Z-18 With Minn Kota Ultrex????

Nitro Owners Forum

Help Support Nitro Owners Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Chris Walker

Active Member
Joined
May 21, 2016
Messages
40
Reaction score
2
Location
Florida - Central
Any of you guys running the Minn Kota ultrex on your Z 18? If so, what foot pound thrust and voltage are you using? I’m trying to find out if the 80 pound 24 V is efficient enough for the Z 18. Thank you gentlemen. What size shaft?
 
The 24V 80 pound is definitely good for the Z-18 and your boat is already wired for it- (24V Troll system).
I don't have the ultrex on my Z-18 yet but my partner has one on a 19' Ranger with the 225 engine.
The Minn Kota ultrex is a great setup. It does all that you see good about it, very well. I have fished behind it a good bit and have been impressed with it's performance. I definitely want on to replace my Fortrex- and the Fortrex is a great TM itself. Spot locking is a huge advantage. FYI- I have not yet checked to be sure that the recessed area for the foot control is actually large enough. I believe that it is. I would want to confirm that. I think at worst you might have to elevate the foot control in the recessed box slightly. The controls on the ultrex foot pedal unit make it slightly larger than the Fortrex.
 
I’ve had my new 80 pound 24 V old tricks on for two weeks now and love it. The 45 inch shaft was perfect and it has 100 times more power than my 70 maxim. I am extremely satisfied with this trolling motor.
 
Works good on mine as well, I have a 52” shaft, but I got a deal, the longer shaft works good on big water where there is a lot of big cabin cruisers are putting out a large wake. In shallower water I lift the the motor.
You will not go wrong purchasing an ultrex.
 
The only concern I have about the Ultrex is the missing break away spring mechanism. I understand that the design of the power steering keeps Minn Kota from using that system on the newer motors. In our world, down here in Louisiana, you are going to encounter large stumps and wood obstruction in places where you migh not expect it. I haven't seen anything negataive, but I'm left wonder how the rigid shaft will really hold up in a direct hit on a solid stump. THe composit shaft is flexible, to some extent, but they are not unbreakable. This issue won't keep me from getting one but I remain curious about a direct hit on something that won't move a little?
 
So far I have hit a large rock, bumped trees, and ran through Lilly pads with no issues. I had a motor guide and I had to rebuild the gears in the head multiple times. The ultrex is a better unit.
 
I have a 2017 Z18 with a 80lb Ultrex and works great. The only thing I would caution is make sure you install a circuit breaker with it. With the Ultrex you should cut the power to the trolling motor when its charging. Any power going through the boards during charging will fry your circuit boards. I had the board in the foot pedal and main board go bad and the repair tech said it was because of the lack of a circuit breaker. I had bought the boat with it already installed. Lucky for me it was all covered under warranty, but I did loose 3 weeks of prime fishing while waiting for parts
 
Dfolk22,

Good point. I changed my circuit breaker from a 50 amp that is standard with the Fortrex to 60A breaker required with the Ultrex. I was able to get one off Amazon for half the price of a Minn Kota brand breaker and it has the added benefit of being able to manually disconnect the circuit with a switch. I looked at a lot of online and youtube videos about install and not one said anything about the circuit breaker upgrade with the Ultrex.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top