Motor Guide, linked vs not linked

I’m thinking about making my next bow mount trolling motor a Motor Guide. My question is what are the major things I’m losing by not linking to the sonar? If you are running a Motor Guide that isn’t linked, please comment on your experiences.

Thanks,
Dave

I have the xi5 and didn’t get the gateway kit because it wasn’t out when I bought mine. I love mine, but still might get the gateway kit. Plotting a trail and having the motor follow it would be nice for some of the water I fish. It would also be nice to tell it which waypoint to anchor lock on.

I’m certainly surviving without it though. I feel like spending $250 for what amounts to a cable is a bit absurd.

In my case, it would be $250 for the cable and $2000 for the finder. Do you still enjoy easy auto pilot, anchor lock and any other features you can share with me while not being linked?

You can do basically all of the features without having the gateway kit, the only difference is you must do them from the remote instead of the GPS unit.
I fished for 1 full season with my xi5 before getting the gateway kit last year. A couple reasons 1) it wasn’t out yet 2) I had Gen 1 HDS units so it didn’t work with those anyway.
Last year I upgraded one of my dash units and installed the gateway. I have the xi5 sonar cable hooked to an old Gen 1 unit, but the gateway network is connected to a unit at my dash.
Without using the gateway you can still record routes, set anchor points, use autopilot with cruise control all of the native features, but what you would gain by have it gateway connected would be to navigate “to” a location that is on your GPS unit. You could also select a point on the GPS and have it “anchor here”. By not having the gateway you just have to arrive at your destination and then anchor mode. The gateway will also allow you to set your speed on the GPS unit, vs using the remote. The remote is fine, just remember when you initialize cruise the speed is 1.0MPH. press the + or – to change the speed in .1MPH increments.
Not a big deal and you will still really enjoy the features by not having the gateway.

Thanks Captain, I don’t know if I will ever gateway link but if I did, it would be with a Lowrance product rather than a Humminbird product. I love my Minn Kota a lot but it is just getting up there in age and time to get something new. Your information is very helpful.

Yep, all the features work great. The biggest selling point of the xi5 is the anchor lock mode, it’s far superior to my old i-pilot. I also LOVE the jog feature. Moving 5-10′ while casting at structure can make all the difference in the world. As we all know, fishing is a game of angles.

I record tracks with mine, but do think I would like pre-determined routes.

wimwuen wrote:

I record tracks with mine, but do think I would like pre-determined routes.

Ive recorded tracks too, but without reading the instructions in advance. lets just say I ended up getting up close and personal with a sheer rock wall in Canada.
Typical guy, too proud to read the instructions, how hard could it be? LOL
Its simple once I broke down and read them.
The anchor mode is awesome! Absolutely love it.
I do also really like how quiet it is and how fast the head turns directions. It also uses far less juice to run than a comparable terrova.