Posting this here vs general forum as I don’t bass fish. I do however crappie fish I have a rt198p ranger and run Lowrance at the console and garmin at the front with livescope. I decided to load the boat with the trolling motor deployed after fishing around the dock trying a new cast - anyway long story short - I need a new trolling motor. I’m going to get ultrex, garmin force or the Lowrance ghost. I have mostly ruled out the Lowrance but can’t decide if the extra 800 bucks for the garmin is worth it. The garmin I would network with my echomap 93sv. The ultrex I would just use the ducer and run a pole mount for the livescope but not networked since I’m not a hummingbird guy. So my question. Is spot lock enough with the ultrex or y’all think the tm and finder being linked and controlled from it makes that big a difference? Just looking for some thoughts as it’s a pretty hefty price to do this....

Ps pulled 25 keepers Saturday from Lewisville in 12 FOW on standing timber...

We have the Ulterra extremely happy with it. 24 volt with 60" shaft.

I hear the Ultrex is the manual version of the Ulterra.

Sorry to hear could happen to anyone.

Good luck with whatever you decide to go with and congrats on the catch at Lewisville.

I would go with the Garmin Force, the compatability is what you really want - to be able to deploy your trolling motor and hit the go to waypoint feature.

The hand held I-pilot will give you 20 waypoints to do this on the Ultrex, but that is the max. So if you only have 20 spots then go Ultrex.

I Have the Ultrex and like you have a Lowrance at the helm and a Livescope at the front, but that is because the Garmin was not out when I bought my Ultrex.


Call David a Shut up and fish, he has the Garmin set up on his boat and can tell you all about it. He also sells them.

garmin, by far, brushless motor means batteries last a lot longer, anchor lock is great and keeps me within 4-5' of spot in a 10 mph wind.
pedal is pretty fast for wireless and remote is easy to learn.
I think david/shut up and fish will set it up for you when installed, I know he shows you the basics. buy there and get it all at once.

had mine for about 7-8 months now and love it, 3 93 sv plus, 2 on bow, tm has uhd ducer built in and one for livescope, one on console.
updates are super easy thru the active capt. and the app auto registers your stuff which is good.

50" would work on your boat, I have the 57 on a 202 champion.

+ 1 for the Garmin

I can get you set up with any make, model of trolling motor you select. I had the Garmin on my boat early on but removed it and "re"-installed the Ultrex as the Garmin shaft was not suitable to my bow hiegth at that time.

My boat setup today... I run at the bow a Minn Kota Ultrex 24v-80lb-60" shaft, i-Pilot Link w/built-in Mega DI. A Helix 9 DI/GPS G3N and the Garmin GPSMAP 1242xsv teamed up with LiveScope. At the console, I have a Solix G1. I have a 5 Port Ethernet Switch and each Humminbird unit along with the trolling motor are all networked through the 5 Port switch.
I have the LiveScope transducer mounted to our PoleDucer.
Never do I drive over a waypoint spooking the fish I intend to catch. As I am navigating towards a waypoint and I get close I will deploy the Ultrex trolling motor and from either graph, I will cursor over the waypoint. The waypoint will populate/highlight and I will then tap the Go-To button on the graph and my Ultrex trolling motor will take me to the waypoint. As the boat arrives it gently, quietly anchors my position at which time I point the transducer via the PoleDucer and see my entended target/structure/fish.
I can utilize the "jog" feature right from the i-pilot controls on the graph to dial me in and move me about the structure I am fishing. This system is often overlooked yet it makes my day on the water so efficient and productive. It is almost as if I have another person on the boat taking care of the trolling motor for me and all I have to do is fish...

Nice set up David.

David, that is a sweet setup for sure. Thanks for sharing. What boat are you fishing?

Good looking rig! I love mine in the wind! Not much for getting into backwater off the Quachita River though!

Is an 80lb enough to push either of your boats 2.0mph for say 30 minutes at a time?

I'm looking to upgrade and sometimes would pull crank baits for Crappie.

I have an Ultrex on my RT188 and love it.

If I were running Garmin up front I would give the Force a real look though.

Youshould not have any problems trolling at 2 mph for any length of time that you want.

2020 Ranger Reata 1850MS (multi species)

Force works great. Now I need a poleducer if only I knew where to find one . Got any in stock David? Ps I was hitting 4.5 mph on the water yesterday. That thing is amazing. I am going to go with 36 volt to give me some more juice but overall very very happy with it!

I usually fish 10-12 spots for crappie in the course of a day.

The 36 volt trolling motors are great but they are a pain to deploy and lift for a full day of fishing. I had "lift assist" but it was still a lot of weight as the day wore on.

Sent you a PM bud