Motor Guide xi5 with pinpoint gps VS Minn Kota with iPilot?

jcampbell577 · March 2016

Motor Guide xi5 with pinpoint gps VS Minn Kota with iPilot?

Pros, cons, personal experience or opinions?

From what I hear the Motor Guide has much better spot lock technology than the Minn Kota. The Minn Kota has a better remote because it has a screen on it. Im leaning towards the Motor Guide at this point.

Also, what LB thrust/ volt combo would you put on a 16 foot Hewes Flats boat?

beachside321 · March 2016

Don't have much experience with it yet, but we just had an Ipilot installed. My dad went with the Ipilot because it seems to have a bigger following and more local authorized shops should any warrantee work need done. Anchor feature works pretty well, although I'm not too worried about that function. I'm more concerned with A-B, and the ability to record tracks is nice since I fish the same shorelines often for snook in summer. Not sure if the MG offers that.

As for thrust, we have an 80# and it is a bit overkill to be honest. Get a 55# for your boat, that way you save the weight of an extra battery (anything over 55 is 24v)

jcampbell577 · March 2016

So I'm thinking I'm going to go with the 24v 80lb thrust. What about shaft length? They've got 48" or 60"

duckmanJR · March 2016

What you *NEED* depends on what you *DO*....

I have a 20 Ft Hewes...and use a 54 lb thrust. I am hunting fish in backwaters...moving along very slow down shorelines. You don't need big thrust for that.

If you are going to try and hold still in big current...you will want big thrust and lots of battery.

You can use the 48 inch with your Hewes.

9ball · March 2016

I have a Minn Kota, 60" shaft 80 lb. thrust and like it. Purchased it about a year ago. I asked the salesman at BPS and he steered me toward the Minn Kota, said the "bugs" had been worked out on the MK but at the time, they were still getting returns on some of the MG since they were newer to the GPS technology.

Slug-O · March 2016

I have owned 3 minn and 1 XI5 so far. I charter full time also. The XI5 beats the Kota hands down. The XI5 is quieter to start with. The XI has "2" gps units as the Kota has one and holds a tighter spot lock. Also while in lock mode you can make 5' moves in any direction just by touching a arrow in that direction. Also the foot release doesn't "accidentally"'deploy while you are going down the ICW causing your shaft to snap!!! Hope this helps.

jcampbell577 · April 2016

I think I've finally settled on the xi5 24v 80lb thrust 60" shaft. If anyone has any last minute input feel free to share!

wojtek9321 · April 2016

I had a 15' old center console with redone wood (new on top of old) work making it a little heavier than originally. With a minn kota 55lb w/ ipilot. It was plenty for it and could move me at 2mph on a lake for about 8hrs on a 27DC battery which was the 5.5 out of 10 setting. Top speed was about 2.6-2.7mph. If you're going against current you might want the 80lb version but I found the 55lb to be a great choice for anything in the 15-16' range for freshwater or still saltwater conditions. The GPS spotlock worked good on the Minn Kota at least for me. I used it in Tampa Bay on a light current but when things picked up it was not be able to keep up.

Motor Guide xi5 with pinpoint gps VS Minn Kota with iPilot?

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