What trolling motor upgrade

[Shootstraight]

So I have a G3 1652 that I plan on extending the front deck on. I run Garmin graphs and Livescope off one battery and Minnkota Edge 55 and crank for my 9.9 Yamaha off of another. The plan is to go to lithium to help offset the weight I’m adding for longer deck. I want to upgrade the trolling motor when I do the decking. Really want to get something with Spot lock.

So the question is you guys that are on engine limited fisheries what trolling motors are you using that fit this bill. Kinda don’t want to have the weight of more batteries so don’t really want to go to 36v or even 24 for that matter, if I can avoid it. I suppose something with spotlock and 12v are limited ? I just need advice on what troll motor with spotlock will add the least weight overall. It’s not like I fish all day on the troll, maybe 5 6 hours tops.

Thoughts?

 

[Ray Clark]

I have a 14' Lund with 20HP Merc. My most-fished lakes are a couple of smaller no-wake lakes. I have not fished lakes limited to electric-motor only.

My trolling setup is a Minn Kota Powerdrive with ProNav Marine controls for spot lock capability. The TM is a 55# 12V motor. It will pull my boat with two guys at 2-3 mph, and when it's just me, close to 5 mph, which is the limit on those small lakes.

The ProNav setup is good. Like anything, it has pluses and minuses. I provides control from either a fob or my smartphone, has full navigation capability, and keeps the foot pedal fully functional, too. If you want to research the ProNav system, here's the link: ProNav Marine

I use a separate starting battery; Group 24 lead acid, weighs about 35 pounds. My troller and accessories are powered by a Group 31 100AH LiFePO4 battery that weighs about 26 pounds.

 

[Shootstraight]

I have a 14' Lund with 20HP Merc. My most-fished lakes are a couple of smaller no-wake lakes. I have not fished lakes limited to electric-motor only.

My trolling setup is a Minn Kota Powerdrive with ProNav Marine controls for spot lock capability. The TM is a 55# 12V motor. It will pull my boat with two guys at 2-3 mph, and when it's just me, close to 5 mph, which is the limit on those small lakes.

The ProNav setup is good. Like anything, it has pluses and minuses. I provides control from either a fob or my smartphone, has full navigation capability, and keeps the foot pedal fully functional, too. If you want to research the ProNav system, here's the link: ProNav Marine

I use a separate starting battery; Group 24 lead acid, weighs about 35 pounds. My troller and accessories are powered by a Group 31 100AH LiFePO4 battery that weighs about 26 pounds.

So I’ve not heard of ProNav until now. I checked out their site but don’t see where it says what trolling motors it works on. I have an Edge 55 , only see info for power drive

 

[MrGiggles]

I believe the Pronav setup only works on 12v Terrova and Powerdrive.

I don't fish on any restricted lakes but have a 24V Terrova. I bought it used, it is an older model but has held up pretty well.

Powerdrive is the least expensive option with GPS capability. With the Ipilot upgrade you will lose the foot pedal. A Terrova is a slight upgrade, has a better stow/deploy setup and retains the foot pedal with Ipilot. Both are available in 12v with Ipilot.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

When I outfitted my son's new boat, last spring, went with a gps trolling motor. I will never buy another bow mounted trolling motor without it. I went with a MG Xi3. The Xi5 has an electronic foot control, or can be added on to the Xi3. Ours is a 70lb/24V model, but they have a 55lb/12V too. If you like your MK, stay with that brand but you definitly want the spot lock / anchor lock function.

There are some more comments on the Xi3 in this thread: Rigging CCJ

Do some more research on Lipo batteries to make sure it will be compatable with your small outboard charging system. I think there is only a few that claim compatability with alternator based charging. Don't think they are compatable with mag/rec chargers found on most small HP outboards.

 

[Ray Clark]

So I’ve not heard of ProNav until now. I checked out their site but don’t see where it says what trolling motors it works on. I have an Edge 55 , only see info for power drive

I think the limiting factor on the Minn Kota Edge is the cable control for the foot pedal. There's no electronically controlled motor and throttle interface that the ProNav can use to manipulate motor direction and thrust.

There is a motor compatibility page under the support tab on the ProNav site.

Unfortunately for your Edge, I don't think you're going to be able to retrofit a spot-lock capability because of the mechanical nature of the control system. All of the systems that I saw with spot lock type capability, factory built OEM or the ProNav aftermarket add on, had more sophisticated electronic system controls that could be manipulated by the inputs from the spot lock and navigation software.

 

[Still Afloat]

I’m moving a MK Terrova 80/24V from my big tinny to my little tinny (1448M Lowe.) At first thought 80 pounds of thrust is excessive for the 14’ Jon but, the recommended 50 pound motors struggle if you get caught in the wind. It has iPilot (GPS control, spot lock, cruse control, etc.) and this is a great feature because you can focus more on fishing and less on controlling the boat. I’m powering it with two 50 Ah Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries which basically equal an 80Ah AGM.

The big tinny (1750 Crestliner Tournament Pro/115 2 stroke) is getting an upgrade. It‘s also a Terrova 80/24 but with iPilot link which provides communication with networked fishfinders. The 80 pound motor handles the bigger boat with authority. A 70 or maybe even a 60 would have been fine for the little 1448M but, I didn’t want to downgrade from the Terrova and I know from a bad experience last spring that a 50 pound motor is marginal unless you have a backup outboard.

Long story short. If you are depending on our trolling motor to get you back to shore, bigger is better.

 

[Shootstraight]

Thanks for the reply’s guys! Being I have the 9.9 gas the trolling motor is primarily used for fishing shore line or holding spot lock on points or other offshore spots. I rarely use even half of the batteries life in a day of fishing. My local pro shop of course is telling me to move my Ultrax from my Triton to my Jon and buy a new Lowrance ghost. I just don’t want the additional weight of the Ultrex plus the need for two batteries over one.

