Minn Kotta Quest Motors.

[Alphahawk]

I have a new Ulterra Quest motor coming Monday. Thought I’d share info I have researched on the motor. First things first, these things are expensive. But I did not want the older models of spot lock motors. The Quest series have been beefed up mechanically big time. There is a new manual stow procedure for the Ulterra. It is a piece of cake compared to the older models. The weight and physical size of these motors have increased. If you have an aluminum boat with a trolling motor plate on the boat you’re going to need a bigger one for these motors to fit. The Ulterra and Terrova in the Quest series have a footprint about 12 inches wide. Monday morning my boat guy is fabricating a new one for my boat. Hate that but no choice really. I will be going with 24 volts with 90# thrust. New motors are brushless. Should I ever want to go to 115# thrust just add the 3rd battery. But I doubt I’ll ever do that. I also bought the quick release bracket to mount it on. As you might have guessed it is a completely new bracket for Quest motors. It is twice the price of the quick release it replaces. No doubt this will be my last boat and I wanted it to be just like I wanted it to be. Had a lot of custom work on this boat but never thought the hold up would be on account of a trolling motor. Kind of surprised the mounting holes would not be the same as their old line up of motors. As is always the case a lot of folks will upgrade but to do so with these motors will require a considerable expense not counting the motor. Will do a complete review of motor as soon as I get the boat, which should be in about a week.

Regards


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[DockShootinJack]

Looking forward to your review

[SuperDave336]

I think you made the right decision to get the new trolling motor. I hope it’s a good one for you. With technology it should be better all around. Thanks for sharing.

[Rojo]

I have a new Ulterra Quest motor coming Monday. Thought I’d share info I have researched on the motor. First things first, these things are expensive. But I did not want the older models of spot lock motors. The Quest series have been beefed up mechanically big time. There is a new manual stow procedure for the Ulterra. It is a piece of cake compared to the older models. The weight and physical size of these motors have increased. If you have an aluminum boat with a trolling motor plate on the boat you’re going to need a bigger one for these motors to fit. The Ulterra and Terrova in the Quest series have a footprint about 12 inches wide. Monday morning my boat guy is fabricating a new one for my boat. Hate that but no choice really. I will be going with 24 volts with 90# thrust. New motors are brushless. Should I ever want to go to 115# thrust just add the 3rd battery. But I doubt I’ll ever do that. I also bought the quick release bracket to mount it on. As you might have guessed it is a completely new bracket for Quest motors. It is twice the price of the quick release it replaces. No doubt this will be my last boat and I wanted it to be just like I wanted it to be. Had a lot of custom work on this boat but never thought the hold up would be on account of a trolling motor. Kind of surprised the mounting holes would not be the same as their old line up of motors. As is always the case a lot of folks will upgrade but to do so with these motors will require a considerable expense not counting the motor. Will do a complete review of motor as soon as I get the boat, which should be in about a week.

Regards

I just received my Show Book and saw the Quest series in it. You did a good job in your description saving me time to look it up myself. I sold the Ultrex for my boat build due to weight. It was 70#'s with a 45in shaft. Light overall weight boats installing even heavier trolling motors will see a definite performance issue as the more weight you add on the nose of the boat the less you can trim up before reducing the props optimum angle of attack prop to hull's performance. I can't think of a better way to word it right now. A 20ft 100in Beam boat will see less effect than a 16ft Aluminum Tracker. My build hull was 400#'s after the work was complete, hulls pivot at the transom, the Moment measurement dramatically increases on the boats nose with really heavy trolling motors (Weight X Distance = Moment). The bow of the boat didn't want to trim up at all with the hooks in the hull (I installed to Ultrex on my other Blazer VL100 to try before the new one was finished) before my prop started cavitating. It will be interesting to see performance posts with the new Motor.

[BuckeyeCrappie]

, I’m looking forward to seeing your new boat. Hope it meets all your expectations.

[justinp61]

I think you'll really like it. This spring I installed a Ghost on my boat, it replaced an 80# Fortrex. With the brushless motor there is no interference on the depth finders and the batteries last MUCH longer. My Fortrex was almost new, so I really debated spending the money for the Ghost. Now that I have it, I wish I'd done it sooner.

[J White]

I just received my Show Book and saw the Quest series in it. You did a good job in your description saving me time to look it up myself. I sold the Ultrex for my boat build due to weight. It was 70#'s with a 45in shaft. Light overall weight boats installing even heavier trolling motors will see a definite performance issue as the more weight you add on the nose of the boat the less you can trim up before reducing the props optimum angle of attack prop to hull's performance. I can't think of a better way to word it right now. A 20ft 100in Beam boat will see less effect than a 16ft Aluminum Tracker. My build hull was 400#'s after the work was complete, hulls pivot at the transom, the Moment measurement dramatically increases on the boats nose with really heavy trolling motors (Weight X Distance = Moment). The bow of the boat didn't want to trim up at all with the hooks in the hull (I installed to Ultrex on my other Blazer VL100 to try before the new one was finished) before my prop started cavitating. It will be interesting to see performance posts with the new Motor.

Yep it makes a difference even on a heavy boat. I had relocated all the trolling motor batteries from under the console to the rear compartment on 22 foot cc. Was having porpoise issues, had to run trimmed down. But put that big honkin Ulterra on the nose and it calmed down considerably. When I ever get around to going fully lithium I think it’s gonna be even better. Will take another 100+ off the rear.


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[Alphahawk]

The motor is now installed. The thing is a beast. It weighs in at 105 pounds. I played with it for about an hour today. The motor is quiet as a church mouse. One thing I am not quite sure of is the remote display. If you look at the screen straight on it is difficult to read. Tilt it to a slight angle and presentation is sharp. I got to thinking about that when I got back home and was wondering did the display have a protective film over it. It wasn’t obvious to me that it did but I’ll check on that next trip over. The remote is easy to navigate through, but it is nothing at all like the old remotes. Was checking out the manual stow procedure in case it will not automatically stow and while I did not do the procedure it is a piece of cake. Pull up a latch and remove a pin and pull down to the cradle. Having said that this thing is obviously very heavy. Boat should be done ready for pickup on Friday but I’ll probably not get until late next week as I’m heading out for a train ride. As soon as I return I will put it on the water and test all the features out.

Regards


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[BuckeyeCrappie]

Looking forward to you maiden voyage report!

[J White]

The motor is now installed. The thing is a beast. It weighs in at 105 pounds. I played with it for about an hour today. The motor is quiet as a church mouse. One thing I am not quite sure of is the remote display. If you look at the screen straight on it is difficult to read. Tilt it to a slight angle and presentation is sharp. I got to thinking about that when I got back home and was wondering did the display have a protective film over it. It wasn’t obvious to me that it did but I’ll check on that next trip over. The remote is easy to navigate through, but it is nothing at all like the old remotes. Was checking out the manual stow procedure in case it will not automatically stow and while I did not do the procedure it is a piece of cake. Pull up a latch and remove a pin and pull down to the cradle. Having said that this thing is obviously very heavy. Boat should be done ready for pickup on Friday but I’ll probably not get until late next week as I’m heading out for a train ride. As soon as I return I will put it on the water and test all the features out.

Regards


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Wow that is a crazy weight! If I remember right, the T8 kicker I had on my last boat, 2 cylinder 4 stroke with electric start and power trim was only like 115?


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