I hope you get well soon. As far as boats go.... the first question you need to ask yourself is what do I intend to do with this boat. Once you know the answer to that question the next is how much can I afford. I use to go offshore fishing. I got out of it because the price of fuel was more than I could afford. For lake fishing or inshore fishing I think the way to go is a welded aluminum modified V bottom boat with 40-75 hp engine. A simple fun boat that doesn't cost alot to buy and operate. TY.... MH
I wouldn't even guess what it cost to fill up a boat right now for off shore, but it would hurt. And I'm thinking the same thing as you, a simple fun boat that doesn't cost a lot to buy and operate.
Good evening sir. I really enjoyed the video. I'm sure you will enjoy your boat. I hope you fill the freezer with fish. Hope you have good luck next week fishing. Thanks for sharing your video with me.
Thanks Bobby, and if the boat just cranks on the next trip I'll be happy, LOL. But that's just how fishing goes on those first few trips. It takes us a few trips to get everything squared away. In fact I think that's what the next video is going to be about?
Thank you so much for the time /effort and most of all the info. I fish using a kayak but decided yesterday that this was just no longer working for me. I have decided to get a small jon, something I hopefully can just through in the back of my Silverado and go fishing with. I am looking at a fiberglass jon on Craigslist. I know nothing about boats and I have never owned one. So I found your video very valuable. So sir I thank you very much for the info. Wish you like close to me cause we could be friends and I would get you to go with me to look at some boats. That is how good your shared info was and how trustworthy and sincere I found your words to be. Get well soon!
The mid-80s I bought an 18foot Fisher Marsh Hawk ...fishing around the Pensacola area for Speckle Trout...the boat was rated for 70 hp but I had an almost new 90 Yahama I put on it. It was pretty fast and for sure would fish shallow water and do it well...it was basically an aluminum bass boat the way it was set up...I was a lot younger and tended to run it as fast as it would go..one afternoon I hit a pretty good wave and bent the entire bow...well it was on warranty and the dealer sent it back to the factory and they repaired it...fast forward a couple of years and I have been transferred and was fishing off Cape Hatterest in the Morehead area...the boat would always have water in the bottom and inspection revealed seven stress fractures anywhere from a couple of inches to about a foot in the bottom of the boat..Lesson learned Aluminum boat will not take a pounding nor will it take overpowering and high speeds. Having been around Aluminum aircraft all my life I should have known that...the only way to successfully repair stress fractured Aluminum is to use a doubler...yes you can weld it but you better use a doubler to back that area up. JB Weld is a good temporary fix to just keep the water out but as the Aluminum flexes the JB Weld will crack and your back where you started plus you now have to clean up the area where the JB Weld is and you can not weld over it. Was I going to get another Aluminum boat { which I like btw} I would also get a tig welder to keep it repaired...and have enough scrap Aluminum to make doublers when the need arose. I would also never overpower an aluminum boat and would prefer to actually go down from what it is rated for a few hp. Good video and good information...good luck with the new boat and hope you get to feeling better...God bless...
That's some good info Lee, and was a little concerned about the JB for the reasons you just gave there. But after doing some research it seems an aluminum patch welded over the cracks is the best way to go so if it gets to that point, which it probably will, getting rid of the JB shouldn't be a problems.
I've had a few fiberglass boats, never again 😏 The last few I've gotten for free, so rotten they couldn't be fixed... But got me trailers for my Jon boat and canoe... I've got a yard full of trucks that were "cheap"/ never had a loan, all constantly need work and all run/ drive fine 😎
That's a great all round summary Tom. Definitely each material has pros and cons, but just making people aware of some of those issues will be of great value. I favour fibreglass in most cases , but not all. I've just rebuilt the inside of a 23 foot (1984 built ) boat for commercial survey and it was a huge job. New deck beams , bulkheads , deck and other bits. But now the boat is probably better than when it was built according to the surveyor, and could be rebuilt again in another 30 years time. Fortunately I could do all the work myself, I shudder to think what it would have cost otherwise.
Thanks Paul! It's nice to here I did a good summary of the differences from someone with a whole lot more experience on boats than myself. And I can only image what a huge job that was on that survey boat.
