Ultrex?

[Bellbass]

I know I'm blowing up the site with questions but had surgery so I am stuck at home thinking of spending money and fishing..... I have 80 lb min Kota and thinking of upgrading to ultrex. Do you go back with 80 or upgrade to 112 and add battery? How much speed do I lose? How much more fishing time do I gain? Right now I have lowrance electronics...which do I order or do I upgrade to hummingbird too? Anybody running the same boat with a 112 lb trolling motor? Thanks for any thoughts!

[BigDozer66]

I don't see where you said which Ranger you have?

I switched from a Maxxum 70 to an Ultrex 80 Link on my RT188 and added a Helix 10 to the bow.

Months later MK came out with the Mega Transducer integrated into it.

Do you have room for a 4th Battery and will you be upset if the added weight slows you down a little?

If I had a big Ranger Glitter Rocket I would have the 112 - 36V on it and probably a couple Helix 10's or 12's on the bow as well as the console but my Ranger Tin won't handle all that.

[J2015]

ultrex is awesome, but if you want to wire up your lowrance units, use spotlock, heading lock and waypoints, the motorguide 5xi and is pretty nice too. I don't feel underpowered at 80lb on my 461vs.
foot control blows on these units.. I got used to the hand remote pretty fast, clipped it on my beltloop.

[Bellbass]

Ranger 518 vx with 200 hp optimax. The 80 lb I have now pulls fine but I thought the 112 would last longer and have more power I have room for the additional battery but also don't know how much speed I lose.

[Bellbass]

Spot lock will work without being hooked to any gps correct? You just push the button and it stays where you are? Thinking of upgrading electronics too but not sure what I need or what I can afford if I buy ultrex

[Ranger519VS]

No way I would switch to a 36 volt on a 518. Itt'll really mess up the boat handling, ride, holeshot, and top speed. There is the extra battery and the motor alone on the ultrex weights 35#

[kurt1305]

Ha ha! I bought my Ranger over the phone while sitting in my living room recovering from hip replacement surgery. I had to wait a week to pick it up because I was still on a walker and not cleared to drive yet.

[Bellbass]

Yea. It's killing me. And I have a tournament this Saturday but not sure I'll be able to cast. So not sure of my plans yet.... But I'm reworking my live wells, aerators, flow right valve etc.... Looking at trolling motors, looking at new electronics, looking at hydro waves....re lined 5 reels. If I don't go back to work I'll go broke!

[jimsch]

My 518 has a 112, but I can get 2 days on a charge which is great for isolated weekend tournaments. If it wasn't for that I would have an 80.

[jc2bg]

As I replied to you on another thread, 24 volt and 45 inch are my recommendations for your 518. Unless you spend significant time offshore [in big waves], the 45 inch will be plenty deep enough and won’t get in your way as much when casting/pitching/flipping. Likewise, the ability to link with graphs is only valuable [imo] if you are a big-time offshore fisherman. So to change your graphs to utilize a function that very possibly isn’t useful for you—at least, not often—seems extravagant. Going to 36 volt also has significant drawbacks, including loss of speed/performance and extra cost [both the motor and the battery]. I never had a single problem running a 24 volt MK troller on a 519, even fishing all day in heavy vegetation and/or heavy current. The situations where a 36 volt might help you will probably not occur all that often, whereas the performance loss you will feel from putting that much weight on your 518 could be something you will feel every day....

[Finlander]

If money is needing to be spent we would be remis in not suggesting Lithium Pro's. A pair of 36V setting side by side will take up the same space as a pair of deep cycle 12v lead acids but only add half the weight. I have recently purchased a Z519 and this is currently the best option I have found to get me 112v on the bow. jc2bq is right, 80 is enough for most applications but I live in Florida where the weed mats are industrial grade!

[Rangerdawg]

Ha ha! I bought my Ranger over the phone while sitting in my living room recovering from hip replacement surgery. I had to wait a week to pick it up because I was still on a walker and not cleared to drive yet.

I thought I was bad but that could be a record

[Ranger391v]

First off, get well soon!!!!!
When I first bought my '01 518vx/200 Opti (w/25" Tempest and LARGE size PVS plugs ....... ) ...... that boat came with a 36v Maxxum 101lb. The trolling motor squeaked and creeked so badly that I made the dealer allow me to switch my newly installed 80lb Fortrex (which was the second year it was out) - 2 new batteries - 2 bank charger out of my Skeeter ZX190 over to the 518vx ......... and then I put all the 36v stuff over on the Skeeter. The dealer allowed me to do it, and then wanted to know if I wanted a job rigging boats. LOL. I told him he couldn't afford me. LOL

The only thing I remember was that the hole shot seemed faster and the boat didn't backwash as bad. But then again, when I drove it as a 518 w/36v it was during the 30min-1hr test ride. I don't remember enough to know if midrange and top end changed any. With that said, that 25" Tempest w/ Large PVS was already installed on the boat (as in when it had the 36v system).

Hope it helps!
-391v

[Lape0019]

I went with a 112 on my Z119 and feel I could easily get away with an 80. In your case, I wouldn’t even look at the 112.

[Bellbass]

So it looks like I Just need to stick with an 80. So the link is just to link to humminbird right? What is the Blue tooth function?

[Bellbass]

Thanks to for the well wishes! All I can say is wear your sunscreen and cover up! I Had a small spot of skin cancer and they went back in Monday and cut a chunk out of my back. Little scary but hope fully they got it all and nothing has spread anywhere else!

[ZII9C]

I went from a 24 volt 80 pound Fortrex to a 36 volt 112 pound Ultrex on a Z119C. I love it!! With the added weight of the battery I still get a great hole shot and for my top end I maybe lost 1-1.5 mph. I'd do it again on the 119. I don't think I'd do it in an 18 footer though.

[DrewFlu33]

Sounds like you've made up your mind, but let me just say this: No one ever said "this thing just has too much power!"

I have a 36 volt on my old 481vs. Do I need it? Almost never. But my batteries last longer since they don't get drawn down as much, I *think* it's quieter since it's running at a lower power setting than a 24 volt would (not sure if that part is actually true), and most importantly those few days a year when I do need it (looking at you, Mississippi River that's been flooded since February) I HAVE IT!

My old boat that's really an 18 footer if we're honest with an even older 175 Merc still runs 64 when it's lightly loaded and cool outside, even with those 4 group 31s in the back.

[JCJ]

I bought a 99 518VS "fixer upper" w/ a 200 Optimax about two years ago, and the guy had a 36V MG on it. However, he was using the cranking battery as the third battery for the trolling motor as well. I didn't like that set up, and moved the engine oil tank to the center position in the rear hatch, and then added another battery. Basically I have two batteries on each side of the boat, and the oil tank in the center where they had a place for a spare prop (which I don't carry). I never ran the boat prior to setting it up this way so can't tell you what it would do previously, but will tell you I definitely like having the 36V trolling motor on it. It will make waves behind the boat on hi, and last forever. I had a 24V MK on my Skeeter, and it's not even close. What I can tell you, is that going from a 24V to 36V is like going from 12V to 24V. It's that big of a difference. Also my boat will run 67 - 69 mph gps depending on load.

[mactlman]

74 plenty on my 20 footer-have never needed or wanted more TM?