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There are these manufacturers up in the Pacific Northwest who build what I consider top end aluminum boats. Names I know are North River, Duckworth, & Hewescraft. Super boats & super prices.

A North River 18' windshield boat is probably going to outclass my 18' Gregor windshield in just about every category. Im guessing you can get a basic one for about $45k to 50K.

So, if cost is no object then I would vote for one of these super boat builders up in the Pacific Northwest. Or, a custom builder perhaps.
 
GatorTrax has a strong reputation for building an affordable custom tin boat
 
Rockproof boats, north of Harrisburg PA in Marysville, is supposed to build some good custom boats, not overly far from you.
Sea Ark is a quality production boat, and people who run them are usually satisfied with them.
 
Woolridge, Duckworth, Rogue Jet, Jetcraft, Willie, Thunder Jet, Weldcraft, and many others.
 
so,pretty much all of 'em,because lets face facts,a bad day on the water still beats a good day at work,no matter what boat i'm in,at least in my books :LOL2:
 
bcbouy said:
so,pretty much all of 'em,because lets face facts,a bad day on the water still beats a good day at work,no matter what boat i'm in,at least in my books :LOL2:


Very true. I don't think it can come to a single answer. Depends on needs, use, priorities, etc.
 
I like deep welded boats with a windshield. Dead rise should continue to the transom around 12 to 18 degrees. Welded cleats, storage space, canvas house or hard top with large outboards. Then you can handle big lakes and some bad weather safely. You can hide from the weather and add a heater. Civilized boating. They hold their value. My 2004 Jetcraft has been going up in value since I bought it in 2008.
 
LDUBS has it imo. The western boats are special, I had two Kofflers and have a Hyde. Some makers call them jet/prop drifters, those have some rake for rowing. Others are slight vee or flat motor boats. I fish rocky rivers mostly and use a slight vee welded Weldbilt jon with jet. I am considering trading it for an Alumacraft prop tunnel, going from 1648 to 1860.

If you get a sled/flat bottom from out west, get the UHMW bottom for your rivers. It's mechanically fastened. See one of my post with pictures of a 20+ year old Hyde with it, can't be beat for rocky waters, but you can still knock of the bottom end of a motor regardless.

Truck/trailer delivery from out west is about $1200. Hyde has a shop in MI.
 
what if you live in a townhouse and need it to fit in the garage with the boat/motor trailer? with room for the the wifes precious mazda? then it has to be less than 21 ft. all in and comfortable enough to spend the whole day on.obviously it's an alumacraft escape 145 sc. no brainer. :LOL2:
 
bcbouy said:
what if you live in a townhouse and need it to fit in the garage with the boat/motor trailer? with room for the the wifes precious mazda? then it has to be less than 21 ft. all in and comfortable enough to spend the whole day on.obviously it's an alumacraft escape 145 sc. no brainer. :LOL2:

I can fit a LUND 1775 impact with a 115 on the back in a 22 foot garage easily . In the summer the boat gets the garage and in the winter i put car dolleys under the tires and push it against the wall and the wife parks beside it with no problems.
 
notice the chunk i had to cut out of my workbench to make it fit? the folding tongue is right against the wall.click on it.
 

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bcbouy said:
notice the chunk i had to cut out of my workbench to make it fit? the folding tongue is right against the wall.click on it.


Pretty good. Better than having the tongue protruding into the family room. Haha

Man, you need to get out. Your workbench is too organized and your boat is too clean! :LOL2:
 
They're all "good" in one way or another.

Some are good & cheap.
Some are good and fast.
Some are good and stable.
Some are good & expensive.
Some are good & welded.
Some are good & riveted.
Some are good & all-around good performers.

Sea Ark, F&F, War Eagle all build good boats, but don't forget G3, Excel, Weld-bilt, Alweld, Waco, alumacraft, Havoc, Edge, Vexus, Ranger, and a ton of others.

They all build decent boats, just depends on the use it's going to see, how much you're willing to spend, what features you want or dont want, how fast you want to go, etc etc.

