Designed to fail..And I hate it...

[lowaccord66]

Also, be sure to check your onboard charger to make sure it can handle lithium batteries.  I understand they need a special charger.

They do.  I have the newest minnkota 4 bank charger that can handle both agm and lithium.  Made sure to check when I bought it.

[Baitbucket]

Im ready to switch to lithium for the weight savings.

Ive been watching them as well, but the price just doesnt outweigh the gain at the moment.

My motor calls for atleast 105ah battery. The batteries i have are 110ah and weight 50lbs ea. They were about 100$ each.
The Lithium equivalent is only 100ah and weigh 33lbs ea at about 700-800$ each.

200$ vs 1500$ to save 34lbs

Luckily they have been dropping in price.

[Mac Attack]

Ive been watching them as well, but the price just doesnt outweigh the gain at the moment.

My motor calls for atleast 105ah battery. The batteries i have are 110ah and weight 50lbs ea. They were about 100$ each.
The Lithium equivalent is only 100ah and weigh 33lbs ea at about 700-800$ each.

200$ vs 1500$ to save 34lbs

Luckily they have been dropping in price.

It’s not only the weight advantage
I understand that they last far longer than AGM’s and lead acid batteries.

[Doubles Shooter]

It’s not only the weight advantage
I understand that they last far longer than AGM’s and lead acid batteries.

That can be a big plus. You can also build your own pack a lot cheaper than factory lithium. Lots of info on that out there.

[Baitbucket]

It’s not only the weight advantage
I understand that they last far longer than AGM’s and lead acid batteries.

I get 4-6hrs of trolling with just my minn kota. I can get more if im trolling spoons and use my main motor to push and my minn kota to follow the track. If im just using spot lock, it will go all day.

That can be a big plus. You can also build your own pack a lot cheaper than factory lithium. Lots of info on that out there.

I build my own for ice fishing, wasnt tricky at all. I may look into it for my trolling motor as well.

[Mac Attack]

I ordered the Ulterra last week.

It will take 4-5 weeks to come in they said.

Now I get to sweat while fishing for the next few years while on pins and needles waiting for it to crap out on me.

 

[stripernut]

It will be great until it isn't...

[filetandrelease]

 Worrying about it won’t change the out come , just go fish 😉

[lowaccord66]

I need to upgrade.  Funny looking at the motor now with a big ps22 panoptix transducer hanging off the side of it.

[Jethro]

I ordered the Ulterra last week.

It will take 4-5 weeks to come in they said.

Now I get to sweat while fishing for the next few years while on pins and needles waiting for it to crap out on me.

 

Guess what Mac... mine is having issues.



...but not related to the stow/deploy or trim. Steering box may need replacement. And it's my fault.

[Mac Attack]

Guess what Mac... mine is having issues.



...but not related to the stow/deploy or trim. Steering box may need replacement. And it's my fault.

What happened Geoff?

[lowaccord66]

Did you let spot lock wrap the cord up super tight?  I'm not sure how one could blow up the gear box if they tried.

[fishinator]

Did you let spot lock wrap the cord up super tight?  I'm not sure how one could blow up the gear box if they tried.

  I didn't know the cord could wrap itself up. I have an older terrova and it won't. If it makes too many revolutions one way it automatically goes the other way to unwrap.

[lowaccord66]

  I didn't know the cord could wrap itself up. I have an older terrova and it won't. If it makes too many revolutions one way it automatically goes the other way to unwrap.

My terrova will do the same....sometimes...other times it tries to strangle itself.  Also doesn't like spot locking under bridges.  Tried to send me into an abutment the other night.

[Jethro]

What happened Geoff?

So I have gotten into the habit of leaving it deployed and trimmed quite a bit down, sometimes all the way down (not anymore) when it's stored at home. One of the videos on Youtube talks about how the trim motor housing holds water when it's in the stowed position and I can confirm that is correct because even 3 days after any use or rain, if I deploy the motor, a good amount of water pours down the shaft. So now I always store it in the upright position. In the lowest trim position it is maybe an inch above the ground when it's on my trailer jack. Well, the other day I hooked the boat up to do some work on my trailer and pulled the boat like like 4 feet. I didn't realize the motor was trimmed all the way down and when I put it on the hitch and moved the trailer, the keel of the motor was like an inch in the sand and turned the head 90 degrees. Thankfully most of my driveway is soft like beach sand, so all it did was turned the motor head. The bad part is the motor was turned on, because I was meant to stow it right before this happened. You only want to turn the motor head manually when the motor is not turned on, otherwise the Powerdrive motor is engaged and can get damaged. So now, when I steer left or right, every 20 degrees or so there is a very slight delay like something is loose or got stripped. It works fine, it's barely noticeable, but it will need service at the end of the season. Hopefully it will be a warranty but it might not.

So far everything that has gone wrong with the motor has absolutely been my fault. It's got a learning curve, and I'm a dummy.