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| i have a friend who's getting ready to buy a boat for use primarily on big waters the likes of Green Bay, L.Michigan, Winnebago, and Mille Lacs.
he's considering boats in the 20' range and is trying to parsel out the difference between the performance of aluminum hulls (Lund 2025, Tracker Tundra) compared to fiberglass hulls (Ranger 620, Tuffy 2060).
he said the following to me in a recent email (he's deployed to Kosovo right now):
When we look at impact resistance, Aluminum does better pound for pound. Now on a Lund Pro V you have a high grade aluminum which does weigh more but it also has a drastically higher Impact Resistance compared to a fiberglass setting that once struck, osmosis sets in.
A Fiberglass boat weight will be directly related to how much fiberglass is used and thus how strong it is. I just am still a little worried talking to folks on Lake
Michigan that a 20 foot Fiberglass boat will hold up as well as an Aluminum
one would in big waves but I could be wrong.
I am going to keep researching, trouble is it seems like I find just a many articles supporting one or the other with no clear answer on who is correct. Obviously Lund and the gang say aluminium is better and the Ranger guys say fiberglass is
better..etc...
can anyone share their thoughts and personal experiences on the strength of high-end aluminum hulls and comparable fiberglass boats out in the big rough stuff?
please take it beyond the tired old "this one is the best" and present the reasons for your opinion or real experiences you've had.
Thanks! |
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| For what it's worth, Lund's 2025 isn't comparable to a Tundra. I have owned a Tundra for two years and I can honestly say that it rides more like glass than aluminum. I have spent time in (but never owned) Ranger 619's and 620's, and the Tundra is right there with them in terms of its ability to handle big water. But the lighter weight of the Tundra gives it an edge in handling and performance. It's a great boat.
As for "standard" aluminum boats (like the 2025) vs. Tundra/glass, I believe there is no contest. I'm convinced that Lund sells the 2025 because people have it in their heads that aluminum is more durable despite evidence to the contrary. I know there is disagreement on that point, but I've blown by big Lunds in rough weather on Mille Lacs in my Tundra more times than I can count. Lunds "slap" the waves, while my Tundra "wooshes" through along with the glass boats.Tim |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | you've been in my boat Mike and i've called it the suv of boats, but it's a one-ton diesel when it comes to big water. a center-console 20' bayranger with a 200hp vmax. last year between wave peaks i had the whole boat out of the water on a major blow on mille lac. the boat has a self-draining deck coupled with high-capacity bilges and even though you don't like what the big water can throw your way sometimes, this one will take it and then some. it's of course the upright floatation safety known from the Ranger hulls, but i've literally filled it shin deep with water on mille lac and stayed out when most have left the water ... except jonesi of course who runs the cousin in the 620T .. another vote.
that day i stabbed my skeg that was otherwise 4' of water bringing it into the chute at the red door resort.
i started running this boat after a boston whaler dauntless which is similar in performance, but doesn't touch this ranger for fishability.
for truly big water fishing i couldn't imagine anything better. i expect you will start to see some of these bay-style boats on the bigger musky waters soon ... they are available fron Ranger, Triton, Skeeter and of course he could always work a deal with me.
downsides are sitting down.
all this being said, i can launch up and flat in seconds in less than 2' of water ... most versatile boat i've owned or seen on the water.
Edited by jonnysled 3/23/2007 12:27 PM
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| Lunds "slap" the waves, while my Tundra "wooshes" through along with the glass boats.Tim
is this a key distinguishing feature between the bigger aluminum hulls and the shaped/fiberglass boats? that the shaped hulls are shaped better to move through the truly rough water instead of bullying into the waves?
how does that relate to the hull strength issues mentioned earlier?
are there real differences in how dry the rides are?
