there went the rest of my fishing season...

I knew it was getting bad but...


Decided to fix up the ol' girl (Tracker TX-17) some and see if I could get a few more trips out of her. Went to Wallyworld and purchased two new batteries-one as a starter and one deep cycle for the trolling motor. Got home and went to hoist the heavy deep cycle over the side and into the boat and **** if it almost went thru the front decking!

So now I get to decide whether to repair it or replace it. The boat is a 1985 and it's been re-powered by a previous owner with a 1975 Evinrude 40. (Yeah, I'm still cratching my head over that...) It runs really good, but...


My father bought it from an older guy back in the 90's and gave it to me around '06 when he purchased a new boat so it's not like I have a lot in it. I have no idea of the minimum cost nor whether my novice carpentry skills are up to the task. I feel sure the transom is rotten along with most, if not all the rest of the decking but didn't have the heart to check further after the battery incident.

I could possibly spend up to $1500-2000 on it but then what's the point if it's only worth what-$3000 max...?

What would you do>

Tough situation to be in, I guess it all depends on whether you "want" to fix the damage or not. Lots of people have re-habed trackers, so info should be available. I guess your signature line should be a point to consider as well. LOL

lets see some pics

you can probably fix it up for a lot less than $1500

yeah, tough spot there. depends on how attached you are to the boat and whether or not you can afford a newer model.

Do a survey of "EVERYTHING" that needs to be done to it, and go from there.
If it needs a transom replaced, decking, etc., it can become a project and time consuming. Many on here have started with the same thing, did a makeover, and have some darn good boats.
If you don't feel like your novice carpentry skills are capable of the task then I would get rid of it, but there are plenty of guys on here that can help guide you through any repairs that you would need to do if you want to invest the time.

Plywood, carpet, spar, deck screws and some 1x2 framing cost me about 100 bucks to build my boat. It's much smaller than yours, and likely much less intensive, but I couldn't see you in it over 300 or so? That's for the minimum you'd need to put in it to fish, then fix it next winter properly with aluminum.

Definitely figure up a cost and go from there. If it were me and I decided to get a new one, I'd probably at least put minimal effort into some kind of repair before selling it anyway. If I were buying, I'd be much more wary of a boat with damage than one that just looks like it's got some half finished modifications

Thanks folks, you've all been quite helpful. And with lots of good advice.

And TNtroller-if only you knew....

I forgot to add, I've already put a new trailer under the boat back in '08 or so due to rust issues on the original.

Then there was the 'new' foot that turned out to be rebuilt but why BPS specified a different lower end than everyone else on their

products-that still has me shaking my head...

But I digress. I'm sure my pitiful tale of woe is no different than many others.

I still haven't examined it further (been raining off and on all day) but I'm glad to hear this may not be the deep rabbit hole $$-wise

that I was expecting.

Let me dig into it a little more and will go from there.

B. O. A. T. Break Out Another Thousand.

I am sure it is fixable and if you are handy can get it done, otherwise sell it for what you can get out of it and get another used one.

Plenty of time to rebuild her and still fish.... If you enjoy working on things, then rebuild her to exactly the way you want. You can do it however you like, and end up with a boat exactly how you wanted her. Lots of great ideas listed here in the forums. You will put more money than that into a newer one which will not have all the things you would like in it. If you don't enjoy working on things, look for a newer one, but don't expect to get much out of the old girl in the shape she is in, and don't be shocked at how nice it looks after the new owner rebuilds it to their specs..... Rebuilding is not for everyone, and it does take a lot of work and time, but lots of knowledgeable people here to help out with any questions.... Good luck with the decision....

Unless you want to put in some cash and serious time, I'd stick a fork in that old tracker.

From what I've seen on here through the years, you're going to have to do some work to pull the transom (cutting and welding). Also, some the trackers have the issue of cracked ribs under the decking, which of course would need to be fixed. Then you still have a 40 y/o motor to content with.

Not trying to sway you away from a rebuild if that's what you want, but plan on a good bit of work over several months. You could also find an old non-tracker pretty cheap to fix up if what you want is a project. Also, trackers are a dime a dozen around here, you could find an old one for what you need to spend on yours to fix it.

Good luck.

Say you put $1500 into it. It's then, say, a $3000 boat.

Can you buy a newer or better one for $3000? That is usually the question I have to ask myself when trying to decide whether to fix or replace. Sometimes it's cheaper in the long run to just fix what you have. Of course that explains why I'm still driving a Mustang with 321,000 miles on it. I'm cheap.

And lastly, do you have any attachment to the boat you have now? I know some folks who are really attached to certain things, even as bad of shape that those things are, they still keep and fix it. I want to tell them to junk it but if they don't want to you cant change their mind. Also explains why I still have my old Ford Maverick. Why on earth would anyone want such an ugly pile of feces? Because my daddy and I built it together....it'll go the grave with me for that reason, even if it's nothing but a pile of rust by then.

I'm in agreement with TurboTodd....
A boat with a hole in it looks like a wreck so you'll never get much on a sale. Sounds like you're young....lots of fishing seasons ahead of you right? So bite the bullet and at least do the work to be able to sell it right. You'll learn things, improve your skills, and you might find that fixing an old one is cheaper than buying another used boat that you don't know anything about. You might also learn to treat your equipment better than tossing a heavy battery onto an older wood deck. Like lots of other things, if you can't afford to fix it you probably can't actually afford to own it.