I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not easy on a trolling motor. I’m a shallow-water fisherman and my trolling motors usually look like they’ve been dragged down a gravel road after a few years of use. A trolling motor is a tool in my mind—and that’s exactly how I treat mine.

I had an opportunity to test the new MotorGuide X5 this year and I’ve put it through a lot of abuse thus far. I’ve slammed it into boat docks, hit the prop on submerged rocks and trees, banged into stumps at high speeds and wrapped a darn-near full spool of line in its prop (whoops).

So far, it’s still going strong and shows no signs of slowing down. Here’s what I’ve liked most about it:

• Excellent boat control
• Tough and quiet mounting bracket
• The shaft has a lifetime guarantee against breaking
• Easy on the batteries