mredd07

The Rt 188 will be fine for any waters we have in Iowa. It will be a little more than you want to spend at around 23000. You'll want to upgrade th TM and electronics will will run a little higher. I would consider looking at Tritons and Trackers. You have a Lowe dealer in monroe. - http://www.malonemotorsports.net/ You also have a Lund dealer in Grimes. - http://brightwellsboathouse.com/ BPS should be able to give you info on the Rangers, Tritons, and Trackers. I would go visit these places and physically check out the boats and crawl around in them and see what you like best and go from there. We dont have any "big water" in Iowa per se and any 17-18 ft tin boat will do just fine for now.

I would take a glance at the Rangers aluminum boats as well. They are a little more pricey but worth it in my mind. They are basically the same hull with better fit and finish, as well as, multiple engine options and more storage. I was dead set on a RT 178 with an Evinrude E-Tec. The only reason I ended up with a PT 175 TXW was a matter of the 175 being in stock and about an 8 week wait for the RT 178. Tracker makes a fine boat these days and by no means am I disappointed in it, but ultimately only you can decide what boat is right for you. I would highly recommend upgrading the electronics as I have found the Elite X-3 that comes standard is garbage in my experience. They seem to be hit and miss, but some people have reported they work great. I have found the depth finder on mine is rather inaccurate in shallow water. I bought the Tracker with standard options with intentions on upgrading the trolling motor and electronics with-in a year with the realization that I'm having to upgrade the electronics sooner than I hoped for. I would also upgrade the trolling motor if you go with the 190. The 45# that comes standard will get the job done, but I think you will find yourself wanting more on breezy days. I hope the info I have given has helped you and if you have any questions feel free to ask.

The 175 TXW would be fine on those bodies of water. The biggest difference from the 175-190 is gonna be length, engine size, and price. The 190 is a foot longer. Person weight is 555 for the 175 and 685 for the 190. Stability should be about the same as the beam and bottom width are identical on both models. Your best bet would be to go look at both of them and crawl around inside them if you have a dealer that has both near you.

The are basically the same boat. They use the exact same hull and both are rated at 75 HP. The TXW is a bass boat. The TF is more of a multi-species boat. The biggest difference is going to be seating and storage. The TF has more places for you to put a pedestal seat, as well as, two live wells and a different storage configuration. Here is a link from Tracker of the TF layout. http://www.trackerboats.com/boat/specs.cfm?boat=3879 The TXW has only one live well with two places for pedestal seats. The rod locker is in the middle of the front casting deck instead of the left side on the TF. The casting decks on the TXW sit higher than the decks on the TF. Here is the link to the TXW layout. http://www.trackerboats.com/boat/specs.cfm?boat=3880 Aside from those few differences they are basically the same boat.