Marcum Lithium Shuttle…worth it?

Thinking of upgrading my flasher to the M-series w/ shuttle. For those of you who have used it this year, what are your impressions so far? Worth the extra $$$? I’m a little tentative due to transportation (using a bucket seems a little backwards to me). Have you gotten used to using the bucket for transport? Miss the red bag? I contacted Marcum the other day and they have no plans on creating a soft pack for the shuttle – which I would like to see eventually. Thanks for your input.

With the LX7, the shuttle was a no brainer. The soft case had potential to drop the entire sonar, and holding the unit became a lot easier.
With the flashers, do you find holding it a problem? I had the LX5 as well and thought that it was fine to hold and hole hop – except it needed a rod holder.

The light I find is great for walking from hole to hole, not so much for fishing at night. That light is blinding when you catch it at the right angle. If money’s not a problem, I’d jump on it.

I fish with flashers and was thinking of the M3 or M5. Haven’t had a problem at all holding my lx3-tc. I like the idea of the rod holders and light. Don’t know if i will use the USB ports as I have an external battery to charge my phone – a little weary on having my phone close to the hole..

I have been tossing around the idea of getting one for my FLX-28. Mainly for the Light and USB. Battery life is the least of my worries with the Vex. I would like to be able to charge a Recon 5 once it dies, so the USB would be incredible for that. Plus I could mount it easy with the accessory inserts. The light is an incredibly easy way to charge your glow jigs at night. It will most likely be the item I pick up at the ice show next year.

I’ve been using it all winter, money well spent in my opinion. Battery life is amazing, easy to carry, and love the rod holders! I have an lx7

Shuttle best new product on the market this yr IMO…lighter with lithium battery, carries very nice, rod holders, makes the screen sit up a little higher, the built in light has been invaluable lately night fishing for crappies…I have not made use of the RAM mounts or the USB port yet but will I’m sure, really like the cable/ducer storage…and not having to recharge so often is really sweet…so much more use time in-between charges.

If I had to buy the shuttle all over I’d buy it all over. My best purchase this ice fishing sesson. Love it!!

I have an lx7 and bought the shuttle this year. This was a much needed improvement to this unit. The red bag that the lx7 came with was garbage! The handle placement made the unit very top heavy and always felt like it was going to fall out. The shuttles battery life is great and the ease of charging is a plus. Only complaint about the shuttle was the price tag, but it has been worth every dime not having that red bag!

If you add anything to the ram mounts it will no longer fit in a bucket. I have a lx7 and when I start the volts on the flasher reads 12.5 and shuttle is 100%. Three hours later volts are 11.4 at 85%. After 8 hours volts in the 10s at 57% and that is just using the flasher only.

I bought the LX7 with shuttle. Only got a days use out of it then it would shut down. Sent it back and 3 weeks later got it back. They replace the shuttle but the new one had the plastic tabs on the back broke off. My buddy bought the Lx7 without the shuttle and he loves it. Has never died in one day of fishing running 10+ hours. He brings a back up battery with just in case.
If I were to do it again I would not buy it with the shuttle. It sucked being out on the ice with no way to hook up a regular battery. Now I’m worried about how much it’s going to cost to replace vs. a regular battery.

I have an M5 on the shuttle and LX6 and I have hardly even used the 6 this year because I like the features of the shuttle so much. I will for sure be putting my 6 on a shuttle for next season. The battery life is awesome and all the other features are great, I don’t miss having extra transducer cord falling out all the time. The other really nice thing is with the transducer stored upside down like it is on the shuttle it won’t freeze down like it does in the other units.

Build a power box out of a Plano ammo can and use a Dakota lithium battery. Then add your whatever led lights you want, USB ports, voltmeter, and add a binding post. With the binding post, you can run anything requiring 12v dc power. Make a cable with a banana plug on one side for the binding posts and spade connectors on the other side to plug into the F2 quick disconnects coming from flasher. You could even mount the sonar unit and transducer to the Plano box.

