[phatmanmike]

hi , all, i am in the market for a new craft and have been seeing lost of aluminum"superjohns" around, such as lund, lowe, and landau( why all start with " l " ) ?anyway.. i have a 16.5 foot fiberglass cc that i just wanna sell...blew the motor... so im looking for light weight and ability to achieve 35mph with small motor and still have room for me, wife, daughter, son and dog. now i have a 1969 riveted and ugly with 3 collors of chipped paint, 14 foot x40 inches(very small and narrow) jon with a 14hp evinrude commercial model that gets 16-18 mph loaded and 25 by myself.. i like the lightness of aluminum, but doies anybody have anything good or bad to say about any certain brands or types. any input is greatly appreciated. thanks in advance!by the way, i paid 50 bucks for my old jon, 3 years ago and it included wooden , sealed, carpeted floor inlays for the whole boat, 4 peices, i wouldnt trade it for the world !!!

[rickrick]

Lunds, Crestliners and Alumacrafts are probably the top three aluminum boat makers out there. Good Luck!

[roscoe]

Aluminum = once a year wash, maybedurablelighteasily repaired if you crashI'd stay away from the fancy plush models, as they ad maintenance, cleaning, weight.If buying new, consider the new vinyl flooring instead of carpet, its much easier to clean out the sand and dog hair.Look at space, storage, construction.Don't get caught up in all the different types of hulls and types of aluminum, each manufacturer will say theirs is best. Nothing wrong with a riveted boat either.My two 45 year old riveted boats will out perform my almost new welded hull in both ride and handling.4 people and gear at 35 mph, you are looking at a 500# hull with a 50-60 hp, 900# hull with a 75-90 hp motor.

[Lark40]

"My two 45 year old riveted boats"Glad to hear there are others out there.Agree with all the above. The major companies have been producing well designed boats for many years. Just a matter of which features you prefer.

[T S N]

You might be interested in Seaark boats. They have lots of light boats available.

[SeaDawg]

I just sold a Lowe 17 foot roughneck, with a 50 HP Mariner 4-stroke on it. It would handle a 15 pitch SS prop, and would hit 6000 rpms with just me (no coolers, etc.) in the boat. It would hit 5000 rpms with 4 - 200# guys in the boat/gear/etc., with the same prop. I had a 14 pitch aluminum prop as a spare, but never used it.It would run around 30 mph with full load, and hit the high 30's mph (GPS) on glass calm saltwater creeks, and fully trimmed out (about 24" of boat in the water).I loved it, but we are moving, and the wife has agreed I can go up to a 28 footer, that is the only reason I sold it.Only used in saltwater, and I never had any corrosion issues, the hull looked like new when I sold it (4 years old).

[missed_shot]

look at the x-press boat line. built like a bardge I would want nothing else after having mine for 4 years. use it in the river and bay .

[youngboater]

I recommend Lund

[susan61]

phatmanmike, just the opposite, I am in a 165 Bass Tracker that I love dearly. However I find myself fishing more and more offshore. Would like to find a used cc that I could put a new engine on.

[phatmanmike]

susan, email me