I don't personally have one. But I fish a lot with my boss who does. It's pretty stinking handy to have. I have heard stories but don't personally know anyone who has had a issue with one.

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I have one, Is it nice? Yes. It can be a PITA too. It will get stuck in a stow mode and have to deploy and then re stow. You cannot grab it and pull it up like a manual. That being said, if you troll into a flat and cant get it trimmed up in time you will bend the shaft. its great for a deeper water thing but in the back bays/flats I would go for a old school manual trolling motor. Selling this boat this year and purchasing a new JH and it will have the manual trolling motor on it. If you buy one, keep the worm gear that runs the stow/deploy lubed as it will hang up and get loud and jerky when using it. No bad issues its just a baby..... gotta be careful with them and they are neat as heck.

 

Bend the shaft? Really? That’s a no-go for me.

I have big heavy boat, 36v motor, and my Terrova has collided with the bottom on many occasions and the shaft always flexes. I stand up front near the TM when I fish. I hand grab the shaft under the head and lift it vertically to clear obstructions or get out of a jam on flats. Don’t ever grab and lift by the head. Doing this repeatedly will loosen the head over time and you can’t fix it easily. I learned this with my first Terrova.

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C.Hern5972 nailed it. I used to have one and went back to one model below the Ulterra. The belt is fragile in rough water crossings because it is responsible for keeping the unit in the stowed position. After breaking the first belt, I kept a small ratchet strap on the unit when crossing rough bays. For my type of fishing, I will never own another self deploying model that is built with the belt. If you only fish deep water, I do not see an issue owning one. But if you fish shallow enough that the lower unit can contact the bottom, I would stay with the manual deploy model.

 

I’ve had mine for 4-5 years on a 21’ Shallow Sport. I love it because I can fish from my console and allow my wife or kids to have bow. No major issues for me. Keep shaft lubed with a silicon spray. Also, keep extra batteries on board for remote.

 

Time for new trolling motor. If the old adage is true, more moving parts = more problems, the auto-deploy/stow feature scares me. BUT, it sure seems pretty cool. Is this a gimmick or a must have? What y’all think?

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That cool comes with occasional issues. Lucky owners are out there that never have a problem. They do exist.

I’m not that lucky, cool isn’t a big thing to me, and I sometimes worry about stuff. I bought the Terrova and I manually deploy and stow it. I never have any problems or worries. Not one single minute of lost fishing time or any ruined trips. Never cursed it or wished I had bought differently. Two different boats and installed Terrovas both times. I’m 57 and fish alone most days. Manual deploy is not a hassle. I’ve use used manual deploy since the 70’s in my bass fishing days.

When those automatic units become as dependable as tilt and trim on outboards, I may consider it. Good luck if you buy one. There are good suggestions on these boards on what to do from people experienced with the breakdowns. ;-)

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Ditto!!

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I will add, if I fished alone, the manual Riptide wold be my choice. I still have it and use on my aluminum boat. However, being able to control the boat remotely and allowing others to fish from bow is a plus.

 

Going on three years. I'm a full time guide. Use it on about 75% of my trips so probably used 150 days a year. Nothing out of the ordinary.... get it serviced every year.

 

I love mine. Came on used boat I have had for a couple of months. No issues yet but anything I can do myself to keep it that way?? Lube?

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Keep the electrical connections cleaned. They big garage door screw looking thing you can spray with lithium grease. Otherwise nothing to do. Keep it updated.

 

They are neeto-mosquito, for sure. The jury's out on whether the convenience will be matched with the problems going forward. Any time you combine salt air, salt water, the Texas sun, mud daubers, bumpy rides and electronics...

I suspect the guys who use theirs every day will have fewer problems than the guys who use them only occasionally, with long periods of sun and dew and entropy in between trips. But that's just a guess.

One thing I suggest (strongly) is to watch the YouTubes on troubleshooting common problems BEFORE you head off on the open water. And make sure you have the simple tools they recommend in case of a stow/deploy issue, etc. Just ordinary tools, but you're hooped if you don't have them when you have a problem.

And good luck with the manuals. For example, we wanted to stow ours with the prop in the other direction. The manual seemed to be written by lawyers, with about 25 steps to get it done. On the water, it took all of about 10 seconds to reverse the direction- no tools required. Thank goodness I watched the YouTube and didn't follow the manual. I'd probably still be out there fiddling with it.

 

Love mine, im surprised i haven't broke it yet. It takes a beating in my boat when on plane and i have had it tag bottom many times. Its never let me down (except when i didn't charge the battery)

 

This post jinxed my Trolling motor! lol
It had been running perfect until I made this post
I was running out Saturday in some heavy chop and it slid out of the cradle a few inches. I stopped and it stowed right back. It did it again a miles down the bay and it stowed right back again. Finally got to some protected water and deployed it, It went vertical but didnt trim down. It would stow back and deploy back and forth but couldn't get it to trim down. Got it home and tried to do their reset procedure and it got stuck vertical. I think Im gonna get a back mount for long runs when I know I have to cross some open water on windy days.

