Aluminum boat ranking

C

CWCW

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Oct 30, 2007
Messages
88
If you could rank these aluminum bass boats for me based on your experiences and thoughts on quality and performance it would be greatly appreicated. I would like comments on these manufacturers customer service if you have had any dealings with them.
thanks
(I am also including the models of each brand that i am considering but i still wanna hear from u if you have had experiences with other models of one of these brands)


Xpress (H17)
Triton (Magnum 176)
Lowe (190 Stinger)
War Eagle (756 Tomahawk)
G3 (Eagle 180)
Tracker (Pro Team 190 TX)
Fisher (Pro Hawk 180)
 
K

KCook

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jan 24, 2002
Messages
1,624
Re: Aluminum boat ranking

You didn't leave many out! <attempt at humor>

My druthers would be G3 or War Eagle. But that is not due to any analysis, nor does it mean they are superior to any of the others. For the most part this reflects my view of the businesses more than how their boats are built. Simply personal preference, nothing more. It will be your boat, follow your heart. <but do let us in the peanut gallery know which boat you end up with>

Kelly Cook
 
SkeeterBro

SkeeterBro

Cadet
Joined
Sep 21, 2007
Messages
13
Re: Aluminum boat ranking

IMO! Tough to beat the G3. Quality boat with a great ride.
 
K

KCook

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jan 24, 2002
Messages
1,624
Re: Aluminum boat ranking

Fun short list, seems odd there isn't more interest in this thread?

Anyways - The merit of the various awards or survey programs is always up for debate. So file this under the FWIW column. But in the last 2 years G3 and Harbercraft made the NMMA CSI award for Outstanding Customer Satisfaction both years. Fisher, Lund, and Starcraft each made it in 1 of the years, but not both years. No mention of the other brands on your list. I have heard that the flaw in this particular award is that some builders can (and do) opt not to participate. Dunno which builders those are however.

Kelly
 
Silvertip

Silvertip

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 22, 2003
Messages
28,771
Re: Aluminum boat ranking

When considering "quality", one should also consider "overall value" or "resale". You may have a boat that works well for you but when it comes time to sell it it's lost a great amount of value. Therefore, you cannot go terribly wrong with the majors. Lund, Crestliner, Alumacraft, G3 and there are others in other regions that hold up well. I have looked at Lowe boats and am not overly impressed with the value for the dollar spent. Tracker has a tendency to under power their standard package rigs.
 
tommays

tommays

Admiral
Joined
Jul 4, 2004
Messages
6,768
Re: Aluminum boat ranking

A lot is were you live also on LI and ALU boat is very rare in anything but a small fishing boat YET up in Alaska they love big welded Alu boats :confused:



Tommays
 
K

KCook

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jan 24, 2002
Messages
1,624
Re: Aluminum boat ranking

Good point on the regional factor Tommays. Here in Arizona fishing smallish lakes is popular, so the aluminum brands do fairly well here. We have long established dealers for Alumacraft, Crestliner, and Tracker at least. The other franchises come and go.

Kelly
 
bassboy1

bassboy1

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jun 23, 2006
Messages
1,884
Re: Aluminum boat ranking

I am not at all impressed with G3. In fact, if you gave me one of those right now, I would just go sell it. Have too many friends with issues on them, then at the boat show, the two they had were very poorly built. A lot of shortcuts seemed to have been taken on quality. I was impressed with Starcraft though. Way back when, they weren't real special, but these new ones were nice.
You can never go wrong with Alumacraft. They are the most sought after used boat around here (I am in the market for my second). Lund doesn't make a bass boat per se, but if they did, I would wish I could afford one. They make quality boats.
 
D

DJ

Guest
Re: Aluminum boat ranking

I've owned:

Starcraft, Lowe, Alumacraft, Crestliner. I've never had any trouble with any of them. I've rebuilt three of the four brands.

I've fished many Lunds, freinds didn't have any trouble with them either. I think they're a bit overpriced.

I liked what I saw on the G3's but I have no experience with them.
 
K

KCook

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jan 24, 2002
Messages
1,624
Re: Aluminum boat ranking

DJ - Years ago there was a G3 dealer in Tucson. Very briefly. Do you know of a G3 dealer here in the Phoenix area now?

Kelly
 
R

rockmike

Cadet
Joined
Feb 17, 2008
Messages
10
Re: Aluminum boat ranking

I really like my ALWELD. They will also custom build what you want.
 
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