Spent the afternoon messing with a Ranger VX1888, well more working on the 225 Yamaha outboard than anything, diagnosing intermittent issue. I loved the boat but it's way too big for what I'd use it for. There ain't no way I'd own it unless I was strictly fishing the deeper lakes with good ramps. I mainly stay in shallow rocky rivers and occasionally the lake but back where the sunlight's got to be pumped into-which a bigger boat ain't gonna get to unless a helicopter picks it up & carries it into the 3'+ water. The ranger I was in today was dragging bottom slightly in 24" of water which ain't cutting it for what I do. I'd have the foot drug off of it in less than 30 minutes.

One could spend $1000 on a cheap riveted jon, or one could spend $100,000+ on something with a cabin, etc. Take your pick...

I've had a lot of different setups. In the early 2000's I bought my first 1432, built a deck for it (mistake!), carepeted the whole thing, floored it, and built livewells, etc for it. Went tournament fishing on the local lake. 9.9 OMC. Wouldn't plane the boat with all the weight I had in it, but it's all I had and I used it for a few years. Saved money, sold that one, updated to a used Duracraft 1542 riveted jon. Just bare, and left it bare with no seats. 25hp Evinrude. Did what I needed but it also did MORE than I wanted, in leaks. Every time I'd buck a rivet, another one or two or dozen would leak. Finally sold it and bought another one just like it, built by Noah (Duracraft), all welded 1542. It was ok but outgrew it, and it rode really rough with a totally flat bottom. Also would not take wake very well, wouldn't even take chop without getting wet which wasn't a problem in the hot summer but any other time of year it sucked. Sold that and bought a 'glass boat with a 90hp Mariner. Spent more time fixing things than I did fishing, and it drafted way too deep to be useful. Sold it, bought a 1542 Grumman with a 25hp Yamaha 4 stroke. Originally bought it to re-sell but liked the motor so much after running it that I hung onto it for a while. The boat wasnt' great but it fished well. Just too light, rode horrible, spun in turns, etc. Sold that boat for $200 more than I paid for it, and kept the motor, bought a 548 war-eagle and still have it. Kept the motor on it for about 5 years, guy made me an offer I couldn't refuse, sold it, bought a new yamaha and still have it. It does everything I need it to and nothing that I don't want it to do. Complaint? Low casting deck gets hot, but hydroturf fixes that. I pull it out in the spring/fall/winter and put it back in for the summertime. Rides great, dry, handles decent, reasonably fast (enough for us anyway), motor sips fuel, goes everywhere I need to.
 
I bought used and found a Crestliner. It is welded so it has a ticker aluminum. I would think any welded boat is better than a riveted boat.
 
Boats in the Midwest were great up through the 90s. Crestliner had the best welded boats and when it came time to replace floors and transoms they were the easiest to replace. StarCraft, Alumacraft, and Lund were always basket-cases to replace floors in and I always charged more for them. Alumacraft made the best bench boats. The best part about boats from the 50s was there were far more options for skinny water and motor-less aluminum duck boats, especially Aerocraft, Feather-craft, Lund, and Alumacraft. Now, they're all junk and they're all the same. All the companies make jon boats the same sizes all the bench boats are 56-65 inches wide and nobody makes anything less than 48 inches, except for the Grumman Sportboat which is too much of a pop can for me. Even Lowe briefly had one called a Combo Canoe which was a square stern canoe with a much wider transom and about 40-42 inches wide instead of the standard 36 for canoes. The only one I don't have an opinion on is the Osagian Vantage. . .I've never seen one in person.
 
I think for the money, it’s hard to beat an all welded hull built in Arkansas.. pick a brand.. alweld, weld-craft, Southfork, Xpress and all about the same.. I do like the wareagles a lot.. but I think my next one is gonna be either a custom ordered alweld, or I’ll just have a custom hull built here in south Louisiana..

I’m tired of my 23 year old weld-craft.. there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it..I just want something newer and a little bigger.. 1542 gets smallish with 2 grown ups in it..
 
I would rather have an older even beat up welded aluminum boat with a windshield than a brand new riveted boat.
Outboards make everything better. Four strokes are hard to beat, especially the Japanese ones.
I like a canvas top and side curtain and plenty of depth, at least 25 inches of freeboard. Some boats now have 30 inches.
Deadrise needs to be maintained all the way through to the transom. 12 -15 inches is okay, 18 is even better.
 

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