MotorGuide Xi5 versus Minn Kota iPilot

[John Bacon]

I hoping to buy a new bow mount for my boat. I am trying to decide between MotorGuide and Minn Kota. I have always been a Minn Kota man but am trying to keep an open mind.

 

I definitely want the iPilot or equivalent. So it would be between the Xi5 or Terrova iPilot.

 

I will most likely go with a 12 volt motor because my battery compartment is designed for a single battery. I would rather not have to modify the boat to carry an extra battery or two. I have a 16' boat with a 50 hp 2 stroke so the 12 volt should have plenty of thrust.

 

My boat came with a quick release plate for a MotorGuide; so if I take the MotorGuide it will probably be a little easier to mount.

 

I would appreciate any feed back that anyone could provide on either of these motors. If you have used both, then even better.

 

 

[landry]

The ipilot is proven to be durable.

The xi5 is waaaay quieter, turns twice as fast and has a much tighter spot lock - durability is unproven.

Tough call.

I like the xi5 perfoance better but am a Minn Kota guy and they hold up really well.

[jtracc]

The ipilot is proven to be durable.

The xi5 is waaaay quieter, turns twice as fast and has a much tighter spot lock - durability is unproven.

Tough call.

I like the xi5 perfoance better but am a Minn Kota guy and they hold up really well.

Landry is bang on, I too have a terrova with ipilot and love it. I had a fortrex on my last boat which was a bass boat and was worried about not liking the electric steer but the motor is great. My only suggestion for you would be 80lbs 24v + or nothing. You will not like the terrova with a 12 volt. You will barely get a full day use with moderate wind using any of the features. I would suggest the 55# maximum 12v.

 

Thats me

Edited August 23, 2015 by jtracc

[aplumma]

I fished my new xi5 solid for a week with no issues. I am using the 24 volt 80lb up at Lake Nipissing grinding away for 7-9 hours a day and it was really nice. The biggest thing that I liked was just point it in a direction and you can just fish without having to correct for wind and current. The anchor feture was spot on and it is really quiet both above and below the water. These feature are also in the ipilot from what i understand. The hand fob lacks a screen but it has a very easy whistle up or whistle down to tell you what it is doing. i can't see a screen helping me out. The addition of a lowrance and auto pilot could be added for a few hundred bucks but it really isn't needed. I have it hooked to a hds5 and it is really clear and reads well with the built in transducer. I purchased a detachable aluminum plate to mount it on a ranger boat and really like the way it can be unmounted quickly and moved back off the edge so my travel cover can be correctly fitted. So far if you have lowrance as your equipment they are designing new programs and add ons that will be good additions to any boat. Depending on the size of your boat put in another battery box and go 24 volt you will not regret it.

 

Art

[Kerry]

I have the Xi5 55lb 12v.I have it on a 16' princecraft resorter dlx with enough front storage room for 2 batteries.It will actually pull the boat at 2.8 mph on the gps although that is not my intent for use. I love it but two things- 1 no grab handle on the head and 2 I got the the model with the transducer and wanted to get an HDS 5 for the front to hook up to it as it will directly.Problem is Lowrance dropped the 5 model from the HDS series this year and the HDS 7 is way too much for my blood.It works as advertised.

Kerry

[John Bacon]

I have the Xi5 55lb 12v.I have it on a 16' princecraft resorter dlx with enough front storage room for 2 batteries.It will actually pull the boat at 2.8 mph on the gps although that is not my intent for use. I love it but two things- 1 no grab handle on the head and 2 I got the the model with the transducer and wanted to get an HDS 5 for the front to hook up to it as it will directly.Problem is Lowrance dropped the 5 model from the HDS series this year and the HDS 7 is way too much for my blood.It works as advertised.

Kerry

 

Thanks, are you running two batteries in parallel? Or, just a single battery? If you are running just one battery, do you usually get quite a bit of fishing on one charge?

