Just put some money down to hold a new 2018 195TXW. Talk to me.

[served_usmc]

I've gone full circle after about 6 months of shopping. Almost pulled the trigger on a new 2017 190 last year, researched about 6 other boats that fit the bill, and got an email yesterday from the guy at the local BPS who helped me out last year and said he found a new 2018 model 195TXW at a store one state over. Comes with cover, trailer brakes, 150XS and spare tire kit. Price is $4000 less than the same configuration in the 2019 model. Seeing as I'm still in the "hobbyist" category I think this thing will serve it's purpose for what I'll be using it for.

A few questions for owners or folks familiar with them-

The locator setup and trolling motor are enough to get out on the water, but I will be upgrading them in short order. With that being said;

- How friendly are these boats as far as wiring is concerned? Easy to route cables through the hull?

- I will likely add a 3rd battery and an on board 2 or 3 way charger. Anything that I may encounter that will require extra parts outside of the bolt on's I'll be buying? Trolling motor will likely be a 24V system.

- What's Trackers (or the people who own them) recommendation on gimbal mount locations for bow and console? Will probably end up with something in the 9''-12'' size range for both locations.

-If I wanted to get a bicycle style seat for this, am I better off ordering a tracker brand, or is there another brand out there that is a better way to go?

I appreciate any input that you guys have to offer. Thanks in advance.

[Transom]

Do not buy the seat from tracker. Too much money for the quality that you get.

Running wires is easy. The transducers run out of the hull neat the motor and run on top of the deck to the console. There is a carpeted aluminum cover on the starboard rear deck. If you run wires to the front there is a slot opening between the interior of the console to the storage compartment and an opening between the compartment and the bow. A good fishtape or the sticks that electricians use make the job pretty simple.
The boat comes with an onboard charger for the number of batteries that come stock. I have the large short rammount at the factory location and the large long arm rammounts at the bow. I have one mounted on each side of the recessed tray.

[bshort]

The upfitter that ran ethernet and nema cables from the console to the bow told me my boat was the worst boat ever to run these cables on. (Ranger dealer).

[Grizzly]

The upfitter that ran ethernet and nema cables from the console to the bow told me my boat was the worst boat ever to run these cables on. (Ranger dealer).

I looked at a RT188 and a Tracker 190 last week. When I asked about running cables in the Tracker to upgrade the FF the dealer told me the same thing.

[jyu87]

I thought it was pretty easy... all you need is fish tape and it's easy peasy. Ran additional electric cords and my ethernet to the front. No problems.

[served_usmc]

I thought it was pretty easy... all you need is fish tape and it's easy peasy. Ran additional electric cords and my ethernet to the front. No problems.

Geat, thanks. Should have it by the weekend so I’m just trying to get and understanding of what I’ll be getting into. I haven’t done much research in the way of accessories since I’ve been focusing on boat shopping, but I’ve seen a few people mention Ethernet cable. I’m assuming it’s a power source for your HDS units? I know the security cameras I have are power over Ethernet so I figured it’s the same type of setup?

[R2Tracker]

HDS units are not POE (power over Ethernet) strictly communication between HDS units.
Share maps, waypoints, sonar, etc. across the network.

[served_usmc]

HDS units are not POE (power over Ethernet) strictly communication between HDS units.

that makes more sense. Thanks for the clarification.

Anyone have any trolling motor suggestions? Looking for a minn Kota with spot lock that’s powerful enough (and shaft length) to handle to boat in the wind? Would prefer to stick to 80# since anything over is 36V, but not sure what is recommended. Will probably call minn Kota later today to get their input but wanted to see what suggestions here were first.

[Washtub]

Go with the Minn Kota Ultrex 24V 80# 52” shaft. We just put this on our 195 and love it! You’ll need the 52” shaft for windy days when the lake is rolling. The front end of the 195 sits pretty high out of the water so if you have the shorter shaft length, the motor comes out of the water(I know this from experience with the Fortrex we took off).

The dealer we bought our boat from installed my electronics for free so I dont know how difficult they were to install.

We have an HDS 7 at the bow, mounted on a bar(sold by a guy on this forum).
71DC15FC-7883-4CC6-A234-C03987D49021.png
HDS 8 mounted on a RAM mount by the console.

