Aluminum V hull suggestions?

[crackedglass]

I've been looking for a good used aluminum V hull for some time now with no luck. I'm looking for either a tiller steer or stick steer model with tall sides. I want it for river and back bay use. I want an old fashioned open boat, nothing special. I have a good 25hp to use, 20" transom and several trailers.
I've looked at new but all are way out of my price range. All of the used boats I've seen have either been priced higher than new or are too light duty or low sided for what I need.

Does anyone have an model suggestions I should be looking for?
I've looked at about 50 used boats, all have been priced either close to or even above the cost of a new boat. I've even considered a modified V style jon boat if I could find one wide enough but they seem pretty far and few between. It needs to handle three full size adults, or no less than 900lbs of passengers plus tackle, fuel, trolling motor, etc. I'm over 6' tall and nearly 300lbs, and I'm the smallest guy in the bunch here. Most of the boat's I've looked at have also had only a 600lb rating, which didn't make much sense to me since they were far wider than my 17' glass boat which handles all of us with no problems and is rated at 1250lbs. I've not yet seen a small boat that is rated to handle three guys. One of the problems I also have to deal with is a hp limit on some lakes of 10hp, I need to be able to swap out the motor easily for those lakes, which is part of the reason for wanting a tiller motor.
(Its not likely I'll find a boat that will go where I need to go and still be able to handle the added weight of having a second motor hanging on the back).

 

[DJ]

Re: Aluminum V hull suggestions?

I have no idea of your location but the West Coast aluminums seem to have higher sides than others.

Gregor is one that comes to mind.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Aluminum V hull suggestions?

Most that I've seen here have either been freshwater type boats with low sides and no more than a 750lb max or their corroded from saltwater down the shore.
I have a closed bow 16' but the splashwell is huge and the bow and dash take up half the boat. There's barely room for 2 to move about. It does take a lot more weight, it's rated at 1450. The splashwell is 38", and the dash is nearly 7' back from the tip of the bow. making for a pretty cramped boat for fishing. It does take up to an 85hp but it needs every bit of the 70hp I have on it.

 

[crackedglass]

Re: Aluminum V hull suggestions?

I have no idea of your location but the West Coast aluminums seem to have higher sides than others.

Gregor is one that comes to mind.

I'm in PA, most of the boats I see are lake boats with low sides. I want one to run in saltwater and back bays for crabbing in jersey.

I have a couple good used motors, and a trailer, so all I need is the hull.
I see a lot of closed bow or runabouts for sale but I agree, they don't have much room for what I want.

 

[dave11]

Re: Aluminum V hull suggestions?

Alumaweld

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Aluminum V hull suggestions?

buy a use open bow, and make it what you want.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=178967

 

[Floatsum]

Re: Aluminum V hull suggestions?

Had several "Tin Boats" through the years. Simply put;

Loved my Lund!

 

[JB]

Re: Aluminum V hull suggestions?

I have fished a few big lakes up north.

On Lake Of The Woods, which can get pretty vertical pretty quickly, the walleye fishermen use mainly deep tinnys, and they are mainly Lund.

 

[marquette]

Re: Aluminum V hull suggestions?

a lot of the sylvans from the late 70"s to early 90's were deep and wide. the pro fisherman comes to mind. my brother in law is in PA and he has the same problem of the hp limiit. he has a 25hp &9.9 johnsons from the mid 90's that are both remote motors. but since they both use the same control, shift, throttle gas line he can change motors in about 20 minutes. but it works for him going back and forth between PA,Canada,Ohio and Georgia. he went withthe 25hp because it was still clamp on and light weight to lift on and off. and surprisingly with a shallow pitch prop it will put his 17ft'er up on plane and do about 15mph.

 

[clarkbre]

Re: Aluminum V hull suggestions?

I cast a vote for the Lund brand as well. I have a WC16 that I use in fresh and salt water. The WC's are the heaviest duty but I know Lund makes other models. For me, I have a 16' that I can crab out of, lake fish, and do some river running. I use a Suzuki 15hp motor to push it and it does fairly well. If I had to buy it again I would in a heartbeat.

 

[crackedglass]

Re: Aluminum V hull suggestions?

The biggest problem I'm having is that I'm not even seeing any new or used boats that are deeper and still an open boat.
I'm guessing that everyone thats ever bought one must keep it forever. There's not been a single used one around here yet.
The open glass boat is out since most are just too heavy, and gutting one down to a bare hull would compromise it's strenght. What I'm after is a plain old row boat style hull, with bench seats, tall sides that can handle about a 40hp or so motor. I had an older Starcraft Mariner that was decent but I sold it years ago in favor of a larger boat. I'd love to have that again.
I want something that don't get swamped with every wake and something that has more than 4' of freeboard. I currently have a 14' Lowe Jon boat that has only 2" or so of freeboard at the middle with just me in it. It's rated at only 350 lbs. My 12' V hull is ok with just me, but I can't be at the transom with just me in the boat. I've used it only as a row boat so far.
It's got failry high sides but the 15" transom rides close to the waterline with my on the back bench. It's fine with me alone sitting midway and using the oars. A second person up on the bow helps. Its got a 900lb max rating but it can't handle 300lbs at the stern, even though it's over 60" wide.

The only thing I've been able to find locally is Fisher and Sea Nymph, but I've seen neither of their offerings in stock. Fisher's V1667 looks to be about what I want, but at $3400 for a bare hull, that's not going to happen.
The Sea Nymph is higher yet.
There are no Lund or Alumacraft dealers anywhere near me according to a dealer search online.
I've even looked down near where I fish, but the dealers all seem to carry the same brands.