I agree completely. I want a boat or a car that I can enjoy and depend on without all the expense and drama of trying to impress people who don't pay my bills. It always eats at me every time I pay too much for something that's much more than I need. I just don't require as much as some people think they have to have and I can probably weather a depression without standing in food lines next to them.
Roger what you said there about weathering a depression without standing in food lines is exactly what I'm working towards for myself, and that's the direction I hope to encourage others to go in.
They certainly have their down side, but they can also be a lot of fun. Once you get a boat squared away and stored properly they're not bad but it sure can be expensive getting to that point.
LOL, that's the truth Stephen! But I'm hoping by going smaller and aluminum will make that hole just a little smaller and require a little less money to fill it?
Your cost per fish is a lot less than his. You will enjoy yours as much if fishing is your enjoyment and relaxation. I sold my nitro bass boat 2 years and now redid a small pontoon with a 9.9. Not fast but crappie seam to like the live well.
Bill, it's funny you mentioned a pontoon for crappie because I've always thought a pontoon boat was the best boat for any type of fishing where you do a lot of sitting in one spot such as crappie, stripers, and cat fish. It just doesn't get any more comfortable than the whole top of the boat being one big deck. And I always thought that it was odd that I don't see more people fishing out of pontoon boats for crappie? My uncle had a pontoon boat years ago that we did a lot of fishing out of and that was a great boat.
When you drill a hole to stop a crack, you drill at the end of the crack not alongside of it. You have to make sure your crack opens into the hole otherwise it's just like going around the boat drilling random holes.
"BOAT" isn't the noun that most people think it is. It is really an acronym. It means "Bring On Another Thousand." You're going to be working on a boat, or paying someone to do it for you, no matter how much you use it. It doesn't matter how simple it is, either. I built a fly fishing pram, fiberglass over stitch and glue Luan plywood, and I still had to do periodic maintenance on it. The more complicated it gets beyond a stupid-simple fly fishing pram, the more maintenance work it is going to need. Boats are kind of like R.V.s. A lot of them LOOK GOOD but aren't actually MADE GOOD. Buying a new one is absolutely no guarantee that you're not going to have problems. Sad, but true.
You are so right about that Jerrold, all of it! But I have to say I do love being on the water and fishing in the spring time. It's right up there with being in the woods with a rifle in the fall when the leaves are falling. But one thing I finally figured out after a lifetime is that the key to having a boat is have a shop to put it in. A good friend of mine bought a brand new Ranger bass boat not long after we graduated from high school and it was a pretty thing. About 10 or 12 years later that boat had wasted away to almost nothing. He kept a cover on it but covers would rot and tear over time and then the boat would just be in the weather until he replaced the cover and eventually the wood rotted about the time the motor needed some serious work and the gel coat was gone by then from the sun. That boat was built like a tank and if he had kept it in a shed that boat would still look new today. And other than keeping the motor up and replacing it maybe 3 or 4 times over his lifetime that boat would have lasted him a lifetime (assuming he had lived an average life span which sadly he didn't). I still don't have a shed either and that's why I bought the boat i did and didn't pay anymore for it than I did. But as soon as I get the new house remodeled my first project after I move in is a new shop with a shed for a good boat. And the same could be said of a car port or garage for a vehicle. My old Tahoe is a 2002 and I've been driving it for 14 years. It's looking rough now and the clear coat is gone on it, but if I would of had a garage to park it in it would still look great and besides replacing the motor and transmission at some point and other odds and ends it probably would of lasted me from now on and still look really good? We just don't think that way when we're young.
