Minn Kota still the winner!

[buzzjet]

Everyone is missing the best feature of the motorguide. If you are on the water and something happens to the electric assist motor or any of the electronics, you are not down. You can still steer the MG and keep fishing because it is cable steer. The one thing you need above all else on the water is reliability. I have an ultrex but if something fails, my day, or tournament is shot. Murphy's law tells me things are going to go wrong or break especially with a boat. You need to be ready for it because it is coming. The MG is the only one that lets you keep on going. This factor alone makes the MG product a real contender. If you have any of the others, you will be headed to a service center for repairs while the MG guy is casting on your favorite spot. Like I said, I have an ultrex but I would 100% consider a MG now.

I think we will see MG switch to a brushless motor. They probably had a couple warehouses full of tour edition lower units they needed to move.

[nojretlas]

Everyone is missing the best feature of the motorguide. If you are on the water and something happens to the electric assist motor or any of the electronics, you are not down. You can still steer the MG and keep fishing because it is cable steer. The one thing you need above all else on the water is reliability. I have an ultrex but if something fails, my day, or tournament is shot. Murphy's law tells me things are going to go wrong or break especially with a boat. You need to be ready for it because it is coming. The MG is the only one that lets you keep on going. This factor alone makes the MG product a real contender. If you have any of the others, you will be headed to a service center for repairs while the MG guy is casting on your favorite spot. Like I said, I have an ultrex but I would 100% consider a MG now.

I think we will see MG switch to a brushless motor. They probably had a couple warehouses full of tour edition lower units they needed to move.

Well if a board failed that caused a loss of power the Motorguide would be useless also. If the Ghost or Ultrex lose steering I suppose you can still get back to the ramp by manual turning the head.
I would be curious to know how many of the Ultrex have gone down.

[GOFISH$]

Well if a board failed that caused a loss of power the Motorguide would be useless also. If the Ghost or Ultrex lose steering I suppose you can still get back to the ramp by manual turning the head.
I would be curious to know how many of the Ultrex have gone down.

alot!

[wdr2064]

Interesting thread. Sounds like Lowrance may even be the best one. Lowrance also has a reputation for making great graphs. However, no matter how good the product (I owned many Lowrance graphs) the real test comes when there is a problem. After several trouble free Lowrance graphs I then had one that would blank out in the heat of the sun. The way that Lowarance treated me simply puts them out of consideration. That is something I don't understand and is really too bad. Going overboard on customer service earns a company a lot of business. Will a company get "taken" sometimes by a dishonest person? Of course they will. However, going over and above on solving problems is by far the cheapest marketing there is. Going the other way which is the reputation Lowrance has earned costs a lot of business. So, because of that I personally cannot consider Lowrance.

[rbarrow]

The difference here is that the Lowrance trolling motors are going to supported by local guys like ourselves... no BS... call us on the phone and hear real English spoken. Electronics are a bit different and cannot be repaired in the field by the likes of us (thank the Lord!). Yes Navico has had a serious customer service problem when the average guy calls in...which is why a lot of folks (customers and non-customers alike) call us. We fish, we teach people how to use them, and we install them everyday...we know what is going on and can answer questions.

This is not to hijack the thread to tell you how "great" we are but rather to give you an alternative source of info...

if we can help...PM/Email or call

Roy
Wacky Riggers

[GOFISH$]

The difference here is that the Lowrance trolling motors are going to supported by local guys like ourselves... no BS... call us on the phone and hear real English spoken. Electronics are a bit different and cannot be repaired in the field by the likes of us (thank the Lord!). Yes Navico has had a serious customer service problem when the average guy calls in...which is why a lot of folks (customers and non-customers alike) call us. We fish, we teach people how to use them, and we install them everyday...we know what is going on and can answer questions.

This is not to hijack the thread to tell you how "great" we are but rather to give you an alternative source of info...

if we can help...PM/Email or call

Roy
Wacky Riggers

Fact right here gentlemen. I am on the waiting list with Wacky riggers for the new Lowrance trolling motor. I did this because I am not happy at all with the ultrex issues or the fortrex for that matter, and because I can and have called Roy while on the water and he has dialed me back in with my electronics. If he believes this will be a better TM due to his research, I'm in. This is way more objective than the ultrex fan boys suffering from post purchase anxiety while they continue to claim "Ultrex still the winner".

[GOFISH$]

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.

and, IMHO, Minn Kota has a lot to worry about. I may be wrong and will willingly admit so, but believe there will be lots of discussion in a year about the flood of used Ultrex's on the market.

[ifishinxs]

My Ultrex has been perfect and I have zero intentions of replacing it. Minn Kota cornered the market with the Ultrex and folks couldn’t buy them fast enough. Minn kota has been a leader for along time. Garmin and Lowrance just copied what Minn Kota has done and put their twist on it. Once the new TM hit the market and general public abuses the crap out of them we’ll see how they hold up. Lowrance had better step the customer service game regardless of who’s going to fix them. Garmin and Minn Kota have great customer service.

