New Boat

[fishincrazy]

I got some good advise on here before as I was thinking of repowering my boat. It made me start thinking that a new boat was the way to go.
I am thinking 17' to 19' long, 115 to 150 hp. in a aluminum fishing boat.
What make of boat and motor do all you guys have and are you happy with it? Welded or rivited? What would you get different or add to the boat? How did you find the dealer you bought from for sales and service? Would you recommend a dealer that you have dealt with?
There is a pile of boats out there and I have been looking at specs etc. but I think that a person should talk to boat owners to get their opinions.
I am also planning on going to the Boat & Sportsman Show to check it out.
Thank you all ahead of time.

[jjstar]

I am thinking along the same lines and due to price difference I have been talking to legend Boats. I have been emailing the company direct and they have been good at comparing engine size and approx. speeds for the boat with each engine size. I know a couple people who have them and they have been very happy. Of course the more toys you add on the price catches up to other boats quick. I think it may depend on the water you are fishing too. The bigger the lakes the better angle you want on the front to cut through the larger waves you would face. It depends on what you need the boat to do.

Good luck

[Mudslide]

You guys might want to wait till Bass Pro opens or at least check out the Canadian pricing on the boats they will be carrying. I think they sell Tracker and Mercury. Could save you some money or at least give you some more bargaining power.

[JohninAB]

Welded versus riveted is a discussion that has been going on forever it seems and each have their pros and cons. I have a welded Crestliner and so far very happy with it. Have owned riveted boats as well and no complaints there either. I think one is far better off to look over different makes and models and then based on which boat has the options and features you want to go with it.

One thing I looked at was the warranties on the boats. On my Crestliner it has a Lifetime plus 3 warranty. The plus 3 means that the options like the trolling motor, fishfinder etc are covered by Crestliner for 3 years even though the original manufacturer only gives say a one year warranty. Nice touch in my books.

Think a big deciding factor has to be the dealer you buy it from. How is their service after the fact. I bought mine from Freespirit Marine and have had no reason to take it back for service although they have treated me well when I have been in there for oil and such. Some dealers rend to forget after sales service so make sure you check that out.

As for a motor, the fourstrokes nowadays are a beautiful motor when compared to the old 2 strokes but in saying that, the Evinrude E-Tec is an awesome motor and probably would be my choice for a motor on any new boat I bought. Easy to look after and you save so much weight when comparing to a four stroke.

In saying all that though, my choice after looking at all the boats available out there came down to a Lund or Crestliner which are owned by the same company which also owns Mercury Marine. Chose the Crestliner Fishhawk 1600 side console based on it had everything I wanted in a boat plus the price was hard to beat.

Hope this helps.

[Grizzly]

You guys might want to wait till Bass Pro opens or at least check out the Canadian pricing on the boats they will be carrying. I think they sell Tracker and Mercury. Could save you some money or at least give you some more bargaining power.

I agree with Mud here... there prices should be considerably lower than most retailers.
does anyone know when its projected to be open?

[Mudslide]

I heard the end of March with the Grand opening April 9th. It's going to be good.

[jjstar]

where is it near Edmonton or Calgary? I mean that is my B-day so maybe I can convince the wife that I would need nothing new for like 5 years (prob. rest of my life) If I recieved a new boat, for my B-day..

[Waxy]

My advice - forget dealers and scour North America for a good deal on a used boat.

There are some AWESOME deals to be had out there right now on exactly what you're looking for. Just as important IMHO, you're buying a boat that is completely rigged and ready to fish. Buying the boat is one thing, but you can easily spend another $5000+ rigging it out with trolling motors, sonars, batteries, splash guards, kicker motors, etc...

As far as boat brands go, I think you get what you pay for, but any of today's aluminum boats will serve you well, just make sure you're comparing apples to apples when you're shopping, prices can be very deceiving. As for outboard manufacturers, I don't really think you can go wrong with any of them. The Merc Optimax and Verado are awesome outboards, and the Evinrude E-TEC would also be at the top of the list.