what about how smooth of a ride it gives? |
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Posts: 199
Location: Sandusky, OH | Differences in hull material can be huge factors in boat performance in big water. Aluminum is welded or riveted. These seams between plates of material can be a major weakness; the seams take a huge amount of stress during impacts (such as wave-induced re-entry); over time this can lead to cracks in welds or popped rivets. Because glass is molded in one piece (mostly), these seam weaknesses are not present. This also allows the hull to flex slightly, and leads to the impression of a smoother ride. The hull flex also leads to gel coat cracks, which is only cosmetic, but frustrating non the less (especially when you spend big bucks on a boat). If your friend is going to be fishing big, open water, I think fiberglass has a clear advantage; if he fishes areas where his concern is striking rocks, reefs, or large debris (which I gleaned from his talk about impact strength), he may feel more comfortable with aluminum. I could go on and on with the topic of what makes a good 'big water' boat, as could others I'm sure. And this topic can get very heated, so I'll close with the statement that this is only my opinion, and I respect other folks right to disagree.
PM me if you want to chat more about this.
Eric
PS: I work and play on the western basin of Lake Erie, and use both fiberglass and aluminum boats. |
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Posts: 199
Location: Sandusky, OH | Oh and Jonnysled, those large bay boats are becoming more popular with the tournament guys here on Erie. They seem to be finding that they can compensate the shallower draft with the extra length (they are running 22-24' bay boats, compared to 20-21' walleye boats). If they weren't so beamy, I'd have one now (driveway is too narrow).
Eric
All done for now. |
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| I could go on and on with the topic of what makes a good 'big water' boat, as could others I'm sure. And this topic can get very heated, so I'll close with the statement that this is only my opinion, and I respect other folks right to disagree.
please go on some more!
we're careful to keep heated discussion friendly around here, and disagreement is an ok thing as long as it's respectful.
you've got time on big water and that's exactly what my buddy is looking for as far as input - plus it will help the rest of us to learn about it.
what makes a good 'big water' boat?
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Location: minocqua, wi. | i was told that mine was built on the first 620vs hull .... the bayrangers are different than the caymen's in that the caps are put onto a deep multi-species bottom half. the fact that it can get out of skinny water has more to do with the 2-stroke power of a 200 2-stroker. it holds it's place in rough water when you are fishing too and doesn't catch wind like some of the high-siders do.
you can go too far for a dry ride and have too much boat out of the water that makes boat control a pain in the butt .... that was the case with my whaler dauntless. this ranger balances and gives you the best of both worlds on big rough water. |
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| Here's a test for you. Take a screw driver or ice pick and a sheet of aluminum most use for running bottoms. Punch HARD downward on the center of the sheet. Right through. Take a sheet of layup, and try the same thing. No way will you punch a hole through.
Now take that sheet of aluminum and hit it to failure with a mallet. Do the same with a sheet of layup. The layup will take more abuse.
All 20' fishing boats will flex if you pound them across 4' waves at 30 mph. If a fiberglass boat is built right, stress cracks wont be a big problem. Radius areas are a problem because of thicker mills of gel coat and flex/stress so most boat builders are bolting in consoles now. No radius between the hull and the console. The main cause of gel coat crazes is impact. Aluminum dents, gel coat crazes. If all you see is a gel craze, no water is getting through into the glass. Gel coat is nothing but colored resin. No fiber to reinforce it, so it needs to be less than brittle, all new marine gel coats are. Add polyflake and you add two more layers which because it's thicker and not supported by glass more easily crazed than solid color gel which requires a much thinner coating. Remember, that aluminum boat is painted. It will scratch, dent, and ding. Guaranteed. Be careful, no matter what the boat material is. Big investment. Glass, if you have a big wreck, is way easier to fix.
Glass will allow for a molded engineered running bottom. Faster and if designed in,a softer ride. Stress formed aluminum allows for some of that same engineering. So does innovative design like to IPS running bottom on the Lund rigs. But the glass will be faster most times by enough to get attention.
The running bottoms on the big rigs are plenty tough enough these days, big water competition has driven that development. Weight is so close it hardly matters between the tournament rigs aluminum or glass. Both are tough enough to hold up to the worst punishment you can imagine. Put a keel guard on a Glass hull, and don't worry about it.
