Ditched the used boat - advice on newer jon boat.

So I looked at a 14' newly painted jon boat (and newly painted trailer) plus some new decking and carpet that was listed for 950, reduced to 850, reduced to 800 off of craig's list..... thinking about the cost of a new BPS Tracker 14' jon boat (650) we decided that even with a trailer we wouldn't pay more than $600....which we MAY have been able to pull of, however - this boat had some VERY funny looking (LARGE) self tapping sheet metal screws that were put in on top of the fresh paint and covered in some type of permatex - there were about 6-7 of them in the lower left portion of the transom - far away from any type of motor mount and only on the left side.... it left us very concerned and we opted out of the boat.


Now.... assuming we don't find a nice deal anywhere in between..... there is a Bass Pro store opening up not too far from me in about a month..... we are thinking about going down and looking at this boat: https://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CFPageC?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&appID=8113 plus about $600 for a new trailer (quoting the Gurnee, IL price)......

My questions..... what do yall think about this boat? Honestly - this will probably never be taken to a large body of water, never need a large gas motor, and probably never have "high decking" used for "stand and fish" operations.... if the decking is high it is only to provide storage and a place to stand as you launch the boat... never to stand and fish. We will need seats, seat swivels, trolling motor, battery, life vests, etc.... my question is - is BPS able to "work with" people willing to plop down a little chunk of change on something like this? Is this boat so unstable you'd shy away regardless of price?


Thanks - I appreciate it.... I'm very new to the boating scene!


Zac

Your link didn't show the boat (unless it was one of the $13k boats at the top of the page.

Jamie

Sorry - it was the 14' tracker with 36" bottom for $650 - right now no dealer prep cost of freight cost..... it looks like a new trailer (brand new) is $600 - that is per the Gurnee, IL guy.

https://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CFPageC?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&appID=8113

Zac

i have seen these in person several times. not alot for the money the front taipers pretty severely its only a 1436 at the back it is morer like a 1430 at the front bench and 1428 up front.
i would not spend my money on it.

Ditto, I would not bother with that. It's half a boat, 1448 would be the minimum size I would look at. Toppers can be had for under $300 in decent shape. Coworker has a 2010 1436 topper with a 2009 9.9 4 stroke Merc, 55lb hand troller and trailer for sale, can't find a buyer at $2k or less than half of what he has in it.

Save up $2k and go shopping for a $1500 1448 or 1648 and put the other $500 into fixing it up.

Jamie

I appreciate the info guys - yeah I haven't seen one in person, the picture makes it look sort of small - maybe even short on the sides.

The problem - for someone buying a boat for the first time - you never really know any of the things that "could" be wrong or "could" need attention - some of that stuff could be covered up. I do agree though - by the time you add a trailer and all the gear you need just to get into the water - you could walk away with a decent 16' used boat w/ everything you need to go fish (may not have the gas motor).

We missed a sweet deal on a boat that was already sold


Thanks!
Zac

I recommend Lowe Big Jon, the dealer in Corbin KY can save you $$$