Why Minn Kota and Humminbird
We're often asked for recommendations for bow mount motors and electronics. On our personal boat, we run Minn Kota Ultrex with Humminbird (bow and console) — and a Garmin with Panoptix on the bow too.
After recent introductions from other manufacturers, look for an update on this page.
The Minn Kota Spot Lock feature is the best thing going!
Here are some Minn Kota options for you;
The Minn Kota Terrova
Many people prefer the cable/power assist models rather than all power steering, however—
Our recommendations in order—
These are good.
These are better options. Get the i-pilot link with remote:
Be sure to get the remote because it costs more to add it later.
These are best—for the easiest deployment (lowering and raising the motor). The motors are heavy and depending upon your physical condition, this may be the best option for you:
Important, be sure to get the i-pilot link and remote, no matter the motor you choose!
Humminbird
Get the new MEGA Down internal transducer on the Minn Kota so you can get a better image on a bow mount Humminbird unit. If you are not concerned about that, go with the standard U2 but you're probably going to want the MEGA Down capability.
If you are going to mount on your transom/back only, then the SI/DI transducer will do the job. The question becomes...how big of a screen do you want?
We recommend 10-inch minimum. Go bigger if you can.
Here are Helix options:
To get mapping capabilities go with Lakemaster for Humminbird if you are looking for individual mostly northern states. (We prefer Navionics because we travel a lot and need good regional coverage.)
