Minn Kota Ultrex

[gim]

I finally had the opportunity to see this new bow mount in person at the Bassmaster Elite AOY at Mille Lacs and it looks legit.  The rep said spot lock on this new model is accurate to within a foot and a half.  He said about a dozen pros are using it this weekend on their rigs and they have found it to be incredible when fishing deeper offshore structure when the wind is blowing because they'll catch a fish and it holds them there while they land it, and the boat is still in the same spot when they resume fishing.  Because its still steers like a cable drive, the motor has quick response turning too.  In smallmouth country, it seems like motor will eventually be on a lot of bass rigs.  The rep said it can actually take the place of a power pole or talon too.

[SWMIBASSER]

WAY to expensive for me. So I may be biased with ***. 

With that said the updated ipilot on other models is supported to be more accurate than when it first came out. 

Ipilot is available on the powerdrive v2 and the Terrova. 

The Pd has a different mount and pedal and it's not for everyone but as far as I can tell the ultrexx and Terrova are the same motor minus the power trim and stow

[iabass8]

If buying a new boat or optioning a boat, the cost of the ultrex is on par or a little cheaper than say a 24v 80 fortrex + single PP. Significantly cheaper than a 24v 80# Fortrex + 2 PP.  If buying one just to upgrade I can see the price being a bit difficult to swallow.  From the sounds of it, it looks like a legit game changer. I've fished countless times in the area Ott was fishing at the Onalaska Spillway and it is, like he said, too deep for poles/talons in areas and can be a PITA keeping your position in the current. Just by watching him, he was holding in perfect position hardly moving an inch with the Ultrex.  I'm going to give it over the winter to make a decision and let others use it but I may be getting it in the spring. I can just see how it will make my life 1000xs easier fishing weedlines and below wingdams. I would like to hear more reports on how well the anchor keeps you in place in relation to where you engaged it. I fish a lot of laydowns where I need to stay in 1 spot, I'm excited for it so far.

[SWMIBASSER]

3 minutes ago, iabass8 said:

If buying a new boat or optioning a boat, the cost of the ultrex is on par or a little cheaper than say a 24v 80 fortrex + single PP. Significantly cheaper than a 24v 80# Fortrex + 2 PP.  If buying one just to upgrade I can see the price being a bit difficult to swallow.  From the sounds of it, it looks like a legit game changer. I've fished countless times in the area Ott was fishing at the Onalaska Spillway and it is, like he said, too deep for poles/talons in areas and can be a PITA keeping your position in the current. Just by watching him, he was holding in perfect position hardly moving an inch with the Ultrex.  I'm going to give it over the winter to make a decision and let others use it but I may be getting it in the spring. I can just see how it will make my life 1000xs easier fishing weedlines and below wingdams. I would like to hear more reports on how well the anchor keeps you in place in relation to where you engaged it. I fish a lot of laydowns where I need to stay in 1 spot, I'm excited for it so far.

The point I was trying to make is that a Terrova offers the same spot lock and anchor features among others, for less money

 

 

 

[Wayne P.]

18 minutes ago, Sanother siteBASSER said:

The point I was trying to make is that a Terrova offers the same spot lock and anchor features among others, for less money

 

 

 

The Terrova does not have the feel feed back that a cable steer motor has or the quick response for BASS fishing around docks and timber that the Ultrex has.

With the Ultrex, there is less of a chance falling overboard when stowing or deploying the motor. It has the same mount as the Fortrex--folding with lift assist.

The Ultrex does NOT have power trim and stow, that is the Ultrerra. The Ulterra is more like the Terrova and Powerdrive.

The Ultrex is also Humminbird 360 compatible.

 

 

 

 

[SWMIBASSER]

Hmmmm

 

This is a new motor.. My mistake

 

So I'm curious how the steering actually compares to cable steering 

 

Edit: Ugh. After reading about it more I realize I just need to win the lotto to afford all the new tech 

[Wayne P.]

3 hours ago, Sanother siteBASSER said:

Hmmmm

 

This is a new motor.. My mistake

 

So I'm curious how the steering actually compares to cable steering 

 

Edit: Ugh. After reading about it more I realize I just need to win the lotto to afford all the new tech 

 They are being testing big time now. This is two of them:

 

Another one:

[Further North]

4 hours ago, Wayne P. said:

The Terrova does not have the feel feed back that a cable steer motor has or the quick response for BASS fishing around docks and timber that the Ultrex has.

With the Ultrex, there is less of a chance falling overboard when stowing or deploying the motor. It has the same mount as the Fortrex--folding with lift assist.

The Ultrex does NOT have power trim and stow, that is the Ultrerra. The Ulterra is more like the Terrova and Powerdrive.