@@TomRiverSimpleLiving At church last Wednesday, a fellow asked me if I had any big plans for the weekend. I told him I was going "catching" Saturday evening. It took him a while to get it, but when he did, he said, "Oh, you mean "fishing." I never got into that. It's too boring." "Uh, no," I replied, "I meant what I said. I think fishing is boring, too. That's why I go "catching," instead. Maximum Fish Contact never grows old". ;) You wrote: "But one thing I finally figured out after a lifetime is that the key to having a boat is have a shop to put it in." That is why I am "slumming it" with my fly fishing pram. I can store it bottom-side up on my M-416 military cargo trailer, It is a symbiotic relationship. The upside down boat keeps rain and snow out of the trailer and acts kind of like a lid for it. Not MUCH harm comes to either from having to live outdoors, but SOME is still inevitable. I had less maintenance to do on both of them when they lived in the shop at my "college town house," which I am renting out. Here at "fringe of the big city house," we have no garage, no shop, no shed, no nothing. Until I get a shop built, I'm not buying another boat........ Well, I am resisting the temptation to buy another boat. Let's put it that way. You wrote: "A good friend of mine bought a brand new Ranger bass boat not long after we graduated from high school and it was a pretty thing. " Forrest L. Wood Manufacturing is one of the companies I had in mind when I wrote my comment about new boats LOOKING GOOD but not actually being built good. I worked for a major power sports manufacturer for about three years on a 1099 contract basis as a product development engineer. This company made jet drive recreational boats and outboard motors and was buying up American boat makers at the time, in addition to making ATV's, UTV's, Golf Carts, Snowmobiles, and motorcycles. They had a sectioned Ranger in the R&D facility in Southern California to remind us all how NOT to build a boat. They sure looked pretty, though. You wrote: "that's why I bought the boat i did and didn't pay anymore for it than I did. But as soon as I get the new house remodeled my first project after I move in is a new shop with a shed for a good boat." I LIKE your boat. Personally, I think you've ALREADY got a "good boat." I think you bought the right one. I would rather have an aluminum boat than a fiberglass one. :Let me explain........ Being from California, where he had rivers with rapids, as well as trout and salmon, and being a fly fisher, I spent a lot of time "catching" salmon and steelhead trout. I kept a McKenzie style drift boat at my grandma's house near the Oregon border. Mine was a Fish-Rite brand, made from aluminum. One of my cousins was a guide up there and a fly fisher, as well, and he used to give me grief over my "tin can." He used a fiberglass Clakacraft drift boat. Note the past tense. He took some clients up on the Illinois River and shattered his pretty glass boat on a rock that he hit side-on. He never was a very good hand with the oars. I let him use my drift boat so he could keep working. He wrapped my Fish Rite around a boulder in the Rogue River. It bent, but it didn't shatter. It didn't leak, either. It could still float. Finally facing the reality that oarsmanship was outside of his mental performance envelope, he bought what is called a "Jet Sled." I've never seen a fiberglass Jet Sled. They're all aluminum, for the same reason that the jet boats sturgeon fishermen on the Columbia River are aluminium, which is the same reason why those lunatics in New Zealand who race jet boats use aluminum hulls. A Jet Sled is basically a boat like yours with a jet pump lower unit replacing the outboard's gear case and propeller. I might dent an aluminum boat. I might bend one. But I'm highly unlikely to shatter one. I want to fish the rivers I live near. They're loaded with deadfalls and all kinds of other stuff that breaks glass. We've got big reservoirs here, but like big reservoirs everywhere, 90% of what's under the surface is fish-less desert. These reservoirs aren't like most in California, which only have one launch ramp. I can put in close to where I expect to be catching on most reservoirs around here. I suspect it might be similar for you. And I don't have to be on any of them when the conditions mean I'll need a kidney belt if I try to cover water in an aluminum boat. I don't need to go 90 mph on the water, either. Tournament bass fishers need to do that. Lures don't catch fish when they're in the air. As a former guide, I fully understand that truth. Less time getting from place to place means more time for my lure to be in the water. I get that, too. But part of the reason they have to go from place to place is that they fish water that is basically foreign to them as a matter of routine. That's not me as a recreational fisherman, or as a guide, for that matter. I'm highly unlikely to be trying to catch fish where the fish aren't. If I go into some cove that looks bassy and catch nothing but white crappie, I'm totally okay with that. I'd rather