Large V and deep V-hull aluminum boats

I have been wanting to get an 18' or larger aluminum fish and ski style boat (outboard) and was wondering if anyone has one and how they like them? I haven't seen many on here yet and was wondering where they are all at. Some of the brands I have been looking at are Lund, Crestliner, Alumacraft, Spectrum and recently I saw Princecraft on the Discovery channel show "How its made" and I really like the look of those boats. I would love to own a 20' Lund Pro-V but that will never happen most likely unless I hit the lottery lol......

The bluefin spectrum's of the early 90's seem to be more in my price range 3-5k and I do like how they are set up but they all have them freaking Force motors on them and Lund's are rare to see out here and demand top dollar for even basic models. I have never seen a Princecraft on the water yet. I have been watching out for a 120-140hp Johnson/Evinrude late 80's to early 90's looper motor that I can put on one of these boats if I ever find one that is worth what they are asking. To many of these guys want top dollar for these boats and they are beat to heck and poorly taken care of.

So if you have one of these big V-hull aluminum's then post a pic and let me know how you like it and why

Well mine is just 17', but I love it to death!

It's a Tracker Pro Deep V 17 I bought brand new back in '97.



All the seats are pedestal seats and you can arrange them any way you want.

This boat came from the factory with CCA pressure treated decking and transom that will never rot.

It's got a 50 hp 4 stroke Merc on it that pushes it 33 mph which is fast enough for me.

I notice you didn't mention Starcraft boats, these are good tin boats with some real big deep V's.

Now is not the time to buy a boat, it's a sellers market in the spring and summer. Wait until the weather turns cold and most people are finished boating for the year, right before and right after Christmas is the best time because people want extra money.

Nice boat . Yeah I left several aluminum boat makers because I couldn't remember them all off hand lol. The reason I want to get one of these larger tins is my 3 yr old is now wanting to go out every time along with my 6 yr old. Add the wife, stepdaughter and my 2 yr old grand baby and my 14' tin cannot handle it. And I would like the option of being able to pull a tube or skier. The large open bow with seating for people is also a plus.

How many people can you comfortably get in that 17' tracker? And as far as buying I gave up for the summer due to the bad time to buy, but I still keep an eye open cause you never know when something good is going to fall into your lap We have had an unusually cold and wet spring here so the boat prices haven't gone through the roof yet because they are all still in peoples garages I think.

Sold this boat last summer. Bought it new in 2005. 16'8" long with a 85" beam. Had a 90 hp Yamaha 2-stroke and SS prop. It would run at just a bit over 41 mph. Really solid hull and dry riding.

Johny25 said:

Nice boat . Yeah I left several aluminum boat makers because I couldn't remember them all off hand lol. The reason I want to get one of these larger tins is my 3 yr old is now wanting to go out every time along with my 6 yr old. Add the wife, stepdaughter and my 2 yr old grand baby and my 14' tin cannot handle it. And I would like the option of being able to pull a tube or skier. The large open bow with seating for people is also a plus.

How many people can you comfortably get in that 17' tracker? And as far as buying I gave up for the summer due to the bad time to buy, but I still keep an eye open cause you never know when something good is going to fall into your lap We have had an unusually cold and wet spring here so the boat prices haven't gone through the roof yet because they are all still in peoples garages I think.

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im in the process of buying a 18ft deep v with a walkthrough up front, well in the process of finding one.
i put adds on c list for a deep v project boat and you would not beleive what ive came across just in the 2 weeks since i posted the ad. ive got responses for 2 lunds, 1 starcraft, 1 spectrums, 1 tracker and a few alumacrafts and they were all priced between 1000 and 250.00 bucks, sure every one needed the whole inside re done but for the price of the boat and materials to restore it you can a very nice boat for very cheap. oh i should mention i already have an O/B but still for a couple grand its the only way i see getting a boat like that and plus what would be better than taking a junker and making it new again....fun fun fun!

That must be nice. Up here everyone seems to think their beat up, leaky, ugly 14'er and rusty trailer with 1960's era motor is worth a grand. If it says Lund on the side the price just tripled, because - you know - it's a Lund.

But hey, the motor fired up two years ago and the trailer's got new wheels! :lol:

(Secretly jealous of your ability to find 18' deep V's locally for extremely reasonable prices).

People around here want $3000-5000 for boats that are total rebuilds and have junk motors on them. Nothing worse than showing up to look at a boat that is priced for $4500 and as soon as you climb in it you almost fall through the floor because it is so rotten, and the carpet and upholstery are shot. I don't mind rebuilding the entire boat inside, actually I would prefer it but I am not shelling out anymore than $1500 for a boat that needs an entire rebuild and a motor to boot.

I think maybe you live in a more populated part of the country with a better supply of these large tin boats. Lunds are very rare out here and demand way to much doe for my pocket. The only large tins I have seen in my price range up here have been the early 90's spectrums which I don't mind. But I am having a terrible time finding one that is worth even close to what they are asking for the condition it is in. I look at CL back east and the midwest and just drool at the amount of large tins I see back there that are priced far lower.

I should have bought the 1991 Spectrum 1900 I looked at in March....lol. It was in great shape but the guy wanted $7000 for it and didn't want to deal at all. No way I was paying 7k for a boat with an early 90's Force 3 cylinder on it though.

gillhunter said:

Sold this boat last summer. Bought it new in 2005. 16'8" long with a 85" beam. Had a 90 hp Yamaha 2-stroke and SS prop. It would run at just a bit over 41 mph. Really solid hull and dry riding.

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That was a sharp boat gillhunter. Why in the world did you sell it? I would sell my house and divorce my wife before I sold a boat like that :lol:

wihil said:

That must be nice. Up here everyone seems to think their beat up, leaky, ugly 14'er and rusty trailer with 1960's era motor is worth a grand. If it says Lund on the side the price just tripled, because - you know - it's a Lund.

But hey, the motor fired up two years ago and the trailer's got new wheels! :lol:

(Secretly jealous of your ability to find 18' deep V's locally for extremely reasonable prices).

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You can't touch a Lund out here for less than $4000 and that is a bare bones mid 80's 14' bench seat tin with a 25hp on it. The nice ones that are 17' or bigger are $8000 and up and they are 20yrs old :shock:

gillhunter said:

Sold this boat last summer. Bought it new in 2005. 16'8" long with a 85" beam. Had a 90 hp Yamaha 2-stroke and SS prop. It would run at just a bit over 41 mph. Really solid hull and dry riding.

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That was a sharp boat gillhunter. Why in the world did you sell it? I would sell my house and divorce my wife before I sold a boat like that :lol:[/quote]

When we lived in Indiana there were a lot of lakes close by to fish, and we had a garage large enough to store the boat. When we moved to Georgia (work) we were driving a 3 hour round trip to fish. We found ourselves not fishing very often and with the traffic on the large lakes, and getting bounced around was not relaxing. We had smaller lakes close around us were either total electric or 10 hp restricted. That's when we decided to put together the boat in the link below my signature. We kept the big boat for a while, but were not using it. So we sold it. I don't regret the decision at all. We are now fishing every weekend again. For us it was simply adapting to our new surroundings. I hope you find a boat that you'll enjoy with your family and meets your needs!