Dry storage? Glass. Faster? Glass. Softer ride? Glass. Pretty finish, nice amenities with less rotomolded plastic on the consoles? Glass. Better fuel economy? Glass. Seamless Hull? Glass. Dryer ride in general? Glass. Generally more expensive? Glass. What'll be under my butt? Glass. But my buddy runs an aluminum. I fish with him, too. No problems. |
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Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | Tell your friend to do an Image Search on Google for "Lake Michigan Charter Boat". I just did. I think I found ONE aluminum boat. Maybe that's a sign, maybe not.
*I personally like the last ones pictured. Mahogony is tough to maintain as would the 3 diesels be that power her, but I think I could rule the Fox Chain....probably.
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Posts: 199
Location: Sandusky, OH | Well, lambeau, if you insist....LOL.
I think a good big-water muskie boat is all about compromises. A long, narrow boat with a deep V will ride great in rough water, cutting through waves and spanning across several wave peaks at the same time. But when you stop to fish, that same narrow boat will be far less stable than something with a larger beam, not tippy, but subject to more wave-induced rolling. Not great for casting or drifting. A boat with a wider beam is very stable at rest, but has more surface area on the hull bottom to impact against the next wave. So, alot of 20-21' multispecies boats on the market today have a beam around 95" as a compromise; some, a little wider (like the 100" beam on the new Starcraft boat), some smaller (like the 90" beam on the Tuffy 2060). I spend a lot of time in my buddy's Stratos 21MSX with 95" or 96" beam; I'd really like to take a ride in the Tuffy someday, because the narrower beam interests me for running on Erie.
Another thing I get uncomfortable with is the label 'deep-V' in multispecies boats. With big lake boats, anything with less than 20 degrees of deadrise isn't really considered deep. The higher the degree of deadrise, the more angle the hull has from centerline to gunnel, and the better it slices through waves, thus softening the ride. On the other end of the spectrum are boats like the Lund Alaskan or Crestliner Canadian, where the deadrise is closer to 10 degrees. (Well, I guess the real opposite end would be a true flatbottom boat with zero deadrise, but these aren't really considered big water boats anyway.) Most of the typical multispecies boats come in around 15-17 degrees, again, another nice compromise. Some hulls, like the big Yar-Crafts and Tuffy Rampage, use sponsons on the edges of the hull to create stability at rest with a deeper V.
And there must be many more factors involved in big water ride. I've been using a new 30' boat with an 8.5' beam on the lake lately; its a welded aluminum hull with 20+ degree hull, twin mercruisers, a really nice work platform. This vessel is phenominal in a trailing sea (ie running with the waves); even in 4-5' waves it is very comfortable. But it really slams when running into waves over 2', to the point of headaches and aching muscles after any kind of a run, and that is with spring-suspension seats. Our old boat was a 25' Boston Whaler; that heavy glass ride was much softer heading into the waves, and it helped to have to stand or lean at the seat to drive, where your legs could absorb a lot of the impact. But it was not comfortable to work off of, and the twin 150s weighed the rear down enough to take water over the stern; self-bailing hulls are great, but it is discomforting to see 6" of water in the rear of the boat.
I've probably rambled on too much, so thanks to anyone who stuck with me this long. I clearly have a preference to glass boats, but realize aluminum has it's advantages in certain environments. Maybe someday, we all can have one of each!
Eric |
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| a number of people have described solid reasons for their preference for glass hulls when running rough water at speed.
anybody care to chime in with their reasons for preferring the big aluminum boats?
what about performance differences when it's calm? or when you're trolling at 2mph?
Sled mentioned the cost/benefit comparison of dry ride vs lower sides - am i right in thinking that aluminum boats are generally higher-sided? does that equate to a drier ride or does hull shape on the glass boats compensate and give you win/win?
Bluegill mentioned preferring an aluminum boat when going shallow and mixing it up with potential hazards. but Glass Man offered up a picture of glass actually being the tougher material.
can someone speak further about this aspect? what about ease of repair for both alum and glass if you get more than just a bit of cosmetic damage to the paint/gel coat and it's an actual hole/crack/gouge, etc.?
i know this is something that my friend is particularly interested in as he'll mostly be using the boat on L.Michigan but is anxious about the prospect of running a glass hull around shallow rocks when he's on trips to Canadian shield lakes.
great discussion so far, thanks guys.