3619E2D1-F2D8-441C-BC05-EB7040A6CD77.png


We have upgraded a few things:
Installed 3 bank battery charger
Put in flush mounted rod straps on front deck. Step on one of those chrome hooks for the rod straps barefooted and you’ll cuss like a sailor(again, experience).

[served_usmc]

Do not buy the seat from tracker. Too much money for the quality that you get.

Any recommendation on a brand to look at? It will probably be my first purchase after I pick up the boat on Friday.

[Washtub]

I’ve never heard a single complaint about the Millinnium palma horse boat seats. Everybody that has one, loves it. The next time I purchase one, thats what I will be buying. You can lean on it, sit or straddle it.

[served_usmc]

Just picked up the boat yesterday. Everything checked out like I hoped it would so it followed me home. It is by far the biggest fishing-purposed boat I will have fished out of at this point. It has displaced the spot in the garage for my daily driver and I've already started the process of getting a quote for a barn. HA!

The only "problem" I noticed when I was there is that the Minn Kota Terrova (when I upgrade) pedal doesnt appear that it will fit in the pedal recess on the deck, so I'm going to have to flush mount it or fab up something custom if I can do so without getting into anything structural.

[Transom]

I went with an xi5 mainly for that reason. The minnkota pedal is huge. The xi5 sits nicely in the recess but you cannot reach the prop or anchor buttons with your foot. I have seen that most folks fill the pedal recess in with something such as wood or starboard material or cover the whole thing with sheetmetal.

[Lowerider58]

There is a sticky at the top of the Trolling Motor forum that has all of the dimensions of the Ultrex pedal.
When I installed an Ultrex in my Triton 18TX the pedal did sit a little too low to be able to use those buttons. I just cut a piece of plywood the shape of the bottom of my tray, painted it and screwed my pedal to it. I would have preferred to have used Starboard but didn't have any around.

[served_usmc]

There is a sticky at the top of the Trolling Motor forum that has all of the dimensions of the Ultrex pedal.
When I installed an Ultrex in my Triton 18TX the pedal did sit a little too low to be able to use those buttons. I just cut a piece of plywood the shape of the bottom of my tray, painted it and screwed my pedal to it. I would have preferred to have used Starboard but didn't have any around.

How does the "spot lock" feature that motorguard offers compare to the minn kota, in your opinion?

[served_usmc]

I’ve never heard a single complaint about the Millinnium palma horse boat seats. Everybody that has one, loves it. The next time I purchase one, thats what I will be buying. You can lean on it, sit or straddle it.

I'm going to pick one of those up. Thanks for the suggestion. Any specific seat post I should pair it with?

[krr6581]

Before you buy that seat let me make one more suggestion. Go to https://www.bassboatseats.com/ and look at he seat in my picture and the image from the website that I told you to look at. I have had my original seat now for 5 years and it is as good now as it was when I bought it. Very comfortable and stands up to hours of use. You can match the color to your existing seat colors and it took only about a week or less to receive mine once ordered. Finally the price is excellent only about $50.
IMG_1038.JPGbass-boat-seats-bts401_400x400_crop_top.jpg

[Lowerider58]

How does the "spot lock" feature that motorguard offers compare to the minn kota, in your opinion?

I've never had a Motorguide TM with spot lock so I can't compare it to my Ultrex. I don't have any complaints with the Ultrex spotl lock but be sure to adjust the boat scale setting to match your boat.

[served_usmc]

I've never had a Motorguide TM with spot lock so I can't compare it to my Ultrex. I don't have any complaints with the Ultrex spotl lock but be sure to adjust the boat scale setting to match your boat.

Will do. A couple guys talked me out of motorguide yesterday. Going to go out on a guys boat this weekend and try out his ultrex.

[R2Tracker]

I have enjoyed using my Xi5 so far (except for the foot pedal, I dont use that much anymore), Anchor Mode, and Autopilot are very nice to have, especially when integrated with the Lowrance. If it weren't already on my boat, I might be waiting to see what the Lowrance trolling motor is like. Likewise if I had Hummingbird units, I'd probably have an Ultrex.