Minnkota Terrova vs. MotorGuide Xi5

DirtyMike

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I've had the motorguide xi5 and absolutely loved it. But, it went away with the old boat. I just sold the shitty terrova off the new boat after I spent an afternoon trying to anchor lock on a river seam. Never seen such garbage. SO, a new bow mount needed. You have two hours to convince me otherwise before I'm out of the office to go purchase the next one.
 


Holmsvc

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The new spot lock on the terrovas is supposed to be a lot better.
 

DirtyMike

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Was the Xi5 Controller a little lackluster? Yes, but it did the trick. The wireless foot pedal wasn't a huge advantage/disadvantage for me. I don't use the pedal unless I have to pull those gross live bait rigs and metal weight contraptions.

But....I do hear the new terrova is pretty nice with the bluetooth feature and other jazz. My one tipping point is that I kept the mounting plate. I wouldn't need to buy anything to actually mount it.

If I buy the ulterra I'm only solidifying the fact that I'm not a young buck anymore.
 


troutslayer

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Id have a hard time going without the auto-deploy of the Ulterra. As my back gets worse and my belly gets bigger, it only verifies that feature as a must have.
 

Fishmission

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XI5 is a bit cheaper than the minkota. The remote takes getting used to, but your already familiar with that. You have Lowrance right?
 

JayKay

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Was the Xi5 Controller a little lackluster? Yes, but it did the trick. The wireless foot pedal wasn't a huge advantage/disadvantage for me. I don't use the pedal unless I have to pull those gross live bait rigs and metal weight contraptions.

But....I do hear the new terrova is pretty nice with the bluetooth feature and other jazz. My one tipping point is that I kept the mounting plate. I wouldn't need to buy anything to actually mount it.

If I buy the ulterra I'm only solidifying the fact that I'm not a young buck anymore.

Ask yourself this: Are you a young buck anymore? No? Well then, there you have it.
 

Bfishn

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Just get the Ulterra, its not just for old stiffs
 

revolutionz

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I had the old terrova on my boat. My buddy got the Bluetooth one when he bought his ZV18 last year. Night and day difference, enough that I sold mine this spring and bought a new terrova with the Bluetooth. I'll admit I'm a sucker for the features of the link with my humminbird graphs though. I don't have any experience with the motorguide for comparision, but the new terrova vs old is a night and day difference as far as spot lock and autopilot type features. They added a couple new features too that are kind of nice. I never use the foot pedal so that part is irrelevant for me.
 


DirtyMike

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XI5 is a bit cheaper than the minkota. The remote takes getting used to, but your already familiar with that. You have Lowrance right?

They're both in that $1700 range right now and with a $75 rebate from minnkota, they're about even. I do have lowrances but I wouldn't link them anyway.
 

Coldfront

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Here my 2 cents worth. I had a Terrova and spot lock worked perfect. Replaced it with a Ulterra and spot lock was a piece of you know what. I called Minnkota several times and they sent me out a new control unit that goes on the motor. Still didn't work. Then one day while I was in the Advanced mode I seen Legacy Spot Lock and I turned that on and it worked like my old Terrova. They should have a recall on all Ulterra motors and update them.
 

westwolfone

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I had the old terrova on my boat. My buddy got the Bluetooth one when he bought his ZV18 last year. Night and day difference, enough that I sold mine this spring and bought a new terrova with the Bluetooth. I'll admit I'm a sucker for the features of the link with my humminbird graphs though. I don't have any experience with the motorguide for comparision, but the new terrova vs old is a night and day difference as far as spot lock and autopilot type features. They added a couple new features too that are kind of nice. I never use the foot pedal so that part is irrelevant for me.


I don't mean to hijack thread, but is it possible to just buy the new improved control head and put that on an old Terrova?
 


MuskyManiac

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I don't mean to hijack thread, but is it possible to just buy the new improved control head and put that on an old Terrova?

Probably not, but it's more than just the head. The new Terrova turns way faster than the old one and I'm sure this aids a lot in the much improved anchor mode.
 

Fox Island Outfitter

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My old Terrova was pretty darn good but fished with buddies that had some very crappy ones when it came to spot lock. My new boat has an ulterra and it is so far pretty unbelievable. I don’t move when it’s on anchor mode. Most of the time the boat won’t even spin or adjust like it did with the terrova. Linked with my birds it’s quite the setup.
 

DirtyMike

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Bought you guys another 12 hours or so. Now the ulterra crowd has me thinking again.
 


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