I can't answer your question about the Ultrex Quest, and my guess is that there are few people who can because it is very new to the market. Brushless motor are more efficient and quieter, so you will get better run time out of your batteries. I have an older Ultrex and I like it. I get the feel and responsivity of a cable steer, with the capabilities of the Ulterra. The Ultrex is heavy, and it does not have the auto deploy/stow, so that is something to consider. You'll also want to make sure that your cover is compatible with the mount.

1. Lithium batteries maintain the same voltage until they are pretty much discharged which gives you a lot of run time. On a 100aH lithium battery you should have 95 or more usable amp hours. With an AGM it will be about 80 usable hours before a drop in performance. The difference is, you can get more run time out of a lithium and you don't risk damaging it by running it all the way down.

2. I've never had AGM's so I don't know the charge time on them. I know that my Lithium batteries charge fairly quickly. I killed them back in February while trolling on a windy day and they were fully charged by morning. I have no idea how long it actually took to charge them. Lithium is supposed to charge faster, but you also need to use a charger that is designed to charge lithium batteries. This can add a few hundred dollars to the conversion cost. Also consider that lithium cannot be charged below freezing. If you do a lot of fishing in the colder weather and do not have a heated garage, this can be a problem. Some brands have batteries with heaters in them to resolve this issue.

3. The actual performance of the batteries should be the same between the brands. However, overall quality of the internal workings may differ. Lots of guys are using the cheap ones on Amazon and making good reviews. Lithium makes me nervous, and I prefer to go with a reputable company that stands behind their product. I bought my batteries from Amped Outdoors. Their customer service has been awesome. I have had no issues with their batteries, but I have had questions. They respond to e-mails very quickly with good information. They are more reasonably priced than some of the other well-known names, and they just added the blue tooth monitoring to their batteries, which I wish I had on mine. I recently bought a blue tooth monitor from them for $70 and it should be here tomorrow.

Something else to consider is the weight savings. I have 80aH batteries which are the equivalent of a group 31 AGM. My batteries weigh 23lbs, compared to around 70lbs for an AGM. This is a big deal for weight in the boat, and really helps if you're the type of person that takes them out of the boat each winter. With the rising price of AGM's the longevity of lithium may be worth the up front investment.

 

As mentioned above, long and short, lithium ion has a much flatter discharge curve, and a hard drop when drained. It also has a greater usable range as it relates to percentage of charge remaining. This basically prevents the motor from slowing as it’s under load, thus requiring a bump in motor speed to keep trolling speed. This is the very reason EV’s use the technology and as you likely know by now are much more costly. Throwing in a discharge chart.

 

I LOVE my Dakota Lithium's, had a pair of 100AH on my Lund with an Ulterra, previous model not the Quest.

Once you own an Ulterra, I am not sure you could ever use anything else, especially if you go into shallows or don't want to tie your boat to the dock when fishing solo and want to get on/off the water ASAP... You can launch your boat in 30 seconds and load it and be off the ramp in less than a minute with this method...

In 2 years of owning that boat, I never tied it to a dock once, just dumped it in, held the remote out the truck window, let it float away from the dock, hit spot lock and park your truck, when you get to the dock, pick yourself up with the boat and adios... I would drive it on to the trailer with the remote too, just make sure you stow the trolling motor before it gets to the trailer, slide it up on there, attach the strap, crank it the last few inches and drive away...

When you fish 200-300 days a year, this is a major major deal....

I now run a 54AH Dakota Lithium on a smaller transom mount trolling motor on my drift boat, I covered 9 miles of shoreline the other day while fishing an inland lake, still going strong... Was really windy, I used the trolling motor non-stop all day. You could never do that with a normal AGM and the lithium battery just weighs a few pounds...

Saving up for a fancy glass tiller boat either this Fall or next Spring, it will have an Ulterra and lithium batteries, for sure...

The lithium batteries charge in like 10% of the time as my AGM's ever have as well...

 

I've had 100ah LiTime batteries running my Terrova (old version) for just over a year and they have been great.

Recharge time is based on the amp rating of the charger. A 10amp charger will recharge a totally empty 100ah battery in 10 hours (theoretically.)

 

What about charging lithiums and running in cold weather? Have to bring them inside in winter vs using onboard charger to maintain them?

 

The electronics will not allow charging when it's too cold.

 

For $200 I could put 4 Link Micros(sale price) on a tree and have each send me 250 pictures a month for free.