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Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | i know this is something that my friend is particularly interested in as he'll mostly be using the boat on L.Michigan but is anxious about the prospect of running a glass hull around shallow rocks when he's on trips to Canadian shield lakes.
*my guess is that if he's going to drop between $35 and $50K on a boat, be it an overgrown aluminum can, or a floating water tower (glass), he's going to be pretty #*^@ careful when he's driving in shallow rocks on Canadian shield lakes that he isnt supremely knowledgeable on. and, if he isnt that careful to protect his investment, he'll make short work of no matter what he buys. |
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Location: minocqua, wi. | my comment was based on my boat which is different than some of the higher-sided glass boats available like the vs ranger series, bigger tuffies, champions, warriors, yarcraft, big targa and others i've seen in the glass family built for similar conditions. the difference between those and mine (along with it's cousins from triton and skeeter) is the stand-up position for shock-absorbing already mentioned and very true in the really rough stuff. i'd hate to take some of the really rough rides sitting down in any boat.
so, i would expect some of the glass guys to contribute with experience with a combination of higher-sided dry ride as is often noted from the bigger aluminum boats ie: the tyee from lund or the baron. i just think when you go to the higher sided big water boats especially aluminum ones that fishing boat control in the wind is more of a chore
now, from the center-console perspective, you don't get wet when you are running from spray per se, but the deck can get wet ... during those conditions (and i'm talking extreme) your clothing usually has you prepared for the elements.
as far as the shield lakes are concerned, i think either one has the ear of the insurance man. i'm a firm believer that those that go there are one of two types 1) the kind that have wrecked a boat and 2) the kind that are gonna ... it's why we pay the premiums and why we spend the money on the fancy electronics and chips.
Edited by jonnysled 3/23/2007 9:57 PM
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Posts: 199
Location: Sandusky, OH | I think my preference for aluminum in situations where you may frequently encounter rocks and reefs is more for cosmetic reasons than structural. Scraping a rock while fishing in a Pro-V may scratch some paint off; the same scrape with glass is going to dig gel coat. I can touch up paint at home, but I'm not a glass repair man. For major impacts, you are all together screwed in either one, but Glass Man is right that glass damage can be repaired; punctures to aluminum is a different story. And I agree with both Slamr and Jonnysled in being careful with a new boat and buying insurance. I'll also suggest that if you are going out on the Great Lakes, you ought to have a membership with a tow boat company. I know a guy who lost his outboard out by Pelee Island and had to get towed back to Michigan without a membership. $600 later, he now pays the annual $100 instead.
Eric |
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| Here is the answer, Think of the older boats on the water. They are wood, and aluminum. How many old boats do you see that are fiberglass?........not too many. So for durability and strength when it matters go with aluminum it will last forever with very little maintenance, and can easily be fixed. |
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Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | C-Dog,
First, fiberglass boats will last literally forever if properly maintained, and the reason the really old boats are aluminum and wood is those materials were used before fiberglass came along. Do Corvette bodies fall apart? Nope.....
Second, aluminum boats will too.
Third, Aluminum is NOT as easy to repair to like new as glass. How many great lake charter rigs 24' to 35' are aluminum? You think all those boats tied to docks in the slips at the clubs and the like are all new? Both materials make for a great boat. Since this thread was posted last year, Lund introduced a new Glass rig, and Triton introduced aluminum proving they think about the same thing. |
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Posts: 2427
Location: Ft. Wayne Indiana | If considering a alum. boat I would tell him to check out the Polar Kraft 1910. Nice big boat, can handle the big waters, as the walleye guys on Erie really liked it. Plus they are thousands cheaper than a Lund, yet built like a tank. No wood, super heavy duty reinforced lids, handles a 225 on the back, etc... I would definatley check one out... http://www.polarkraft.com Look at the Kodiak 1910 |
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Posts: 676
Location: Wisconsin | $60,000 Triton - Fishes Lake Michigan, Makes you cry taking turn 2 on Oconomowoc.
