I good buddy just bought a 17' Lowe, that is finished out just like the old Tracker Tournament TX boats from the 90's. The trolling motor needs to be replaced. What thrust should he be looking at? I'm thinking that a 50# would be right for any conditions, but that's a guess.

What do your 17'-18' fully rigged aluminum bass boats have on them?

Thanks!

i have a 17' bass tracker it has a 40lb trolling motor on it ,  but i am putting a 55lb on it because in the wind it doesnt do very well.

My tracker 175 txw came with a 46lb motorguide. It does just fine. I usually have it set on 2 or 3 and it will run from sun up to sun down with no problems. Hope this helps.

101 is what comes to my mind....... 8-)  (on the rear,lol...sell the gas motor and drop it in my lake )

I have a 1984 Tournament TX with a 40 pound Minn Kota Edge.  It is enough, but just barely.  I am going to replace it (if SWMBO says it's OK) with a 55 Minn Kota Maxxum.

This boat came with a 27 pound thrust trolling motor and i don't seem to recall it feeling underpowered.

I have a 16.5' alumacraft with a 48v outboard,,I use a Minnkota 55# up front to deal with the weight of the boat,,I have 9 batterys in it,works like a champ

You can never have "too much" thrust in your TM, make hin get the biggest, meanest, more powerful he can get, screw what the boat comes with, everything is fine until the wind begins to blow.

When I purchased my 12 ft jonboat I jumped on a 30 pounder and it serves the purpose for most ocassions except when the wind blows hard, should have purchased at leat a 40 pounder.

I have a 16ft lowe deep-v and have a 55 on it now works great if you fish alot in the rivers get one 80 plus for sure.

the biggest he can afford.

its never overkill to run the tm all day on 2.

cause there will come that day when running on 10 wont be enough....... :-/

get the biggest you can afford and have room for the batteries. use this for an example. I have 05 tracker PTX 175 that has the 45# motorguide that is standard on it. It runs ok, but could use more power when in heavy weeds or current. My buddy has the same boat, same year and he decided to put a 82# 24volt Motor guide on his, and it is like night and day. he has no problem in weeds, wind, or current and never has to worry about his batteries running out of power.

Now if you realy want to never worry about having enough power.  then do what I have done on my other boat. Its a Sea Nymph GLS 176 (17'6" Deep V aluminum boat)  I had the room for 3 batteries so I went as big as I could and have a 109# 36 volt Tour series Motorguide

. It is great and I have no problem with anything.  I can't fit 3 batteries in my tracker so when I can afford a new tm I will be getting a 24 volt Tm 70-82#

If he fishes in the wind than at least a 65#.  If he gets to the lee side than most anything will do.

One thing rarely discussed is shaft length.  Buy one at least 3" longer than original and you will be able to stay on windier banks without the prop pulling out of the water.

I changed the 42-pound 12-volt trolling motor system on my Tracker 185 by going with a 67-pound 12-volt system.

Billy Wells in Richmond converted my 42-pound Motor Guide to the 67-pound system so I still have the original Motor Guide.

Works great.

Only problem is that on setting 5 you have to watch what you are doing as the boat flies over the water.  

Thanks for the replies!  Budget is the issue here.  Sounds like 55-60# will be enough, even in good wind.  

You'll need an 80lb. or more if you fish rivers. The small stuff works okay on the flat water.

I have a MinnKota 80AP on my rig. My next one will be a 101AP for sure.