 

I have a Princecraft Holiday Dlx, so my boat is just slighly larger that yours. Unfortunately, my battery box is only designed for one battery so I would have to modify the boat to run a 24v system.

[Kerry]

 

Thanks, are you running two batteries in parallel? Or, just a single battery? If you are running just one battery, do you usually get quite a bit of fishing on one charge?

 

I have a Princecraft Holiday Dlx, so my boat is just slighly larger that yours. Unfortunately, my battery box is only designed for one battery so I would have to modify the boat to run a 24v system.

Hey John,

I am running two in parallel. Blue beacon did the install for me.They modified a plastic box base so it raised the batteries away from the hull so as not to be banging or rubbing the hull.It is really only designed for one battery sideways but I wanted two.I will post up a pic for you tomorrow.I have yet to worry about battery charge.I use a 40watt solar board CTC has had on sale for 99 bucks.Batteries are always topped up by the next weekend.

Kerry

[Dan668]

Hands down the xi5, has a few quirks but overall imo a much better motor. I run a 36v system on my 18'. Overkill but it lasts for ever, not that id ever use it at this speed, but it topped out at 4mph. If your partial to humminbird and want the link features, then terrova. Its still a good motor, just a tad slower abd nosier. But the build quality is slightly better. Also no track record on durability of the xi5

[John Bacon]

The biggest thing that I liked was just point it in a direction and you can just fish without having to correct for wind and current.

 

Art

 

Yes, that is the main reason that I am set on an Xi5 or iPilot. I plan to use a gas kicker for power and the bow mount to steer the boat. A few others have mentioned using the same setup. I often troll alone with down riggers, etc. If I am trolling into the wind the boat can do a 180 faster than I can rig a rod.

 

 

I fished my new xi5 solid for a week with no issues. I am using the 24 volt 80lb up at Lake Nipissing grinding away for 7-9 hours a day and it was really nice. The biggest thing that I liked was just point it in a direction and you can just fish without having to correct for wind and current. The anchor feture was spot on and it is really quiet both above and below the water. These feature are also in the ipilot from what i understand. The hand fob lacks a screen but it has a very easy whistle up or whistle down to tell you what it is doing. i can't see a screen helping me out. The addition of a lowrance and auto pilot could be added for a few hundred bucks but it really isn't needed. I have it hooked to a hds5 and it is really clear and reads well with the built in transducer. I purchased a detachable aluminum plate to mount it on a ranger boat and really like the way it can be unmounted quickly and moved back off the edge so my travel cover can be correctly fitted. So far if you have lowrance as your equipment they are designing new programs and add ons that will be good additions to any boat. Depending on the size of your boat put in another battery box and go 24 volt you will not regret it.

 

Art

 

Thanks. Do you have both a foot pedal as well as the fob? Do you know if the fob is waterproof?

 

Is there a lock for the quick release plate? I like the idea of being able to quickly release the motor. But I don't want somebody else to be able to easily remove the motor.

 

I have a 16' Aluminum, the boat is around 800 pounds before adding motor, etc. I used to have a similar sized boat with a 42 pound thrust motor and never felt that is was under powered.

 

I will need a new fish finder soon, so I can go with either Humminbird or Lowrance depending on the motor that I choose.

 

Thanks again for the info.

Edited August 24, 2015 by JohnBacon

[porkpie]

