchdale@coresleep.com]

4 hours ago, bobby b. said:

Useful to those that troll.

I troll for walleye a lot. The remote has such a delay as does the troller controls from the graph that i have found them hard to use, maybe on the Great Lakes in open water but when your following a bank line on Bull Shoals i feel like they are unusable.  I now put my rods in the rod holder adjust the speed of the troller with the remote and use my outboard as a tiller to steer.  

I had the motorguide Xi5 before and that remote was great and could use it with no problem.  

[vernon]

On 5/23/2023 at 8:46 AM, Bill Babler said:

Not only is the Ultrex a disaster as far as breaking, it is the heavest motor on the market. It also has a top speed of 2.41 mph.  This is an issue.  Say you want to cut across a cove or skip a stretch of bank.  With the Ultrex unless you bring lunch you have to get down, get everyone else down and crank the big motor.  Ghost or Force you crank it up to 3.75 and blow across the water.

Another point is battery power, I’m running my Garmin or you could a Lowrance on 24 with 2 lithium batteries.  No expense or weight factor with the 3rd. battery and totally better performance.

Vernon has been the luckiest guy in the world with his. 

We had one of the best reps here in the mid US in J.E. Vanetta. Been with HB/MK for over a decade.   He finally had enough and quit because of poor product performance on both sides of the water. 

Good friend on a 2019 kitty is on his 2nd. Ultrex, his 3rd. Apex and his 2nd. pair of Solex units.  He thinks he is a field tester for the company.  

This jumps back and forth, but MKHB had better get back on the ball if they want to stay competitive. 

If you remember we said the exact same thing with Lowrance and Motor Guide a few years ago when Minn Kota came out with the good  spot lock of the Ultrex. 

Motor Guide had no way to grab the ball, but Lowrance did and Garmin also with pairing the motors and sonar chartplotter units.  

 

 

Well that's just great.

NOW I'm jinxed!🧟‍♀️

Probably go out to the garage and the dang thing will have fallen off.

Like I don't already have enough problems what with this black cloud following me everywhere I go......

[willyfish]

I may just keep it simple and go with a Fortrex. Seems to be a reliable workhorse from the little research I've done. Anyone ever own one?

[Bill Babler]

Yep 3 of them. Never a problem. 

[fshndoug]

Well I still use a 1993 Evinrude  12/24 trolling motor I use a motor guide trolling motor bracket that has been machined to accept the Evinrude trolling motor . I have replaced the steering cable a couple of times. That motor cost about $500 dollars in 1993 I believe. That trolling motor has more miles on it than any new 4 stroke boat motor will ever get on it lol.

 

[m&m]

16 hours ago, willyfish said:

I may just keep it simple and go with a Fortrex. Seems to be a reliable workhorse from the little research I've done. Anyone ever own one?

Yep, I have a Fortrex and it works great. 
Mike

[Macsimus]

On 5/24/2023 at 1:03 PM, willyfish said:

I may just keep it simple and go with a Fortrex. Seems to be a reliable workhorse from the little research I've done. Anyone ever own one?

If you fish alone much, spot lock or anchor mode as MG calls it, is simply fantastic. It has made my fishing so much more relaxing. I can stay on fish, retie, change baits, fool with a fish, eat lunch, nap, etc, all with impunity from the wind. I'm in the 3rd season with a MG Tour Pro and it's been very good. 

[Champ188]

I have a 12-year-old Fortrex (36v, 101 lbs thrust) on my Ranger that has had me wishing since the day I bought it that I'd never wasted the money I spent on previous Motorguides. The MK Fortrex is a hard-working, tough piece of equipment. Strongly recommend.