My friend wants to get a trolling motor with electronic anchoring. He has been a long time Minn Kota guy but the 70lb Minn Kota Powerdrive that fits his price range does not come with a short enough shaft.
He is looking at a Motorguide Xi5-80 with a 45" shaft. He says by and large customer reviews are good but the ones that aren't are scary.
Does anyone have experience with this Motorguide model or Motorguide in general? Anybody able to compaer which has better electronic anchoring (spot-lock)?
tuffy2,i just got a new Ulterra and my spotlock wanders 8-10 feet before it corrects itself.Seems like it wanders all over the place.How does yours do?I might try to do the two circles again in case the heading sensor didn't take the first time.Just wondering before i call the tech support/Thanks
I went from Bird/Terova back to Lowrance/xi5 2 years ago. Today id still get the Lowrance xi5 combo and link them. Reason is they both are better imo. As far as 45” shaft are you sure? You lose about 6-8” of shaft compared to a normal foot controll bow mount motor. I also had the random speed up thing going on at first with the xi5. I didnt have it set up correctly. If i remember it had something to do with setting up the GPS and boat orientation so the xi5 knew exatly what direction was forward. Couple things i really like is the spot lock/anchor what ever its called is very quick to get and hold you on a spot compared to the terrova and that spot is about 5’ not 35’.
Have him read my post I started. When they work I like it better than minn kota but if they don't good luck. Motorguide anchor is better in my opinion I've had both. I like lowrance better so I went with motorguide. If humminbird I would have stuck with minn kota. Having the motor linked to the locator is really nice
http://www.lake-link.com/forums//boats-and-motors//motorguide-xi5/128670/
I have the 2017 Terrova with the updated Spotlock. It works flawlessly, so I am very happy with it.
I had a Motorguide on my last boat. The US sonar leaked and burned out the motor. I called them even though it was out of warranty. They replaced it without a question, as the motor had a recall that I wasn't aware of. Both great companies with excellent products.
I have the xi5. The spot lot is great. I do have issues with it going from cruise control at .5-.7 mph to full bore with no user input. The only way to correct it is to power down (unplug) the unit and then start over. That happens 0-3 times a trip. Annoying but still really like the unit. Need to call Motor Guide on the speed up issue though.
I have an old (3 years old) Powerdrive V2 that i put an i-Pilot Link into the head. I also cut the shaft myself to shorten it. BTW, I don't recommend cutting it yourself, but if you do, note that those shafts are MUCH thicker walled and tougher than you might think. You ain't cutting it with a pipe cutter like a friend thought you could. The folks at the marina that sell minnkotas should be able to cut it for you, tho.
Anyhow, the spot-lock on the older one is awful. It works a little better in steady current, but on a lake, the wind isn't steady. That thing will buck and jump all over the place. It's so bad that Minnkota came out with a new one, and yup, it doesn't work with the Powerdrive motors. So I can't tell you how well the new one works, but if you run into the old i-Pilot heads for the Minnkota Powerdrive and you are thinking of picking it up cheap for the spot-lock, just know it isn't even close to pinpoint accuracy. Unless the pinpoint is the size of a house or more.
