Terrova and Ulterra Trolling motors

Anybody have any experience with them/ Pros and cons, beside price?

I've been using a Terrova for two years now and love it. I bass fish so haven't taken advantage of the ability to make tracks to follow, but I love spot lock and use that quite a bit.

I use the foot control and have not used the remote control. I wanted the ability to use a foot control because I figure I always have two hands full with the fishing rod, I don't want to be fumbling for a remote to do something. If you trolled down the lake using a remote wouldn't be that big of a deal, but when constantly casting I didn't want to mess with a remote.

I did have a problem with the foot control, but Minn Kota replaced it with no problem. In fact turn around was very quick because they sent me a postage paid tag to put on the package, and as soon as it was scanned in when I dropped it off, they sent the replacement without waiting for mine to get there.

I have had a ulterra for 3 years and have never hooked up the foot control. Absolutely love it!!! Crappie and walleye are my main targets. Only con is stump fields can be a pain.

Check out an Ultrex if you're looking for a bad boy. They is a reason most tournament anglers for crappie and bass are running them. Got one on my boat and will never go back to the other ones.

Gotta look them up

Yeah right thousands of dollars for a trolling motor?

I've had a Terrova for 4 years and it has never worked right. I use the remote and when I push the spot lock it does the 360 dance over and over. Contacted the U.S distributor and talked to a specialist who said take the cover off twist the red and blue wire. Did that didn't help. They sent me a new head I installed it and it still doesn't work correctly. I must have gotten a pure lemon. Presently I going to purchase another Terrova and am hoping for much better luck because the one I have is pure junk.

They had well documented problems with the spot locks and self deploy mechanisms on the early ones. I think they got it straightened out now. The spot lock on mine holds the boat within 3 foot of when you set it. No matter how hard the winds blowing. Sucks they didn't fix or replace the older versions,with the updated new ones. Lots of guys severely peeved over that deal.

I have a terrova with I Pilot link that is on an ethernet hub with a 10 and 7 inch Helix G2's with lakemaster chips and it is amazing. I can tell it to follow a certain depth or give me a 50 foot offset from a given depth or follow a heading or whatever you can think of. I can stand up in the front of the boat and cast and I don't have to touch anything, just fish! I can use the fob to change my speed or make changes on either Helix in the boat. Love mine!

I am running the Ulterra 112 w I-Pilot link on my SeaArk, and love it. I use it for controlled drifting on the Mississippi, for big cats, and I have hundreds of waypoints recorded on my solix graph. I sent the trolling motor to the waypoints, which hold crappie.

I will be a buying an ultrex shortly. Primarily because I like to be able to put my foot on the pedal and know which way the motor is pointed without having to look at the head, or directional arrow.

The spot lock feature and heading feature will be nice for drifting bluecats in the Mississippi and straight-line trolling for crappie. Especially when fishing by yourself.

ol'dad

I have an ultrex and the spot lock is a game changer. I have it on a pontoon boat where I am able to move around, so most of the time I use the remote control but when I use the foot control I like being able to feel the direction the motor is pointed without looking down at it.

You'll like the hybrid power steering in the foot pedal to ol dad. Got mine paired in to a helix 12 on the console and running garmin 12inch with live scope on bow. Almost like cheating.

i know in the odd ball here i have xi5 motorguide.. it doesnt auto deploy...... but its spot on on anchor and 10 ft pan move any dir ya push the button !! i love it !!+

I see garmin is getting in the trolling motor game. Don't know any thing about them.

Thanks guys. Looks like I need to do some comparison shopping.

Motorguide has a true cable steer motor with spot lock coming out I was interested in but after 3 months and still no motor I'm growing a little impatient.

I have a Terrova. It's OK, but Garmin came out with theirs soon after. I run Garmin electronics so I wish I could have gotten their trolling motor.

It has changed how I fish. I do a lot of walleye fishing in a tiller boat. I used to run a transom trolling motor a lot. But, now I have much better boat control from the bow w/ the Terrova. Cost just shy of $2K.

