Minn Kota vs Motorguide

[Zeeke]

Currently ive got a 52lb Motorguide Magnum FW model for my lure fishing, its a cable driven bowmount, for saltwater corrosion resistance i coat the motor down once a month with a paint on lanoline, and spray the controls with lanoline so the wiring and cables dont rust up, ive had it for 7 months now i think.. been awhile.. and use it upto 4 times a week, i always wash it down with freshwater as soon as i get home because i do fish in the salt.. and i grease the bearings every so often.. now i must admit this, i treat it like shit when i go fishing, it gets plowed into mud, rocks, oysters, pylons, sand..trees.. heh.. everything, and the paint is chipping off big time, in a few weeks i plan on upgrading to the MinnKota Riptide 55ap.. seeing as the motorguide was my first experience on a boat with an electric and having one.. and its cable driven, can any of you folks tell me how the 55ap Riptide handles, is it gonna give me troubles? once ive had the riptide i'll be writing a full article on the 2 motors to compare them on how i feel about them, but id like to know what you think about the Minn kota.. also.. do you guys use the Quick Release Brackets??

Tim

[davo]

I've got RT65AP 24volt on my Fisher 4.8m plate alloy. Its nearly 12months old and so far so good. I've also got a RT42 transom mount and it's done a lot more and it's also great. I have had problems with the the old Mariners which were Motorguides but thats a long time ago. I'm curious too about the motorguides seeing as they have a saltwater version here now.

[Zeeke]

I like the idea of the big motorguide.. but its 24volt.. im trying to decress weight and go to something simpler.. and well.. 72lbs of thrust is alot of grunt for a lil boat.. mines only 4.3 meters but im getting 6 knots from a 52lb leccy

Tim

[team_mongo]

Tim,

I've got a MK 65AP on my 560 quinnie topender. I goes fine, gets about 4-5 knots, but the quinnies got so much freeboard that in 2ft swell the prop sometimes cavitates, which can be a pain when chasing those goldens in hervey bay.

This is the second AP that we've had, and they're great. The first and original chucked a wobbly, when the compass went. It kept spinning around and around and around... Haven't had that problem with the new one.

I use the quick release brackets, and have one at the stern and one at the bow. We put the electric on the stern when travelling - on the road or smashing through the chop. Hopefully save the compass..

I think the motor guides are great when you get use to them, but I prefer the AP, just point it in the direction you want to face, and it does the rest. Its great for holding station in a current, so you can bash a snag.

Look forward to your report.

Cheers
George

[Zeeke]

cheers for the info George.. the more i hear about these MinnKota Riptide AP's i feel i should have just gone with them instead of the motorguide

btw, in my review.. my main topic will whats better.. cable or servo.. not really the brand.. it just happens that motorguide just dont make servo driven bowmounts

Tim

[Zeeke]

Just sold my motorguide for $200 which is pretty good since the motor is still in A1 condition.. just carrying a couple of battle scars around the ass of it

Tim

[craigie]

G'day Zeeke,

I'm faced with a similar situation to you, MK or Motorguide. My current boat has a MK42 AP, It's mounted on a 4.6 Kakadu (the big brother of your boat). It's a bit gutless in tidal flow or wind, but it's still o.k.
If you go with the 55 it should have plenty of grunt.

Motorguide don't build a Bow Mount motor where you can sit at the back of your boat and control it if you just wanted to sit back and troll. The other advantage would be that you can read your main sounder from this position.

I'm setting up a new rig in the near future, and although MotorGuide have a wonderful Saltwater Bow Mount with 82lb thrust, It's cable control only. MK offer a 65 lb thrust Auto Pilot with Hand/Foot Control with 5metres of extension cord.
Wish I could combine the best features from both leccies and produce the Ultimate Bow Mount.

Quick release brackets are a must. I don't have them now and It's a pain in the arse.

Regards
Craigie.

[Zeeke]

cheers Craigie, some good info there,, im hooked on the MinnKota's.. im picking up my 55ap next week hopefully

reading the sounder is a bonus.. but i run 2 in my boat.. one off the transom and one on the leg of the leccy.. so that was never a problem.. cept the sounder worked when it wanted to.. which was too often.. heh..

Im pretty sure ill be happy with the MinnKota... it'll only be 3lbs more thrust then my motorguide.. but.. it has more features then the motorguide.. as you said, longer cable, control and ofcourse.. the quick release bracket!

Tim

[Cloud_9]

i've got one of each 36 lb turbo minn kota. & a 35lb merc thruster ( moto glide) i've found the minn kota quite and its really old.
And the moto glide is new and its noisy, well it whines.

[Zeeke]

got the MinnKota on saturday morning and installed it in the afternoon, so far im extremely impressed with the quality in the MinnKota, i used in on sunday arvo/night and even tho it turned slower, i noticed it held position alot better and with the auto pilot, i could set it against the wind and tide and just cruise along the bank flicking lures at snags .. only problems ive had is i mounted the quick release plate too far forward in my opinion so the motor was hanging atleast 6" infront of the boat so ive moved it back a couple of inches and it now looks better and deploys properly.. also the bloody power cord.. they are too damn short, so ive got the largest waterproof marine plug i could find and wired that up so i can now just plug the leccy in, do up the screws and its mounted and ready to rock and roll, making everything SOOOOOOO much easier then when i had the motorguide.. ill post some picts of how i had i have it mounted and the plug setup

Tim

[Zeeke]

heres a pict of how i had it before i moved the plate back

[Zeeke]

1

[Zeeke]

2

[Zeeke]

plug system that ive put up