The Ultrex is also Humminbird 360 compatible.

It's the 360° compatability that has me looking.  I've had the transom mount 360° since it came out and while it's great...I sure would like to have that transducer right at my feet rather that 19 feet away at the back of the boat.

I Just bought an Ulterra this spring, love it.  The power stow is great...bit it's to power trim that I really like...it's sooooo much easier to go into shallow water with the Ulterra than the Terrova...also, when I'm up in the bow trying to skip under a dock, I can drop the Ulterra head right down to the deck and not worry about smacking the rod into the head or the shaft.

Can't power trim the Ultrex...

...so...for me, it'll come down to deciding if front mounted 360° is more important than being able to easily go shallow, or drop the head to the deck.  A 45" Ulterra would be the cat's PJs...but you could not get one with Link when I bought mine.  Gotta have Link.

[tcbass]

14 minutes ago, Further North said:

It's the 360° compatability that has me looking.  I've had the transom mount 360° since it came out and while it's great...I sure would like to have that transducer right at my feet rather that 19 feet away at the back of the boat.

I Just bought an Ulterra this spring, love it.  The power stow is great...bit it's to power trim that I really like...it's sooooo much easier to go into shallow water with the Ulterra than the Terrova...also, when I'm up in the bow trying to skip under a dock, I can drop the Ulterra head right down to the deck and not worry about smacking the rod into the head or the shaft.

Can't power trim the Ultrex...

...so...for me, it'll come down to deciding if front mounted 360° is more important than being able to easily go shallow, or drop the head to the deck.  A 45" Ulterra would be the cat's PJs...but you could not get one with Link when I bought mine.  Gotta have Link.

Why doesn't the Ulterra have 360'?

Will the improved Ulterra have have 360'?

[Further North]

57 minutes ago, tcbass said:

Why doesn't the Ulterra have 360'?

Tte motor shafts on the Terrova and the Ulterra rotate...and they also slide all the way up and down within the housing as they deploy.  Both stop you from using the the bow mount 360°.

On the cable steer trolling motors, there is a "shaft within a shaft" that rotates...and the shafts do not slide up and down within the housing, so you where you mount the 360° can stay in the same place.

A friend of mine did this:

 

Worked great until he ran the transducer into the bottom and bent the mount...

57 minutes ago, tcbass said:

Will the improved Ulterra have have 360'?

I'll let the experts weigh in...but I doubt it.

What I'd really like to see is a DI transducer with the US2.  We're long overdue for this, IMO.

[Wayne P.]

24 minutes ago, tcbass said:

Why doesn't the Ulterra have 360'?

Will the improved Ulterra have have 360'?

It is called common sense and no. It has to remain stationary.

The bow 360 is designed to clamp to the UPPER NON-ROTATING shaft of a foot control CABLE steer trolling motor. Specifically the Fortrex and Maxxum. It fits an Edge also. With a Motor Guide, the new X3 and X5 will work, but the older motors need a custom adapter for the shaft size difference.

I use one with my Motor Guide Tour.

The new Ultrex has a special mount for it under the steering housing. Look at the bottom picture above.

In all cases, it stows and deploys with the trolling motor.

The only way to use it attached to an Ulterra is a custom apparatus made by a third party mfg called Cumberland Crappie. Other choices are custom mounts that are not attached to the trolling motor and attach to the hull. The crappie community has invented those custom mounts to have the 360 at the bow with their preferred trolling motor type.

 

[Further North]

4 hours ago, Wayne P. said:

It is called common sense and no. It has to remain stationary.

Wayne...I'd challenge that.  If someone hasn't seen both the bow mount 360° and how Terrova/Ulterra TMs work, it's hard to get a handle on it.

I had a helluva time explaining it to folks, but I can show it to them in 10 seconds.

4 hours ago, Wayne P. said:

The only way to use it attached to an Ulterra is a custom apparatus made by a third party mfg called Cumberland Crappie.

Thanks for mentioning that - I had not seen it.  Looks pretty slick, I wonder how it lasts long term?  I assume it voids the warranty on th emotor though, so it's at least another full season out for me.

4 hours ago, Wayne P. said:

Other choices are custom mounts that are not attached to the trolling motor and attach to the hull. The crappie community has invented those custom mounts to have the 360 at the bow with their preferred trolling motor type.

Similar to what my buddy did above?