 

[Still Afloat]

That’s why I went with the two 50Ah lithium batteries at 13 pounds each. The 80/24 MK is not working under much load most of the time so the battery capacity should be Ok. Plus I wanted compatibility between the two boats.

The 1448M has a Merc 25 Jet tiller OB but, there are a few electric only fly fishing lakes in the area that can be worth fishing. State law in WA doesn’t allow a gas motor on electric only lakes, even if it’s not in use. For these lakes I’ll pull off the Merc and toss on an old transom mount 12V 50 pound MK for the few yards from/to the ramp while the bow mount is stowed. The starter battery or electronics battery will support this limited use.

Oddly enough the new Lowe 1448M did not come with oar lock mounts. Might need to remedy that situation.

 

[airshot]

Wow...no oar locks?? For the price you are paying there should be a couple pair!! Hard to believe they are getting that cheap...

 

[dcbz]

Most of my friends use Minn Kota Terrova motors and they like them. I have used Minn Kota in the past, but I currently use a MotorGuide Xi5 and I've had great luck with its spot lock. I have owned my current motor for six years. I cannot speak intelligently about lithium batteries; I use AGM batteries and have been pleased with them. I fish most days (I'm retired) and it appears that the Minn Kota/MotorGuide argument is analogous to the Ford/Chevy/Dodge argument. Most modern trolling motors are pretty good, with an occasional lemon in either camp. The only real problem that I have seen with any trolling motor built in the last five years is with the self deploy feature of the Minn Kota Ulterra, though I am sure that Minn Kota has worked most of the bugs out of that model recently. I only know one person that is using a Garmin Force and a friend recently purchased a Lowrance Ghost though I am seeing a few more of them this year than I have seen in the past. Personally, I would let the Garmin and Lowrance factories work the bugs out of their motors for a few more years before I bought one as they are pretty expensive compared to Minn Kota or MotorGuide and I don't have a local repair shop for them. Good Luck.

 

[Still Afloat]

Expensive compared to Minnkota? Ouch.

My Terrova is showing up in the mail tomorrow and I’m half expecting a tube of Vaseline in the box. Terrova 80/24 BT IP link a remote and the foot pedal that I’ll never use; $2550 before tax. That was best deal that I could find anyway. There really isn’t enough technology in these motors to justify the price.

Pay to play, I guess.

 

[MrGiggles]

Expensive compared to Minnkota? Ouch.

My Terrova is showing up in the mail tomorrow and I’m half expecting a tube of Vaseline in the box. Terrova 80/24 BT IP link a remote and the foot pedal that I’ll never use; $2550 before tax. That was best deal that I could find anyway. There really isn’t enough technology in these motors to justify the price.

Pay to play, I guess.

Curious how hard you looked? Can buy a brand new Terrova 80 Ipilot w/o pedal for $1600 shipped on Ebay. Unless you wanted the model with the down imaging transducer or Ipilot link. Bass Pro is $2099.

 

[Still Afloat]

That’s about right for a basic Terrova iPilot with a foot pedal, no remote or a mini remote and no gps puck.

It adds up real quick for the iPilot “LINK“ (ethernet), the big remote, hockey puck gps and MDI. I actually looked for a couple of months and now know more about MK trolling motors than I ever wanted to know.

 

[dcbz]

Expensive compared to Minnkota? Ouch.

My Terrova is showing up in the mail tomorrow and I’m half expecting a tube of Vaseline in the box. Terrova 80/24 BT IP link a remote and the foot pedal that I’ll never use; $2550 before tax. That was best deal that I could find anyway. There really isn’t enough technology in these motors to justify the price.

Pay to play, I guess.

Hello Still Afloat,
Yes, it's hard to believe, but a Garmin Force starts at about $3600, a Lowrance Ghost starts at about the same price as the Garmin, and the newly announced Power Pole Move starts at approximately $5000. Those motors make a Minn Kota or MotorGuide seem cheap. It's pretty crazy.

 

[Still Afloat]

Amazing. I guess they think they can charge the price of a small outboard.

 

[dcbz]

Anyone needing a trolling motor might do well to at least look at trollingmotors.net
They pay to ship a motor to you and, unless you are from Texas, it is tax free. Free shipping and no taxes sure ease the burden of buying a new motor. The website is pretty educational too.

 

[Shootstraight]

Amazing. I guess they think they can charge the price of a small outboard.

Ultrex is the pricey MK, up there with the others. I have one on my Triton and it’s quite noisy for the price you pay.

 

[MrGiggles]

Hello Still Afloat,
Yes, it's hard to believe, but a Garmin Force starts at about $3600, a Lowrance Ghost starts at about the same price as the Garmin, and the newly announced Power Pole Move starts at approximately $5000. Those motors make a Minn Kota or MotorGuide seem cheap. It's pretty crazy.

When compared to the Minnkota of equal specs (Ultrex 112 with SI/DI etc.) they're about the same price. Which is insane but in the world of $25 crankbaits and $500 rod/reel combos I guess it's not that unusual.

My buddy has an Ultrex 80 and has had plenty of trouble with it, but it is a great motor.

If they would make a quieter, faster turning, brushless Terrova I'd be all over it.

 

[Shootstraight]

When compared to the Minnkota of equal specs (Ultrex 112 with SI/DI etc.) they're about the same price. Which is insane but in the world of $25 crankbaits and $500 rod/reel combos I guess it's not that unusual.

My buddy has an Ultrex 80 and has had plenty of trouble with it, but it is a great motor.

If they would make a quieter, faster turning, brushless Terrova I'd be all over it.

Plus I would think the Ultrex is a good bit heavier than the Terrova.