motor guide Xi5 thoughts?

im looking for a good trolling motor for my 21ft triton to replace the old Minn kota on it, I've found a motorguide XI5 for sale locally that's about $1000 less than a minnkota. this MG is 105lb thrust 36volt. the question is how does the spot lock and gps features compare to minnkota? all my buddies have Minnkotas and they say that MG spot lock feature wont hold you within the same small area as a MK motor.. and that is a major reason I want a new trolling motor is I want the ability to stay in place over a brush pile or to be able to tell it to troll along a given path or direction. I've never had anything like that before and I'm sure its amazing I have a buddy and he just hits the spot lock and can measure fish, rebait etc and I'm always fighting the wind and current I'm sure you guys know how it is look down 2 seconds and you are 100ft from the brushpile. please any help I'd really appreciate it

I have a 24 volt XI5 that holds my Nitro pretty well. The main thing is to calibrate it. I calibrate it after it sits for an extended time or if I travel. Also setting the mount angle will be another thing that will help you hold better. Google will show you both of these setups. One other thing I will say is I rarely use the foot pedal. The hand fob has become second nature to me. The foot pedal is not the easiest to get used to. I like having the extra space on the deck by storing the foot pedal under it. Lastly always carry extra batteries for the fob and foot control.

I should have answered your question better. The spotlock feature on mine holds very well. The only time it will drift is in dead calm water with no wind. Dead calm it sometimes over-compensates. It always goes back to the location that it was locked on to. My buddy has a new Minnkota PowerDrive with the new advanced GPS it does well also when spotlocked. I can't say that it is better than my XI5. Hope that helps you out

When they were released in 2015 the tight holding anchor lock was one of their selling points over Minnkota.I’ve had one sense 2016 the anchor lock holds tight, works best with a breeze or current. It has a few other quirks that dongos and updates have never fixed, mainly the cruise control randomly ramping up to wide open on its own.

Just a FYI I heard motorguide was going out of business. Don't know if this is true or not but I have seen it more than once.

It's true.

The Motorguide brand has ceased and transitioned to Lowrance.

Stick with a Minn Kota


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I've been doing a lot of research here and other forums as well and everyone including you mentioned then foot pedal.. I've only ever used cable driven trolling motors but what is it about the foot pedal on the mg that everyone doesn't like? is it a deal breaker in your opinion if you used the foot pedal alot. I do a lot of bass fishing the bank and I just imagine I will use the pedal alot but I don't know because I've never had the option to use a control before haha thanks for the info

The foot pedal because it is bluetooth, is not as fast acting as a cable steer. Takes getting used to. I just got used to the fob and don't use mine. I bass fish also and it doesn't cause me any problems.

Foot control can’t be any worse than the MK Terrova that I had for 10 years, and the spot lock is probably better than the iteration that was available at the time. The main thing to consider is that MG is no longer in operation, and we don’t know how much longer service parts are available.

After reading the last post, I went to check parts. Prices have gone up. I ordered an extra remote just in case.

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Originally Posted by DWILL

After reading the last post, I went to check parts. Prices have gone up. I ordered an extra remote just in case.

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Where did you get your remote from? after using a remote i don't want to go back to a pedal ever.

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