Opinion on boats, engine

Hello all:

I'm considering buying my first boat, and wonder if any of you folks have
any advice/opinion on the following:

- Lund boats or Alumacraft boats. I want a light 16' deep-V boat that I can
trailer in my small Toyota pickup, which is rated for 3500 lbs trailering.
Around here there are a lot of Tracker boats, but I've heard complaints on
Tracker customer service and problem with leakage through the welds. They
tell me Alumacraft is a good quality boat, and Lund is top of the line.

- The jet propulsion engines from Honda (BF35 or BF65). They really look
interesting because it allows access to shallow areas and it's quieter, but
I wonder if this new technology (or perhaps not new, I don't know) is not
that well developed that it's best not to get into it at this moment.

I'm in central Texas and I'm looking to do mainly bass fishing around the
Hill Country lakes (some of them pretty large bodies), and perhaps once in a
while go to the Gulf coast to do bay fishing or close-to-shore fishing.

Thanks in advance for your help
Sergio

Sergio,
You really should come by the store in Marble Falls, we need to talk.
You've obviously done some research, but what you've come up with just won't
work well for what you're wanting to do.
830-798-8886


"Sergio Ramirez" wrote in message
...
Hello all:

I'm considering buying my first boat, and wonder if any of you folks have
any advice/opinion on the following:

- Lund boats or Alumacraft boats. I want a light 16' deep-V boat that I
can
trailer in my small Toyota pickup, which is rated for 3500 lbs trailering.
Around here there are a lot of Tracker boats, but I've heard complaints on
Tracker customer service and problem with leakage through the welds. They
tell me Alumacraft is a good quality boat, and Lund is top of the line.

- The jet propulsion engines from Honda (BF35 or BF65). They really look
interesting because it allows access to shallow areas and it's quieter,
but
I wonder if this new technology (or perhaps not new, I don't know) is not
that well developed that it's best not to get into it at this moment.

I'm in central Texas and I'm looking to do mainly bass fishing around the
Hill Country lakes (some of them pretty large bodies), and perhaps once in
a
while go to the Gulf coast to do bay fishing or close-to-shore fishing.

Thanks in advance for your help
Sergio

Lund has a good reputation. Haven't heard any complaints about Alumacraft.
Honda makes a good solid engine, because it is a four-stroke it will be
legal to use it on most waters that don't have HP limitations. It is more
expensive than some. I was not aware that Honda was making a jet outboard,
but they are not new comers to jet propulsion. Their PWCs are big guys with
rock solid reputations and few problems with their motors or jet pumps.

All that being said... there are some disadvantages to your selections.
The biggest being that not all Honda dealers have a competant marine
mechanic on staff. While you would hope that shop service requirements
would be few and far between you want to make sure that you have somembody
nearby who can service it if needed. The other is the efficiency of jet
outboards. Jet pumps are less efficient than propellers. As a result a jet
outboard will either transfer less force to the water, or the motor will be
bigger and heavier. Speed may suffer.

Jets will definitely run in shallower water. In rocky clear waters they
really shine. In sandy rivers they tend to wear out impellors more quickly
as they are continuously taking small bit of grit and forcing them over the
blades. Its much wore of you plan to skip some sandbars. On the positive
side, if you plan to skip sandbars regularly the only way to go is a jet as
you will make it over them. In waters that get weed choke in summer be
prepared to swim. You plug up a jet pump with weeds and you can count on
having to get in the water and clean it out.

I wonder about the combination of a deep-V with a jet outboard. Seems to me
a pad bottom design or even a flat bottom would take the most advantage of
the shallow water capabilities.

--
** Public Fishing and Boating Forums
** www.YumaBassMan.com


"Sergio Ramirez" wrote in message
...
Hello all:

I'm considering buying my first boat, and wonder if any of you folks have

any advice/opinion on the following:

- Lund boats or Alumacraft boats. I want a light 16' deep-V boat that I
can
trailer in my small Toyota pickup, which is rated for 3500 lbs trailering.
Around here there are a lot of Tracker boats, but I've heard complaints on
Tracker customer service and problem with leakage through the welds. They
tell me Alumacraft is a good quality boat, and Lund is top of the line.