eat crappie than bass, anyhow. But to a bass tournament fishirman, dorking around with crappie isn't the key to success. Another thing is that I'm old. I'm not just old, but approaching geezerhood in the Joe Biden Economy. It's hard to be a rugged individualists when "commies" who want to fundamentally change America have gooey dreams over an economic collapse that they can use to gain political power. I have to think about the sustainability of my lifestyle. "Commies" hate me because I punch great big gaping holes in the ozone layer when I've got my transfer case in low range and my SM 420 in its 7:1 first gear, or am getting a whoping 3.5 mpg on the water in a boat. I'm out there actually enjoying the environment but in their world view, I'm not environmentally friendly and so my behavior needs to be modified with European fuel prices. I don't need a $60,000.00 pickup truck to tow your boat. My Jeep Renegade wouldn't even know it was there and I'd still get over 20 mpg towing it. Heck, my little CJ-2A with it's odd-fire Buick 231 wouldn't know your boat was hitched to it, either. And I could cover a lot of water when I got there on just 12 gallons of 50:1 2-stroke fuel. Living where I do, I see plenty of youngsters pulling 21 foot Champions with 300 horsepower outboards on them, using pick up trucks that cost more than either of my two houses houses did. Good for them. They've got another 35 years to go before they reach retirement age. I don't. When I lived in the college town, there was a creek about 9 miles from my house where I could catch smallmouth bass on every cast, by just wading into knee-deep water. No boat required. Burning up 50 gallons of ethonol-free premium unleaded at $4.00 a gallon is still a $200.00 day, no matter how you do the math. Ten years from now, that could well be a $400.00 day. Your situation might be different and it probably is, but your boat that you've already got would see me through the next three decades I've got left far better than a spark;le-flake 22' glass boat with over 200 hp on the transom would. Your boat is probably light enough that I wouldn't need a launch ramp to launch it, I could beach-launch a boat like yours, kind of like I used to do with a little 12' Valco untility skiff down in the Sea of Cortez. There's a lake near me that rises so high that all of the launch ramps get closed, but I have a friend with lakefront property so I can still fish it when nobody else can. I can see re-powering it eventually, or maybe getting a newer boat like it, but I wouldn't trade what you've got for anything made from fiberglass unless somebody was stupid enough to trade me their Studebaker Avanti for it. ;
If i went with aluminum i think i would go all welded. I've been a marine tech on the gulf coast for 25 years. Done lots of fiberglass work on big and small boats of all types. Ive completely re built plenty, stringers, floors etc. I've even done engine install on a concrete sail boat, its calked ferro cement. Wierd shit.
I don't' understand your comment "Fiberglass boats are faster" An equal sized aluminum boat is lighter than a fiberglass boat and so size for size the aluminum boat will be much faster. They also have lifetime hull and deck warranties so the problems you brought up shouldn't be something to worry about. I had a Lund that had some deck problems and the dealer fixed it for free. With the money you save on gas, price of boat, towing costs and insurance you can afford a newer/better four stroke motor. I would never get a fiberglass boat except for blue water fishing or any boat over 20 feet long.
I know Lunds are extremely popular up north and in the midwest but for whatever reason they just never caught on here in the south? I don't know that I've ever even seen a Lund on the water here? And I don't know of any boat with a lifetime warranty for the stuff I mentioned. I'm assuming from your comments that Lund does but I have zero knowledge of them. As for the speed, Aluminum is lighter but they're usually rated for much smaller outboards as well were as the fiberglass boats, bass boats, are rated for much larger motors. So the bass boats end up going much faster. Most around here will run at least 60mph and the 20 and 21ft boats will usually do 70+ mph with the fastest boats like Bullet and Gambler pushing 90mph. Way to fast for me but those are pretty typical speeds here.
I hope you get well soon.
As far as boats go.... the first question you need to ask yourself is what do I intend to do with this boat. Once you know the answer to that question the next is how much can I afford.
I use to go offshore fishing. I got out of it because the price of fuel was more than I could afford. For lake fishing or inshore fishing I think the way to go is a welded aluminum modified V bottom boat with 40-75 hp engine. A simple fun boat that doesn't cost alot to buy and operate. TY.... MH
I wouldn't even guess what it cost to fill up a boat right now for off shore, but it would hurt. And I'm thinking the same thing as you, a simple fun boat that doesn't cost a lot to buy and operate.
