I am upgraded an older Champion 206 Elite I just got and wanted to know what anyone thinks about the new GRmin Force trolling motors.

Just bought Garmin Ultras for bow and console and network cables to install and thinking about upgrading the trolling motor as well so it’s all linked.

Should I buy the Garmin or something else?


Thanks

If you fish a very stumpy lake like fork I would stay away from the force until they make a couple of mods to it. Pm me if you need details. Or call me 602-690-0803.

I have owned an ultrex and currently a force. I would pick the force hands down. I fish super stumpy lakes and rivers no problems. I had my foot pedal go out and you won’t find better customer service then Garmin. Called on a monday and had a new pedal before the weekend. You won’t get that service with Minnkota. Yes garmin has issues but Minnkota does too. The force is alot quieter and the power is incredible. I run all garmin graphs so my boats will continue to have force trolling motors.

I fish fork with mine and not a problem yet, excellent upgrade imo.

this is a 57" on my 202, I have remounted it more inboard since this picture.

Garmins customer service is exceptional. But after having the spot lock go out repeatedly and having to do all major repairs myself since there’s is no garmin repair center nearby, I had to go back to ultrex. When the force works properly, there is not a better trolling motor out there. I run all garmin graphs and loved the force when it worked. For you force owners, when yours breaks at lake fork, give me a call as I have extra parts in my garage and will be happy to try and help you out.

I am very curious to know the things you had go wrong just so I can be on the lookout. The only problem I've ever had was a broken prop on the stump on Fork in a tournament. The software updates have fixed any other complaints I had with the unit.

No problems love it, foot pedal takes a little getting used to, nice not having a cable laying on ur graphs.

This was a topic I asked Ken Smith to do a review on during his bass boat search. I currently have an Ultrex, and I like. I don't love it. I think it would be really nice to get someone to do an unbiased test of all that's out there. I'll be in the market pretty soon, and this is as important to me as the brand of boat I buy.

I have the force and had it for about 2 months. Spot ilock is really good now with all the updates. I was fishing a tournament with 60 other boats.. All had minn kota's and I had the garmin fore. We all spot locked in the same area and the force held it's on. None of us had to get back on the trolling motor because none of us close enough to have too. Now as for tree's and hitting things. I just beat the [censored] out of mine on tree's at fork and I did not break the prop. Now with the force it can take a minn kota prop (make sure you get the right one) so I bought a back in case. I love the force and it has a lot of power... I had the ultrex before but I like the garmin force better. I also run garmin graphs and they are linked.

I've had my Force about 3 months now, no trouble at all with mine, it seems to hold a tighter spot lock that my Ulterra did. The foot pedal is fantastic, no wires and a close instant response.

I am really liking mine. The biggest drawback that I have found is that stupid Active Caption App that you use to update software.

So here’s I said what I have seen. I got my force in November pf 2020. Within 30 days, I had broken a prop (never broken a prop in 35 years of boating). I had the tranducer lose one side of side scan and had to replace the built in transducer (not super easy but not hard). I have also had one side of the side scan go out on the one mounted on the rear of my boat so the side scan issue is not specific to the trolling motor. I then had the plastic collar Calle day the depth adjustment collar crack. That is the key piece that affects the spot lock. It is a design flaw in my opinion. It needs to be made of aluminum. When I was a judge for the elite series on fork this year, I paid close attention to who was running force trolling motors. I talked to several of the guys running them and they had experienced similar issues to mine. Luckily they have factory support onsite. I was a judge in the boat with a garmin sponsored angler and he agreed that the depth adjustment collar was a design flaw.

To garmins credit, they always made things right. I love garmin and their customer service. I wanted so badly for the trolling motor to work for me. It just didn’t. I went back to ultrex since I have a spare ultrex and it is an easygoing swap when one goes down. Then I have local support for warranty issues.

I am not bashing garmin in any way. It just didn’t work for me. Those that have posted they have no problems with fork and stumps must just be more lucky than I am or don’t fish shallow five days a week. I am retired and I fish a ton and spend about 8 hours a day with my foot on the trolling motor. I hope this helps. For what it’s worth I hear the ghost is an absolute beast with very few issues

I know someone that is on his third one because they keep failing. His last one worked for one day before it broke. They warranty it but you have to wait on a back order and take the broken one off and reinstall the new one. Too much hassle for me, even though it is replaced under warranty. I would rather be fishing instead of installing yet another trolling motor. He installed an Ultrex while he is waiting on his next Garmin T/M to show up.

I used to have an Ultrex and it was great but I switched to the Ghost because I have Lowrance electronics and I love it. It is awesome.

I absolutely love mine. No issues whatsoever. I didn’t have any trouble getting used to the foot pedal, mine must have come adjusted perfect from the factory because it feels just like my Motorguide tour did. I bought a Motorguide tour pro that I had tons of issues with before I got the Garmin, so stay away from those. Buy the Garmin you’ll love it

I love mine, I have nothing bad to say about it. I think it's one of the best pieces of hunting and fishing equipment i've ever purchased and I've bought ALOT. It will move my boat 4.7 MPH on 24 volts if need be, spot lock is excellent with the new update and the customer service is second to none if needed.

Very happy with my garmin force. No differences in spot lock that i have found at all. MUUUCH more quiet than the ultrex i had. Very smooth lift and deploy assist compared to ultrex. Ultrex i would have to step on and pull handle just to get it to deploy. Can see battery indicator and speed visible on top of force trolling motor. nothing with ultrex. Much faster than the ultrex. Batteries last forever with the Garmin force (also running lithiums so not a fair comparison). As of right now, the ultrex is trash compared to the force. Only time will tell about the longevity and durability of Garmin Force. As of right now, not even close and i had 2 prior boats with ultrex.

To clarify, since some people on here don’t understand opinions, this is strictly my opinion. I don’t think ultrex is trash. I think comparing the two, it’s trash when u compare 1vs1. Longevity is still up for debate on force trolling motor.