[moetorola]

I agree,,,I think the Ghost is an awesome trolling Motor,,,But...Lowrance customer support will make or break this trolling motor if history tells us anything,,,well...... Even if it has very few issues.

Maybe the Service Centers can teach Lowrance what customer service is all about, when having to deal with them!!

[happykamper]

I really like my Ultrex but i believe Lowrance has built a better trolling motor, I know I am going to try one, I will still have my Utlrex for back up, hope I do not need it.

[GOFISH$]

I really like my Ultrex but i believe Lowrance has built a better trolling motor, I know I am going to try one, I will still have my Utlrex for back up, hope I do not need it.

Keeping an ultrex for a backup! That's risky!

[happykamper]

Keeping an ultrex for a backup! That's risky!

LOL, I really do like my Ultrex, I just think the Lowrance will be better, only the best for this cat, lol.

[GOFISH$]

LOL, I really do like my Ultrex, I just think the Lowrance will be better, only the best for this cat, lol.

I'm with you. I feel like we all deserve better in the area of trolling motors based on what we pay. I am hoping that the added competition will raise the bar for them all. For way too long we have been forced to accept mediocre for one of the most important components of our bass rigs!

[Warpig556]

If the Lowrance warranty is voided in brackish water, there is a lot of market loss. There’s a lot of brackish water fished by the pros and big tournament trails. Are they going to switch them out when they fish brackish water?

[retieoften]

If the Lowrance warranty is voided in brackish water, there is a lot of market loss. There’s a lot of brackish water fished by the pros and big tournament trails. Are they going to switch them out when they fish brackish water?

Just dont worry about a warranty, in the scheme of things a 3000$ tm is peanuts. Thats not even 3 of my rod and reel set ups, less than my live scope set up etc.

[grout-scout]

If the Lowrance warranty is voided in brackish water, there is a lot of market loss. There’s a lot of brackish water fished by the pros and big tournament trails. Are they going to switch them out when they fish brackish water?

Not supposed to use the ultrex in that either, they don’t seem to be hurting.

[granite]

Just dont worry about a warranty, in the scheme of things a 3000$ tm is peanuts. Thats not even 3 of my rod and reel set ups, less than my live scope set up etc.

One man's peanuts is another man's lobster. My whole boat/motor/trailer cost me $3,000! And, yes, I put an Ultrex on it.

[mikesxpress]

Just finished the warranty service training for the Lowrance last Friday and will be attending the Garmin training as well in October. After tearing the Ghost into small bite size pieces and reassembling it, I can truly say that this motor will be extremely difficult to beat out for bass fishing.

The Garmin has a lot of features that are more multi-species (wireless foot pedal, cool remote) but the Lowrance is built like nothing I have ever seen in 50 years on a bass boat. Lots of attention to mount noise, ease of deploy/stow, and power....so much power that I suspect many people will simply drop back to a 24v system and save some weight/cost . The 24v is as powerful as my 36v Ultrex based on driving around with it.

Most bass anglers will not likely use the integration features with the Live/Carbon/Ti2 as much as those fishing for other species but it's simple to plug up (NMEA). And...if you have a Gen3 or older...no big deal...your current trolling motor doesn't integrate with them either!

Unfortunately, (in my opinion) MG completely missed the mark with their offering. Once you no longer have the long bulky cable drive cables getting in the way and use a real brushless motor, the game is over. While I do understand some like the feel of the direct cable steer, in my experience using ANY of the direct drive steering for more than an hour is enough to convert all but the most stubborn. And, with an old brushed motor, you still have potential interference issues and 50% less range than these new brushless designs on a single charge...

I suspect that Power Pole's initial offering might be focused more on the saltwater market because that seems to be the soft spot in the market right now.

The Garmin's start shipping in August and the Ghost in October...and if you don't want one of those, there are going to be a LOT of cheap Ultrex's hit the market this fall...

Roy
Wacky Riggers

Roy as you had the Ghost apart can you explain the reasoning behind Lowrance voiding the warranty if it's used in brackish/saltwater? Same for the Ultrex if you can explain that. *Allot of guys here on the Potomac saddled up the Ultrex when they came out only to find out they had no warranty as soon as they dunked it in the river. Same for the folks in CA that fish the Delta.

I spent some quality time on the new TM releases at ICAST last week and only MG still maintains the posture that the Tour's can be used in fresh or saltwater. Same as the 109 Tour that I have been running in brackish and saltwater here on the coast of Virginia since 2014 with no issues.

[ToujoursPrey]

None of the new trolling motors are even on the water. How can you say there is a winner. A lot of 1st round draft choices have failed. I do agree that the more competition is better. I am sure MinnKota was aware the competition was coming - I doubt they have been sitting on their hands.

[scubatelco]

Brushless motors are the future. I will wait till HB comes out with there's. My guess all will be brushless motors by next year. HB is probably trying to get rid of inventory before they switch to brushless.