Good evening sir. I really enjoyed the video. I'm sure you will enjoy your boat. I hope you fill the freezer with fish. Hope you have good luck next week fishing. Thanks for sharing your video with me.
Thanks Bobby, and if the boat just cranks on the next trip I'll be happy, LOL. But that's just how fishing goes on those first few trips. It takes us a few trips to get everything squared away. In fact I think that's what the next video is going to be about?
Thank you so much for the time /effort and most of all the info. I fish using a kayak but decided yesterday that this was just no longer working for me. I have decided to get a small jon, something I hopefully can just through in the back of my Silverado and go fishing with. I am looking at a fiberglass jon on Craigslist. I know nothing about boats and I have never owned one. So I found your video very valuable. So sir I thank you very much for the info. Wish you like close to me cause we could be friends and I would get you to go with me to look at some boats. That is how good your shared info was and how trustworthy and sincere I found your words to be. Get well soon!
The mid-80s I bought an 18foot Fisher Marsh Hawk ...fishing around the Pensacola area for Speckle Trout...the boat was rated for 70 hp but I had an almost new 90 Yahama I put on it. It was pretty fast and for sure would fish shallow water and do it well...it was basically an aluminum bass boat the way it was set up...I was a lot younger and tended to run it as fast as it would go..one afternoon I hit a pretty good wave and bent the entire bow...well it was on warranty and the dealer sent it back to the factory and they repaired it...fast forward a couple of years and I have been transferred and was fishing off Cape Hatterest in the Morehead area...the boat would always have water in the bottom and inspection revealed seven stress fractures anywhere from a couple of inches to about a foot in the bottom of the boat..Lesson learned Aluminum boat will not take a pounding nor will it take overpowering and high speeds. Having been around Aluminum aircraft all my life I should have known that...the only way to successfully repair stress fractured Aluminum is to use a doubler...yes you can weld it but you better use a doubler to back that area up. JB Weld is a good temporary fix to just keep the water out but as the Aluminum flexes the JB Weld will crack and your back where you started plus you now have to clean up the area where the JB Weld is and you can not weld over it. Was I going to get another Aluminum boat { which I like btw} I would also get a tig welder to keep it repaired...and have enough scrap Aluminum to make doublers when the need arose. I would also never overpower an aluminum boat and would prefer to actually go down from what it is rated for a few hp. Good video and good information...good luck with the new boat and hope you get to feeling better...God bless...
That's some good info Lee, and was a little concerned about the JB for the reasons you just gave there. But after doing some research it seems an aluminum patch welded over the cracks is the best way to go so if it gets to that point, which it probably will, getting rid of the JB shouldn't be a problems.
I've had a few fiberglass boats, never again 😏 The last few I've gotten for free, so rotten they couldn't be fixed... But got me trailers for my Jon boat and canoe... I've got a yard full of trucks that were "cheap"/ never had a loan, all constantly need work and all run/ drive fine 😎
That's a great all round summary Tom. Definitely each material has pros and cons, but just making people aware of some of those issues will be of great value. I favour fibreglass in most cases , but not all. I've just rebuilt the inside of a 23 foot (1984 built ) boat for commercial survey and it was a huge job. New deck beams , bulkheads , deck and other bits. But now the boat is probably better than when it was built according to the surveyor, and could be rebuilt again in another 30 years time. Fortunately I could do all the work myself, I shudder to think what it would have cost otherwise.
Thanks Paul! It's nice to here I did a good summary of the differences from someone with a whole lot more experience on boats than myself. And I can only image what a huge job that was on that survey boat.
You did a great job. I find all your videos very informative. Thanks for sharing with us.
I agree completely. I want a boat or a car that I can enjoy and depend on without all the expense and drama of trying to impress people who don't pay my bills. It always eats at me every time I pay too much for something that's much more than I need. I just don't require as much as some people think they have to have and I can probably weather a depression without standing in food lines next to them.
Roger what you said there about weathering a depression without standing in food lines is exactly what I'm working towards for myself, and that's the direction I hope to encourage others to go in.