[JMKSR]

6 hours ago, iabass8 said:

If buying a new boat or optioning a boat, the cost of the ultrex is on par or a little cheaper than say a 24v 80 fortrex + single PP. Significantly cheaper than a 24v 80# Fortrex + 2 PP.  If buying one just to upgrade I can see the price being a bit difficult to swallow.  From the sounds of it, it looks like a legit game changer. I've fished countless times in the area Ott was fishing at the Onalaska Spillway and it is, like he said, too deep for poles/talons in areas and can be a PITA keeping your position in the current. Just by watching him, he was holding in perfect position hardly moving an inch with the Ultrex.  I'm going to give it over the winter to make a decision and let others use it but I may be getting it in the spring. I can just see how it will make my life 1000xs easier fishing weedlines and below wingdams. I would like to hear more reports on how well the anchor keeps you in place in relation to where you engaged it. I fish a lot of laydowns where I need to stay in 1 spot, I'm excited for it so far.

Don't wait until spring. Watch pricing from after christmas until late Febuary, you will be amazed at how much they drop. My terova went from $1954.00 to $1450.00 the price I bought at.

 

[iabass8]

Just now, JMKSR said:

Don't wait until spring. Watch pricing from after christmas until late Febuary, you will be amazed at how much they drop. My terova went from $1954.00 to $1450.00 the price I bought at.

 

Price isnt the concern. Time on the water reviews /likes/dislikes are what I'm after.

[tcbass]

3 hours ago, JMKSR said:

Don't wait until spring. Watch pricing from after christmas until late Febuary, you will be amazed at how much they drop. My terova went from $1954.00 to $1450.00 the price I bought at.

 

Are there a couple of price drops normally or just one?

Are they permanent price drops or sales?

[JMKSR]

9 hours ago, tcbass said:

Are there a couple of price drops normally or just one?

Are they permanent price drops or sales?

I started checking prices around Christmas, go to different sites be vigilant . About mid January I started to notice the prices lowering , be patient. I checked 2 3 Times a week, once I saw 1650 I thought if it goes below 15 I buy, it did and I did. It was the 3rd week of Febuary, I checked prices the next week and they went back up to 1650 and continued upwards. Be vigilant, you'll get a good price.

[Further North]

I doubt we'll see much for price drops on the Ultrex (unless it doesn't sell well) in early 2017.

The Terrovas and Ulterras were dropped because of new tech that'll be available in '17.

[tcbass]

19 minutes ago, Further North said:

I doubt we'll see much for price drops on the Ultrex (unless it doesn't sell well) in early 2017.

The Terrovas and Ulterras were dropped because of new tech that'll be available in '17.

So do you think there won't be any price drops on the improved Ulterras? 

 

[Further North]

That'd be my bet, but I'm wrong on a regular basis.

There might be a "sale" that'll drop the price some, for a short time at a regular retail "holiday"*, but an overall price drop would surprise me.

You could probably get sweet deals on the old tech between now and the time the new ones come out though.

*Think Christmas, tax return time, spring fishing sales, fall inventory reductions on fishing gear...stuff like that.

[tcbass]

23 minutes ago, Further North said:

That'd be my bet, but I'm wrong on a regular basis.

There might be a "sale" that'll drop the price some, for a short time at a regular retail "holiday"*, but an overall price drop would surprise me.

You could probably get sweet deals on the old tech between now and the time the new ones come out though.

*Think Christmas, tax return time, spring fishing sales, fall inventory reductions on fishing gear...stuff like that.

Yeah, I don't doubt they'd want to try to get rid of old stock. I'm looking for a sale on the improved Ulterra though.

[JMKSR]

I bought my Terrova Febuary 2014 for $1454.95  long before the Ultrex came out, either way you won't get hurt by watching the price into this Febuary. Good luck.

[A-Jay]

There is a new 112 Fortrex on Pro V Bass right now -

Once I can check out the new Ultrex and as long as there aren't any "Surprises", I'm switching it out.

While I'm at it, that 360 will make a nice addition as well.

 And some fortunate human is going to get a Sweet Deal on a barely broke-in Fortrex.

A-Jay

[Further North]

8 hours ago, tcbass said:

Yeah, I don't doubt they'd want to try to get rid of old stock. I'm looking for a sale on the improved Ulterra though.

I would guess that fall 2017 will be the first opportunity for any real sale pricing.

[FryDog62]

Sign me up for the new Ultrex... The improvement in spot-lock alone will be a deal-maker for me.

Can anyone clarify if Ultrex will be compatible with 998's in terms of "follow the contour?"  Or will it only work on Onix/Helix models?

[Wayne P.]

4 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

Sign me up for the new Ultrex... The improvement in spot-lock alone will be a deal-maker for me.

Can anyone clarify if Ultrex will be compatible with 998's in terms of "follow the contour?"  Or will it only work on Onix/Helix models?

"follow the contour" is a feature with iPilot Link and Lakemaster or Auto Chart mapping.

Any Humminbird unit that is Ethernet capable will do that. Either version of the 998 is included.

The Ultrex will have an iPilot and iPilot Link version. The Link version may be out around January.