My "new" 1974 16ft Sears Aluminum Semi Vee

[Todd in NY]

Just picked up a great fishing boat with a trailer and a 1973 Evinrude 25hp outboard. The boat model # is 286-61416. It measures 15'10" long by 65" wide, max load with motor is 950 lbs and max motor size is 25hp. I have to resize my photos before I can post them, which I hope to do tomorrow. Looking forward to many years of great fishing with this boat.

 

[Todd in NY]

I hope the pics stay upright after I post them, they are all upright when I previewed the post. I hope to take her out fishing this weekend if I get enough chores done around the house. Walleye and lake trout have been calling my name

Her name is "Rock Bottom", because she is a basic utility boat that I can operate on a rock bottom budget. The brown stains on the lower unit are from the PO's rusty test tank, a 55 gallon drum. I will try some CLR to remove the stains.

 

[jrttoday]

yes it is a great fishing boat! Mine's a little 12 footer, some the same, but a 1965. Still holding together after years of abuse! and homemade repairs, but solid.

named "Mo-Skeeter" cos she takes me deep in the swamps. Send me some Sauger!!

 

[Todd in NY]

I like the name Mo-Skeeter, reminds me of my years living on the Texas gulf coast where the mosquito should be the state bird. One town even celebrates an annual "Mosquito Festival" (Clute, TX). These 16 footers must not be that common, because I am having trouble finding pictures of other 16ft Sears aluminum boats anywhere on the internet. I think they were only made from 1972 to 1981. The weather has been pretty warm this fall so far, so I don't even know if the fish are biting good. I haven't fished since September, and we only caught one brown trout on a small lake.

 

[jrttoday]

Yeah, never seen a 16' either; it's a rarity for sure. Looks well built!! My transom was too flimsy for the 1953 Seaking I first had. Have an 8hp Mariner now w/reinforced transom. Used to have an 18' Skeeter and that how that name came about. Plus the Sears is my 4WD boat!! The Mosquito Hawk is our state bird; if you see someone kill one, you are legally allowed to shoot them! :lol::lol:

 

[Todd in NY]

I found someone on the tin boats web site that has a 16ft Sears boat identical to mine, but he says the HIN lists the boat as being made by Lowe, so he is calling it a Lowe Jumbo V16, it's even made the same year mine is made. My HIN plate just has numbers and letters (the first letter is L) but I don't know what that means, or if his HIN says the same thing and maybe its a code for Lowe. He completely modified his boat with floors and storage, and it looks absolutely fantastic! I'm keeping my boat pretty basic. I'm taking her out fishing today because we don't get very many days in December where the high will be 48.

 

[Todd in NY]

I just found out today that my Sears boat was made by Lowe, according to the HIN that starts with LWN and ends with 16JV5.