You have convinced me that I made the right decision when I decided I didn't need a fishing boat.😁
They certainly have their down side, but they can also be a lot of fun. Once you get a boat squared away and stored properly they're not bad but it sure can be expensive getting to that point.
We have the same boat tournament TX 17 we're going to try to get the bottom 1/2 painted with gator slide this summer
Please let me know how that turns out. I'm really curious.
Aluminum alloy rod and propane torch to fix your cracks
I will keep that in mind for the future!
I've had an aluminum boat and I've had a fiberglass boat. They are both holes in the water into which you throw your money.
LOL, that's the truth Stephen! But I'm hoping by going smaller and aluminum will make that hole just a little smaller and require a little less money to fill it?
Coast guard uses bad ass aluminum boats, alot of survey companys use them. North west uses alot.
Your cost per fish is a lot less than his. You will enjoy yours as much if fishing is your enjoyment and relaxation. I sold my nitro bass boat 2 years and now redid a small pontoon with a 9.9. Not fast but crappie seam to like the live well.
Bill, it's funny you mentioned a pontoon for crappie because I've always thought a pontoon boat was the best boat for any type of fishing where you do a lot of sitting in one spot such as crappie, stripers, and cat fish. It just doesn't get any more comfortable than the whole top of the boat being one big deck. And I always thought that it was odd that I don't see more people fishing out of pontoon boats for crappie? My uncle had a pontoon boat years ago that we did a lot of fishing out of and that was a great boat.
When you drill a hole to stop a crack, you drill at the end of the crack not alongside of it. You have to make sure your crack opens into the hole otherwise it's just like going around the boat drilling random holes.
I'm glad you said that R.A. I should have explained that better in the video.
Why they going so high
Glass over marine plywood is best. Molded poly is great but as expensive as Glass over plywood.
"BOAT" isn't the noun that most people think it is.
It is really an acronym. It means "Bring On Another Thousand."
You're going to be working on a boat, or paying someone to do it for you, no matter how much you use it. It doesn't matter how simple it is, either. I built a fly fishing pram, fiberglass over stitch and glue Luan plywood, and I still had to do periodic maintenance on it. The more complicated it gets beyond a stupid-simple fly fishing pram, the more maintenance work it is going to need.
Boats are kind of like R.V.s. A lot of them LOOK GOOD but aren't actually MADE GOOD. Buying a new one is absolutely no guarantee that you're not going to have problems. Sad, but true.
You are so right about that Jerrold, all of it! But I have to say I do love being on the water and fishing in the spring time. It's right up there with being in the woods with a rifle in the fall when the leaves are falling. But one thing I finally figured out after a lifetime is that the key to having a boat is have a shop to put it in. A good friend of mine bought a brand new Ranger bass boat not long after we graduated from high school and it was a pretty thing. About 10 or 12 years later that boat had wasted away to almost nothing. He kept a cover on it but covers would rot and tear over time and then the boat would just be in the weather until he replaced the cover and eventually the wood rotted about the time the motor needed some serious work and the gel coat was gone by then from the sun. That boat was built like a tank and if he had kept it in a shed that boat would still look new today. And other than keeping the motor up and replacing it maybe 3 or 4 times over his lifetime that boat would have lasted him a lifetime (assuming he had lived an average life span which sadly he didn't).
I still don't have a shed either and that's why I bought the boat i did and didn't pay anymore for it than I did. But as soon as I get the new house remodeled my first project after I move in is a new shop with a shed for a good boat. And the same could be said of a car port or garage for a vehicle. My old Tahoe is a 2002 and I've been driving it for 14 years. It's looking rough now and the clear coat is gone on it, but if I would of had a garage to park it in it would still look great and besides replacing the motor and transmission at some point and other odds and ends it probably would of lasted me from now on and still look really good? We just don't think that way when we're young.
@@TomRiverSimpleLiving At church last Wednesday, a fellow asked me if I had any big plans for the weekend. I told him I was going "catching" Saturday evening.
It took him a while to get it, but when he did, he said, "Oh, you mean "fishing." I never got into that. It's too boring."
