If you are a serious fisherman, you know the value of a real trolling motor. Sure, not everybody needs a trolling motor, and not everybody engages in this style of fishing. However, when it comes down to it, trolling for fish is really easy. With that being said, if you plan on fishing in this manner, you need the right kind of trolling motor. The thing is that it can be quite hard to find a good trolling motor for a reasonable price.
However, in this article, we will be reviewing a super heavy-duty, powerful, and technologically advance trolling motor. It does cost a fair bit of money, but if you ask us, it is well worth the investment.
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Minn Kota Ulterra 80 Trolling Motor: Review
The Minn Kota Ulterra 80 Trolling Motor is a very powerful, durable, and long-lasting trolling motor designed for freshwater use. What is really impressive about this motor is that it comes with all of the bells and whistles, really everything needed for trolling, such as GPS, autopilot, and much more. Yes, this is a fairly expensive trolling motor, but you do get what you pay for, and here you definitely get a heck of a lot of power, durability, user-friendliness, and technology too.
Who is This Product For?
If you are looking for a very advanced heavy-duty trolling motor that comes with all of the bells and whistles, then Minn Kota Ulterra 80 Trolling Motor might be a great option for you. This thing is designed to be extremely powerful and provide you with a whole lot of thrust, so you can easily go up against strong winds and currents.
It’s also designed for the fisherman who wants a very easy-to-use trolling motor, one that comes with a lot of user-friendly features in terms of navigation, course selection, and finding fish. If you have a few extra bucks to spend on a super-powerful, heavy-duty, durable, and technologically advanced trolling motor, the Minn Kota Ulterra 80 Trolling Motor should be one to look into.
What’s Included?
What you need to know about the Minn Kota Ulterra 80 Trolling Motor is that there is a whole lot included in one package. Yes, of course, you get the motor itself, and yes, you can technically choose from a variety of options including, thrust levels and sizes, which also includes a heavy-duty shaft and propeller that will easily last for many years. The Ulterra motor featured in this review is 80lb thrust, 60-inch shaft, and 24 volts.
You also get a state-of-the-art i-pilot blue tooth remote that has an auto-pilot mode, automatic course corrections, and more. Moreover, when you purchase the Minn Kota Ulterra 80 Trolling a USB charging cable and all the required mounting hardware. The Minn Kota wired foot pedal is an included option on this package and a must-have for bass fishers.
We recommend upgrading to an i-Pilot link remote package. When you connect your motor to your GPS fish finder unit, you can unlock a list of navigation features including waypoints, contour following, backtracking, and more.
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Overview of Features
Power, Durability, and Efficiency
The Minn Kota Ulterra 80 Trolling Motor is one of those trolling motors that come with a plethora of advanced features, and we want to talk about them all, starting by saying that it is one of the more durable trolling motors out there at this time. It is made with an indestructible or nearly indestructible composite shaft that can take a heck of a beating and still keep chugging along like nothing ever happened. Yes, it is possible to break it if you give it a serious beating, but it does also come with a lifetime guarantee, so if it does suffer from some sort of damage, you can get it fixed or replaced, no problem.
On that same note, everything about the Minn Kota Ulterra 80 Trolling Motor is built to last. As we said, it’s a super durable and heavy-duty option that is built for people who are going to be using it all year.
Now, the Minn Kota Ulterra 80 Trolling Motor is quite the powerful trolling motor, and it comes with a lot of thrust. To be clear the 80lb thrust motor is a 24 volt unit, but you can choose between a 24 V and a 36 V motor. Of course, the larger of the two is going to be the more powerful one; the 36 volt motor is 112lb thrust.
What we can say here is that this trolling motor is designed to go up against really strong winds and currents. It’s the kind of trolling motor that you can use in virtually any waterway and still make good headway, even with the wind and current working against you.
It’s something that is going to get you to your destination no matter what, and it’s a very efficient option too. The Ulterra is a variable speed motor with a wide variety of speed settings, so you can get the exact amount of power, speed, and thrust you need to get to your destination. The fact that the Minn Kota Ulterra 80 Trolling Motor comes with a heavy-duty prop is another bonus because you can easily power through weeds and plants in the water without getting bogged down, tangled up, or wasting too much battery.
Battery Life
Speaking of battery life and efficiency, this is another prime feature you get with the Minn Kota Ulterra 80 Trolling Motor. It comes with a digital battery maximizer, which helps to use up to 5 times less battery life than other trolling motors, thus allowing you to preserve battery power and stay on the water for much longer periods of time.
However, what is convenient is that the Minn Kota Ulterra 80 Trolling Motor comes with a battery indicator, so you always know exactly how much battery life you have remaining.
GPS, Sonar, and More
Next, the Minn Kota Ulterra 80 Trolling Motor comes with a lot of technologically advanced features, with the i-Pilot GPS being one of the best in the business. Realistically, this is the most trusted GPS for trolling motors. With this motor, you can set spot-locks, record paths, control speed, and steering, and more. From the remote, you can control speed, steering, and more.
What’s really nice here is that the Minn Kota Ulterra 80 Trolling Motor has an autopilot mode so that you can set a heading for the motor, and it will automatically keep that heading, and it will even make automatic adjustments for currents and wind. The spot lock feature is also really nice because it holds your GPS position with extreme accuracy.
What you also might really like about the Minn Kota Ulterra 80 Trolling Motor is the wired foot pedal that can also be used to control direction, power, and more. Some people may not like that it is wired, but being wired is not necessarily bad because it means that you never have to worry about batteries.
The next feature which stands out about the Minn Kota Ulterra 80 Trolling Motor is that it comes with built-in MEGA down imaging, which can be connected to compatible Humminbird® depth finders/chart plotters. The crystal-clear Humminbird® MEGA Down Imaging is a great way to find fish to catch, although it does not come with side imaging.
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Tutorial
The Minn Kota Ulterra 80 Trolling Motor is a really easy-to-use trolling motor that comes with one-button push deployment and retraction, so there is not much to know there. Just keep an eye on the battery life, and you will want to read the instruction manual(link to the manual here) to find out exactly how to use the GPS, the fish finder, as well as the other features. To find out more about using the Minn Kota Ulterra 80 Trolling Motor, take a look at the videos which we have included here.
Pros
- Extremely durable
- Very powerful – multiple size options
- Built-in fish finder transducer
- Advanced GPS with a variety of functions
- Electric foot pedal
- Good battery life with battery indicator
Cons
- Not for saltwater use
- Transducer does not include side imaging
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Alternatives
In case the Minn Kota Ulterra 80 Trolling Motor is not exactly what you are looking for, there are alternatives you can keep in mind. One issue which some people might have is that you might want to fish in saltwater as well, in which case the Minn Kota Riptide Ulterra Bow Mount Saltwater Trolling Motor is an option you might want to look into. It will cost a bit more, but it can be used in saltwater.
Click here for our article about Tips on installing an electric trolling motor?
Conclusion
When all has been said, we think that the Minn Kota Ulterra 80 Trolling Motor is a prime option to go with. Yes, it is quite an expensive trolling motor, but it does come with a lot of power, durability, and a ton of technology to help make trolling a lot easier.
