Minnkota Vantage & Lund ProV

[mattm2632]

Got it to work now, thanks. Says 12% off. Are you finding it better?

[Jfritz_drfritz]

Biggest problems with vantage are that they are not grounded so they tend to corrode. You should always leave them unplugged. You need the support bracket otherwise you will eventually break the pin. I don’t fish from the back so I rarely use it, some people seem to use exclusively

[vetleap]

Originally Posted by Waxy

Vantages are junk, but I'd never be without one lol.

The design is terrible. Key parts are flimsy and break too easily, they bind under higher power, they cause interference on your sonar, the wiring is bad, the lift mechanism is notorious for failing, and there's no mechanism to ensure they return to full up when turned off or before the main motor starts (and that has cost me a lot of money over the years lol). They are in DESPERATE need of an update/redesign or some competition, but sadly, I don't think the market for them is big enough that that will ever happen.

All of that said, I would NEVER own a boat without a Vantage on it. They are the single best tool available for precise boat control and finesse fishing. 99% of tournament boats where I live have a Vantage on them for that reason, and sadly, half of those guys have a second one in their garage for when the first one inevitably breaks, myself included lol.

Waxy

I agree to a point. They are so poorly designed but I loved it. I was also very glad when i decided to get rid of it and went to a traxis. One of the many poor designs with it is that when you're really using it hard you can't steer it or risk breaking something. You have to throttle down and then turn it, then throttle back up. Awesome concept though. Just broke down far too often

[That Minnesota guy]

I guess I would have to ask, if the concept is good but the product bad why hasn't anybody fixed the problem? Is there a lack of demand for another company to jump into the market or for Minnkota to upgrade the motor?

[Waxy]

Originally Posted by That Minnesota guy

I guess I would have to ask, if the concept is good but the product bad why hasn't anybody fixed the problem? Is there a lack of demand for another company to jump into the market or for Minnkota to upgrade the motor?

That's my understanding after talking to my local MinnKota rep.

The annual sales volumes don't even make a blip on their radar compared to the rest of their product line. Total sales numbers just aren't there to entice Motorguide, Lowrance, Garmin, etc... to spend the R&D money required to get into the market.


From what he tells me, it'll get discontinued long before it gets upgraded. It's a headache for them, and according to him, only two things are keeping it alive - they make pretty good profit on the initial sales, and they're afraid of a pretty loud backlash from the small minority of dedicated users. Otherwise, it would already be gone.

Waxy

[Waxy]

Originally Posted by vetleap

One of the many poor designs with it is that when you're really using it hard you can't steer it or risk breaking something. You have to throttle down and then turn it, then throttle back up. Awesome concept though. Just broke down far too often

The concept is awesome, and it's stood the test of time remarkably well. It's so close to being a perfect trolling motor.

The thought of where it could be now if Minnkota had put anywhere near the time and R&D budget into the Vantage that it put into the rest of their trolling motors is both sad, and really intriguing.

The obvious things I can think of -

- Better bushings, or going all out with some bearings, would solve the steering under high power issue.

- An actual aluminum steering handle mount rather than cheap pot metal.

- Grounded and sealed wiring with a fail safe mechanism built into it.

- An option for a longer shaft version


Dare to dream -

Auto pilot and spot lock. Ohhhhh man, that would be sweet.

Waxy

[Mrxlh]

They seem finicky, and everyone asks me if I have problems with mine, so there's that. Mine works, but seems like it needs to be cleaned or something, sometimes have issues raising it up. (Someone mentioned replacing the seals) I back troll quite a bit, and it excel's in this aspect, (main motor wont back troll slow enough) but also use it in lieu of a spot lock trolling motor.