Got an Ultrex yesterday

[Syncros]

Ordered an Ultrex from John Jones on Monday and got it yesterday (80lbs/45 I pilot).

Rigged it yesterday afternoon and other than setting the foot pedal angle install is just like a Fortrex. Indexing the steering (setting the foot pedal angle) isn't hard but I had the read the instructions a few times to wrap my brain around it. Pedal fits in the Ranger tray no problem but I think most people already know that. If you put the front of the pedal parallel to the deck it is 5 inches tall which is roughly 1.5 inches above the deck.

I fished it for a couple of hours today and over all it's pretty much as described. Steering is maybe a little to quick and sensitive vs my Fortrex but I didn't adjust the steering tension. Turning input via the pedal is instant. I also found the foot pedal angle MK says to use to be too flat. I'm used to my fortrex pedal being up in the front when going straight and MK has you set the pedal to be parallel to the deck of the boat which is way to flat for me. I adjusted it to feel like my Fortrex pedal when I got home this afternoon (and cranked up the steering tension). Not sure if this angle will cause problems down the road with spot lock or ipilot but the motor seems to still have the same turning degrees.

Spot lock works great and it is a quieter than I was expecting. I actually had to look down and see if the head was moving a few times. You can easily spot lock with your foot as it sits above the top of the recess tray. When I first hit it you could feel the boat move as the motor did it's thing but once my boat swung into the wind the adjustments were so small I couldn't feel them. But over all the motor is really quiet.

I don't like the handle on the cable you use to deploy and retract the motor. I like the big red one handle because I could put the hole your fingers go in where the bounce buster hits the deck and not worry about it flying around when I trailer. The MK handle works great, though.

I stepped on the button for cruise control a lot as I naturally stand really close the corners of the recess on my 519. It didn't do anything as I never really use constant (so it engaged but because I was set for momentary the boat didn't move).

I really, really like that it has a light showing when its getting power. It seems silly but I sometimes forget to flip the breaker in the back and now it's easy to tell if it's got power.

One thing I didn't realize is that to use the jog functions on the remote you have to run the MK heading sensor. It comes with the Ultrex and it is easy enough to install but wasn't going to use it until I read the install manual. It needs 12 volt power but communicates with the Ultrex via blue tooth. I installed it next to the cup holder on the trolling motor recess tool holder.

I didn't use the remote much today so I can't comment a lot on it.

[Teamskeeter2005]

Awesome, Thanks for the report. I am considering getting one and keep my Fortrex as a backup when I go out of state.

[Super 91]

Very cool. I have plans on picking one up in a month or two, along with a three Helix units. Looks like a good combo. The Ultrex is everything I would ever want in a trolling motor. Thanks for the report.

[jimbotaylor]

I have one on my 521c and love it! Took the best things out of the Ultera and put them in this trolling motor

[TobiasFranstam]

Nice report! Do you know how much weigth difference there is between the Fortrex and the Ultrex with the same thrust/rig? If there's any downside to this sort of technology I guess it might be the weight?

[Pro's Choice Pete]

Great report! I have been thinking about those a lot lately and have determined that I "need" one of them. LOL

I have been curious about power consumption. It will be interesting to hear if your batteries will last as long compared to the Fortrex, especially on a 24v system since the motor uses power to steer. I could see myself using spot lock a LOT, and I am sure that will drain more juice than the way I normally operate a trolling motor.

Thanks for posting!

[sjcorpst]

I've also been thinking a lot about one instead of going with Power Poles. I have a Z118C that I spent a lot of time working on the hole shot and I really don't want to start over. The Ultrex would also come in handy on the wingdams in the middle of Summer when the Smallmouth are there. Too deep for Power Poles.

[JayMcCormack]

How is the foot pedal feedback. Specifically around shallow cover and docks?

[GhostComanche]

How is the foot pedal feedback. Specifically around shallow cover and docks?

It is very quick on motor turning and pedal feels pretty much like the Fortrex as far as operation..................RR

[Syncros]

If the shipping weight is correct the differences is 8 lbs – 75 lbs for the Ultrex, 67 for a 80/45 fortrex. You do get the bounce buster, strap, remote and heading sensor with the Ultrex 80 lbs so there is a pound or two of the 8 lbs.

I won’t be able to report much on the battery life as my season up here is coming to a close and I won’t be in Texas until January. I might fish today which will probably be my last day in 2016. I don’t think using spot lock would use any more power as the motor is correcting vs me correcting but I hadn’t thought about the steering assist side of it.

The remote does have a battery gauge on it for both the remote’s batteries and the trolling motor batteries.

