Thread: Trolling motor upgrade

I have a 19ft Triton Ambush and bought a Minn Kota Terrova 4 yr ago. 80lb thrust. I-pilot remote with Spot lock. Also has traking to record 2-3 tracks but never used it. Wouldn't swap with anything else.

Originally Posted by tenncrappie

I have a 19ft Triton Ambush and bought a Minn Kota Terrova 4 yr ago. 80lb thrust. I-pilot remote with Spot lock. Also has traking to record 2-3 tracks but never used it. Wouldn't swap with anything else.

Terrova is a good motor but I just have to have one with a rope to deploy and stow. Don’t care for having to reach out and grab a piece of plastic on the shaft.
Buddy has one of those fancy Ulterra things that auto stow/deploy.
Nothing but trouble for him. Been in shop several times and says when it goes down again he will be switching to Ultrex.
Chuck


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Originally Posted by CrappieNEA

Thank you. I don’t have to have cable steer


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Ultrex is cable steer but not like the old style you may be used to. It has power steering. Can push on pedal with 1 finger for steering. I-pilot or I-pilot link and best spot lock going. Bluetooth.
Can set boat scale for the weight of your boat. Hydraulic assist to deploy and stow.
Best thing since sliced bread.
I just got one for a buddy on the St. John’s river a week or so ago.
Brian with BBG Marine had them in stock then but unsure about now.
They sell as fast as he gets them.
He is listed in the Sponsor section here on CDC. Great guy to do business with and will save you money.


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I have the 55 pound Terrova. I bought the foot pedal thinking surely I would need it. I have used it once. It stayed in a compartment for over a year until I took it and put it in the building. On a Tracker 175 pro team it will push it along a little over 2 miles and hour acoording to the remote. Shooting docks I use spotlock and spotlock jog constantly. I keep the remote on 2 retractable fly fishing tool holder. While fishig I can grab the remote adjust the boat let the remote go and it will retract back to my side nd hang there. We jug fish at times. I have not had any trouble chasing down a catfish trying to get away.

In two years I've only used the pedal on my Terrova once or twice.

I still keep it in the boat, just as a back up in case I forget the remote or the batteries die.

keep in mind that the only spot lock option in 12 volt is the terrova. Min kota wise, Which I have and it works ok, if you are using live scope it doesn't hold you exact. The smaller the boat the more wondering it will do. it will keep you within a foot or so. I had to go with that model because I didn't want to go to 24v or 36volt. Spot lock is the only option for deep water. I am looking at power poles now. to keep me exactly on the brush piles. spot lock just doesn't cut it.

When you find one - buy it, inventory has been sparse on many models. The ultrex I recently ordered is on backorder for 12 weeks.

I went through this search a few years ago. I spent 4 m0nths looking into models and options.
I wanted a 12v, I wanted spot-lock, I wasn't brand or model specific and I thought I wanted a cable steer model.

Here's what I found
12v is not an option with cable steer and spot-lock.
From most people I talked to the spot-lock feature on MK & MG seemed to be pretty good. Both brands had good quality.
If you are interested in seeing you TM setting on your electronics, the different manufactures are brand specific and they may not work with older electronics.

I went with a MK Terrova and what drove me to that decision was the remote.
On the MG remote there is now viewing screen to see what your setting are. Even though I have older Lowrance electronics I couldn't view my TM setting on my screen without and depth finder upgrade.
A MK has a screen on the remote and it only takes a second to look down and check. As most people mentioned the foot pedal usually goes unused on the Terrova and I am the same. I leave mine in the boat and it stays hooked up because it does have some LED lights that indicate what settings are active on your TM. I find I do glance at those lights from time to time, so I keep it hooked up.
No spot-lock is perfect. However, spot-lock is better than most people are at holding the boat in place.
The first time my wife fished with me and I used spot-lock she said "I bet everyone you fish with are going to put one of those trolling motors on their boat". She was correct, virtually every guy has added a MK Terrova to their boats,
I do have 1 friend who bought a new boat this past year and he has all Garmin electronics and TM. His spot-lock is fantastic too.