Lowrance Recon SW 72" Trolling Motor + FreeSteer Joystick

The Lowrance Recon SW 72-inch is the saltwater Recon for boats with real freeboard. The 72-inch shaft is the right call when your bow sits 22 to 28 inches above the waterline at rest, which covers offshore center consoles, deep-V bay boats, and sportfishers fishing inshore patterns. On those boats, a 48 or 54-inch shaft cavitates and ventilates in chop because the prop comes out of the water every time the bow lifts. 72 keeps the prop buried where you need it, all the way through a windy afternoon.

SW means saltwater. Lowrance applies its full marine corrosion treatment to the lower unit, the seal package, and the hardware. The pivot mount and the depth collar are stainless. The shaft itself is the same carbon-fiber-infused composite as the Recon FW with a lifetime warranty against breakage. The motor is brushless and sealed for the kind of salt spray a 26-foot center console throws at the bow on a 4-foot day.

This SKU ships with the FreeSteer joystick remote. It does not include a foot pedal in the box (a wireless foot pedal is sold separately if you want one). The FreeSteer is the right primary control on a console boat where you're fishing from the cockpit, not standing on a casting platform with one foot on a pedal. It pairs over wireless to the motor head, runs on a CR2450 coin cell, and shows speed, heading, lock state, GPS signal strength, and active mode on a color LCD.

The headline FreeSteer feature is 8-direction Spot-Lock Jog. Once you lock a position, the joystick lets you bump that locked position five feet at a time in any direction including diagonals. On the water that turns into the difference between sliding right onto the structure and breaking the lock to chase it. Especially useful when you're holding over a wreck or a reef edge and the GPS lock landed five or ten feet off where you actually wanted to be.

Brushless motor design is the modern standard and the reason this generation runs much quieter than older brushed designs. Less heat, less wear, more efficiency, and a noticeably softer hum at the bow when you're working a school. The motor takes 24V or 36V, with the higher voltage delivering more total thrust and longer runtime per amp-hour at the same speed. For the SW 72-inch, plan on a 36V setup with three Group 31 deep-cycle or lithium batteries. The 72-inch shaft says you have a bigger boat with bigger loads and bigger wind exposure, and 36V gives you the headroom to hold position when conditions get nasty.

1-degree steering increments through the joystick mean small inputs translate to small heading changes instead of overshooting. Combined with the brushless drive's high response speed and the internal compass for AutoPilot, the boat tracks where you point it without the rubber-band feel that older trolling motors have when you fight wind. AutoPilot holds a heading. Cruise Control holds a speed. Both work with the FreeSteer's tactile controls, and both show on the color LCD so you always know what mode you're in.

Sonar nosecone. This SKU does not include the HDI nosecone in the box, but the motor is plug-and-play ready for any of the Lowrance Recon nosecone options. Add the HDI nosecone if you want CHIRP and DownScan imagery built into the motor head. Add the Active Imaging 3-in-1 if you want side imagery as well. The nosecone wires straight to your Lowrance display through the existing sonar port with no rewiring on the trolling motor side.

NMEA 2000 connectivity is built in for clean integration with the boat's network. Engine data, autopilot, GPS heading, and other vessel data flow over the standard backbone. If you're already running a Lowrance Elite FS, HDS, or APEX network, the Recon connects natively over the existing wiring.

Pivot-style mount with a one-hand cam lock depth collar that you can adjust on the fly without bending over with a wrench. Multiple accessory mount points molded into the head so you can add a camera, a light, or a transducer arm without drilling new holes. Backlit controls and LED indicators on the motor for low-light operation. Diagnostic codes show on the FreeSteer remote, the mobile app, or the Lowrance display.

Install. Mount the bracket on a flat bow with the included hardware. The 72-inch motor is heavy enough that you'll want a solid backing plate on a fiberglass bow and proper through-bolt hardware on aluminum. Run dedicated 6 AWG tinned marine wire from the batteries to the motor through the boat with proper fusing at the battery end. A quick-disconnect at the bow is worth installing if you're going to remove the motor for trailering. The motor itself is a two-person lift to set on the bracket.

Maintenance. Saltwater is hard on everything. Rinse the lower unit, the spike, the prop, and the upper bracket with fresh water at the end of every salt trip. Wipe down the FreeSteer if it gets spray on it. Inspect the seal package once per season and replace any sacrificial anodes that have corroded down to half their original size. Treat the motor like the rest of your saltwater rigging and you'll get many seasons out of it.

Lifetime warranty on the carbon-fiber-infused composite shaft against breakage. 3-year warranty on the motor itself. Both backed through the Lowrance dealer network and the user-serviceable design lets the warranty network handle field repairs more easily than older sealed designs. Same-day shipping before 3 PM ET on in-stock units.