I was about to pull the trigger on a Terrova, and unexpectedly came upon a deal on a lightly used Xi5 55lb thrust from a local guy, so I took a chance. It came with universal sonar and a key fob as well as a wireless pedal. It is the best accessory I have ever bought for a boat. I have been in boats with Terrova's and they are fine motors. The only real difference is the Xi5 is slightly quieter, and the spotlock is much tighter than any Terrova or PD equipped boat I've been in. I spent 15 minutes hanging in place in front of our dock in 30kph winds and the boat moved at most a couple feet off of where I'd locked it down. It also can record up to 8 tracks I believe, and I think MK does 6. That certainly wouldn't be much of a deal breaker for me though. If you fish pickerel it's amazing for precision trolling. I can lock in my speed and heading, and other than watching for other boat traffic I can spend my time managing lines, landing fish etc. I fish with my kids a lot, and sometimes one of their friends so I often have a bunch of rods down. Makes life easy! I have a similar sized boat, with side console and 50hp motor. The 55lb is tons of power. I get about 6 hours if I'm trolling a lot. The only thing I will do when I need a new battery is get a group 31. Either way, Terrova or Xi5, it's money well spent! Edit to add, the motorguide uses another mounting system, so the QR you have won't likely work. It's got its own specific QR bracket, that is very hard to find in Canada. The upside is that a standard aluminum MKA 16-02 mount from Minnkota can be modified to work, that's what I did.

Edited August 24, 2015 by porkpie

[John Bacon]

Thanks, I am leaning towards the MotorGuide.

 

The plate that I have is for a MotorGuide power steer motor. Do you know if the Xi5 uses a different plate than the other MotorGuide power steered motors? My boat is a 2008; I don't know if they still use the same plates.

[Dutch01]

I have the 55# Terrova and I love it. I spend a lot more time fishing than worrying about boat control now. Not knocking the Motorguide I don't know anything about it, but I have never felt my Terrova was lacking in any way.

 

Fyi, If you buy a membership at LeBaron for $25 you save 10% on the motor.

[porkpie]

To the best of my knowledge the xi5 won't mount to the old mounts. If you have a motorguide wireless, it's a totally different mounting system. I'm not familiar with the power steer model though.

[jtracc]

The xi5 had a lot of issues coming out of the gate and I believe there is still a few issues that they have to fix up. The terrova and the ipilot have been around for some time and have very little issues. By the time motor guide gets it perfect minn kota will prob have an update to the terrova replacing the head with a new updated one with more features. Just think the xi5 needs another full season to fully work out all the bugs.

[porkpie]

Well, I won't say one unit is better than the other. Both will do the job. I do believe that a lot of the "issues" that people speak of with the xi5 stemmed from a few users on walleye central. Otherwise I haven't seen a lot of unhappy customers. I haven't had any glitches with mine, other than a rare momentary GPS signal loss, but I've seen that with the minn kota's First hand as well. Long term, who knows, but I run mine probably way more than the average guy who pulls up on a spot and drops his motor, fishes for a bit then yanks it and moves to the next spot. Most times I drop it in the water at the start of a troll, and then run it constantly for hours. So far it's been flawless. I am not a this is the best cause I own it type of guy, just very satisfied with the unit. Motorguide got it right from the get go with the xi5. I've met a few guys with xi5s on their boats since I got mine, and I haven't met one actual user that told me they where dissatisfied. No reason a Minnkota wouldn't do the same job though.

Edited August 24, 2015 by porkpie

[aplumma]

John the plate has a small lock you can put it on but it has to be small so a boltcutter will easily remove it. The sonar cable is attached to the Sonar and the power to a plug. I ran my sonar cable thru the boat and then out the hole for the motor so they have to cut the wire to steal it. The plate is a special plate that was different from my old moetrguide removable plate it seems to be spacific so new holes will be needed with or without the plate. The motor comes with both a foot petal as well as a fob. I used the fob on a retractable key holder clipped to my butt seat and the pedal to adjust as needed. The foot petal will give you speed , anchor,left,right, on off. The fob will give you heading lock as well as other advanced features. After awhile I sent the foot petal to my back fisherman so he could hit anchor lock when a fish was caught or steer while i was busy. The charge or run time on a set of AGM batteries was all day and still green but I plugged it in in the evening to keep from grinding down the batteries. As far as issues I have had none the stow and deploy has been really improved way easier than the old motorguide. Since I am a lowrance guy i can't ever seeing me with a minn kota again. I don't think the minn kota is a bad product it will never be mated to lowrance.

