I'd like to start this build thread with a little bit of an introduction. I am a engineering student who thoroughly enjoys any time I can spend outdoors. I grew up fishing, hunting, camping, trapping, hiking...anything outdoors, I wanted to do it. As far as growing up fishing, I was raised a walleye fisherman, so that being said, I have fished some rough water, some big water, and through some nasty weather. For a few years now I have been on my own and planned multiple fishing trips of my own with my brother and friends. I have purchased most of the gear that I need to self outfit these trips with the exception of a few things. The most important thing that I planned to buy was my own boat.
I was raised in SE Minnesota where there is not much to fish other than a few small creeks and the Mississippi, but we did have connections to northern MN where we visited often, and of course fished as well. From as far back as I can remember, I grew up on a 1999 Lund Pro-V 1775, it had a 75 2 stroke Mercury tiller on it when we bought it, and later fitted it with a 75 Yamaha 4 stroke tiller. (Night and Day difference, I am hooked on 4 strokes to say the least.) So growing up on a big deep V Lund, and then growing to the age where I was able to run my own boat, I have been through the ranks of small boats and various motors. For weeks on end I have operated 14' resort style boats with anything from a 10 -35 horse motor, then to a 16 foot alaskan with a 25 horse, and more recently I have been able to convince my father to let me drive the '99 Lund before we sold that to buy the current family boat, which is a 2002 Lund Explorer 1700 side console with a 115 yamaha 4 stroke. With experience operating these boats and more that I am forgetting, I knew that I wanted something 16+ feet in length and I didnt want to be constrained with a HP limit of 60 or 70 HP. In addition, I wanted room for the lady, and our dog, and a few passengers if we decided to cruise the lake for a while.
Now, I am relatively new to the forum, but I have been lurking for a few years now on and off. I have always wanted a boat of my own rather than having to borrow a boat each time that I wanted to go on a trip. As of lately I have been borrowing an old Smokercraft 16' boat with a 50hp Merc on the back, and it absolutely frightened the living daylights out of me. It was by far the most unstable and terrible handling boat that I have ever operated. So that was the last straw, it was time for me to buy a boat, my own boat.
So with a length, HP, and capacity in mind, I set out to see what I could find. Upon asking for some advice here just a short while ago ( See Here: http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat-repair-and-restoration/boat-restoration-building-and-hull-repair/10298837-need-a-few-honest-opinions-on-buying-a-boat ) I was directed to look for something with a somewhat solid floor and somewhat decent interior so I could run it for a few years and then rehab the interior to my likings. There were a few 3-400 dollar boats that were merely an aluminum can with 600lbs of rotten carpet, foam, and leaves inside that I had looked at and talked myself out of, and there were also some very nice boats that had nice floors and interiors, but had a 60 HP limit or they were a 16' boat with a 2' splashwell in the back... All kind of bummers in my scenario.
After countless trips to go check out boats from CL in various states of disrepair, I finally narrowed my search down to a few different boats that are fairly common to find, and within my price range. So for the last few weeks, I have been on and off searching within these categories for a boat that I could make my own. And after around 900 miles of traveling to look at boats, I finally scored.
So I kept the search going, until yesterday morning. It was a typical Monday for me, I was headed back to school for class, and I ended up being about 30 minutes early, so I did the natural thing and pulled out my laptop and browsed the local classifieds. I liked to go to the CL boats section and type in my price limit and scroll through the new options of the week. Lone behold there was a 1989 Alumacraft Trophy 170 posted 18 minutes before I started browsing, I immediately pulled out my phone and texted the seller asking when and where we could meet and how soon it could happen. We talked for a few minutes and set a time to meet. Later that afternoon I drove an hour to check out the boat and hopefully buy it from him.
After making sure there were not any real bad flaws with the boat (to the best of my eyes' knowledge) I haggled him down a few hundred bucks and paid him, but there was a catch, if I was going to get the deal that I bargained for, it had to leave his garage that night. I daily drive a 98 Honda Accord with 250k on the clock...yes it has a 2" ball on the back...so I paid the man and was on my way, cautiously. After driving for an hour and a half at 55, we made it to my rental, and parked it until I can take it home this weekend. **Disclaimer** I would not recommend towing a boat of this stature with a car like mine.... but you have to do what you have to do...
Here are some pictures of the boat that were included in the CL ad. The seller claims that he had a 90 HP Evinrude VRO on it that blew the 3rd cylinder while up north. Motor repair would have costed more than he bought the boat for, so his wife would rather him buy a new boat, so he sold this to fund the new one. Anyhow, it has a solid floor, new stereo, interior lighting, some good seats, has an infloor fuel tank, and came with a nice canvas cover and a yacht club roller trailer. All for a little over $1000.
