Minn Kota Ulterra?

So I’m at the ramp yesterday. A guy backs down the ramp and dumps his boat and the boat floats away. He is watching from his rear view mirror. Hey deployed the motor and backed the boat away and spot locked it. He went and parked and made is way down to the dock. Then used the remote to drive the boat to him at the dock and stepped in. Wow!! Makes me want one!!! But how long does all that electrical stuff work before it starts having issues? Just wondering if they are worth the money they cost? Or more problems than they are worth having. I’ve been saving for a new trolling motor and graph..

That is the commercial that they showed when they first released them.

whats the biggest difference between the Ultrex and the Ulterra?

Ultrex will not self electronically deploy or retract.
Ulterra is motor driven steering Ultrex is also but uses a traditional foot pedal.

Thank you

No problems with my Ulterra and I've had it going on two years now.

Lol bigdozer that’s what he did.. kinda. I haven’t see that one. But the idea of it is awesome especially if you fish alone a lot like I do.
Thank for the input GTrigg.

they work great on boats that fish open water the mount is not very strong around trees an rocky points .

I have an Ulterra and love it but I have a center console. I'd do an Ultrexx on a bass boat. I put in an offset pedestal so I can still use the foot pedal and keep both hands free. I need to call MinnKota though. I think I need to grease something as sometimes it kind of sticks on the way down. But with my CC it's great to just pull up to a spot, drop the TM, spot lock and start fishing front or back. I upgraded both graphs and TM a year ago and the TM was the most important of the upgrades. I've caught a lot more fish this year by just being able to spot lock and fish and not fight a TM.

I have used an Ulterra for the last 3 years with ZERO issues. I recently upgraded to the Ulterra with LINK and am waiting on my new Helix for the bow now. I bass fish almost exclusively. Solo launch, spot lock, autopilot and trim are my favorite features. Looking forward to the new features available with LINK. The most important thing: Remember to turn the TM and Remote on before launch.

I have had the Ulterra since 2015 and not had any problems with it. It has the I Pilot link and is connected to my
Humminbird on the bow. Spot lock,follow the contour and auto pilot all good features.

Looks like I need to clean the shaft with armor all. Will try that later today.

Due to a bad back and 2 hip replacements I switched to the ulterra 2 years ago. It saved my fishing by not having to do anything to it but run the remote. My foot petal is still wrapped in plastic in the rod locker. My problem now and the only one I've had is hooking up livescope to it. I've tried a couple different ways to mount the transducer. Wasn't happy anyway I tried it. I've had to settle for a separate transducer pole. That works great for crappie fishing but it is a pita bass fishing

What kind of range does the remote have? With my luck, I'd be a afraid my boat would float out of range after launching. I can see myself standing on the dock helplessly pushing the button on my remote as my boat floats away.

The bluetooth model has good range. The original not as good. I have one and I love it for solo launching and taking the stress off my back deploying all day long. The only downside to it is that I can't attach my 360 to it and the motors aren't strong enough to stow it with a 3rd party 360 mount. I may go to an Ultrex just because I want to be able to mount the 360 but if I do I will sure miss the Ulterra. The electronics seem to be lasting well with it. Everyone said the mount would be to fragile but it has seemed pretty strong for me. I did hit a stump going full speed last year and it messed something up in the timing but it was a pretty severe straight on collision that bent the shaft back under the boat til it sprung back out. If you do a lot of solo fishing or have a bad back it is definitely worth it.

I don't know the max range on my Ulterra but I can tell you it has plenty of range for a Solo launch. When I solo launch I deploy the motor when the boat clears the trailer. At this point the motor is no more than 40-50ft away from me. If there are others at the ramp I take the time to move the boat to one side then engage spotlock. If I am alone I simply engage spotlock when the motor fully deploys. I believe I tested it once at the end of my 150ft driveway and it engaged with no problem. JUST REMEMBER TO TURN ON THE TM AND REMOTE BEFORE[b][/b LAUNCH.]