 

plate assy.

 

http://www.ceshowroom.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=CWR56488&click=2&gclid=CNm_hezgwscCFdYSHwodLUQIpA

 

Art

 

 

 

art

[Kerry]

Hey John.Can't upload a pic.LFile is way too large.Both my batteries are placed side by side length wise.They cut two battery boxes to fit on the existing aluminum plate in the bow to act as bases to raise the batteries away from the curved portion of the hull.These box bases are approx 1/2" high and one corner on each was cut to follow the curve of the bow.It raises the batteries so they are a 1/4" roughly away from rubbing or hitting the hull.Just have to check the straps to make sure they are tight.

Kerry

[Lape0019]

My boat (Bass Tracker 190TX mod V) had an underpowered 46lb motorguide on it when I bought it and ever since then, I have had a bad taste in my mouth from them. On a day where a the water was calm, it would move the boat well but I could never take my foot off the the pedal without it turning 90 degrees on me.

 

I upgraded to an 80lb terrova with Ipilot a couple of years ago and have been quite happy. I have had one pedal replaced under warranty because the speed shown on the Ipilot was not the same as what was showing on the pedal. I could put it to ten on both but when I used the remote, it was faster and when I used the pedal, the remote would show at 7 instead of 10.

 

Anyway, I tell you this to illustrate that although the Terrova is proven, it has its quirks.

 

I went a took a look at everything that comes with the Xi5 and to be honest, I like the design, ergonomics and general layout better of the remote and pedal with the Terrova. I turn the terrova on continuous quite often and use the two arrow buttons at the bottom of the pedal quite often to steer around obstacles. The Autopilot feature is also built into the pedal where as it looks like you have to use the remove for the Xi5. Not a big deal to some, but I do not always use the remote.

 

Where the Xi5 has advantages (IMO) is that the pedal looks to be wireless (Can anyone confirm this) so you wouldn't have 20 feet of cord to worry about. It looks like the motor guide spot lock feature is built into the pedal. The disadvantages to me is that there is no screen on the Xi5 remote, has a less functional pedal with less options and I prefer to have the part where you step on to turn the motor on to be on the left side of the pedal. This may not seem like much, but I like the information the screen on the terrova gives me.

 

As for the motorguide quick release bracket. They can usually be easily modified to fit any TM. I have buddies with MG plates on MK TMs and I know others who have the reverse.

 

This will all come down to personal preference though so go check both of them out. And lastly, think long and hard about stepping up to the 80. You will be happier in the end.

[porkpie]

Xi5 pedal is wireless. It is also a heel toe pedal like a cable steer. Turns are also extremely fast for an electric steer.

[aplumma]

I like the way the xi5 feeds in the input to turning. It ramps up slowly so it does not overshoot your turn and if you floor it then it will turn quite quickly. Spot lock is on the petal as well as speed and direction. The fob controls direction lock so having the fob hanging on a belt loop is really handy.

 

 

 

Art

[Kerry]

John,

I got the picture resized.Hope this gives you an idea.Batteries are group 24.

Kerry

[John Bacon]

Thanks, yours is a lot more open than mine. I am not sure that would work for mine; but I will have a look.

[John Bacon]

Thanks for all your input. I ended up picking up an Xi5 12 volt. I have to motor mounted on the boat now. I hope to get it working tomorrow.

 

The motor does not fit the quick release plate that came with the boat. But the bolt pattern is campitable so I didn't have to drill any new holes. I ended up putting the quick release plate underneath the deck and using it for backing. It spreads the stress over a nice large area.

[aplumma]

Good deal I used a aluminum plate on mine and it is rock sold with no bad pressure on the fiberglass. I am sure you will love the new motor.

 

 

Art

[porkpie]

I'm pretty sure you'll be happy with that unit!