I haven't used one on a drift boat but I did have one on my Fl. Keys flats boat. It had 55 lbs. of thrust and held my Hewes (about 1700 lbs. dry weight) just fine in 4-5 mph current, with plenty of reserve. The things I would suggest is to get the "power" propeller rather than the weed-cutter prop; get the infinite variable speed; and an on-board charger can save a lot of hassle.