aluminum boat or fiberglass

[Grumpy]

I agree with DJD 100 percent. Before I retired for good, I knew I would be fishing during the week and by myslef a lot so I wanted to upgrade from my 14" V hull w/15 HP to something I could get a little more distance and versitility with. I shopped for almost a year, looking at glass vs aluminum, etc. After comparing several brands and models, I finally decided on aluminum and got a good deal on a 17"6" G-3 175 WELDED aluminmum with a 40 HP Yamaha. For my purposes, it has been great and I have never been sorry. BTW, if its too windy, I don't go out so thats not a problem.

One piece of advice though, if you go aluminum go WITH A WELDED HULL versue rivets. I have read and heard of too many rivetted models that leak, etc after a few years of use.

Hope this helps.

Grumpy

[wishniwasfishn]

If you are looking for a good lightly used aluminum I have on for sale, check out the boat board, and if you need pictures let me know and I will send them to you. Its just like Grumpy's but it has a 60hp 4-stroke on it.

[Col Forbin]

Several have said it before - it all depends on where you want to fish. I used to have a tracker and I fished, mainly Nolin, occassional rough, green or barren trip - and it was perfect - I couldn't tell it was behind me when in tow, and for the most part it fished fine - it would rock a little, but usually fished by myself so it didn't bother me.

Then I moved to Ky lake area. The tracker was great on calm days, it did rock a little. But when there was any wind at all, a larger lake can get rough quick, and the tracker didn't really suit my needs there - So I went with a 20 foot Triton - and it was great. I could definitely tell a difference in feel and MPG when towing.

I found out babies were on the way so I went down to a smaller 17' Sprint Fiberglass -and it is great too. It is not near as stable as the triton - but far above the tracker or other alluminums.

The all have their advantages.

[greenriverman1]

Good points; I have a 2003 17' aluminum Triton with a 50 merc. The boat has no wood in it. It is about a 1000 lb. boat, motor and trailer. It towes easy. Very easy on fuel. Better than any I have had in the past. With the aluminum you don't have to worry about the rocks and logs as bad or in some places the ramps I have to pull up to or on to let the wife out of the boat.

Bad points; It has a rough ride on the main lake when all of the play boaters are out. The boat does move around more than a glass boat when folks are moveing around in the boat. But we are not moveing around much. We are out there to fish.

I fished this past spring summer and fall about three times a week out of it. I fish Barren River lake, Green River in mammoth cave park, Shantie Hollow lake and Nolin lake and Nolin River. I did make 1 trip to Cave Run last spring.

I think for myself I will stick to the aluminum but that is what I like. Your needs may be different.

DA

[bobberdown]

I have a aluminum 2004 Lowe 180W w/ 90hp Johnson. It's 18' long & I think 88" wide. About all I do is crappie fish in the fall, winter & spring & then bluegill fish some in the summer. Now all the boats I can compare to that I've owned are 2 14' jon boats w/ small motors. I fished out of the 2 jon's for a little over 30 yrs so anything other than a floating log was a step up for me but I did catch lots of fish out of Barren River Lake in those jon boats. The only other boats I've fished out of was a mid 90 model Ranger & a late 90 model Stratos & I just fished out of those a couple of times but both nice & comfortable. I do love my Lowe boat, lots of storage, 3 live wells, great on gas, easy to tow w/ my 6 cyl. Toyota pick up, but it's not as stable as the 2 glass boats I fished out of but a heck of a lot more stable than a jon boat. Now I can fish KY Lake, Barkley and don't worry much but I'm still carefull about when I go out on the main lake. Again it all depends on what you can afford & how & where your going to use it.

[PRO V LE]

I agree with DJD 100 percent. Before I retired for good, I knew I would be fishing during the week and by myslef a lot so I wanted to upgrade from my 14" V hull w/15 HP to something I could get a little more distance and versitility with. I shopped for almost a year, looking at glass vs aluminum, etc. After comparing several brands and models, I finally decided on aluminum and got a good deal on a 17"6" G-3 175 WELDED aluminmum with a 40 HP Yamaha. For my purposes, it has been great and I have never been sorry. BTW, if its too windy, I don't go out so thats not a problem.

One piece of advice though, if you go aluminum go WITH A WELDED HULL versue rivets. I have read and heard of too many rivetted models that leak, etc after a few years of use.

Hope this helps.

Grumpy

Grumpy, have you ever heard of a Lund with leaky rivets? They are used up north on some of the biggest rough water lakes around and take a real beating.

[Col Forbin]

Grumpy, have you ever heard of a Lund with leaky rivets? They are used up north on some of the biggest rough water lakes around and take a real beating.

I have never heard of a Bass Tracker with Rivets that didn't leak. I have been told that almost all boats with rivets will eventually leak to some degree, some worse than others.

Lunds are nice boats, and probably in a league above most alluminum boats. Maybe it is the design of the Deep V that makes them less prone to losing seals around rivets. If I ever go back to an aluminum boat I will probably look at the deep V's, just because they handle the chop a little better.

[PRO V LE]

Lund boats are double rivetted with their own design rivets etc. Yes I have never seen a Bass Tracker that did not leak. We had the same problem with a Lowe leaking, it was repaired with Lund hardware.
There is a reason airplanes are rivetted and not welded, I know it sounds strange but it's much stronger method of assembly.