I originally thought I might sell my Talons after I got this motor. I’m not sure that is going to be the case now as when I use the Talons I’m in water where I don’t want the boat to swing around or pivot, which it does with spot lock.

Steering is ultra quick. It is just as responsive as a cable drive and nothing like the previous electric steer motors. I actually found it too quick/light feeling yesterday but I left the steering tension where is was out of the box and the pedal angle was really throwing me off. I'm probably going to put my boat in the water today to see how the pedal feels now that I adjusted the tension and adjusted the pedal more like I'm used to with my fortrex.

[mrsturggie]

thanks for all the input. i currently have a terrova and have always used the remote control. can the ultrex be used without the foot pedal? really not into the idea of cutting a hole for a tray in my deck. thanks again

[mn_bowhunter]

The steering is like power steering, very fast input. I marshaled in the AOY at Mille Lacs this year and one of the days I drew Brett Hite. Having that trolling motor for big water was unreal. We were in three footers and he came and stood on the back deck with me and fished, kept him on his spot (52 in shaft). The jog feature on the remote is really cool too, how you can move in 5ft increments. He was instrumental in helping Minn Kota design this product from my understanding. He was running Lithium TM batteries and didn't have any issue - I'm guessing it might pose an issue for traditional batteries if it gets used constantly all day. The TM could be used completely via remote, but you are more than likely going to want to have Humminbird units to have it communicate with your graph. The link can then run contours, or "Go-To" waypoints.

[Super 91]

I think Minn Kota hit a home run with this unit. I heard they have had a few bugs to work out, but I love all the features. Pair that with Hummingbird units like mentioned above and you have a great fishing tool. Pretty cool.....

[MengRanger]

I was all set to forgo the lithiums and get the spot lock until just last week. My buddy reminded me that we could throw out a buoy to mark the spot (LOL). That worked really good fishing deep brush, so now I am going to hold off a season or two. It looks like a very good product!

[Rip-N-Lip]

Pretty excited I just ordered my new Z520 last week with the Ultrex on it.. What a game changer in deep water ...

[Syncros]

I spent 3 hours on the water with it this afternoon and here are a few more thoughts.

Adding in tension to the foot pedal just made it feel a bit "sticky" when I first went to turn. It took a bit more effort to start the turn but once the assist kicks in, which is almost instant, it still turns easy. I didn't like that sticky feeling so I backed a lot of the tension off. Changing the angle of the foot pedal helped a ton. It felt like an easy to turn Fortrex today. I'm not sure if there is a right or wrong way to have a cable steer pedal set up but my fortrex was toes up going forward and I had a lot of cable tension cranked into it (as well as a troll prefect so I could adjust it on the fly). The Ultrex will navigate as quickly as any cable steer motor I've ever used but it doesn't have any feedback.

I was on the trolling motor for almost the whole 3 hours I was out at 6 on the speed dial in about a 10 mph sustained wind and the battery gauge on the remote didn't appear to go down. It's a pretty small gauge but my batteries were still at 90% at least.

I didn't think I'd ever use the remote but I played around with it today and it's pretty cool. The the jog function is really useful and it moves 5 feet per press so press it quickly 3 times and you move 15 feet.

The foot pedal immediately overrides any settings you make on the remote (direction, speed). The pedal is hard wired and can't be removed I don't think.

I use Humminbird Helix 10s and didn't get the ipilot link because I don't use Lakemaster cards. I am not sure what functions not using Lakemaster limits other than following a contour line (which would be awesome) but you might want to make sure it will do everything you want it to do if you use Navionics. You can still create tracks with the standard ipilot but you have to do it via the remote. I've not made one yet, but I'm sure it's way easier to do via a depth finder rather than the remote.

I'll say this again, spot lock shockingly quiet to me. The electric turning noise you hear is only when you are make big turns or sharp, quick turns. The spot lock corrections are so small you can't hear it over the wind. It makes more noise and you feel movement depending on how you engage it. So if I had forward momentum and hit spot lock it would kick the motor speed high and flip around to try and move the boat backwards. You feel all of that but once it got to the spot the adjustments were small.

[grimsbylander]

Anyone know a ball park price for a Ultrex 112lb 52" shaft? No need for Humminbird options.

[BoatBuggy]

Anyone know a ball park price for a Ultrex 112lb 52" shaft? No need for Humminbird options.

I was told it would be about $2500-$2700 CDN for the one without iPilot Link.

[BoatBuggy]

Thanks for posting your experiences with the Ultrex here. I ordered one with iPilot Link the day it was announced. I am looking forward to spring when I'll finally get to use it.

[grimsbylander]

I was told it would be about $2500-$2700 CDN for the one without iPilot Link.

Thanks. I thought it would be steep but that would be sweet on Erie. Santa!!??