I have a couple terrovas, and there's a lot I like about them, I really like the spot lock, etc. I HATE not having a foot pedal, so I have gone back to a foot pedal although I still use the handheld remote from time to time, and I have used the app when I forgot my remote. For muskie fishing a foot pedal is a must, I'm not taking my hand off that reel to adjust something while I have a fish on or in the middle of a cast.

Garmin and Lowrance have both introduced bowmount trolling motors but I don't have any experience with them. A friend is sponsored by Garmin (has a TV show) and he thinks they are the greatest thing ever, but of course he gets a fat paycheck from them.

There are just a few small differences between the two. When I bought the new boat they gave me the Ulterra for the same price so it was a no brainer. I love the auto deploy/retract. Comes in real nice when fishing big water on an angry day or when launching by myself. Just push the boat off the trailer, deploy the motor and tell it to go to a pre-set waypoint and go park the truck. Mine is also hooked into a Helix. If walleye or musky fishing I just let the motor follow a track or depth. Hands free and no worry about fumbling with foot pedal or remote. Somewhere in the Ulterra/Humminbird system there is also a means to control how from off the next depth graduation you want to fish. I think this would come in very handy on bowl lakes like Lake of the Woods where you are fishing huge flats where fish are relating to a difference in depth of just a few inches sometimes. I also use it a lot for trolling. I run my kicker motor in back and let the trolling motor do the steering for me. Not worrying about depth control or steering is a game changer and has added 14% catch rate in the boat. Gives me more time to pay attention to what I am doing and seeing on the graph vs watching depth, steering, and speed.

Either way you decide to go Terrova or the Ulterra you will be happy. I have only looked at the Ultrex so far. A new boat is still a year away but it will be something that I will be looking into as well.

Just hearsay, but a close friend of mine is the only authorized minn kota repair shop for a 200 mile radius near a larger fishing destination. He told me to stay away from the Ulterra because he sees a lot of issues with the auto deploy/retract feature.

ol'dad

Old news. That issue was fixed 3 years ago. Unfortunately I had to have the head replaced right out the gate for that exact reason. Flawless since. Another reason that they were having issues with that was dealers were putting in a 50 amp breaker like the Terrova uses and the Ulterra requires minimum 60.

You were right! So far, it has been worth the purchase. Its been on my boat now for two weeks. Having the ability to straight-line troll from the back of the boat when by myself is a game changer for sure. I have taken full advantage of the spot lock, heading lock, and ITrack feature. If I had to chose between upping the horsepower of my main engine, or purchasing an Ultrex/terrova/ulterra, it would be an easy decision. Buy the trolling motor!

ol'dad

Great post. I have been doing a lot of research and will be pulling the trigger on a Terrova 80 MDI. This unit has a built in transducer on the motor head and is Mega Down Imaging capable. Will hook it up to a Hummingbird Helix unit on the bow.

Chris

We just bought a ranger bass boat with a xi5 on it. It is amazing! No wonder people are willing to pay that kind on money for a trolling motor. Sorry, I don’t know anything about the higher end minnkotas

I ended up getting a Terrova last week. I've gone out a couple of times with it. No fishing, just figuring it out and marking spots on the spot lock. For the kind of fishing I do, hitting humps, brushpiles, weedlines and dropoffs for walleyes and crappies, this thing is awesome. I would rather fish jigs and slip bobbers than troll but I can see where this would be a game changer if you like to fish that way. Thanks everyone for your input.

I’m still running the minn kota genesis. The first self deploy and stow trolling motor. Only about half of them worked, but I got a good one

I’ve had a Terrova and used and abused it for 8 years. Hasn’t missed a beat. I see a guy with a brand new Ulterra try and deploy it last spring and it was frozen

What is the difference between the two? and also compare it to the motor guide. I have had good luck with other motor guide products......jk

I have a Terrova its the best thing since the fishing pole and boat.