 

I have one. When I want to use it, it is really convenient. I've had a mixed bag of problems with mine, all electrical related. Deck plug corrosion, wires from trolling motor to deck plug corrosion are very common issues. They are sensitive to electrical current so corrosion or a weak battery make the thing do silly stuff. That being said, it is super cool and for the most part has been a great piece of equipment on the boat.
My tips for owning one:
-keep the shaft sprayed down with silicone spray
-keep batteries fully charged
-keep spare remote control batteries in your boat
-unplug deck plug when done using for the day to allow it to dry out
-keep deck plug sprayed with CorrosionX or some other similar spray
-download the troubleshooting/trim and stow reset procedures to your phone or print out and keep on the boat

Mine is 4 years old and apparently the Ulterra is 2 or 3 generations improved and the new ones are better than what I have.

 

No issues, with mine, maintain and clean, good connections are a must

 

I use mine (36volt) about twice weekly, have never had a problem. I would never consider going back. Of course I'm a little older than a lot of you guys but without it, I wouldn't fish near as much.

 

The newer ones you dont need spare remote or spare battery. Can pair it to your phone with the app and use your phone as a backup. For a double up on everything and backups for your backups suspenders and belts be prepared boy scout like me it is a nice feature.

 

Since nobody has asked...what electronics/graph/fish finder do you already have? The Ulterra integrates with Humminbird, the Motorguide Xi series integrates with Lowrance/Simrad. Some of the tracking features are available if you link up the graph to the trolling motor. Humminbird can set a specific track and follow it, allowing you to fish hands free. With the Lowrance/Motorguide, you can do something similar, but yoou have to set specific waypoints for it to follow. The spot lock is MUCH more accurate on the Xi5 than the Minn Kota and I've heard nothing but horror stories about the auto deploy on both units in salt water. I chose the Xi5 because I have a Lowrance HDS Live and chose to go with the manual deploy model.

 

They are awesome until they are not. As long as you will never, ever , never, ever run out of power, or never , ever , ever trip a breaker , or never ever have it shut down while deployed you should be fine. Or get a Terrova and go on your way.

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Mobile Marine audio and electronics
832-726-5513
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Mine has for sure lost battery power while deployed. I started the big motor and continued to fish letting it charge for 10 minutes or so.... then quick easy reset and stow. No problem.

Before I learned how to do that I simply removed out of the quick release bracket and layed it down on the deck behind the seat in front of the raised back deck.

The pros far outweigh the very occasional challenge for me. Saving for the bigger battery....

 

Give me a basic good ole hand control trolling motor that will creap me down the banks of Rayburn and I'm happy.. Much less to go wrong IMO

 

I have a Terrova now, no issues at all, saltwater anode as well.

 

Why would anyone run lead acid or agm for their trolling motor? There's your problem right there.... dont blame the $2500 trolling motor. It's your $90 battery....
Get with YellowSkeeter and get a real trolling battery setup....

 

Yep, all you need is another 3 large or so for batteries.

 

Minn Kota Ulterra

Taking mine in tomorrow for the fourth time in 3 years. Broken belt, trim switch, trim module and now control board. I love it but if I have another issue I'm selling it and getting a non-deploy model. I don't fish everyday and boat is stored in a garage. I'm also anal about cleaning my equipment.

 

Great concept but they cause a lot of issues. My folks have a dealership and stopped selling them bc of all the headaches it was causing their customers

 

By the way I did a manual deploy just for the reasons most are speaking of. I don't want the added possibility of one more thing to not work or break on the water. Went with the terrova and lithium battery.

 

Am I the only one that has one that only deploys if I help it? Never had a stow problem but it rarely deploys on its own. I have to hit the deploy button and reach down real quick to help it or it trips almost every time.

Sport Marine has worked on it twice and gave up....don’t blame them...

 

When my Ulterra was giving me deploy/stow issues, I tightened the belt a little, sprayed the shaft with dry silicone spray, and greased the drive gear behind the side plate. I like mine when it works but I've had too many issues to trust it 100%. BTW- the Ulterra tv commercial launch method is actually pretty nerve wracking. I've done it once...

 

Bret they are very sensitive to voltage drop. Usually with bad connections or wiring.

And then if you have it hooked to a 12v battery like your starting battery and the upgraded on the run charging kit that starting battery can actually be the cause of what you describe.

Mine has been flawless.....until my connections got too corroded then started acting wonky. Changed and replaced. Then flawless.....till my starting battery started getting weak. Changed with new. Flawless.

 

Bret they are very sensitive to voltage drop. Usually with bad connections or wiring.

And then if you have it hooked to a 12v battery like your starting battery and the upgraded on the run charging kit that starting battery can actually be the cause of what you describe.

Mine has been flawless.....until my connections got too corroded then started acting wonky. Changed and replaced. Then flawless.....till my starting battery started getting weak. Changed with new. Flawless.

Have their own dedicated batteries, almost new. Had them replaced few months ago. It seems stiffer deploying now since they just worked on it last week. They couldn’t fix it. John said he didn’t know what the hell was wrong with it....

 

Might try Jimmy Clapp at A&M Boat Service at 832-423-5471. He is a Minn Kota authorized service tech. I bring him my Ulterra and Talons every year. He gets em set up right and files any warranty. He is good on these electronics. Tell him Sgrem sent you.

 

Thanks Steven, we have a tackle store down here, Slickwater(use to be Rosscos) that I believe is certified Minn Kota now. At some point I guess I’ll haul it over there. Kinda aggravating as it’s been this way since I bought it a couple of years ago. No way in hell I can just push my boat off at the launch and call it to me. I was looking forward to that....lol....I have the previous remote model(exterra?) sitting in my barn. I might as well put it back on....