- The jet propulsion engines from Honda (BF35 or BF65). They really look
interesting because it allows access to shallow areas and it's quieter,
but
I wonder if this new technology (or perhaps not new, I don't know) is not
that well developed that it's best not to get into it at this moment.

I'm in central Texas and I'm looking to do mainly bass fishing around the
Hill Country lakes (some of them pretty large bodies), and perhaps once in
a
while go to the Gulf coast to do bay fishing or close-to-shore fishing.

Thanks in advance for your help
Sergio

"Sergio Ramirez" wrote in message
...
Hello all:

I'm considering buying my first boat, and wonder if any of you folks have
any advice/opinion on the following:

- Lund boats or Alumacraft boats. I want a light 16' deep-V boat that I
can
trailer in my small Toyota pickup, which is rated for 3500 lbs trailering.
Around here there are a lot of Tracker boats, but I've heard complaints on
Tracker customer service and problem with leakage through the welds. They
tell me Alumacraft is a good quality boat, and Lund is top of the line.

I went through this same thought process back in 2002. I ended up with a G3
brand of boat. (Division of Skeeter/Division of Yamaha). Solid welds, no
leaks yet, and I am an average, but not easy user, of this boat. Nice layout
(for the money). Basically a "Bass Tracker" that doesn't leak, and was a few
bucks cheaper too. I'm also a fan of Yamaha engines, so the Yamaha/Skeeter
owned-G3 brand was an easy choice for me.


- The jet propulsion engines from Honda (BF35 or BF65). They really look
interesting because it allows access to shallow areas and it's quieter,
but
I wonder if this new technology (or perhaps not new, I don't know) is not
that well developed that it's best not to get into it at this moment.

I'm gonna go with the other advice you already got on this and say proceed
with caution, and only if you truly need extreme shallow water performance.
Jet propulsion is extremely ineffecient IMO. In addition to my G3 (Pro 175,
17' Mod-V model) I also have a Kawasaki Jet Ski (900 STX/100HP). That 100 or
so HP should make that little 3 seater fly, but I have only ever seen 56-57
on my GPS on flatout runs with it. Using it in really shallow water
regularly, will suck sediment/sand/debris through the grate and can
prematurely wear out the moving parts near the impellor, as well as the
blades of the impellor itself. The owner's manual even tells you to shutoff
the engine when coasting in to shore, in water "deeper than 2ft", to prevent
this sediment and sand problem from wearing the stuff out too soon.

If you're to mainly fish coastal/back waters and lakes of typical "boat"
size, then I'd go with a normal outboard. I think in the long run, a jet
pump would wear on your nerves. Especially the first time you have to hop
into the water to clean out the intake grate, and remove moss, alge, and
other stuff that LOVES to hang up in there on a regular basis. If you run in
crystal clear water, with little floating/loose debris if any, then this may
not concern you. If shallow draft isn't really what you're after, and
quieter sound output is, consider a 4 stroke. More money, but quieter and
arguably lower emissions (than *typical* 2 strokers) are their selling
points.


I'm in central Texas and I'm looking to do mainly bass fishing around the
Hill Country lakes (some of them pretty large bodies), and perhaps once in
a
while go to the Gulf coast to do bay fishing or close-to-shore fishing.

Thanks in advance for your help
Sergio


Good luck with your search and purchase. You're doing the right things,
you'll find something that totally flips your lid by doing all this
research, and you'll likely be happy with it once you decide on a
model/engine type as a result.