So here it is! I have some plans for it already, but first thing is first, I need to get it cleaned up and fix a few screw holes that are in the transom from what looks like dozens of transducer relocations...And I plan to float it this fall quick before the ice hits with just a trolling motor on the back. Just to see how it is going to float for me and check for leaks anywhere, and basically say that I did it!
I was raised in SE Minnesota where there is not much to fish other than a few small creeks and the Mississippi, but we did have connections to northern MN where we visited often, and of course fished as well. From as far back as I can remember, I grew up on a 1999 Lund Pro-V 1775, it had a 75 2 stroke Mercury tiller on it when we bought it, and later fitted it with a 75 Yamaha 4 stroke tiller. (Night and Day difference, I am hooked on 4 strokes to say the least.) So growing up on a big deep V Lund, and then growing to the age where I was able to run my own boat, I have been through the ranks of small boats and various motors. For weeks on end I have operated 14' resort style boats with anything from a 10 -35 horse motor, then to a 16 foot alaskan with a 25 horse, and more recently I have been able to convince my father to let me drive the '99 Lund before we sold that to buy the current family boat, which is a 2002 Lund Explorer 1700 side console with a 115 yamaha 4 stroke. With experience operating these boats and more that I am forgetting, I knew that I wanted something 16+ feet in length and I didnt want to be constrained with a HP limit of 60 or 70 HP. In addition, I wanted room for the lady, and our dog, and a few passengers if we decided to cruise the lake for a while.
Now, I am relatively new to the forum, but I have been lurking for a few years now on and off. I have always wanted a boat of my own rather than having to borrow a boat each time that I wanted to go on a trip. As of lately I have been borrowing an old Smokercraft 16' boat with a 50hp Merc on the back, and it absolutely frightened the living daylights out of me. It was by far the most unstable and terrible handling boat that I have ever operated. So that was the last straw, it was time for me to buy a boat, my own boat.
So with a length, HP, and capacity in mind, I set out to see what I could find. Upon asking for some advice here just a short while ago ( See Here: http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat-repair-and-restoration/boat-restoration-building-and-hull-repair/10298837-need-a-few-honest-opinions-on-buying-a-boat ) I was directed to look for something with a somewhat solid floor and somewhat decent interior so I could run it for a few years and then rehab the interior to my likings. There were a few 3-400 dollar boats that were merely an aluminum can with 600lbs of rotten carpet, foam, and leaves inside that I had looked at and talked myself out of, and there were also some very nice boats that had nice floors and interiors, but had a 60 HP limit or they were a 16' boat with a 2' splashwell in the back... All kind of bummers in my scenario.
After countless trips to go check out boats from CL in various states of disrepair, I finally narrowed my search down to a few different boats that are fairly common to find, and within my price range. So for the last few weeks, I have been on and off searching within these categories for a boat that I could make my own. And after around 900 miles of traveling to look at boats, I finally scored.
So I kept the search going, until yesterday morning. It was a typical Monday for me, I was headed back to school for class, and I ended up being about 30 minutes early, so I did the natural thing and pulled out my laptop and browsed the local classifieds. I liked to go to the CL boats section and type in my price limit and scroll through the new options of the week. Lone behold there was a 1989 Alumacraft Trophy 170 posted 18 minutes before I started browsing, I immediately pulled out my phone and texted the seller asking when and where we could meet and how soon it could happen. We talked for a few minutes and set a time to meet. Later that afternoon I drove an hour to check out the boat and hopefully buy it from him.
After making sure there were not any real bad flaws with the boat (to the best of my eyes' knowledge) I haggled him down a few hundred bucks and paid him, but there was a catch, if I was going to get the deal that I bargained for, it had to leave his garage that night. I daily drive a 98 Honda Accord with 250k on the clock...yes it has a 2" ball on the back...so I paid the man and was on my way, cautiously. After driving for an hour and a half at 55, we made it to my rental, and parked it until I can take it home this weekend. **Disclaimer** I would not recommend towing a boat of this stature with a car like mine.... but you have to do what you have to do...
Here are some pictures of the boat that were included in the CL ad. The seller claims that he had a 90 HP Evinrude VRO on it that blew the 3rd cylinder while up north. Motor repair would have costed more than he bought the boat for, so his wife would rather him buy a new boat, so he sold this to fund the new one. Anyhow, it has a solid floor, new stereo, interior lighting, some good seats, has an infloor fuel tank, and came with a nice canvas cover and a yacht club roller trailer. All for a little over $1000.
So here it is! I have some plans for it already, but first thing is first, I need to get it cleaned up and fix a few screw holes that are in the transom from what looks like dozens of transducer relocations...And I plan to float it this fall quick before the ice hits with just a trolling motor on the back. Just to see how it is going to float for me and check for leaks anywhere, and basically say that I did it!
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