Waxy

[Mudslide]

Very good point Waxy; used is the way to go if.... you have the time and can find a boat that suits your needs and budget. People want stupid money for used boats in Alberta. The best place to buy a used boat is Minnesota. No salt water and tons of boats suited to Alberta fishing. Check out Craigslist for boats in Minneapolis. There is close to a hundred listings a day with some genuine bargains. However, you take a chance buying any used boat and distance makes it hard to have it checked out. The dollar is also killing us right now, but even with that you can save nearly half on what the same used boat costs here. I should have jumped last year :tongue2:

[gramps73]

Fish
Not sure where your from but the Boat and Sportmens Shaw is Feb. 14 this year and I could not think of a better gift then a new boat.
I also have a Crestliner, went with it 2 reasons price and welded.
good luck
gramps

[Shmag]

I have a 06 tracker tundra 21ft with a 200hp, couldn't tell you how it is as i just purchased it. Tracker boats have a really good web site, you can pick the size of boat you like and then go onto the motor page and it will give you approx speed and pricing for different motors that you would like to go with. Shows the speed in different horsepowers and models such as the opti, verado, etc. I here they are a pretty good boat.

My brother had a legend, it was a great boat but found it too light when he started fishing tourney's, then he went with a Crestliner and found it handled the chop alot better, but was a bit under power. He now has a 17.5ft tracker with a 150hp and loves it. They are aluminum's.

[fishincrazy]

Thank you all for your good input.
JohninAB, your info on the 3 year warranty is a important point. I am going to visit Free spirit Marine and see what they have to offer. A good buddy of mine bought a Crestliner a couple of years ago and I know he is happy with his boat.
I have been thinking about going used but as mentioned you do not know for sure what you are getting so buying at a local dealer (with warranty) gives me good piece of mind. I will shop around as this is probably the second biggest purchase I have ever made next to my wife. I also believe in supporting the local economy, local jobs etc.
JJstar, I have been looking on line at Alumacraft's web site. If you go on it click on 2009 models then go down to and click on performance they have a lot of comparisons of differant sizes of boats and motors to give a guy a bit of comparison of fuel econmy etc. I am looking for a boat that wiil handle some rough water. I will check out Legend's web site.
Shmag, I will for sure check out the Tracker web site that is the kind of info that I want to check out as I am going to do my homework on this.
I am planning a trip to Lac La Ronge and north to Reindeer Lake this summer with my son and son in law and we don't need to be having boat or motor problems. I also want to have good fuel economy/capacity for those big lakes.

Again thanks to all for the info so far.

[Waxy]

I have been thinking about going used but as mentioned you do not know for sure what you are getting so buying at a local dealer (with warranty) gives me good piece of mind. I will shop around as this is probably the second biggest purchase I have ever made next to my wife. I also believe in supporting the local economy, local jobs etc.

I don't mean to be pushy, I'm just trying to save you some $$$.

If you're buying a newer boat (2002 or so and up) the outboards and boats themselves are so reliable you'd have a hard time damaging them. On top of that, with the excellent fully transferable warranties being offered, if you're buying a boat that's a year or two old, you'll be completely covered if there are any surprises.

Another factor is that boats and outboard's don't change a lot from year to year, you won't be missing out on the latest and greatest by going used. Lund for example basically didn't change the Pro V from 2003-2008. You'd be hard pressed to tell the year of them if you weren't really familiar with them. Mercury doesn't even have model years on their outboards anymore.

As far as pure dollars and cents, I'd be willing to bet that with a little effort on your part, you can find a used boat not more than a year or two old, with low hours on it, completely rigged out with $5-6000 worth of accessories, all in, tax paid, and in your garage for less than half of what you'll pay for a new one. The entire boat could be a write off and you could buy a second one for what you'd have into the first one you bought new from a dealer in AB.

Do some searching on the net. One of the easiest ways to do it is to simply search something like "Lund 1900 Pro V SE". You'll get hundreds of hits with links to everything from dealers to small town USA classified ads. There'll also be lots of boat classifieds websites. Once you find some of the sites, you can search them for whatever you want. Take your time, enjoy the hunt, and be prepared to strike quickly when the right deal comes along.

Not everyone has the temperment to buy used, I understand that, (and it's a good thing, someone has to buy new boats or I'd never get a good deal on a used boat lol) but I really wouldn't be afraid of it. The transport, import, and actual transaction are very simple.

At any rate, I won't comment on it any further. It's your decision to make, and there isn't really a wrong choice. New is nice...

Waxy

P.S. I'm a Lund guy, be sure to check them out before you commit.