TROLLING MOTOR HELP

BUYING A NEW A MK ULTERRA AND WANTED SOME ADVICE ON WHAT LENGTH SHAFT DO YOU NEED FOR A 21 FT BASS BOAT ? 52 OR 60 ? FISH TEXOMA TO RAYBURN AND EVERYWHERE IN BETWEEN . THANKS GENTLEMEN

52

THANK YOU GENTLEMEN

You will never wish you had bought something longer than 52.

MY CHOICES WITH ULTERRA ARE 45 OR 60 ?

I have an Ulterra. What kind of boat do you have? I have a Champion and the bow sits pretty high above the water. 48, would have been a little too short at times for me. I bought the 60. 99% of the time I have it trimmed up and it just took me awhile to get used to it being there when I am flipping or pitching. Now I am used to it and it really doesn't bother me. If your bow sits low then you might be good with the short one. Measure the water level and go to the MinnKota site and see which it says you need. I like knowing that I have plenty of motor in the water when the waves get big and with the Ulterra, it is just a push of the button to adjust it anyway.

I wouldn't buy that one. I was considering it and and asked Bryan Sartin of Sartin Marine why I don't see any Ulterras. I see a lot of boats with the Ultrex. He showed me three Ulterras in his shop for repair and said there were several more on boats that were in for repair. There seems to be a problem with the stow and deploy. Enough so that I'm going with the Ultrex. I admit that when it works it is totally cool but I dont think it is reliable If it was reliable, I think a lot of the pros would be using it, but they dont.

Regards, Bart

Solid input.
Regardless of mechanical issues, I would be afraid that an Ulterra would throw me out of the boat at some point.

Anymore feed back on Ulterra issues ?

The electric steering is [censored], when I had that I only used the remote for the most part, I used the pedal arrows to change direction and spot lock button if not using the actual remote.

You have to mount the ulterra and terrova very far forward hanging off the boat, I had a older boat and had to make a big alum plate for the top cap to give it enough strength...

I like my ultrex much better.

I have had mine for two years. The only issue i have had was getting the cords caught. Once i move the cords never looked back.

I broke mine when I first got it but it was my fault. I took it to Boris Marine and while I was there I saw quite a few Ultrexes in for repairs. I talked to him about the Ulterra because I had concerns about the durability of it and he told me that it was a solid trolling motor and that he was going to put one on his personal boat. Is it reliable enough for a pro who uses it much more than I do? Maybe not but my guess for the reason they don't use them more than they do is #1 they are sponsored and use the one that they get for free or cheap that the maker wants them to advertise and #2, they don't want the electric steer. With the introduction of the Ultrex they get the best of both worlds and most of the pros are younger and stowing/deploying during the day is much easier on their backs than mine. I have probably had mine for about 2 years and it got used a few times a week up until recently so now I really trust it. I wouldn't trade it for any other TM. Mine has survived many trips into the stump fields at Fork with nothing more than a scratch so I think it will hold up just fine. Using an electric steer is something that takes time to learn and either you like it or you hate it.

WIRELESS BLUETOOTH CONNECTION WITH BUILT IN MEGA DI TRANSDUCER SOUNDS PRETTY NICE ALSO . I DON'T MIND PULLING THE MOTOR UP MANUALLY , BUT WHY NOT JUST HIT A BUTTON . ANY OTHER ULTERRA OWNERS ?

Why not, because its one more thing to fail and the price it comes with is a crappy pedal....

A lot of the issues were from the first two generations. The third has a great rep. I just got mine installed and it has worked flawlessly. Its great to adjust trim from anywhere in the boat and since i launch my boat alone, I can launch, deploy, select spot lock, park the truck, then guide it to the dock to get in. It’s great!

HOW IMPORTANT IS THE LINK FEATURE WITH THE ULTREX / ULTRERA AND HUMMINGBIRD GRAPHS . 300$ PRICE DIFFERENCE . IS IT A NECESSITY ? THANKS GENTLEMEN

I'd get the longest one you can fit on your boat. Sure is nice in the windy days if the TM can stay in the water. If, with the long shaft, the head of the TM hands over the side of the gunnel, try re-positioning it where it goes more towards the middle of the boat. The trade-off here is that you might not be able to open your rod locker when the TM is stowed, so that's up to you. If I fished a bunch in the wind (usually the case when fishing deep it seems), I would accept the trade-off for the longer shaft.

I'd prolly do it for $300. It was $500+ when I bought mine and didn't think it was worth it, so I passed.

To answer your question, like just about everything else on a boat, it's not a necessity. Is having a bunch of rods a "necessity"?

Go look at each feature it offers and then make a decision. You’ll get “follow the contour”, ability to use ff to control tm, can send it to a waypoint saved on your Ff, I guess those are the biggest things that it gives you. I have had it and rarely used features and now I don’t have it and kind of wish I had it. If you are tight on cash you can live without it. If you have some extra then you might like some of the things like following a contour