Minn Kota Ultrex Review On July 12, 2016
Minn Kota Ultrex Review
I am at ICAST 2016 at Orlando, Florida and I finally got my foot on the new Minn Kota Ultrex and I am really impressed.
This motor is cable steer plus electric steer so you get the advantages of both.
The cable steer models give you feedback from the pedal on where the trolling motor is pointed so I can control it without watching which way the head is pointing. With electric steer motors I watch the head to see which way it is pointed.
The cable drive foot pedal is much easier to control while fishing and is hands free. The electric steer pedals suck compared to cable steer so I use the hand held control.
Another disadvantage of the cable steer is when under power and you take your foot off the pedal to catch a fish it doesn’t stay straight but the electric steer does.
The Ultrex gives you the advantages of both which is an amazing accomplishment by Minn Kota.
I use both the Minn Kota Ulterra and the MotorGuide Xi5 for 2 seasons and love both. I used to spend all my time in the bow on a Minn Kota Fortrex until I found the value of Spot Lock.
The MotorGuide Anchor Lock works much better than the Minn Kota Spot Lock and that advantage is now gone.
My test showed the new Spot Lock was the best I have used. The boat didn’t move off the spot and the jog feature worked as advertised. The jog feature allows you to move the boat left/right/ahead/back in increments of 5 ft. My MotorGuide has the feature and is very valuable so getting this on the Minn Kota makes my day. The old Minn Kota Spot Lock didn’t have this and you had to disengage the Spot Lock, move the boat to where you wanted and engage Spot Lock but I never got the boat exactly where I wanted and now it works the way I want.
I ran the cable steer and it was smooth and responsive like my Fortrex. Looks like I will be back on the bow when I need the precision control of cable steer.
The stow and deploy is the old pull a cord method but works well and I had no problem pulling it and I am 67 YO.
It looks like I will give up my Ulterra for the Ultrex when it becomes available in spite of how much I like a motor the stows and deploys with the push of a button from my console seat!