differences between flat or v bottom...good & bad??

Getting my first aluminum boat and was wondering the pros and cons of each style?

What kind of water are you going to be using it in? And what activities are you using the boat for? V hull is going to handle a little bit better in chop where as a flat bottom will have some hill slap and be a bit rougher ride. The flat bottom will get you into shallower water and can be a little more stable at time depending on your decking/boat setup.

Flat, slow speed. Big lake, big chop, v or mod v.

Will be using it for fishing on small lakes and rivers. Occasional use on lake erie only a 1/4 mi off shore at most. Was thinking 12-14 ft with a 9.9 hp engine.

hey z06 fan, last summer i got my first tin, it is a 14 ft deep V, and it had a 9.9, but i upgraded to a 15. the only place i use it is in the missouri river around great falls mt, it does pretty good for everything i do! but also i havent owned a flat bottom so i cant rally compare. my buddy owns a flat bottom and it is a little more stable, but we both catch fish and dont have to paddle haha. hope this helps. i would just go with what you can get a good deal on money wise,, thats why i went with the v hull!

All above pretty well answered your ??? One thing not mentioned is Lets say some flat bottems /jon can be had with a ittle bit of V starting at front and tapering to flat at rear.It takes rougher water better than flat(mine does and I had both)..but it stll ain't no V ot deep V.
Mine is 16f Superior, 60in bottem, tunnel and pontoons.. Yea I know no one ever heard of one /me either tell i saw this one ,well Used one 10/12y ago and bought it.Its made in Smackeover AR according to tag and rated for long 60HP....cva34

Found one benefit of the flat bottom jon. When coming on shore, in a shallow area, the wide bow is nice and you can step out on land. But that's mostly in shallow rivers.
One thing that I prefer over anything is WIDE!! The more stable the better.

A 12 ft flat bottom is skinny to. If you want to be halfway stable or not feel like you are in a big kayak you might want to get a little bigger one.

Unless you want to get into shallower water i would go with a mod v. I have a 1648 with a 25hp and run 26mph. The ride diffetence between flat and modded isnt noticeable in glass conditions. But 9/10 times over here there's a slight chop and the mod v makes a world of diffetence. IMO mod v is the way to go

thegr8cody said:

Unless you want to get into shallower water i would go with a mod v. I have a 1648 with a 25hp and run 26mph. The ride diffetence between flat and modded isnt noticeable in glass conditions. But 9/10 times over here there's a slight chop and the mod v makes a world of diffetence. IMO mod v is the way to go

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I agree. The boat I normally fish out of is a 15ft mod v and you can still get pretty shallow with it. If you see a good deal on a 1648 I would snag it up pretty quick!

Here is a reply I got from alumnacraft compairing the two

"Mike the boats you mentioned have about the same amount of draft. We started building the mv48 series about 30 years ago hoping it would eventually replace the flat series. We still sell a lot of both versions. The mv series will handle the choppy water better and offers a quieter ride but you lose floor space in that version. It basically comes down to what you want to do with that particular boat. If you have any other questions feel free to email me direct. Thanks "

You lose "front" space because it comes to a point vs a square front for a flat bottom. To me it was worth it. The deck on my 1648 mod v is super stable. And if they draft the dame like he is claiming then mod v hands down

Mod V, best of both worlds.

If you plan on fishing Erie a lot then get the larger deep v boat and the most horsepower you can afford. I've trolled Erie and Ontario in various sizes of deep v's and its good to have the horsepower to quit in a hurry along with the stability to take the waves.

Go with a 14 footer because it has more room. 16 footers have even more room.

Good question... I have been pondering the same thing.
I picked up a Lonestar 14-42ish MV in a trade for the 15Hp hanging on the back.
I now use that motor on my 1436 Jon.
I have the LS listed for sale, but now I am having second thoughts about getting rid of it.(More so since ive found this site. :LOL2: )
Now im wondering if the LS is superior to the FlatBottom in ugly weather?
I know the LS is wider but they both have about the same depth gunwhales.
In reality my lonestar is pretty much a pointed nosed flatbottom.