Boat advice

[bloopbloob]

Hi all. I'm looking to upgrade to a bigger boat from my 14ft lund 15hp tinner. Primarily will be for fishing, but want to be able to pull a tube easily for my kid. I know I want it least 16' and 90hp+, with full windshield and bimini or full canopy, with an electric trolling motor, or ability to add one. No bass style boats, tall enough sides to keep kids in safely. Prefer used in the $10-15k range. Willing to go to $30k with financing. What would you suggest? Some dealers offer Evinrude or Mercury at same price, which is a better choice? I've heard Evinride quality has dropped and Mercury is now the top brand? I'm pretty sure I want an outboard, but can anyone elaborate on outboard vs inboard pros and cons? Many more boats to choose from with inboards. Is it that big of a deal? Any advice is welcome. Thanks in advance!

[neilsledder]

Jet boat. You still can go on lakes but opens up tons more fishing on the rivers. Get a 12 deg dead rise and it's good for lakes and rivers. Not many lake boats are as tough as river boats.


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[EZM]

The Lund Rebel is an outstanding choice that is close to your price range. Fish and Ski.

http://www.lundboats.com/boat-models/1650-rebel-xs/

As for your other questions .....

I would always choose an outboard over and inboard for the ease of maintenance, power to weight, etc....

The Mercs have come a long way to improving quality with the recent integration into brunswick marine and their new four stroke is an excellent engine by all accounts.

The new Evinrude/BRP's are amazing - in these mid range sizes they are lighter/faster/cleaner compared to other engines but they do come in a few grand more - so I'm not sure who is offering you a zero dollar upgrade and choice - but if it really is the same price - I'd get the Evinrude/BRP. Zero maintenance for 3 years - tons of low end power, light, powerful.

[ROA]

The evenrude 90high output is 390 lbs. The regular evenrude 90 is 320lbs. A Mercury 90 4 stroke is 360lbs.

So depending on which evenrude you want to talk about they can be lighter or heaver than the merc.

The thing about the evenrude is either one is probably going to stomp all the other 4 strokes in the same class for power. They also have variable idle controll so you can slow the idle speed down for trolling ( would have to search and do calculations to see how slow you could actually go). The evenrudes also have some of the best fuel economy numbers out there in most of the engine classes. No maitnace at all for 3 years and no beak in period required. When they run they are awesome. But they are very complex and can have huge problems and are still a 2 stroke. When they are good they are awesome when they go bad it can be a nightmare. When it blowes up the first thing they are going to do is pull recorded info from all the sensors and try to find a reason to deny warranty. Seen it before on an engine with known piston skirt problems and it's not pretty for the owner to deal with.


The merc is going to be more likely to be as reliable as prretty much any other fuel injected 4 stroke engine you have owned. You also won't have to buy expensive syntetic 2 stroke oil. But it will require engine oil changes minimum once every year, will probably have less power and burn a bit more fuel. You can't change the idle speed and it will idle to fast for trolling.

Choice is yours. Best thing to do is research the specs on each one as well as known issues with the year you are looking at.

[Rdamours]

Depends on how handy you are but a restoration is another way to go. I did an 18 foot closed bow StarCraft Holiday I/O out of Minnesota for 1500 and went from there. If I were to do it again I'd do one of these. I think this guy out of sask even sells them when he's done. The open bow and no inboard would be a plus. These things are built to last with thick hulls and can handle big water. the inboards are more work as you have to winterize every fall and nothing is cheap on them. I'd do a etec outboard on an SS were I ever to do it again.

http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat-...0-johonson-120

Here's a pic of mine on the water. Still got to put the engine cover on.

[Walleyedude]

I think you're on the right track.

Crestliner, Lund, Alumacraft, all are quality boats with models that will be what you're looking for. Choose the one you like the best for interior layout and design and start doing some price shopping. All of the 16' boats with 90s will be at the limit of your budget new, but now is a great time to be shopping. They are available used but they hold their value well and you need to be ready to move fast if a good one comes available.

I would strongly suggest an outboard in this application. Better power to weight ratio, easier to service, and just more practical. I've had ETECs and I've had Mercs, they've both been very good. I do love the Verados though...

I would NOT recommend a jet boat for lake fishing, and definitely not if you intend to pull kids on tubes.

[old dog]

After many boats small and large. I finally ended up with a crestliner 1650 fish hawk with a 90 hp merc. Love it but I would recommend a Lund as well. Goes through a lot less gas than the last 380hp v8 I had. lol

[The Reel Deal]

I got a 2014 17' smokercraft ultima and love it. I shopped quite a bit and settled on this boat purely on interior layout plus it came with a tow bar ( that I mainly use for my drift sock )

I've had many compliments on the interior layout, functionality, sturdy hull and quality finishes compared to the rest.

[FlounderPounder]

I picked up a Crestliner 1700 Vision this spring at the Edmonton boat and sportsman show. I upgraded to a 90HO Evinrude e-tec 2 stroke and I love it .I've put between 50-75 hours on it this year with no issue .It sucked back the gas and oil for the first bit but now I can't complain. With the show incentives and bonus 4 year warranty (total of 7, unlimited hour) I was right around the $30 000 mark. Picked it up from Rainbow marine in Edmonton

[Legend Boats]

What better than shopping for a car… A Boat lol. You’re on the right track to find the perfect boat for your family. All the items you touched on will be offered by the majority of Aluminum Manufactures. Going with a 90hp will be topping out a 16ft hull, you might want to consider a 17 or 18ft for the little difference in price you will see. It will give you a boat that can handle some rough days and allow you to grow into the boat as your kids get older. Mercury, Yamaha, Evinrude…etc will give you great performance and reliability. I would recommend shopping a brand of boat and outboard where you keep your boat. You can build a good rapport with the dealer for future service.

Inboards are great but really meant more for Fibreglass style boats. They allow you to add extra weight so you don’t feel the bounce as much but do require more maintenance. Outboards will be lighter, more efficient, quieter and easier to service.

Hope this helps

Cheers Henry

[Casper1]

A 50hp-60hp on a 16ft-17ft aluminum should pull a tube just fine allowing the price difference on horse power to go to a newer or higher quality package...or elsewhere. I look for Yamaha and Honda for outboard power and Lund or Princecraft for aluminum hulls.