"Uh, no," I replied, "I meant what I said. I think fishing is boring, too. That's why I go "catching," instead. Maximum Fish Contact never grows old". ;)
You wrote: "But one thing I finally figured out after a lifetime is that the key to having a boat is have a shop to put it in."
That is why I am "slumming it" with my fly fishing pram. I can store it bottom-side up on my M-416 military cargo trailer, It is a symbiotic relationship. The upside down boat keeps rain and snow out of the trailer and acts kind of like a lid for it. Not MUCH harm comes to either from having to live outdoors, but SOME is still inevitable. I had less maintenance to do on both of them when they lived in the shop at my "college town house," which I am renting out.
Here at "fringe of the big city house," we have no garage, no shop, no shed, no nothing.
Until I get a shop built, I'm not buying another boat........ Well, I am resisting the temptation to buy another boat. Let's put it that way.
You wrote: "A good friend of mine bought a brand new Ranger bass boat not long after we graduated from high school and it was a pretty thing. "
Forrest L. Wood Manufacturing is one of the companies I had in mind when I wrote my comment about new boats LOOKING GOOD but not actually being built good.
I worked for a major power sports manufacturer for about three years on a 1099 contract basis as a product development engineer. This company made jet drive recreational boats and outboard motors and was buying up American boat makers at the time, in addition to making ATV's, UTV's, Golf Carts, Snowmobiles, and motorcycles.
They had a sectioned Ranger in the R&D facility in Southern California to remind us all how NOT to build a boat.
They sure looked pretty, though.
You wrote: "that's why I bought the boat i did and didn't pay anymore for it than I did. But as soon as I get the new house remodeled my first project after I move in is a new shop with a shed for a good boat."
I LIKE your boat. Personally, I think you've ALREADY got a "good boat." I think you bought the right one.
I would rather have an aluminum boat than a fiberglass one.
:Let me explain........
Being from California, where he had rivers with rapids, as well as trout and salmon, and being a fly fisher, I spent a lot of time "catching" salmon and steelhead trout.
I kept a McKenzie style drift boat at my grandma's house near the Oregon border. Mine was a Fish-Rite brand, made from aluminum. One of my cousins was a guide up there and a fly fisher, as well, and he used to give me grief over my "tin can." He used a fiberglass Clakacraft drift boat.
Note the past tense.
He took some clients up on the Illinois River and shattered his pretty glass boat on a rock that he hit side-on. He never was a very good hand with the oars.
I let him use my drift boat so he could keep working.
He wrapped my Fish Rite around a boulder in the Rogue River. It bent, but it didn't shatter. It didn't leak, either. It could still float.
Finally facing the reality that oarsmanship was outside of his mental performance envelope, he bought what is called a "Jet Sled."
I've never seen a fiberglass Jet Sled. They're all aluminum, for the same reason that the jet boats sturgeon fishermen on the Columbia River are aluminium, which is the same reason why those lunatics in New Zealand who race jet boats use aluminum hulls.
A Jet Sled is basically a boat like yours with a jet pump lower unit replacing the outboard's gear case and propeller.
I might dent an aluminum boat. I might bend one. But I'm highly unlikely to shatter one.
I want to fish the rivers I live near. They're loaded with deadfalls and all kinds of other stuff that breaks glass.
We've got big reservoirs here, but like big reservoirs everywhere, 90% of what's under the surface is fish-less desert. These reservoirs aren't like most in California, which only have one launch ramp. I can put in close to where I expect to be catching on most reservoirs around here. I suspect it might be similar for you.
And I don't have to be on any of them when the conditions mean I'll need a kidney belt if I try to cover water in an aluminum boat.
I don't need to go 90 mph on the water, either. Tournament bass fishers need to do that. Lures don't catch fish when they're in the air. As a former guide, I fully understand that truth. Less time getting from place to place means more time for my lure to be in the water. I get that, too.
But part of the reason they have to go from place to place is that they fish water that is basically foreign to them as a matter of routine. That's not me as a recreational fisherman, or as a guide, for that matter.