My fear would be my motor just started sticking on deploy sometimes. Not often but sometimes. If I give it a little push when I hit the button it goes down. Worked fine for first year and then this happens. What if the 1st time this happens you have just launched and your TM doesn't deploy. Depending on anything mechanical to work 100% of the time seems risky to me unless you don't mind swimming in 55 degree water.

I watched a U Tube video saying it was only good for fishing deep structure that if you fish shallow with it and hit anything very hard that it messes up the calibration and wont stow or deploy correctly! Is this correct? I would get one if not. Please inform me about this. Thanks

JD59
I fish a lot of shallow water and have never had an issue with mine. I don't normally travel at higher speed with it in shallow water and usually trim it up a bit as a precaution but I have collided with my share of stumps and my Ulterra has never failed to work properly. Maybe its just me but abusing a $3000 trolling motor just isn't in my DNA.

I run an ulterra on my boat personally, it seems you already see most of the upside. Me as a go fast guy who does a lot more playing than fishing, it's great. Lazy man's trolling motor... press a button, deploy, use remote to amble around wherever I'm hanging out, then stow it and leave. Never even leave the cockpit of my Allison. For fishing though, it is much less durable than the ultrex, the electronic foot pedal takes some getting used to, and the lack of ability to install a transducer unless you use the precision sonar mount which I find hideous, huge, and ugly, it leaves a lot lacking for fishermen. I wouldn't trade mine for anything... but just know what's important to you and what isn't.

They aren't fragile. I have hit plenty of stumps on Fork at night with it and it didn't have any issues. I did hit a submerged stump going full speed and messed up the timing. I was sitting at the console and in a hurry to get out of the area and should not have been driving it so fast. If I had been on the deck I probably would have gone for a swim. It hit it harder than I have ever hit a stump before and after seeing all the ultrexes in shops with broken shafts, I can't believe that it didn't break. I haven't even taken it for repairs yet, I just give it a little push when it starts to deploy. I fish shallow and in stumpy water and have no fears of it under normal conditions. I wouldn't let a youtube video scare you off. Most people will tell you how fragile they are and if you question them they'll usually admit that they have never used one. If you like to get into stumps and troll as fast as the thing can go then maybe it isn't for you but if you used common sense then it is plenty durable. Mounting a transducer is a problem of how to run the cable but there are plenty of hacks out there that will show you alternatives so it is doable. I run one on mine.

I've only had mine since August but have to say, its a lot tougher then people on here give it credit for. I've bumped bottom, rocks, stumps, and burried it in brush. Heck I even took off once without stowing it. Made for a heck of a splash across my bow. Coming from an Xi5 the foot pedal is a thousand times better then it's. I will say though that the iPilot Link remote is a bit too big and heavy to wear around your neck or even on your belt. I mounted it on my dash and bought the micro remote.

Have had an Ulterra for 2 years now and its been in repair shop 3 different times! 1st time was for motor stopping in full raised position but would not retract or fully deploy. Repaired under warranty. 2nd time control board on foot pedal went out. again repaired under warranty. 3rd time motor stopped in full raised position and would not retract or deploy any further. Out of warranty and cost $580 to repair. Its not sitting on bench as 2nd spare behind old Fortrex. Im done with Minn Kota! Running a Ghost now!!

Thanks for the replies! How slow reacting is the foot control and or hand held remote? My father had a lower version and the side of your foot would move it left or right. It was so slow reacting that it was hard to steer! Is it a problem in tight areas or have they adjusted and fixed this problem? Thanks

The Ulterra pedal is slower than the Ultrex but not by much. I have no problem maneuvering in and around obstacles nor when I fish marinas. The remote on the link is a bit clumsy but I just upgraded to the LINK Ulterra from the non-link so it is just going to take some getting used to. I did rearrange the icons on the screen which makes the frequently used ones much easier to access.

Yeah I expect the remote to respond instantly some times and that is not the case.