minnkota vantage

I have on my Tuffy 1760 a 9.9 kicker and in one and a half seasons have used it very little. My cockpit is a single console wheel, but am becoming more intrested in tiller boats which suit my style of fishing. But before, or maybe instead of making that leap I’m thinking of removing the kicker and installing the minnkota vantage. I already have the twin batteries for the front trolling motor so all I would need to do is install and wire the vantage. Any thoughts?

Why don’t you use the 9.9?
Do you want to do more back trolling?
Is the 9.9 a tiller or wheel steer?

I prefer fishing from the back of the boat and my style is to creep along dramatic contour changes and try to get point on point with my eyes glued to the depth finder. When I do forward troll my main motor a 150 verado actually does great. The motor is 9 years old so my concern about putting lots of hours on it trolling isn’t a concern. I do have my 9.9 with a tiller and I can hook it up via a steering rod. I also have a trollmaster installed. I’m just not using it like I thought I would. And find myself wanting to mimic a tiller form of controlling the boat.

You sound to me like a tiller guy… invest in the vantage to be sure if you like going backwards all the time. It will be a cheaper test than selling your boat and getting a tiller model.

On another site there are very mixed reviews on the vantage. Although I think it’s a neat design, it seems to have it’s bugs. I am now also looking at an 80lb minnkota traxxis. It should deliver the same experience as one would get with tiller boat control, and save me a few bucks in the process. I still need to do more research on whether the vantage has been debugged from the factory before I make that investment.

I have owned a few vantages in both 24v and 36v. I had one that had problems right out of the box and was replaced by the retailer. Other then that I have not had a problem.

I have one and I don’t use it as much as I thought I would. I have a terrova on the bow and that get used the most. I really wish the vantage had the speed control incorporated into the end of the steering handle like a tiller handle. I think it would be way more useful that way. I don’t want to have to take my eyes off the gps/graph while backtrolling.

Upon looking into the vantage that feature, the throttle control, really turned me off. I’m leaning heavily twords an 80lb Traxxis.