I'm highly unlikely to be trying to catch fish where the fish aren't.
If I go into some cove that looks bassy and catch nothing but white crappie, I'm totally okay with that. I'd rather eat crappie than bass, anyhow.
But to a bass tournament fishirman, dorking around with crappie isn't the key to success.
Another thing is that I'm old. I'm not just old, but approaching geezerhood in the Joe Biden Economy.
It's hard to be a rugged individualists when "commies" who want to fundamentally change America have gooey dreams over an economic collapse that they can use to gain political power.
I have to think about the sustainability of my lifestyle. "Commies" hate me because I punch great big gaping holes in the ozone layer when I've got my transfer case in low range and my SM 420 in its 7:1 first gear, or am getting a whoping 3.5 mpg on the water in a boat. I'm out there actually enjoying the environment but in their world view, I'm not environmentally friendly and so my behavior needs to be modified with European fuel prices.
I don't need a $60,000.00 pickup truck to tow your boat. My Jeep Renegade wouldn't even know it was there and I'd still get over 20 mpg towing it. Heck, my little CJ-2A with it's odd-fire Buick 231 wouldn't know your boat was hitched to it, either.
And I could cover a lot of water when I got there on just 12 gallons of 50:1 2-stroke fuel.
Living where I do, I see plenty of youngsters pulling 21 foot Champions with 300 horsepower outboards on them, using pick up trucks that cost more than either of my two houses houses did.
Good for them. They've got another 35 years to go before they reach retirement age.
I don't.
When I lived in the college town, there was a creek about 9 miles from my house where I could catch smallmouth bass on every cast, by just wading into knee-deep water.
No boat required.
Burning up 50 gallons of ethonol-free premium unleaded at $4.00 a gallon is still a $200.00 day, no matter how you do the math. Ten years from now, that could well be a $400.00 day.
Your situation might be different and it probably is, but your boat that you've already got would see me through the next three decades I've got left far better than a spark;le-flake 22' glass boat with over 200 hp on the transom would.
Your boat is probably light enough that I wouldn't need a launch ramp to launch it, I could beach-launch a boat like yours, kind of like I used to do with a little 12' Valco untility skiff down in the Sea of Cortez. There's a lake near me that rises so high that all of the launch ramps get closed, but I have a friend with lakefront property so I can still fish it when nobody else can.
I can see re-powering it eventually, or maybe getting a newer boat like it, but I wouldn't trade what you've got for anything made from fiberglass unless somebody was stupid enough to trade me their Studebaker Avanti for it. ;
strange how a little bigger boat, the price goes up exponentially
If i went with aluminum i think i would go all welded. I've been a marine tech on the gulf coast for 25 years. Done lots of fiberglass work on big and small boats of all types. Ive completely re built plenty, stringers, floors etc. I've even done engine install on a concrete sail boat, its calked ferro cement. Wierd shit.
Tom you grew up .
I think you're right Mark, even if Mrs. River doesn't agree! LOL
I don't' understand your comment "Fiberglass boats are faster" An equal sized aluminum boat is lighter than a fiberglass boat and so size for size the aluminum boat will be much faster. They also have lifetime hull and deck warranties so the problems you brought up shouldn't be something to worry about. I had a Lund that had some deck problems and the dealer fixed it for free. With the money you save on gas, price of boat, towing costs and insurance you can afford a newer/better four stroke motor. I would never get a fiberglass boat except for blue water fishing or any boat over 20 feet long.
I know Lunds are extremely popular up north and in the midwest but for whatever reason they just never caught on here in the south? I don't know that I've ever even seen a Lund on the water here? And I don't know of any boat with a lifetime warranty for the stuff I mentioned. I'm assuming from your comments that Lund does but I have zero knowledge of them. As for the speed, Aluminum is lighter but they're usually rated for much smaller outboards as well were as the fiberglass boats, bass boats, are rated for much larger motors. So the bass boats end up going much faster. Most around here will run at least 60mph and the 20 and 21ft boats will usually do 70+ mph with the fastest boats like Bullet and Gambler pushing 90mph. Way to fast for me but those are pretty typical speeds here.