Then, you would have a custom power box capable of lighting up a runway or an ice hole, charge anything requiring usb, and power anything requiring 12v dc power for about 100 bucks cheaper than the shuttle. You can basically do whatever you want with them. They also work great for camping (anything that pulls double duty is a win in my book). Power boxes are very simple to put together. If this interests you, I suggest searching YouTube for a video by JDS outdoors. His demo on building a power box is pretty great and I’ve basically copied it and love it.

Making your own is the solution I found to the cons that the shuttle presents to me.

This late in the season I would hold off and wait to see if they improve anything in next years model.

I’ve gone 4 days without charging mine. Fished 8 hrs during the day, shut off at night. Have fished in negative temps a few days also. No problems. The handle can be adjusted a few inches up too and the light has been helpful.

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Im loving my group buy lithium. Much lighter and holds a good charge much longer.

As others have said, lithium is definitely hard to beat. Lighter and a flat discharge curve providing longer run time compared to a similar size SLA battery.

Whether you go Marcum shuttle or after market lithium battery, lithium is a great improvement in my opinion.

So waiting for ice… I didn’t use the bucket at all last season. I will say I am impressed with the battery power and the shelf life. I just checked my units in storage and still holding 97% charge. Looking forward to next season. So worth it now.

Bumping this old(er) thread as Joe’s Sporting Goods has these at a pretty good price right now…especially if you’re in a “tax free” area.

$199
-$10 with code “TAKE10”
Free shipping
Total=$189.99

https://www.joessportinggoods.com/lithiumshuttle-166899.html

That’s a good deal! I just got done setting up my flx 28 on my shuttle. Looking forward to using it this by season.

I just run an LX3 but saved quite a bit by just buying a Lithium 10AH battery. That was 160 for 2 batteries and charger. I use the other on my 788.

That is definitely an option in some cases. I did the Dakota Lithium battery for my FLX-28.

However, I bought a Helix 7 to try this winter and I then bought the Helix portable case but I haven’t even used it and already don’t like th fact it doesn’t have any rod holders. It’s just hard to mod in general. So, I’be been looking for alternative ways to carry it and the Lithium shuttle is still an option for me.

Thanks for the tip on Joe’s Sporting Goods, just ordered the Marcum Lithium Shuttle for my LX7.

Anyone here know where to buy a Dakota 10ah lithium battery at a brick and mortar store? I’ve procrastinated and want to fish tomorrow, so can’t order online and wait for delivery.

Walmart, Joe’s, Dicks, all a no go it seems.

Thanks.

Gander Outdoors in Forest Lake had them earlier this year.

murp0443 wrote:

Anyone here know where to buy a Dakota 10ah lithium battery at a brick and mortar store? I’ve procrastinated and want to fish tomorrow, so can’t order online and wait for delivery.

Walmart, Joe’s, Dicks, all a no go it seems.

Thanks.

Scheels has them instore afaik.

I just ordered one online from Thorne Bros for $199.00 with free shipping.

murp0443 wrote:

Anyone here know where to buy a Dakota 10ah lithium battery at a brick and mortar store? I’ve procrastinated and want to fish tomorrow, so can’t order online and wait for delivery.

Walmart, Joe’s, Dicks, all a no go it seems.

Thanks.

A few days ago Joe’s had like over half a dozen…they all sold out?

Well the results are in from my last post! Had my unit for 2 years, 3 weeks. As posted earlier had it for 1 week before sending it in to be replaced (gone the last part of January). Getting 6 hours run time now before shutting down. Was told by Marcum it would be $145 plus shipping and probably another 3 weeks.
So with that being said, $249 + $145 + shipping both ways and being it gone 6 weeks during ice season I DO NOT think it’s worth it for 2 years and 1 month!
I could of bought a lot of batteries for that and not had any down time. Sorry about the rant and know this is an old thread that I post in March of 2018.

Save yourself some money and just buy a Vexilar Pro Pack and a Dakota Lithium battery and mount your Marcum on that. My Shuttle lasted a little over a year.