This would be good for field watching

pretty much yes. Don't charge below freezing. The smart ones won't let you, the dumb ones will be damaged quickly. Newer tech has a cold temp shutoff in them, but some don't.

 

3) Is there a difference in quality/performance of various lithium manufacturers...

Yes

do your homework.

Marine Battery & Electrical Systems | Battle Born Batteries

Looking to upgrade your boat's electrical system or electric motor? We can help build the lithium battery setup you need.

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This guy does a good breakdown and comparison on different batteries

https://www.youtube.com/@WillProwse

 

I have a 36v amped and it has bluetooth... it will tell me the temperature too.

Love knowing how much juice I have left too!

 

If your battery isn't actually below freezing, your OK. Sounds like that is your situation. But unless others understand that, your advice could be very costly for some. I for one would never rely on a battery charger for low temp charging. You need a sensor internal to the battery to do it right. Assuming were talking Lithium batteries. Lead batteries could care less. Just be careful, or it could be costly. Lots of people have destroyed their rechargeable tool batteries by plugging them in to charge in below freezing temps. I just bring mine in for a few hours. Once they are warm they will be charged up before ever dropping to critical temps once back in the cold.

 

I have been charging my Dewalt Lithium batteries in temps down to below zero for years LOL Zero issues, all still work like new.

My Dewalt charger anyway, will blink yellow when they are cold and it takes quite a while but it will warm them up and charge them, just way slower. My ice fishing auger is powered by a Dewalt lithium drill, so I use it all Winter long and when I am done, just toss it on the charger in the garage and the next morning it's ready to go.

I am not saying you are wrong, I just never thought of it and have been doing it for a long time, luckily with no issues.

Fortunately, this will be the last year I have a non-insulated garage, that is one of my projects this Summer, getting it insulated so I can have a year-round workshop from here on out.

 

I got lithium batteries outside with the deck lights. Maybe different kind of lithium. Solar and USB charging.

 

I did run my lithiums down on Saturday. It was very windy and I was handlining into a straight 25mph headwind. Once a lithium goes dead it shuts itself off internally. You need to reset it to get it back to life. Easiest way is to take a cable off one of the post. That way you don't have to manually lift your ulterra, which is a major pain in the ass.

 

I got an Epoch 24v 100ah and first night out used it for like 3.5 hours and it was at like 95% still.

 

thanks for all the great feedback - much appreciated!

 

You're talking about Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries (LiFePo4) and not Lithium ion, correct? I have 2 LiFePo4 in my RV and they're great. When my 105AH trolling motor battery dies I'll get a LiFePo4 to replace it.

 

So yesterday I made the move. On the recommendation of a reliable friend who thoroughly investigated performance and user satisfaction, I chose Ionic 125ah without heater

Speaking with LithiumHub (owner of Ionic brand) technical department, these batteries are only unable to start charge cycle below ~24F which is no constraint for me. In the really remote possibility that I'm using boat in cold enough weather that there could be overnight temps getting down that low, it likely doesnt matter because the temperature limit is only for starting the charge cycle; once its begun there is heat generated that has the same effect as models with the internal heater. So there is about as much chance of me starting the charge cycle near 24F as winning the lottery.

Another great feature is the phone app that monitors useful parameters such as state of charge (remaining run time, how much longer to complete charging, etc). I have no idea how these batteries are able to transmit to my phone thru wifi, but it works.

Before making the purchase I also spoke to Minn Kota technical help. My boat has an onboard charger - PC440. If you go to MK site, there is lots of mention that their latest models PCL*** are capable of charging lithium batteries. The long and the short of it is that both MK and LithiumHub confirmed that my MK charger model is fine for charging lithium batteries - just have to set charger on AGM setting. Also for what its worth, both confirmed no issue to keep my cranking/electronics battery AGM, and have both types on the same charger simultaneously

So I'm pretty fired up about having batteries that I dont have to care about running the TM pretty hard for an extended period of time. I often fish both morning and evening, and was always concerned about evening charge if I ran hard in the morning and didnt have enough time to fully recharge. I also shied away from sturgeon fishing, because I wasnt totally comfortable spot locking (I'm too old and lazy to mess with river anchors) extended periods of time in heavier current, but I guess that is a thing of the past and I'll maybe give it a go this season

 

Good decision and you saved yourself a lot of trouble and wondering by making some phone calls to get solid answers.