I looked at all four today at ICAST. The Lowrance wins by a huge margin. Ultrex is a distant second. Motor Guide is a "me too" offering, and I was very disappointed in the Garmin. I expected a lot more from Garmin.
I looked at all four today at ICAST. The Lowrance wins by a huge margin. Ultrex is a distant second. Motor Guide is a "me too" offering, and I was very disappointed in the Garmin. I expected a lot more from Garmin.
Can you expand on your thoughts? I'd love a new lowrance, bummed that they don't work with gen 3 units, but everything else looks awesome. Garmin looks similar to the lowrance.Originally Posted by Whiteboat
I was a little disappointed by MG, I felt like this was an awesome opportunity to hit every check mark. User swappable nosecones like lowrance, brushless, with the connectivity they have pedal steer and metal foot pedal would have been amazing! Still, if the price is right, I can see them stealing some market share, especially since lowrance has no warranty in brackish or salt water.
Been following these new TMs the last few days and I have to say if I had to buy one right now I would go with the Lowrance. I like minn kota and have no issues with my fortrex but the ultrex just seemed to have issue after issue. I’m sure Lowrance will have some bugs to work out but on paper they have put out a much superior product then minn Kota.
Minnkota still isn't even brushless, and I can tell you first hand that alone is a game changer. I can't believe MG didn't go brushless either. That's sad for them.
If the Lowrance TM will not work with the Gen 3 then a lot of people are faced with spending the huge dollars to change their electronics to get the integration feature. Thats adding several thousand dollars. No different than current Lowrance users buying the Ultrex today and making the decision to getting rid of their units for Hummingbirds to have integration. Lowrance surely is not counting on this to happen. Now if I was looking at a new boat or had money to waste that would be a different story. If I am not mistaken (but could be) does not MK offer a conversion kit so you can change the non linked Ultrex to the linked version? If I get away from my current Lowarance Gen 3 setup, I will more than likely go with the Hummingbirds and buy the conversion kit.
They do for the terrova for sure, but it is $800 so not exactly cheap.
How have you broken a shaft? I've had it at 10 going full speed (3ish mph) and hit stumps. I have had to replace a whole bunch of those little plastic lockbar pieces but I have not damaged the shaft yet.
Only time I saw a shaft break was when a guy was chasing schoolers, cranked his big motor, and left his tm down to move a short distance. Hit a stump and that shaft shattered
I can't believe people are not more excited about motorguide being a true cable drive. i can't stand the servo steer, its too quick and jittery in my opinion.
I like my MK troller but there are a few things that I do not like, I don't like the head turning, it also makes a lot of noise ( squeaking and popping ) and I accidentally hit the N or continuous button, can't believe I have not been dumped into the lake, also I wish the motor would go to the store position on its own. I think I am going to try the Ghost on my new boat, nothing really against MK, just like some of the features better on the Ghost.I don't think Minn Kota have anything to worry about. These new trolling motor just release looks big and bulky as hell. Minn kota design is sleek and it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb. And prices on these new motor SMH! Minn kota keep doing what yall do.
It’s a rich mans game these days at $3k for a trolling motor.
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That would only be the case if there WERE no other cheaper options. Geez you guys are dramatic.
BINGO
I was a motor guide guy for years going back to the original 36v. brute and didn't flip to Minn Kota until the mid 2000's. Minn Kota has held top spot for a long time and we all should have seen this coming. That being said, Motor guide has hit it out of the park with their updated Tour and Tour pro series. I was eyeballing the Lowrance Ghost because of its 24/36 capability but MG adapting to all the major electronics players tops it.
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Crazy TALK?!?!
It seems you have not even seen the ghost pictures or a video.
Lowrance has a composite shaft AAAAND......what for it....Break away mount. That LARGE spring on the ghost mount is what that is for. Something MK is lacking, depending solely on the shaft!
However I am not exactly Jumping Ship, I will wait for real world results and the bugs to be worked out. I do think Lowrance has a winner at first glance..
Minn Kota did release the new 87" shaft Riptide terrova
Hopefully they have beefed up the mounts, back when I had one, it was the weak link. I was always worried about ripping it off the deck when I caught a stump.
I agree.
I stood on the deck of the demo platform and ran the Lowrance unit, and deployed and retracted the unit. I did the same with the Ultrex. Based on this observation,the Lowrance was quieter, more solid, and better engineered than the others. Only time will tell.
Key word in any TM in today's market is integration, will be must. MK already has that, the others are trying to play catch up. Some will switch of course. It always happens.
Brushless is the next big thing not only from longevity and power usage and quietness, but also no interference. (huge)
All else is just bells, whistles, smoke an mirrors.
Been an ultrex fan a long time, also an HB user, so I have no reason to switch. But I do like the options that the ghost has.
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That would work out at least $2000 cheaper than buying a new Lowrance graph that would allow integration when you add on their new trolling motor. Versus already having a non linked Ultrex and just switching to a Hummingbird unit. Thats assuming the conversion kit costs $800 for the Ultrex. Just to get integration thats also still really expensive. Now if getting cable steering is the draw, I personally like the Ultrex electronic steering and would not switch just for that feature. Being able to go from 24 to 36 volt would not work for me either. I don't have room for a 36 volt system unless I would switch to lithium batteries. Thats crazy expensive as well plus the batteries will need to be replaced from time to time. But I would definitely take a hard look at them if I was in the market for a new boat. Those who buy the new Lowrance units I hope it works out for them and will be interested in reading reviews.
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