MotorGuide Xi5 Initial Anchor Mode Test

Initial testing of MotorGuide's Xi5 36v 105lb with pinpoint GPS mounted to Shearwater z2400 with full tower in about 15kt winds. Performance was much better than the gen1 MinnKota iPilot that it replaced.

[@Dansssssify]

Thank you for the information. My MinKota 2016 Ultera 36V with ipilot and auto launch salt water has broken almost every trip. Every part has now been replaced at least 1 time, maybe twice and it broke again

[@daveburkitt5287]

I have one 4 years old and calibrated it and still drifts from centerline 8ft left to 8ft right when it was new it didnt

[@Oouther1]

I have a 2015 Ipilot 70lbs Riptide, absolutely hate it. Anchor lock is useless. But I'll say it is dependable and doesn't give problems as a regular trolling motor.

[@CoreyMaysles]

I find that mine does a very good job keeping anchor lock, so maybe the electronics have been update between 2015 and 2019. I really love the networking with my Lowrance. When I am fishing structure I can literally touch the structure on screen I want to setup on and hit the anchor button. By the time I get my gear ready, the TM has put me right on the spot.

[@Oouther1]

@@CoreyMaysles My wife wants to hold off, but I was considering the XI3 and we have a Lowrance that will interface with the Xi series. The Riptide is great at holding a line and doing everything except anchorlock. The boat came with it networked to a Helix 7, but the Helix is NOT USER FRIENDLY. It was so bad I didn't take it after the first trip and just used the Garmin and replaced the Helix with a Ti2 which is infinitely more user friendly.

[@Do-iz6qd]

Hi Corey, when you say it's gaining a little ground but not much, was the motor running flat out? I'm looking into the exact setup you have but to be honest the days I go out are a fair bit worse than that unfortunately. Don't know if it's the camera angle but it looked like it drifted off by a fair margin to when you said you pushed the anchor button. Still looks like a good thing though I have lingering doubts and they are a lot of money. Anyway cheers for video.

[@CoreyMaysles]

Dave, when I shot this video it was my first time using the motor. I was not overly familiar with usage and how it responds and since then, I have had a chance to use it a bit more thoroughly and will say it does a great job of holding a spot. I've used it next to a shipping channel with lots of ship traffic and the wakes did not really cause any issue for it. In the this video, it was actually much nastier than the video appears. the wind was blowing pretty good and I know if I had my iPilot on there it would have struggled to maintain position whereas the MotorGuide seemed to be much better at it. I don't recall if it was running at full speed when it was drifting (one of the cons to this is no readout on the remote showing prop speed), but once it locked in, albeit a bit off of where I pressed the anchor button it seemed to hold that spot pretty well. One other annoyance that I did find is with the Lowrance gateway. I had issues where the Lowrance would not connect to the xi5 and it took me quite a bit of searching and trial and error to figure it out. Apparently, you have to boot up everything in a specific sequence otherwise it won't work. You have to first turn on the xi5 and wait for it to get GPS lock, then boot up the Lowrance and wait for that to get GPS lock. After that, you have to boot up the NMEA network. The problem for me is that the NMEA network and Lowrance are on the same power source so I can't turn one on without the other. My work around is to start with everything off, disconnect the gateway cable from the NMEA network, and then boot up the xi5 and Lowrance. Once both have GPS lock, I plug the gateway cable back into the NMEA network. I guess the more permanent solution will be to put a power switch on the NMEA network so I don't have deal with disconnecting cables. Overall, very happy with it so far, but time on the water will determine that.

[@Do-iz6qd]

@@CoreyMaysles Thats good to hear Corey apart from your troubles hooking it up to your Lowrance unit. Your not alone on that count from what I've read. One guy had 9 emails from lowrance over 2 months to sort. Hope she keeps performing for you, which i'm sure she will. Really hanging to get one, just trying to figure out where to mount as we have a cuddy cab which makes things interesting on our boat. Cheers dave. p.s MotorGuide countdown is at 14 days on front page to website..has me very curious what the big wait is going to be? Some say new brush-less motor, bigger motor, automatic deploy/stow, longer shafts...who knows?

[@paullobwein1632]

I have one.. had for just over a year and find it unreliable.. after a period of time or if the current picks up too much.. it’s beep beep beep then it’s not working at all and it needs to be fully engaged again. Not a problem if in the middle of nowhere but if close by other things the last thing you need is it drifting into danger..

[@CoreyMaysles]

I had similar issue, but found out that it was a bad cell in one of my batteries causing it. Swapped out the battery and worked fine. You might want to check your batteries and connections.

[@gradycarson197]

I have the same trolling motor but mine came with a very basic control (right, left, slower, faster). Do you know if you can order a different remote and if so does anyone know which one?

[@CoreyMaysles]

Grady, I do not know the answer to that. You might want to contact Motorguide and ask them.

[@solomoncurran9577]

you might not have the gps model but im pretty sure you can buy and install it

[@bookooc5605]

Which MinnKota did you have previously? What year? They say the newer ones are better.

[@CoreyMaysles]

I had the 1st gen i-Pilot ST101...prob ~2012. I hear the new ones are much better as well, but don't have any first hand experience to compare. I will say, I am very happy with the performance of the Xi5 the more I use it.

[@thegentleman1541]

@@CoreyMaysles The new ones are wayyyy better. I had a riptide and it wouldn't hold the spot at all and drifted all over the place. I bought an $800 upgrade kit which upgrades the Riptide to Terrova and there's not even a comparison. With the upgraded terrova I can hold the spot without any drift under a bridge in current.

[@mobredick]

Hey man! any update on reliability since you got it? Looking to buy the same one you have.

[@CoreyMaysles]

I have many hours on this motor now and I can safely say this is highly recommend. been super reliable with zero problems. The spot lock is very accurate and holds well in current or wind.

[@mobredick]

@@CoreyMaysles Awesome! Thank you for the quick response! Over 100 hours? I am going to use this every time I use the boat and I am on the water atleast 3-5 times a week fishing. I am so excited to get it

[@freetired]

My soot lock turns the prop on at 2.4 mph. See my videos. Garbage

[@adam_m2728]

Hi

[@rtwovldz2416]

Is this wired into your boat's GPS unit?

[@rtwovldz2416]

I got it on a boat I bought used. Just dont know if I have to hook it up to the lowrance I have.

[@CoreyMaysles]

Yes. It has to be connected to the nema2000 if you want to set routes on your map or have it hold on way points that are on the lowerance. For me that was a feature I specifically bought the xi5 to have.

[@rtwovldz2416]

@@CoreyMaysles Thank you for the reply. One more question... will it hold the anchor mode without being connected to the GPS?

[@CoreyMaysles]

@@rtwovldz2416 yes. just use the spot lock button on the remote.

[@rtwovldz2416]

@@CoreyMaysles thank you, Corey.

[@downsouthfisherman3236]

What old Minnkota did you have

[@downsouthfisherman3236]

And what size boat do u have

[@CoreyMaysles]

@@downsouthfisherman3236 It was a Riptide ST101 60" 36v. The boat is a Shearwater 2400z 24.5' boat