My Uncle's current motor is a very old big & heavy Minn Kota hand controlled; only slides up and down; Uncle is having a hard time adjusting it up and down due to the location and weight. Assuming Spot-lock (I_Pilot) is a definite "must-have"; what about the manual deploy versus the Ulterra?... 60" shaft versus 72"?

Looking for some suggestions from you experienced Pontoon / Crappie fishers!

I have the powerdrive pontoon 24v 68# 48 inch on my 18 Bass Buggy. Seems to be plenty of power so far. Not tried in high wind. No problem with the 48 inch, seems to be enough and does not take up as much room on the deck. Deploy seems ok once you get the hang of it and I did add the i-pilot, it was separate add on when I got mine. Easy to do. I think it may come with it already on now. amazing how maneuverable that boat can be with a good troll motor.

I have a Minn Kota Powerdrive 70 Trolling Motor W/I-Pilot & Bluetooth - 24v-70lb-54" on my 22ft. pontoon and it does a good job keeping me spot locked. I do not get out in real rough water, but have been out in somewhat windy conditions and have not had any issues staying put on a spot

I have a 16 XLS Bass Buggy. A 54 inch 12 volt 55 lb is all I need. Works perfect. Held spot lock with ease in 14-16 mph N wind this morning. And was able to maneuver through the stump fields no problem. I like the quick release bracket for Pontoons, if I'm not going to fish.

Like the other guys, I think you can go with a 54” or possibly even 48”. I don’t think you need to have 60 or 72” shaft for an 18 fter as I’ve got plenty left above the lock on mine. I use a Minn Kota Power Drive 60” shaft for my 24’ SunTracker. The auto deploy would be great for him but it’s quite expensive(I’m gonna upgrade to that later down the road too)... These newer trolling motors have a “deploy assist lever” that makes it much easier to manually deploy and stowing is pretty easy as well. Spot lock is definitely something to look for if you’re wanting to stay over a spot without working the trolling motor or toss an anchor out. I know quite a few people that are running 55 lb 12 volt trolling motors like z289sec and have no issues.

I also have a mounting system that gives you the benefit of a quick release AND keep the trolling motor out of the deck area to free up the space they have always taken in the past if you’re interested. Please shoot me a message and/or feel free to check out my website in my signature. Fine-toon.com. It’s called a Toon Troll SR and it’s made here in the USA! I’m now a representative for them.

Hope this helps!

I have the 18’ Bass. Buggy and upgraded from a power drive v2 (55 lbs thrust 12 volt) 54” shaft to a 60” shaft 80 lb thrust Terrova (24 volt).

The shaft length on the old motor was fine but on really wavy days it pulled out of the water. I could lower it some but the head of the unit would have been lower than the fence around the deck and hard to see what direction the TM was pointed.

The thrust amount was not enough on the old motor but I don’t know if there was something wrong with it or just my use conditions.

The longer shaft is nice and I can put it deeper and still see it above the rail. The extra thrust is great but the main reason was the spot lock.
The deploy on the Terrova is almost effortless compared with the power drive. The extra battery is extra weight but also capacity and time on the water.

I absolutely love this TM compared to the PowerDrive.

I just recently put a new Motor Guide Xi5 on my 24' tritoon. Went with 60" and 36 volt - 105 ft lbs. Was out in the big rollers on Cedar Creek main lake yesterday for a while, 15+ wind. Worked great.

On the 18' boat, you might not need the 105 ft lbs, but would get at least the 70 ft. lbs motor. Also, 60" shaft is not always needed, but on rough days it is nice and also you can adjust it so head is up, and you can see what way it is pointed if you are on other end of the boat. Spot Lock is great! Hand remote controlled motor is wonderful! Pay the extra money for the hand remote. Especially on the pontoon, where you are walking everywhere, it is worth it! I also have the quick disconnect mount, and have motor on the front end. Pull the pin and leave the motor at the house if out with the wife and kids tubing instead of fishing.

Spend a little more now if you can. Makes it much easier.

Good luck.

Ken

Outstanding suggestions... exactly what I was hoping to see.... Leaning towards this -> "60” shaft 80 lb thrust Terrova (24 volt)".
Thank you!

Sounds like you’ve got a plan, hope you and the uncle enjoy!

I checked out "Fine-toon.com". Nice mount, I will do some checking to see if it would work for him.
Thanks

Sounds good, please let me know if you guys have any questions. Glad to hear you like it!

Chris Webb’s guide service on Facebook. May have ulterra for sale. Mark Standridge shared it earlier today.

I would buy the one From Chris Webb if I didn't already have one. I love my Ulterra on my 24' toon

The xi5 with a 50 inch shaft will pull into a strong wind and hold my fully loaded ( I mean 3- 29D batterys,2 built in tackle boxes 5 swivel chairs with a n Lrg. stoarge box,26 gallon tank one bench seat and a cooler seat also a large danforth anchor plus coolers,cast nets and fishing gear.) its a Lowes 25.7 ft pontoon very well it will hold it in a wind that puts waves over the front if your fishing up there, holds on spot lock with wind over 20mph easy and long enough to stay in water easy.. runs all day on 2 - 29 series batteries I have never lost more than one light on TM bat. gauge except when I had a dead cell show up in one battery.

Only con I can complain about is the prop running light is on the mounting base it should be up on the top of the TM head where you can see it from anywhere in boat many times I think I turned off motor only to see I did not..

I have two toons , on the 18' I have an Xi5 and on the 20' I have the Ulterra. Both do a good job but I really miss the self deploy feature on the 18' If doing it again I would go with Ulterra on both. 60" shafts on both.

Call me if you need more info.

<THIS>

Only con I e heard on the ulterra is that if you have an electrical prob or run out of juice you may be out of luck in getting the trolling motor stowed. I fished with a guide 2 weeks ago that was taking off the ulterra and putting back on his Terrova because of issues with the motor not deploying or stowing.
I will add though that I think he needed new trolling motor batteries. We fished half a day in a pretty good wind and he used up his charge on one set of batteries and switched to a second set

We have had an Ulterra ever since they came out.

Learn how the trolling motor operates and electrical problem or not you will have no problem stowing the unit.

Videos on you tube.

Enjoy!

This doesn’t surprise me! I would tend to believe operator error would be a contributing factor!😎