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$35,000 Lund - Fishes Lake Michigan, Plus I don't have to worry about the gel coat or the draft.
Yeah, I'll take that Lund. $25,000 for more Muskie lures is always good.
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Location: On the X that marks the mucky spot | Look at the comparable Lund and the price is the same. We saw a $60,000 Lund at the boat show this year in MN. |
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Posts: 199
Location: Sandusky, OH | Wait a minute, what do you mean by not worrying about the draft? If I follow you, then a big flat bottom War Eagle must be the ultimate big water boat (cheaper, too). I know that isn't what you are implying, so help me understand what you mean by draft. And I can't relate to turn 2 at Oconomowoc, what the deal?
Eric |
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Posts: 1663
Location: Kodiak, AK | I'm in the boat market. I'm buying Sled's boat mentioned above. On another forum I posed this question. (Eric is a member there as well.) And 99% of the replies were for glass boats. I emailed a couple of local guides on LSC, where I'm moving to, and will be using the boat, and I got back replies like, "you couldn't pay me enough have an aluminum boat on this lake."
The guys out here that run rivers have aluminum boats with jet drives. The guys that troll offshore have more glass boats. I think if you're going to be bouncing off stumps and log jams, aluminum may be a better choice. If waves and rough water are your opponents, I've gotta say glass....in my limited experience. A good point was made about looking at what the charters and guides use. These dudes make their living on the water and comfortable customers are their business.
Jeff |
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Posts: 199
Location: Sandusky, OH | I had the chance to spend a day tournament fishing on Lake Erie in a new Starcraft STX, and I'll be the first to praise how well it rode on the real 3 footers that day. But the reason it rides so well is that it has something like an 18 degree hull, which is a lot for multispecies boats (not so much for blue water boats). That also translates into higher draft, even with the 100" beam. Same goes for the Almar boat in our office; even though its made by the same company as NorthRiver boats, there are major differences in the hull designs. Good multispecies boats are full of design comprimises, but I think fiberglass boats comprimise less than aluminum boats when it comes to smooth rough water ride while maitaining hull versitility.
Eric |
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| Old corvette bodies do fall apart and crack, Also aluminum can be fixed in 10 minutes with a tig or mig welder. Aluminum can sit in the weeds with no upkeep for years and still float with no problems. I think that the C-Dog guy was talking about pleasure crafts. |
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Posts: 32957
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | 'Fall apart and crack'? Not any I have seen, unless they are crushed by something. So if you crack an aluminum hull you can mig-weld it, I'm sure that looks nice, but hardly 'to new'. Is that bad? Up to the person looking at both materials. Both fiberglass and aluminum are great boat building materials, and both have stood the test of time. If your intent is to buy a boat and leave it in the weeds for years, then I guess any boat material will do.
A fiberglass boat can 'sit in the weeds for years' too, and float just fine. Neither will have much of an interior left as far as carpet, etc.
This was the original question:
can anyone share their thoughts and personal experiences on the strength of high-end aluminum hulls and comparable fiberglass boats out in the big rough stuff?
please take it beyond the tired old "this one is the best" and present the reasons for your opinion or real experiences you've had.
Thanks!
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Both are very strong. Both can break and do break if abused. New aluminum designs allow for better performance, and as the amenities of aluminums meet those standard to glass, the price comes close to parity......
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Posts: 190
| I have owned both glass and aluminum.
1998 1800 tuffy renagade
1996 185 alumacraft competitor
1985 16 aluminium deep v with no name
1994 18' charger bass boat dual console
1981 17' bayliner
2002 17' key west bay boat
16' rebuilt custom sylvan rigged for musky fishing (father in laws boat)
2000 proline 2501 walk around with twin 200s
While each have there place. I broke down my boat buying decisions in some different factors that might be of use.
