Suggestions For A New Trolling Motor

I have made up my mind that I want a new trolling motor. I am currently running an older 2014 Motorguide tour pro TM - 36 volts. No remote but the petal and the speed dial. What I have been mainly doing is crappie fishing using it for spider rigging, long lining and some casting. I currently run two Lowrance HDS Tough units which are Gen 2's - also 2014's. I have GPS on those units with Navionic Map cards.

With basically everyone (Lowrance, Garmin, MG and MK) coming out with new models in 2019/2020 I am trying to determine my best path forward with the best features. This has been somewhat challenging to get accurate intel on each of the models but I am digging through it, calling companies and asking questions. If I am going to drop $3K on a new TM then I want to know what I am getting. To this point I have mainly looked at the Ghost due to connectiviy with some Lowrance Units (but not mine of course). It seems to have a lot of cool features that I want if you have the right unit to connect it to. I am still not sure about the cruise control feature or even if they offer it much less how well it works at lower speeds. I can't find anything that is clear cut in the manual.

I think the other best option for me to consider given I run Lowrance units is the Motorguide TM. I am looking a the new Tour Pro 109 with GPS and Sonar but I am just starting to dig into this unit.

Features that would be important to me are as follows: Spot Lock/Anchor, Cruise control (at low speeds like .3 mph), directional heading, remote control, running a defined route or trail, and connection to my Lowrance Units and sonar with built in transducer then lift assist.

If anyone has any knowledge on these two models or similar which would fit my needs then please comment. If you also have heard issues with some of the features then please comment. Just looking to make and informed decision and would appreciate any feedback. Thanks in advance.

xi5 or xi3 or the only ones that will link to your gen2s, with the features you want. Use Carbons can be bought pretty cheep if your looking for a sonar to link to the new Lowrance Ghost.

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Originally Posted by Central Minn

xi5 or xi3 or the only ones that will link to your gen2s, with the features you want. Use Carbons can be bought pretty cheep if your looking for a sonar to link to the new Lowrance Ghost.

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the new MG Tour Pro won't provide features above the XI5? I would upgrade the Gen2 if I could get the features I want but I am not seeing Cruise on the Ghost so far.

Sorry haven't looked at the MG web page in awhile,looks like the tour pro has the same features as the xi5. Looks like it easier to deploy and lift too.

Hey no worries. All these motors are new for 2019/2020 and some are having a hard time getting them to market. So it's hard to get good information or feedback given the newness and limited availability. However, I do appreciate you commenting. I have a guy I know who has an XI5 and it is relatively a new one but he can't cruise below 1mph which defeats the purpose for some crappie applications. A lot of the motors seem targeted towards bass guys from a marketing perspective. They really need to have some good videos and reviews from some good crappie guys so we can understand what we are buying especially at $3K per motor.

BTW - I called Lowrance to check on the cruise and even though it is not referenced at all or very well in the manual - the Lowrance Gost Tech support guys say that it has a cruise control. So they say, lol.

My advice is the same each time I see this type of question. Call Brian @ BBG Marine. Or PM him from this site. He has a way of determining what will best serve you, and then backs it up with the best price. I have trusted him with these big decisions three times, and he has steered me right on each.

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Originally Posted by ET Fish

My advice is the same each time I see this type of question. Call Brian @ BBG Marine. Or PM him from this site. He has a way of determining what will best serve you, and then backs it up with the best price. I have trusted him with these big decisions three times, and he has steered me right on each.

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Thank you sir! Definitely will do!

Have you watched the comparison videos on YouTube with the ghost, it’s loud underwater and the steering is loud, the ghost would be the last trolling motor I bought, I run a terrova and got no complaints but the garmin intrigued me

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Originally Posted by ET Fish

My advice is the same each time I see this type of question. Call Brian @ BBG Marine. Or PM him from this site. He has a way of determining what will best serve you, and then backs it up with the best price. I have trusted him with these big decisions three times, and he has steered me right on each.

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Exactly Right !

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Originally Posted by "G"

Exactly Right !

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Just talked to BBG Marine. Brian was very helpful and took time to answer all my questions. Thank you for the suggestion.

And yes, I have watched, read, researched everything I can find on 3 of the 4 trolling motors out there. That list included the Ghost, MG and Gamin. I have done some research on the MK as well but not as much on the others. I have called several people in the know like BBG to get honest feedback. I have called Lowrance Ghost Tech Support and MG tech support as well. For the couple negative videos on the Ghost there are 10 that say it is quiet, lol. I'm sure all 4 would suffice. Here is where I am at the moment after all the research I have done.

The ghost is probably the best fit as a whole when you consider capabilities, integration into my current use of Lowrance units even if I have to upgrade one. This is their first attempt so it could be a disaster which is the downside. It may end up being dud. I already have the NMEA which is a plus. It has a lot of what I am looking for but misses the mark potentially on a few items based upon my research.

The one that seems to fit the bill as far as total capabilities seems to be the MK Ultrex. It sure seems to do it all but without integration into the unit - sounds like a solid choice though. The downside is integration or replaced my Lowrance units with birds. Nothing against Humminbird as I had them before but I would just as soon not replace everything. Also, I would have to add an external transducer which I don't really don't want to do.

The MG Tour Pro which is the one I would consider still has yet to be released even after a year of the launch at ICAST? That can't be good. Therefore the actual users feedback is limited to test pilot feedback so that one is probably out.

