questions about trolling motors

I currently have a Minn Kota Ultrex trolling motor on my boat. I have had it approximately 5 years. About 2 years after purchasing the boat the control head/foot pedal locked up and would not tun no matter how hard you pressed the foot pedal. I think it ended up being a mother board or something like that. I fished for a long time without it before having it repaired. It lasted maybe a little over another year and locked up again. I have let my boat sit for over a year because I have not wanted to spend the money to fix it or buy another one. I'm not getting any younger and my passion for fishing is as strong as anyone on the planet. I have to get back on the water. My electronics are Humminbird which align with the Ultrex, however I am too nervous to try buying another Ultrex and possibly ending up with the same issues. I have looked at the Garmin Force and the Lowrance Ghost but have no clue about either one. I love the idea of the wireless foot pedal on the Garmin and I am thinking about getting Livescope. Is Livescope mainly just for locating fish or is it like a chart plotter, etc. If you have used either of these what are your thoughts, likes or dislikes. What would you recommend?

I have Garmin electronics and when with the Garmin Kraken (wireless foot pedal not included) but wow! I have enjoyed everything about it! It is super powerful! No need for another gps device for spot lock. The wireless remote works so well idk if I’ll even buy the foot pedal.

I went with the Kraken over the Force as I don’t have a lot of real estate upfront and the Kraken has a smaller boat footprint.


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:popcorn, following

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Originally Posted by crappieseeker

I currently have a Minn Kota Ultrex trolling motor on my boat. I have had it approximately 5 years. About 2 years after purchasing the boat the control head/foot pedal locked up and would not tun no matter how hard you pressed the foot pedal. I think it ended up being a mother board or something like that. I fished for a long time without it before having it repaired. It lasted maybe a little over another year and locked up again. I have let my boat sit for over a year because I have not wanted to spend the money to fix it or buy another one. I'm not getting any younger and my passion for fishing is as strong as anyone on the planet. I have to get back on the water. My electronics are Humminbird which align with the Ultrex, however I am too nervous to try buying another Ultrex and possibly ending up with the same issues. I have looked at the Garmin Force and the Lowrance Ghost but have no clue about either one. I love the idea of the wireless foot pedal on the Garmin and I am thinking about getting Livescope. Is Livescope mainly just for locating fish or is it like a chart plotter, etc. If you have used either of these what are your thoughts, likes or dislikes. What would you recommend?

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Your steering motor is probably going bad.If you steering motor pulls too many amps it will blow your main board.

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talked with another guy who has had the same issue twice. He said it was a steering sensor you can get for a little under 100 dollars.

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Originally Posted by Lund

I have Garmin electronics and when with the Garmin Kraken (wireless foot pedal not included) but wow! I have enjoyed everything about it! It is super powerful! No need for another gps device for spot lock. The wireless remote works so well idk if I’ll even buy the foot pedal.

I went with the Kraken over the Force as I don’t have a lot of real estate upfront and the Kraken has a smaller boat footprint.


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I have not seen the Garmin Kraken. I know I have seen a lot of good reviews on the force. I love the idea of the wireless foot pedal but I guess the remote point and steer would be just as good right? So does the spot lock bring you back to a spot if you move off of it some? Or does it just anchor you there and you have to reposition yourself if the boat moves?

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Originally Posted by crappieseeker

I have not seen the Garmin Kraken. I know I have seen a lot of good reviews on the force. I love the idea of the wireless foot pedal but I guess the remote point and steer would be just as good right? So does the spot lock bring you back to a spot if you move off of it some? Or does it just anchor you there and you have to reposition yourself if the boat moves?