1. How many miles will I have to trailer to go to fish
2. garage/storage space required
3. what water will I be fishing
4. What obstacles might I hit
5. How much do I want to care for the boat
6. how many people will I fishing with
7. Gas consumption ( do I have to buy gas at a marina)
8. What are the boat landings like where I fish
9. What fish are you fishing for?
10. Waves
1. How many miles will I have to trailer to go to fish
Where I live now it takes me 4-8 hours to get to where I want to fish. Trailers are also important, but so it the weight and width of the boat. My tuffy was one heavy boat on a single axle trailer and was not fun to tow. My charger was heavy as well but had a dual axle trailer it was great so the bigger the boat get a dual axle with brakes. However a smaller light boat with big water potential is better for me. Remember going through tolls sucks with a wide boat.
2. garage space required
If you get into a big boat validate the on trailer length to make sure it will fit into the garage. Also, validate the width as somebody else mentioned as your boat could get to wide for your drive way.
3. what water will I be fishing
If all your fishing is big water, no obstacles go glass. The weight of the boat, the cut of the v, and the solidness of the glass will always make for a better ride.
I fish in canada, lac cout., and other north Wisconsin waters. In my charger I could not launch at the la cout. the water was to shallow. I actually tried and back down on part of the chicago bar. took out a prop the transducers and chipped the back of the boat. Aluminium is lighter inch for inch.
4. What obstacles might I hit
No obstacles go glass. I fish canada as I mentioned and sometimes get close to the rocks and hit them going slow (trolling, or just using the trolling motor). You shake your head call yourself an idiot and move on in aluminum. This sucks in fiber glass and do not let anybody tell you different. Yes you can fix glass but it sucks, I have done it I know. Jacking the boat up grinding, sanded, getting the suction on a strake to get the glass to set, it all sucks. I have even chipped my boat stump fishing for crappie in shebyville on stumps. Glass in not as veristal as people will lead you to believe.
Sure the aluminium will get stratched up, or you take a nice deep chunk out of it, but it still fine. The dangers of not fixing the glass is costly as well. On my bayliner the boat hit the trailer funny and took off a piece of glass about 6 inch long and 3/4 of a inch wide. I left the boat in the water up in lake geneva by the end of the summer I had to cut out a section of the boat about 1' by a 1'6" to replace to blistering gel coat. aluminum you just leave it.
If you actual hit something hard and fast with a aluminum you will poke a hole in it. If you hit something hard and fast in glass you will crack it and cause stress fractures. aluminum you weld up a patch, glass you start grinding and praying.
5. How much do I want to care for the boat
Anybody who saw my bass boat and tuffy gave me compliments on them. I spent many hours buffing it shining them and keeping them beautiful. So much so they I was scared to take it to lakes I was unfamiliar with in fear of hitting something. When you have a glass boat it has prestige, you want to keep it looking awesome. For all my glass boats I spent hours buffing, time wasted. The aluminum I would wax once a year and be done with it. I treated them like the work horses they were.
6. How many people will I be fishing with
2 3 4 5 family
This does not weigh into glass vs aluminum but it is still important. It weighed heavily into my latest boat purchase. I was between a range 681, a tuffy, and a alumacraft. I will state at the end what I bought, but seating 3 people or four people in some musky boats is tough. Especially if you want dual console and want to be able to cast 3 people comfortably.
7. Gas consumption is huge to me. Not just the boat gas but the truck gas. Towing my tuffy, my truck then a tahoe, the gas burn was high. Then with most glass boat you have a need to throw big horses on it that also eat gas. Sure you can throttle back and conserve, but come on if you got it you will use it. Aluminum boats inch for inch generally require less horses.
8. boat landings
As I mention big glass boats need good landings. Where as big aluminum require less water and the roller trailer option can help. I’m not sure if you can use a roller trailer on glass.
9. The catch
My general rule of thumb.
Walleye boats 2 livewells preferably one on the front deck and one in back and a beer cooler.
Musky 50+ inch live well and a beer cooler second live well a plus
Trolling for salmon rear floor space to work the trolling rods, high sides, high than most glass multi species boats if you do not want to do a lot of bending setting rods.
Crappie aluminum (the locations of fish get you into areas with obstacles.
