|
|
Posts: 956
Location: Home of the 2016 World Series Champion Cubs | I'm heavily considering buying a new Alumacraft Trophy 185 with a 175 hp outboard for the 2008 season. I would like to hear feedback from those who own/have owned one or any of the trophy models for comparison. Your opinions and input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Karl |
|
| |
|
Posts: 226
Location: W. PA. | I have one and absolutely love it. I looked at the Crestliners and Lunds also but just kept coming back to the Alumacraft. The only thing I don't like about it is the rod locker but I've heard that's been changed, I bought used so I can't complain much. Only problem I ever had was with the glass coming out of the frame which was a known problem with a couple model years but has since been fixed. Being the second owner the warranty was not transferrable to me but Alumacraft stepped up and fixed the windshield with no out of pocket cost to me without any bickering.
Great company to deal with, top notch customer service, Very well made product and you can hang any motor on the back with no additional rigging fees(big plus in my book). While most of my time on the water is chasing muskies I also like to fish walleyes in Erie and pull the kids around on a tube a few times during the summer and this boat handles everything I ask of it, just an excellent all-around boat.
I have a F115 and F9.9 on the back and can still do almost 40mph on the gps with 2 guys loaded for fishing, I'm sure you could do upper 40's easily and maybe 50 maxed out with a 175. The only thing I would change if I was buying new would be the kicker. I would go with either the 8 horse kicker designed for trolling or a F15 or 20. The 9.9 will only get me to about 6mph, a little more would be nice. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 956
Location: Home of the 2016 World Series Champion Cubs | Thanks Scott. Does the 8hp kicker give you a higher trolling speed than the 9.9? Different trans ratio or something like that I assume.
Anyone else? |
|
| |
|
Location: Green Bay, WI | Before I bought my Lund Tyee 1850, I looked at an Alumacraft Trophy with a Suzuki 175 four-stroke. I had a trade, and the dealer just would not work with me. So I ended up with the Lund. I previously owned an Alumacraft Tournament Pro 185, and it was built like a tank. It would literally go through anything. But they do love horsepower though...lol.
I would have no reservations about that boat, but would *highly* recommend you max out the horsepower--simply for performance. This will also bring you maximum resale value as well. Alumacraft makes great boats, and I wouldn't hesitate buying another one if the opportunity presented itself.
I don't know about an 8hp kicker though, as I never had one on my last boat. But I will tell that the 9.9hp Pro-kicker on my 1850 Tyee has all it can do with anything more than 10mph wind. It pushes it fine, but it takes some work to maintain directional control in the wind, because there's a lot of surface area above the waterline. So I just use the 150 Verado when it's windy, and that works fine. But when it's relatively calm (or downwind), the 9.9hp is plenty for that boat. So I would think you'd be happy with the 8 horse as well. But in that case I would recommend you consider a main engine that will allow you to troll economically, should you choose to do that.
Good luck!
TB |
|
| |
|
Posts: 226
Location: W. PA. | Yeah, the T8 is like the merc pro-kicker, they are geared lower and made specifically for trolling. The F9.9 works well enough that I can't justify upgrading but had I bought the boat new I would have went with a T8 or a little bigger 4 stroke if HP limitations weren't a problem.
I think a 175 would be great on that boat but I wouldn't have any problems with putting a 150 on there either if I couldn't find a 175 I liked. The F115 on mine is probably a little small for most peoples tastes but I'm not out to win any races. I had to drop to a 15p stainless to get any holeshot which really took away from my top end but now it gets up out of the water fairly quick and turns 58-5900 and 38+mph loaded with 2 guys. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 117
| I got an Alumacraft Phantom Pro elite 175 with a 135hp merc on it.. I got to say that i have been in many boats that were aluminum and Alumacraft just drives very nice.. Its like a semi-V so you have many diffrent applictions for the boat.. Alumacraft ROX!! Just MHO
But its a diffrent story when you come to fiberglass
Good luck with the search |
|
| |