 

[AGENT 37]

Re: Aluminum V hull suggestions?

I second Gregor. Although, the same style boats have been made by Western, Bayrunner, Valco, and Klammath. I prefer those over the Gregor because they are all welded boats and if you use a rivited hull boat, especially in salt water, the rivets will eventually start to leak. In my opinion, they are built better than Sylvan, Lund, Crestliner, Starcraft, Smokercraft, Duroboat, or Sea Nymph. last one that I had was a 14' Klammath, it was an excellent, sturdy, and stable boat.

 

[crackedglass]

Re: Aluminum V hull suggestions?

I did a few web searches, none of those makes are available within even a hundred miles of here.
I do like the Klammath Alaskan model.

Names that I've seen here on the water are Lowe, Sea Nymph, Smokercraft, Lund (Rare), Mirrocraft (rare and usually low sided or older models), lots of smaller Starcraft boats from the 60's, and a ton of older Tracker boats.

I have my doubts about tracker after seeing one fold nearly in half after the guy hopped a wake with a modified V jon boat one day, the boat bent just behind the last bench, creasing the hull completely across.

I called around today and the best price I got on a bare utility 16' hull with a 60' beam was $3500 and that will only take a 25 hp motor.
I can't believe a bare hull is that much money these days, less than 8 years ago I bought my 12' boat for $689 brand new, they had a 16' then for $999 and $1120. I realize things have gone up but more than triple?

 

[marquette]

Re: Aluminum V hull suggestions?

the kind of hull you are looking for, really deep and wide for a tiller is going to be rare to find. from what you are describing the first boat i would look at would be a Lund Alaskan. deep wide and designed to haul cargo across rough water with a 40-70hp tiller. but unfortunately they come with a Alaskan sized price tag. most really deep wide aluminum V-hulls are going to be side console or walk thru. why not look at those and gut it down to a bare hull and deck and put bench seats in to stiffen the sides of the hull.

 

[dave11]

Re: Aluminum V hull suggestions?

The biggest problem I'm having is that I'm not even seeing any new or used boats that are deeper and still an open boat.
I'm guessing that everyone thats ever bought one must keep it forever. There's not been a single used one around here yet.
I've even looked down near where I fish, but the dealers all seem to carry the same brands.

You got it. I have a 16ft Alumaweld. I would never have a reason to sell it. You may have to travel quite a way to find what you are looking for.

 

[dave11]

Re: Aluminum V hull suggestions?

BTW Gregor and Klamath both make nice boats. They aren't as heavy duty as the heavy gauge aluminum boats. You are probably going to have to buy new to get what you really want. They are not cheap, but they will last forever.

 

[rolmops]

Re: Aluminum V hull suggestions?

The early 1980s 18 foot Sylvans are the ticket.
If you are a bit handy you can cut the splash well down to half size and you will have a sea of room in a wide, stable, deep and comfortable boat with room for 3 friends and a dog.
With a bit of patience you can pick one up for around $1200 including trailer and a 75 horse engine.
That's what I did and I love it.

 

[mickjetblue]

Re: Aluminum V hull suggestions?

I'd take a look at the Lowe boats that have small chines for stability.

I wouldn't be in a hurry, as spring for sale listings have not started yet.

Good luck!

 

[crackedglass]

Re: Aluminum V hull suggestions?

The early 1980s 18 foot Sylvans are the ticket.
If you are a bit handy you can cut the splash well down to half size and you will have a sea of room in a wide, stable, deep and comfortable boat with room for 3 friends and a dog.
With a bit of patience you can pick one up for around $1200 including trailer and a 75 horse engine.
That's what I did and I love it.

I like the Sylvan boats but haven't seen a one for sale used.
I think 18' may be a bit much though for a 9.9hp motor in the lakes, and even a bit much for even a 50 hp. My motor choices are either a 25 or 40 hp Evinrude, and a good running 9.9 hp Johnson. I have all three motors just waiting for a place to hang them. My thinking is that if I stay with a tiller motor, no more than the 40hp, I can easily swap over the motor for a day on the lake. I did try running a smaller motor along side of my 40hp on my current 15' glass boat and it's too much weight in the stern, and too hard to get around with in shallow water in the lakes. The 9.9 has serious trouble moving the 15' glass boat around with just two guys even with the larger motor removed. The glass boat only weighs about 500lbs plus about 650lbs in passenger weight and gear. I ran a rebadged Mercury 15hp on my 15' Grumman years ago and it would top out around 23 mph on plane with two guys and it weighed far more than the glass boat. With the 15hp Merc, the Grumman weighed 1100lbs in the water without anyone onboard. The livewells, padded seats, controls, lock boxes, pedestals, batteries, and motors made it one heavy boat.

My goal is to have something super light that I can just toss in the water and go, a bare minimum boat with lots of room and as little motor as I can get by with. The number one requirement is high sides, something that don't get swamped everytime another boat passes. Right now, my 12' tinny rides only inches from the water, even a slight wake comes in the boat with just me in the boat.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Aluminum V hull suggestions?

Last year my uncle picked up an old Sears 14' tinny to replace a 12 footer that was lost in a fire. It reminds me of some of the old Alumacraft boats I've seen people post pictures of on here. It has much higher sides than the boat it replaced and feels much much sturdier. It moves very nicely with a 9.9. My uncle had to apply for a new capacity sticker for it and based on the dimensions they came back with a surprising 30 horsepower rating. So this isn't much help other than to show that what you're looking for is out there.