Minn kota ulterra problems and solutions

[filetandrelease]

Sorry about your troubles Jethro
 Nothing like the good old inflation reduction act to build consumer trust 😡

[lowaccord66]

Sorry about your troubles Jethro
 Nothing like the good old inflation reduction act to build consumer trust 😡

No doubt Fred! 

[Mac Attack]

I love gumdrops.

Jelly beans too.

 

Yea Geoff.
I don’t mean to trialize your problems with your Ulterra.
Like you said, when they work, it’s an awesome piece of equipment.
But the constant problems are tough to swallow.

[lowaccord66]

Yup, fully sealed unit, nicely done Minn Kota- this was after the first season of occasional use in the salt:

Nothing like 4k in complete junk.  My buddy runs Lil Sister charters and has the same unit.  Same troubles. 

In hindsight maybe I shouldnt complain about my 2014 terrova not being the most accurate spot locker...it works every time.

[Mac Attack]

Nothing like 4k in complete junk.  My buddy runs Lil Sister charters and has the same unit.  Same troubles. 

In hindsight maybe I shouldnt complain about my 2014 terrova not being the most accurate spot locker...it works every time.

The newer ones have a far better GPS unit in them.
My newer 2020 Ulterra would hold course on autopilot FAR better than my 2013 Terrova.
Also, the puck is helpful for spotloc and especially the jog feature.
The puck doesn't help autopilot though.
Yea, the Terrova is pretty much bullet proof.

[filetandrelease]

 I have a 2009  terrova on my Lund,  I can’t complain it’s not perfect but it’s still chugging along , it would be nice if it had
 Lift assist ,
 One of my buds has a 2020 ulterra on his ranger and no troubles so far it has great features
 

[lowaccord66]

Yes lift assist would be nice. 

[gotagetm]

I have lift assistance on my terrova...whoever is in boat with me haha...I had option when I got mine to get a ulterra with lift assistance but had heard of the lift problems so decided on the terrova... right after I got mine my buddy ( Who had to have better then all others) got the ulterra and for first year nothing but problems basically all with deploy ...so I'm happy with my decision...I wanna get a long shaft one for Grady hopefully this winter some point ...still not sure if I'll go with the hand deploy or take a chance on self deploy
Ben
( leaning towards hand deploy)

[Jethro]

...still not sure if I'll go with the hand deploy or take a chance on self deploy
Ben
( leaning towards hand deploy)

I battled those thoughts HARD when I bought my setup, I wanted 36v Riptide with Link so the cost difference between the Terrova and Ulterra in that config was less than $400. I determined that I would always kick myself for not giving the Ulterra a shot for such a little cost difference in the grand scheme of things. With the Helix 9, 3 batteries and a digital on board charger it was about $5k all in so $400 is a drop in the bucket. I highly suggest you fight the thoughts and choose the Terrova. Yes, it's cool as hell to solo launch and not bother with dock lines and all that, yes it's great to be able to throttle up the main and not have to leave the helm and yes it's pretty fantastic when you are fishing alone in all respects, but it sucks to the high heavens when it fails to stow and you get those 3 buzz-beeps. Especially when you are in some choppy seas.

This year has been good, so far (as I knock on wood), I haven't smoked the batteries, it hasn't had any failures and when it works, it's amazing. The spot lock is downright amazing, I can back my boat up to a dock on the upwind side and spot lock 10" off the swim platform and it just will not move, it's truly amazing in that respect. 20mph winds, the 36v will not move more than a foot off spotlock.

One note about buying a motor with Link, if you have Humminbird graphs... there is a god d**n ethernet cord that hangs off the head unit that is for Link, I don't think the non-link units have this big, thick ethernet cord. This is a major fail of the utmost! That stupid cord get's all screwed up with the main power cord and wraps itself around anything, including the pivot for the steering housing. I have tried about 1000 different configurations with routing the cord, zip-tying it, and they all suck. In this day and age, wireless is the king and they have a friggin' 2 gauge cord just hanging off the back of the head to connect with the thousand dollar graph I have? This is probably the thing that pisses me off more than the lift mechanism failures. Why isn't it molded into the power coil? Or why isn't it completely wireless? Anyway.. I gotta stop complaining or I'm just gonna get more upset off.

[fishinator]

Nothing like 4k in complete junk.  My buddy runs Lil Sister charters and has the same unit.  Same troubles. 

In hindsight maybe I shouldnt complain about my 2014 terrova not being the most accurate spot locker...it works every time.

mine definitely isn't the most accurate spot locker. It likes to drift off the spot then turn on full speed to get back, then overshoot the spot and turn itself around.

[filetandrelease]

 I have lift assist on my smaller boat , and it is effortless , , but I’m 1 of those guys less bells and whistles the better ,less to have issues with ,I like to keep things simple , but that’s just me

[Mac Attack]

I have lift assistance on my terrova...whoever is in boat with me haha...I had option when I got mine to get a ulterra with lift assistance but had heard of the lift problems so decided on the terrova... right after I got mine my buddy ( Who had to have better then all others) got the ulterra and for first year nothing but problems basically all with deploy ...so I'm happy with my decision...I wanna get a long shaft one for Grady hopefully this winter some point ...still not sure if I'll go with the hand deploy or take a chance on self deploy
Ben
( leaning towards hand deploy)

You may already be aware of this, but I'm doing for clarification just in case.
The lift assist on the Terrova is not the stow and deploy mechanism on the Ulterra.
On the Terrovas these days they all have lift assist.
It is a yoyo (think tape measure) device that spring loads the shaft the further down it extends making it easier to lift up and out of the water.
I circled it in red on the attached images.

[Rugburn]

I have this version of the Terrova on my Lund Rebel and it works great!

[filetandrelease]

I’ve only seen 1 lift assist crap out and that was after I believe  6 years of serious use

[Mac Attack]

I’ve only seen 1 lift assist crap out and that was after I believe  6 years of serious use

I understand they are pretty easy to replace if needed too.