Like some other guys said, jets are bad about intake clogging. I've had
one for a couple of years with a 6 degree deadrise bottom, but I run it in
shallow, fast running gravel type streams. If I was mostly going in lakes
and inshore, I think I would stick with a prop as the others said (power,
speed, fuel mileage, noise, clogging). The other thing not mentioned so
far, is that jets don't corner well, even with v-bottoms. I frequently see
newbies sitting in their boats on dry land because they misjudged making a
corner. While you don't have to do the twisty stuff near as much in lakes,
some hard swerving is bound to come up eventually.
The other thing on aluminum hulls is the bottom thickness. If you get
overly brave about running shallow, you inevitably will hit the bottom at
some point. Why have it if you don't use it?
The common jet boat bottoms around here are .19" thick and a 5052 alloy,
very tough stuff. They call them plate boats. If you have .100" or less
thickness and 2024 alloy, touching hard rock and even gravel sometimes will
open you up. You then sink really fast.
hth
bill

"Sergio Ramirez" wrote in message
...
Hello all:

I'm considering buying my first boat, and wonder if any of you folks have
any advice/opinion on the following:

- Lund boats or Alumacraft boats. I want a light 16' deep-V boat that I
can trailer in my small Toyota pickup, which is rated for 3500 lbs
trailering. Around here there are a lot of Tracker boats, but I've heard
complaints on Tracker customer service and problem with leakage through
the welds. They tell me Alumacraft is a good quality boat, and Lund is top
of the line.

- The jet propulsion engines from Honda (BF35 or BF65). They really look
interesting because it allows access to shallow areas and it's quieter,
but I wonder if this new technology (or perhaps not new, I don't know) is
not that well developed that it's best not to get into it at this moment.

I'm in central Texas and I'm looking to do mainly bass fishing around the
Hill Country lakes (some of them pretty large bodies), and perhaps once in
a while go to the Gulf coast to do bay fishing or close-to-shore fishing.

Thanks in advance for your help
Sergio

Bill, Bob, SimRacer:

Thank you all for your help. From your comments it's obvious that the jet
propelled engine is not the best choice for my target application. I was
thinking that a jet-driven engine could add extra capability to the boat for
shallow water and allow me to fish the shallow flats in the Gulf coast, but
it's obviously not the case. You need a more specific rig for that. In
reality I'd do such a fishing trip rarely. I would say 99.9% of the times I
will be doing bass fishing.

Sergio

"bill a" wrote in message
om...
Like some other guys said, jets are bad about intake clogging. I've had
one for a couple of years with a 6 degree deadrise bottom, but I run it in
shallow, fast running gravel type streams. If I was mostly going in
lakes and inshore, I think I would stick with a prop as the others said
(power, speed, fuel mileage, noise, clogging). The other thing not
mentioned so far, is that jets don't corner well, even with v-bottoms. I
frequently see newbies sitting in their boats on dry land because they
misjudged making a corner. While you don't have to do the twisty stuff
near as much in lakes, some hard swerving is bound to come up eventually.
The other thing on aluminum hulls is the bottom thickness. If you get
overly brave about running shallow, you inevitably will hit the bottom at
some point. Why have it if you don't use it?
The common jet boat bottoms around here are .19" thick and a 5052 alloy,
very tough stuff. They call them plate boats. If you have .100" or less
thickness and 2024 alloy, touching hard rock and even gravel sometimes
will open you up. You then sink really fast.
hth
bill

"Sergio Ramirez" wrote in message
...
Hello all:

I'm considering buying my first boat, and wonder if any of you folks have
any advice/opinion on the following:

- Lund boats or Alumacraft boats. I want a light 16' deep-V boat that I
can trailer in my small Toyota pickup, which is rated for 3500 lbs
trailering. Around here there are a lot of Tracker boats, but I've heard
complaints on Tracker customer service and problem with leakage through
the welds. They tell me Alumacraft is a good quality boat, and Lund is
top of the line.

- The jet propulsion engines from Honda (BF35 or BF65). They really look
interesting because it allows access to shallow areas and it's quieter,
but I wonder if this new technology (or perhaps not new, I don't know) is
not that well developed that it's best not to get into it at this moment.

