2017 Minnkota vs Motor Guide video

Ah, road miles. I make about 40 miles per year.

Brian Klawitter wrote:

Ah, road miles. I make about 40 miles per year.

My boat has barely been on water that is within 40 miles of my house.

I was doing about 4,000 to 6,000 miles a year but bought a small river runner last fall so that might help reduce the miles on the larger boat.

For decades if someone was going to buy a trolling motor they had two choices, Minnkota or Minnkota, unless you needed a cable drive. That’s changed now.

Competition is a great thing.

ChasinWalleye wrote:

I’m calling BS. I’ve owned both, and hands down the motorguide is tighter positioned lock and a way faster head response, even wide open the head speed is way faster. Auto deploy is pretty cool..

Have you owned the new 2017 Bluetooth MinnKotas? If not your experience does not apply to these videos.

I spoke with someone who has run the xi5 and is a product expert of theirs. Not going to name names but he told me that the new MinnKota anchor lock is as good or slightly better than the xi5 system.

Are most of the spot lock issues with the Terrova? Anyone have the same problem with the Ulterra? I would also like to hear for the guys who own the Ulterra have they had any issues with the auto stow and deploy?

Brian which MinnKota did you get on your new Skeeter?

The headaches of the Minn Kota that I keep hearing about will keep me away from them, regardless of how tight they keep the spot.
Any word on improvements on those remotes?

I believe James did a review on the minnkota and motorguide anchor locks. If I recall correctly he did not like the anchor lock on his ulterra.

I have an xi5 and couldn’t be happier.

I have a 2015 Ulterra 80 lb. trust. The spot lock was unusable. Sent it in under warranty and they replaced the whole head unit. The stow and deploy work great. My first Terrova was way better, it would keep it within 10 feet of the spot. I sent mine in when I stored the boat so haven’t had a chance to try the new spot lock yet.

targaman wrote:

I believe James did a review on the minnkota and motorguide anchor locks. If I recall correctly he did not like the anchor lock on his ulterra.

I have an xi5 and couldn’t be happier.

I did a search for that review and was not able to find it, anyone have the link to that review?

targaman wrote:

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Spot Lock-Help Needed

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Sorry about all that mess but it’s on the second page.

I have had the 2017 model terrova with link 80lb out on the river 5 times now. All of them have pretty much been windy as heck. And it has held tight. Haven’t been blown into anything yet and i like to spot lock it within feet of walls or whatever river and dam structures are around.

Lot’s of confusion over pre 2017 units and the 2017 units.

I’m not going to comment on mine yet. I just used it for the first time yesterday in a 25 mph wind on Pepin so I could easily detect movement. I just wanted to see if it worked.

I want to see someone do this same comparison video with both motors mounted on a 16′ jon boat. I personally believe its much easier for a bow mounted electric motor to hold a big fiberglass boat on position than it is to hold a small aluminum boat on position without overshooting being a major problem.
I own both a 20′ Skeeter and a 17′ jon boat and have plenty of experience running trolling motors on both. My Skeeter sits on spot very, very well and I believe the added weight aids that tremendously is wind. My little boat on the other hand, its actually easier to hold on spot by turning the motor power down and using auto pilot than it is to use the spot lock.

BK I would love to hear a review from you once you have had a chance to put your new Ulterra through it’s paces.

Joel – what size bow electric do you have on your 17′?

The new MK spot lock has a boat scaling feature. So you can change the reponce action in the alorithm. That aspect hasn’t gotten much press. I’m sure it will help alot.

ChasinWalleye wrote:

I’m calling BS. I’ve owned both, and hands down the motorguide is tighter positioned lock and a way faster head response, even wide open the head speed is way faster. Auto deploy is pretty cool..

you’ve already owned the new 2017 model?

______________ wrote:

Joel – what size bow electric do you have on your 17′?

24v, 80lb thrust Terrova.
More than enough power & battery to last two full days of trolling with the electric on the river. Which is exactly what I wanted. Not thrilled with the lack of spot locking abilities though.

I don’t think Minnkota ever had “Spot Lock” it was always more like “Area Lock”.

I made the switch to MotorGuide and not looking back, they are rock solid and i will sit up in the MN Corner or Diamond Island on a current seam with any manufacturer on the market.

Minnkota is a great company and they will get there, when they get it figured out I will come take a look, till then MG & Lowrance.

I have a few year old Terrova with the older spotlock, it keeps the boat within about 10 feet of the spot. I’ll wait another few years for Minnkota to add more features to the motors (completely wireless please!) before I upgrade my trolling-motor to gain an additional 5 feet of accuracy.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

I have a few year old Terrova with the older spotlock, it keeps the boat within about 10 feet of the spot. I’ll wait another few years for Minnkota to add more features to the motors (completely wireless please!) before I upgrade my trolling-motor to gain an additional 5 feet of accuracy.

My Skeeter MX-2025 has this older Terrova on it. Works quite well. Unfortunately, my little boat has the new model and it doesn’t work so well at all.

There is plenty of odd stuff in the video.

1) the Minnkota is on a 2016 Ranger 619, while the Motorguide is on a 2008 Ranger 621. Why different boats. It would seem the 621 being a bigger boat would be more difficult to hold in place in the wind.

2) if you watch the video closely they show when the operators hit the lock button. The Minnkota operator did so close to the buoy. The Motorguide operator hit the button earlier (pretty much where the boat ended up), but then proceeded to pull up close to the buoy.

3) as someone pointed out, the people in the Minnkota boat stayed to the front of the boat, keeping the front low into the wind. Where the Motorguide boat had it’s passengers in the far back of the boat, raising the bow like a sail.

I have a Minnkota on my boat, but am curious as to why they would stoop to pulling the misleading tricks. It makes me think they have fallen behind.

i think this is all a smidge nitpicky here. they both looked to pretty much perform identically. i can’t imagine that any variance between the 2 motors would be that noticeable while on the water. i’d say its about a draw now on spotlock. which one you should be should be on any of the other features of the motor.

I’ve never run a motorguide, but I can say I have had a 2014 terrova and now a brand new 2017 terrova with Bluetooth and link (not that those two features matter for spot lock), only referencing to clarify the specific model.

My 2014 terrova spot lock was virtually unusable. It spun circles faster than the Tasmanian devil. It was accurate to about 60 feet in any direction.

I had a chance to test my new one yesterday and was very impressed. It held us within a couple feet all day in many many different spots, even fighting heavy river current, wind, waves. Night and day difference from the old terrova.

I didn’t make a video because there are thousands out there already.

I didn’t trust the Ulterra so I had my fw in the boat and pushed her off the trailer. Using the remote, I drove her out of the way and hit spot lock, then went to park my truck.

Like remote control airplanes I realised I needed to face the same direction the boat was going or I would press the wrong left right controls. Brought her into the dock and jumped in.

She said good job.

Now I’m wondering how long I can keep her out there…

Brian!!
Why in the world would you push your wife ofF the trailer and into the water. EVEN THENDRIVE OFF?

You must be having a lovers spat?

You scallywag.