MotorGuide Xi5 Install With NEMA Gateway To Lowrance [Carolina Skiff Rebuild Part 20]

It took a lot of time, research, and debating if it was worth it for me to finally come to a decision on a trolling motor. A year or two ago my old trolling motor went out. I replaced it with a cheap freshwater hand steer trolling motor. It worked great, but just didn’t do all the things I wanted. With a total boat rebuild and a ton of time and money dumped into this skiff. I didn’t want to settle with my new, but old trolling motor. My biggest issue was bringing myself to spend this kind of money on a trolling motor. I try to be frugal and never blow this kind of money on toys. I went back and forth on if it was really worth it for months. Finally I pushed the button and ordered a new MotorGuide with all the bells and whistles.
I had a tough choice to make between Minn Kota and MotorGuide. Both have gps, which was a must. Minn Kota had auto deploy, but would not connect with my almost new Lowrance depth finder. I really went back and forth with this decision. I have always had Minn Kota trolling motors with good luck. Having auto deploy would be awesome. After reading tons of reviews saying how unreliable Minn Kota’s auto deploy was. Along with I couldn’t connect my Lowrance unit. MotorGuide Xi5 was the winner of the month or two long decision.
Out of all the new additions to this skiff rebuild. This is the one thing I am most excited about! For years I have been looking and dreaming about these new technologically advanced trolling motors. Finally I have one mounted on my freshly rebuilt skiff! To say I am excited to splash this thing is an understatement! Thank you to everyone following the Skiff Build Series!