Trolling motor & graphs

First of all I’m certain this question has been asked before. If there is a good thread answering this then please just tell me how to get to it. But I am researching what trolling motor and graphs to get. My initial thoughts are to get either ultrex/hummingbird or ghost/Lowrance. I’ve used both electronics. I’ve worked my friend’s ultrex and it is nice. It seems to me that I can get into the lowrance a bit cheaper. The reviews I see on the ghost are not reviews based on lots of long/hard days on water so I would really value input from someone who has been out on the water a bunch. I’m not against other options but this seems to be my main choices. Any thoughts is appreciated.

I’m super happy with the short time I have had my garmin’s. Probably gonna buy their trolling motor in the near future.

I went from an Ultrex to a Ghost, nothing wrong with the Ultrex, I just like Lowrance graphs, really pleased with the Ghost, lots of good options out there for you.

Have you used the spot lock very much on your ghost? I would not want to be disappointed in that after using an ultrex. I want to lean towards Lowrance because I’m more comfortable with their electronics. But I feel as if the ultrex has had time to prove itself.

look at the garmin set up, I went from nothing but birds and 90% minn kota for decades and could not be happier.

trolling motor is super quiet with the brushless motor, works just like it should and tm/graphs link via wifi instead of bluetooth.
anchor lock works perfect, lots of power on 36v or can be run 24v with no special stuff to do.
I was told by a dealer that the lowrance had problems with their cards burning up, sent new cards but no fix. they dropped lowrance due to this.
I personally have never been a fan of lowrance and their customer service, always had birds and liked them but garmin is my new go to.

Thanks. I’ll consider that.

Thanks

I'm glad to see someone considering all of the electronics versus just asking which trolling motor or graph to get. If you mainly bass fish, Huminbird, Lowrance and Garmin will all do well for you. Pick a brand and match it with the best you can afford. Look at features which may best suit your type of fishing...example...if you fish alone, autodeploy on a trolling motor may be helpful with unloading at the ramp. I bay fish too so chose Lowrance as I've had it in the past. Since Lowrance doesn't have a saltwater Ghost trolling motor yet, I went with a Motorguide Xi5. The spot lock is amazing for what I use it for. I matched it with an HDS Live 9 inch screen at the console and I mirror my iPad up front on the bow. I measured for the HDS Live 12 but there wasn't enough real estate to mount it in my console. I love the fish reveal combined with side scan and sonar to locate/find fish where my previous HDS 7 touch just showed clutter. I've used it to catch amberjacks in 120 feet of water and to catch bass at Rayburn in 4ft of buckbrush and am happy with my setup so far. Most all current brands allow you to network via NEMA2000 and some even via ethernet. Most also support features you'll likely never use on the lake like AIS/Radar/Autopilot (autopilot for main engines, not trolling motor)
I might fish with a few buddies who have different brands before you choose. There's also a ton of great information online and in apps like RipA Lip which can help you fine tune once you purchase.

I think you're making a good decision to go with the motor that pairs well with the electronics. I have a Ghost (the one seen recently in Ken Smith's videos), and there are a few things that I really like about it. The interface with Lowrance electronics is real clean, and seamless. Everything is plug-n-play for Lowrance. I also like how clean everything is with the Lowrance Ghost. No wrapping cables, and the only cable it has runs right along the bracket, and up to the head. I also really like the integrated T-ducer. It is real easy to change out with a single torx-head screw. I have heard that the next generation of Lowrance forward scanning units will feature a t-ducer that can be changed out for the Ghost. That keeps you from having to mount stuff on the shaft, and wrap it around the shaft. Keeps it clean. My bow unit is a gen 3, so I'll wait till the next generation comes out to replace it. As far as power, just watch the video. The motor is way stronger than a Ultrex. It stores real solid. My question how Lowrance service will be. In the past, that's an area they could have improved - we'll see.

Any other thoughts on this?

That’s funny, i have been researching the Lowrance Ghost and cards burning up has not shown up. Maybe, the dealer you spoke with
was installing them wrong.

Spot lock works great, I have not come close to using up all of my batteries, last time out we fished 10 hours, I put the motor on maximum speed and took off to see how strong the motor was, i think i could have pulled a skier it had so much power left, very efficient.

Good for you...sucks for me. If I turn my Ultrex to full speed, it shuts off and I have to wait a few seconds for it to turn back on.

I have had my ghost since thanksgiving and it’s pretty nice. If it broke today, I’d buy one again. I won’t say that about the MinnKotas that I had.


But you need to buy what your brain is telling you.

Garmin 100% Graph and trolling motor. Better than all the rest.

110% Garmin. I've run the HDS7, 898 Humminbird, Elite series Lowrance, and nothing will ever beat a Garmin.

I agree, Garmin is the new leader, Humminbird isn't too far behind but Lowrance is lagging way behing these two.

I run lowrance graphs so I went with the Ghost TM. I will say that most all of the above comments I agree with; e.g. quieter, great integration with lowrance graphs, built in transducer, spot lock is great, great on power consumption...BUT. My next boat will have an ultrex just due to the foot control and video game feel to the foot pedal. It also gets laggy or behind. Honestly, there may be a software update that may fix it but my experience with the Ghost has not been all positive.

Lowrance units are too laggy IMO. You press a button and it freezes for a second then opens.. Lags way too much to spend that kind of money. Also the map doesn't seem to update your position nearly as quick as Garmin maps do.

By the way OP, Garmin's are MUCH simpler to use. I'm a younger guy that can operate computers and what not, but the simplicty of Garmin is really what sold me. A good comparsion is.... Lowrance and Bird are the Androids, Garmins are the iPhones (I know iPhones are junk but they are much easier to use than Android.) Humminbird is a cluster [censored] to operate unless you've been running them awhile and know what buttons do what. Lowrance is simpler than Bird, but no where near Garmin. I run Garmin's on the big boat, and even have a 4" Garmin chartplotter/fish finder on my little bass buster..

Oh yeah another thing.. If you go Lowrance or Humminbird, you'll need to get a Navionics chip to get any kind of real in depth detail on the lake maps. Garmin's chartplotters come preloaded with U.S lake maps, with 17,000 (I think that's the right number) lakes with 1' contours. Just go to bass pro and zoom in on a lake like Rayburn.. The detail of the Garmin maps are FAR SUPERIOR above Lowrance and HB maps. Garmin is a plug and play unit, bottom line.