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The wireless foot pedal can be bought separately. If memory serves me right, it was about $150. The remote point and steer is great, especially if I’m in a hurry to change to a certain direction with limited time (thankfully it doesn’t happen very often but it’s great when long lining). Regarding spot lock, when I have used it, I never thought we drifted away. Thus I’ve never had to adjust our location. It has incredible accuracy, even when there is a lot of wind. The Garmin Kraken also has one of the first features to be able to spin the prop backwards. If it is the most efficient way to stay on target. It does have a jog feature, if you were spot locked and want to move 5 feet left right forward or back. All you have to do is press the directional keys on the remote and it will move you accordingly. If you have Garmin electronics, you can move the cursor or touch your screen on your chart, plotter and make it go to that position or waypoint, and then it will immediately spotlight once it gets to the spot you picked

I only have it hooked up in the 24 V configuration but it is capable of going up to 36 V. I just haven’t needed that kind of extra power.


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Give me a holler ! Jump on board and check out my force ! I really like it !
want ever go back to Minn Kota ! The wireless foot control it nice and the remote is very simple ! Spot lock works great
you would come out cheaper repairing yours but if your looking to replace I would highly suggest the garmin!

Crappieseeker, just like slabprowler said, you can hit me up and check out my Garmin Kraken for yourself. I don’t know where you’re at but I’m around Montgomery, AL


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As much as I liked the Force on paper and was about to buy one, I still ended up getting an Ultrex to replace my Terrova because of certain features that I can do with Humminbird/Minn Kota that I can’t do with Garmin yet, such as contour follow. When I’m spider rigging or keeping on structure, not having it might not matter as much, but I definitely can get going faster in the areas that I’m long-line trolling for crankbaits since I can choose a contour and let it ride while I setup the rods and watch them. For any other method, I’d have to manually setup routes and record tracks, which can get wayward when not paying attention.


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Another thought if you have time take a ride down to Alabama trolling motor repair shop in Moody Al a good 2 hour ride there and 2 back. they are about the only ones that I could find that still works on them all within 3 hour ride . Ask him his opinion and look at all the trolling motors that is there for repair.it blew my mind at all the Minn kota’s,motor guide , and lowrance units that was there for repairs.thought I had a issue with my force but it ended up being a-breaker problem . They said they hardly ever see a garmin unit come in!

I saw this video and the guy has follow up videos about his Ulterra and it made me choose Garmin

https://youtu.be/q9nblOqDbuc?si=edvHwUeNe6WHPIMl

Also I work in IT and Garmin has some of the BEST customer service I’ve EVER EXPERIENCED!


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If I had your money I would just buy 2 bahaha. kidding. Have you been after them any yet this year?

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Originally Posted by Slabprowler

Give me a holler ! Jump on board and check out my force ! I really like it !
want ever go back to Minn Kota ! The wireless foot control it nice and the remote is very simple ! Spot lock works great
you would come out cheaper repairing yours but if your looking to replace I would highly suggest the garmin!

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Originally Posted by crappieseeker

If I had your money I would just buy 2 bahaha. kidding. Have you been after them any yet this year?

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If I had enough money and storage space, I might use removable mounts to allow me to swap between a Garmin Force and a Minn Kota Ultrex depending on the mood and which one needed to be in the shop. There will be times where I could use more space provided with Force’s wireless remote and other times when the Ultrex would be better for contour follow trolling.

:Rofl
Slipped off a couple times catching em pretty good ! Just a lot of dinks ! got back hot again we need some rain and cooler weather!

OK I'm intriqued. What removable trolling motor mount would allow to switch between ultrex and Garmin? Scott

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Originally Posted by ultraslab

OK I'm intriqued. What removable trolling motor mount would allow to switch between ultrex and Garmin? Scott

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The Minn Kota tenable plate for Ultrex most likely. If not that, I could get a machine shop to make something that I draw up in CAD.

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Originally Posted by jjue1979

The Minn Kota tenable plate for Ultrex most likely. If not that, I could get a machine shop to make something that I draw up in CAD.

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If you go the machine shop route give Mark at Cornfield Fishing gear a call. He can make up just about anything you can come up with.