Tracker Grizzly 1754 MVX SC

I am looking at this Jon with a 60/40 Merc Jet on it. Does anyone have any experience with this boat? I am looking to run the Deleware River by my house and fish out of it. I have never had a Jet boat and want to get one that won't break the bank. This boat looks exactly what I am looking for. Some of my questions are how shallow will it run? Is the 60/40 enough power to run me through some small Rapids? Any info. is appreciated.

I used to have a Lowe 1760 with a 60/40 jet. With light fishing loads it was sufficient. With 2 guys, 1-80 lb dog and a normal fishing load of gear, cooler & ice, it was capable of beating current on the Susquehanna to get thru normal "rapids". However I would have been MUCH happier with the boat with a 90/65. Mine was not capable of handling duck hunting loads.

Can't tell you exactly how shallow but on plane is always your shallowest water needed. Probably somewhere around 6". My rule of thumb for running jets is I prefer to have 1' of water more than what I draft sitting still. You need the most water under you when coming off plane or for a hole shot start so you aren't sucking all the bottom material thru your jet. If I felt confident there were no boat eating rocks in a shallow riffle, I'd run it on plane if I was convinced I had at least 8". Guys more daring than I would probably do 1/2 that.

My first jet boat was a Tracker Grizzly 1654 SC with a 60/40 Mercury. I ran the boat to its max and then some with 3 guys all over 200lb plus 30 gallon bait tank and gear. It took some work and shifting of weight to get on plane but once we did I would get about 24-25mph. It was a great starter boat, my only dislike with it was quality of welds. Where the transom meets the bottom keel the weld bead would get knocked off then leak!

My second boat was a Lowe and much happier with that one with a two stroke Mercury Optimax. I would suggest a 90/65 on that 1754 as you will be much happier and will not need to run it at WOT to get a good cruise speed.

Steve

I think I saw that boat for sale. What area of the Delaware are you planning on running? I just moved my console and battery up to the front of the boat (my Lowe 1652 with a 60/45 jet) and it made a big difference on the weight distribution and planning out much quicker without the rear squatting as much. If that is the side console further back, you may want to consider converting to a center console and moving it forward like I did. I run my boats in the Washington Crossing area up to Lambertville.

Hey Jeff, that is exactly where I would use it. I was hoping to get through the Scudders Falls with it. Do you think that is possible with this rig?

I haven't personally gone through Scudders Falls, I keep my boat at my cousin's house dock in Titusville. I'm guessing you would be putting it in at the Yardley ramp. You may want to have the owner put the boat in the water to see how it sits with someone in it. My boat has the center console but even with me (a whopping 150 lbs) you could see it sitting lower in the back and took some squatting before it would plane out. I moved the console 2 feet forward and moved the battery up as well and .now it barely squats and planes out right away. That boat might be a great candidate for the forward center console

My grizzley 1754 home brew with a 60/40 4 stroke.

It get on pad pretty good, I may move the TM batteries up front in future but for now I'm happy with the set up.

what kind of speeds are you getting out of that setup? im looking to upgrade my 1648 with 50/35 to a 1754 with the same motor. No decks, stick steer. the 1754 is only about 40 lbs more than the 1648 according to the specs on the tracker site.

Yesterday the GPS read 30 down river and 28 up.

I have a tracker 1648 with a 60/40 Mercury and a custom front console. It started life as a SC which for the shallow rocky water was terrible. It needed at least 18" of water to plane and seeing rocks in the water at WOT was a challenge. With the battery up front and a new front CC made all the difference. Less than 12" of water needed to plane and will run in 4-5 " of water at full throttle. I also have a grizzly 1754 with a 40 prop and that boat is much heavier. To be honest, I am not sure you would be happy with the performance of a 60/40 jet on that heavy of a boat. Unless you have good water depth to get on plane and do not have to worry about big rocks you might be ok. With the large inboard gas tank and all that weight in the back getting on plane in shallow water will be a challenge.

thats weird, because according to their specs sheet, the 1754 is only about 40 lbs more than the regular 1648. but thats the barebones, no console version, which I would get and add stick steering to. No decks, just a light aluminum floor, 3 batteries, and 12 gallon tank.

JoshKeller said:

what kind of speeds are you getting out of that setup? im looking to upgrade my 1648 with 50/35 to a 1754 with the same motor. No decks, stick steer. the 1754 is only about 40 lbs more than the 1648 according to the specs on the tracker site.

Click to expand...

What kind of 50/35 are you running? I picked up a 1999 lowe bass boat with a 2003 yamaha 50/30
Was thinking about a 1648 stick steer with it! How does yours run?

1994 johnson 50/35 2 cylinder, 2 stroke. manual trim. It runs awesome. This time of year we are fishing in heavy current, and today with 2 people, gear, full tank of gas, 3 batteries, 20 lb anchor with winch, i was getting 24 mph upriver and 29 down. Stay on plane going up river down to about 10 mph.

The new MVX hulls have more deadrise than the old tracker jons. I believe they are 8° now. The pics look like it may cause issues with a jet foot.
Something to look into.