FWIW...I bought a MK Terrova with iPilot, US2 transducer this year. I installed it at the end of Feb so I've used it for 2 months. I also have Lowrance Electronics but mine are older Gen 1 HDS units.
I had no plans to link my electronics to my TM so I didn't feel a need to get the iPilot link. To say I'm happy with my choice is an understatement and have 0 regrets. For me I like having the US2 transducer. It's just a neater, cleaner set up. If I really wanted to link electronics, I would have added a Bird unit up front or just switched everything to Birds. I can see an advantage to linking the units to the electronics for some styles of fishing.
I initially thought I would miss the manual steer foot control so I was a little leery about going to an electric steer. That's not the case at all. I find myself using advanced auto pilot, spot lock and spot lock jog the most. I use the remote 99% of the time and rarely us the foot pedal. I like the MK remote because of the screen which the MG didn't have a screen so you had to link it to electronics to see what was going on.
If I felt like I couldn't give up that foot control I was going to go with the Ultrex.
Going to MK was quite a stretch for me because I had used MG most of my life and the TM I removed was an 8 year old MG Tour. I'm glad I made the switch.

Ultrex [emoji1360]


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Good report crappiemax. Thanks.

One thing I forgot to mention...when I was looking at the TM shaft length. My old MG Tour had a 42" shaft and it had 34" of shaft below the bottom of the mount. That left the motor itself 12" below the surface and worked just fine. On the Terrova, they offered a 45" shaft but it only had 32" of shaft available below the bottom of the mount. That left the motor itself sitting just 10" below the surface which just wasn't going to work for me. I wanted the motor a minimum of 12" below the water surface and 14" below would have been even better for fishing in choppier water. The Terrova has added a "lift assist" which takes up some of the shaft above the mount leaving less shaft available below. That lift assist is a great plus for the Terrova and well worth loosing the few inches of shaft but I do wish manufactures would list their shaft lengths by length available below the mount.
For the Terrova the next available shaft length was 54" for a 12v and 60" for the 24v. I was just a bit leery of going to a 60" shaft so I went with the 12v and 54" shaft. My boat is aluminum and my old TM was a 12v so I wasn't concerned about the power. For a glass boat 24v would be my choice.
Also I will say we have used spot lock on some truly miserable days. One day we found some really nice fish stacked in the back of a cove, the wind was blowing at 15 mph with gusts up to 30 mph. Like most days it even had a little swirling winds in there too. My friend and I both thought this will be a test. It performed way better than either of us thought it would. It surprised us and passed with flying colors. For the most part I'd have to say it held within a 3'-5' area. When a really strong gust would hit we may move a little farther out but recovered quickly and it was so much better than either of us could have held on those fish with a that old cable steer.
I truly do like a cable steer TM and was really leery about going to an electric steer. My deck isn't huge but I've always had cable steer in the past, it was a little tight up there but I always found a way to make it work. I do not miss having that big foot pedal in my boat, not at all. The electric steer did take a little time to get used to but it's really okay but for the most part I use the remote.
My friend and I will take turns fishing up front. He seems to use the foot pedal more than I do. The remote does have functions available that aren't accessible on the foot pedal.
MK support (on their website) is great for any questions you may have and are very quick to answer any question you may have. I spent about 3 months looking at all of the different TM options before finally choosing a MK. I would email them questions at night and always had my answers the next morning.
With all that's going on it the world of TM's these days with so many options it's definitely more involved than selecting a TM say even 5 years ago.
Good luck in your decision.

One option that I’m looking for is cruise control at low speeds such as .3 - .5mph. Feedback is all over the board on that from everyone I’ve talked to. Some say MG won’t go below 1mph. Ghost says no problem but I haven’t talked to anyone who has used it to confirm. MK says theirs goes down to .2 on speed but I don’t think thats a cruise speed but setting a speed.

With the Ultrex me personally have the Ulterra and luv it but you can get the Ultrex with MDI SI transducer built in, but that means at least one Hbrid unit to take advantage of it.

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Originally Posted by mcdenney

One option that I’m looking for is cruise control at low speeds such as .3 - .5mph. Feedback is all over the board on that from everyone I’ve talked to. Some say MG won’t go below 1mph. Ghost says no problem but I haven’t talked to anyone who has used it to confirm. MK says theirs goes down to .2 on speed but I don’t think thats a cruise speed but setting a speed.

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That's a good point. I think the .3-.5 may be possible but won't swear to it.
I will set the TM on advance autopilot and cast along a shore. At times if I feel I'm going a little too fast I'll slow the TM down and at some point it seems to struggle to find it's way. It only does that when I try to go super slow like .1 but I don't seem to have any problems going faster. Next time out I'll try to figure out at what speed it seems to "get lost" or can't keep track at where it's going. I more pay attention to the prop speed on my remote but I do reference sog on my electronics
I use spot-lock jog a lot when I'm working along a bank. I'll work an area then hit the jog forward 4/5 times. cast again, repeat, repeat.

My Terrova which has 10 speeds struggles to run on its lowest 2 settings (1/2 and 1). Untill I tuned the prop it struggled running on 2

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I sold my new terrova and got a Garmin Force. Couldn’t be happier. Love the foot pedal

I have an Ulterra. I got in line and purchased one fro Brian@BBG when they first came to market. No problems so far. I love it as much as my tv remote.