10. Wave action
I have been out in some pretty mean s***. I have been in 16 footers yes 16 footers in my key west fishing the gulf stream. I have been in 6 footers in my alumacraft. I have fished lake Geneva (can get extremely rough with a 9 mile wind ), lake of the woods (the big bowl), and lake Michigan ( which sucks because the waves bunch up) The boat will do as good as the captain. I don’t care what boat you are in safety first, and the only thing your going to accomplish doing 30 MPH in 3-4 footers in a cracked transom, broken electronics, a broken back.
SO what did I just buy last weekend? I went back to a alumacraft. I got a 175 cs navigator with a 115 four stroke Yamaha. I will post some pictures when I can.
19’10” on a swing tongue trailer. Fits in standard 20’ garage
Inch for inch it is lighter and wider than any tuffy 1200LBS 96” beam
Fishes 3 people casting, and seats 4 so I can take the kids out.
Minimal maintenance
I can bounce it off rocks and stumps without to much trouble
The 115 is pretty fuel efficient however I would have liked an optimax
It has a roller trailer for bad launches
54 inch live well
Front and rear casting decks
The alumacraft is a well made boat. I like the lund 2 but in my opinion they have not made a good musky boat until the predator, which will be coming out as a console later this year. ( I talked to the lund guy at the boat show.)
Final thought. Big water no obstacles go glass. Random lakes, bad launch, rocks stumps go aluminum. Other people covered the money aspect.
Just my 2 cents
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| well built Aluminums now weigh in nearly as heavy as glass and in some cases, more, look em up.
if the Glass boat is well made, it will stand up to impact as well or better than an aluminum, and if indeed there is a fracture, you hardly have to 'start grinding and hope', repair is not hard to do.
Aluminum V hulls of equal deadrise will draw as much or more water as their Glass counetrparts. the way it is, a 171/2 foot aluminum at 1357 pounds won't launch or load easier or float in less water than a 1300# glass boat of the same hull deadrise.
An aluminum 17 1/2' boat should weigh close to what the Glass boats do in their category/ all measurements.
Horsepower on glass V Walleye boats VS comparably set up Aluminum V Walleye Boats usually requires less not more horsepower for optimum performance due to hull design.
The 175 CS Dual Console Navigator Sport is 1357 pounds at 95" according to the Alumacraft website. http://alumacraft.com/sport-fish-boats/navigator-175-sport-specs.ph...
The Tracker Targa (Aluminum) 175 Sc weighs in at 1325#.
The 1790 Skeeter, (yeah it's a tiller) has nearly exact measurements, and weighs 30# more.
The Tuffy 1760 weighs in at 1400, is deeper by 3" but not as wide.
The Tuffy 1890 is 15" longer, 2" wider, yet only weighs 225 pounds more. The Alumacraft Tournament Sport 185 is shorter by 6" than the 1890 Glass boat, the same beam and 3" shallower yet weighs in at 80 pounds more.
The Tuffy X190DC dual console weighs less, is 19' plus long, but not as wide as the Alumacraft.
The Ranger 1760 is a little wider, and weighs in at about 230 pounds more, but has a dual console set for a WT windshield, accounting for much of that weight.
Treat a painted aluminum with one wax job a year, and as a work horse, and it will end up looking like one. the new Aluminums are 100 percent painted, and require as much care as an auto, IMHO, if you care what they look like down the road. If you bounce off things and dent the hull and scratch the side panels, etc, you have dents and scratches, plain and simple.
PLEASE...don't even try to compare a 1981 Bayliner to todays composite/glass fishing rigs.
A 1375# single axle Skeeter won't cost any more to tow than a 1375# Single Axle Alumacraft.
Just some research done on the boat builder's websites this evening. What's this all mean? Buy what you think is the best ride. Put a keel guard on a Ranger, a Skeeter or a Tuffy, and you don't have to worry about banging up the boat more than any aluminum. Buy a new Lund, Alumacraft, Triton, Tracker --whatever brand Aluminum, and I'd still be equal-careful.
I've owned every brand listed here and then some. All good rides. |
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