I'm in central Texas and I'm looking to do mainly bass fishing around the
Hill Country lakes (some of them pretty large bodies), and perhaps once
in a while go to the Gulf coast to do bay fishing or close-to-shore
fishing.

Thanks in advance for your help
Sergio

Sergio,
There are plenty of good options for you to review. If you're wanting to
stay with Aluminum, a nicely equipped tunnel mod v will get you into 5" of
water, and still maintain control in rough water. Alumacraft makes a nice
package.

If you'd like to test ride one, drop me a line and we
can set it up.


"Sergio Ramirez" wrote in message
...
Bill, Bob, SimRacer:

Thank you all for your help. From your comments it's obvious that the
jet
propelled engine is not the best choice for my target application. I was
thinking that a jet-driven engine could add extra capability to the boat
for
shallow water and allow me to fish the shallow flats in the Gulf coast,
but
it's obviously not the case. You need a more specific rig for that. In
reality I'd do such a fishing trip rarely. I would say 99.9% of the times
I
will be doing bass fishing.

Sergio

"bill a" wrote in message
om...
Like some other guys said, jets are bad about intake clogging. I've
had
one for a couple of years with a 6 degree deadrise bottom, but I run it
in
shallow, fast running gravel type streams. If I was mostly going in
lakes and inshore, I think I would stick with a prop as the others said
(power, speed, fuel mileage, noise, clogging). The other thing not
mentioned so far, is that jets don't corner well, even with v-bottoms.
I
frequently see newbies sitting in their boats on dry land because they
misjudged making a corner. While you don't have to do the twisty stuff
near as much in lakes, some hard swerving is bound to come up
eventually.
The other thing on aluminum hulls is the bottom thickness. If you get
overly brave about running shallow, you inevitably will hit the bottom
at
some point. Why have it if you don't use it?
The common jet boat bottoms around here are .19" thick and a 5052 alloy,
very tough stuff. They call them plate boats. If you have .100" or
less
thickness and 2024 alloy, touching hard rock and even gravel sometimes
will open you up. You then sink really fast.
hth
bill

"Sergio Ramirez" wrote in message
...
Hello all:

I'm considering buying my first boat, and wonder if any of you folks
have
any advice/opinion on the following:

- Lund boats or Alumacraft boats. I want a light 16' deep-V boat that
I
can trailer in my small Toyota pickup, which is rated for 3500 lbs
trailering. Around here there are a lot of Tracker boats, but I've
heard
complaints on Tracker customer service and problem with leakage through
the welds. They tell me Alumacraft is a good quality boat, and Lund is
top of the line.

- The jet propulsion engines from Honda (BF35 or BF65). They really
look
interesting because it allows access to shallow areas and it's quieter,
but I wonder if this new technology (or perhaps not new, I don't know)
is
not that well developed that it's best not to get into it at this
moment.

I'm in central Texas and I'm looking to do mainly bass fishing around
the
Hill Country lakes (some of them pretty large bodies), and perhaps once
in a while go to the Gulf coast to do bay fishing or close-to-shore
fishing.

Thanks in advance for your help
Sergio

Pat:

What model of Alumacraft are you referring to?


"Pat Goff @yahoo.com" pmgoffjrbot wrote in message
...
Sergio,
There are plenty of good options for you to review. If you're wanting to
stay with Aluminum, a nicely equipped tunnel mod v will get you into 5" of
water, and still maintain control in rough water. Alumacraft makes a nice
package.

If you'd like to test ride one, drop me a line and we
can set it up.


"Sergio Ramirez" wrote in message
...
Bill, Bob, SimRacer:

Thank you all for your help. From your comments it's obvious that the
jet
propelled engine is not the best choice for my target application. I was
thinking that a jet-driven engine could add extra capability to the boat
for
shallow water and allow me to fish the shallow flats in the Gulf coast,
but
it's obviously not the case. You need a more specific rig for that. In
reality I'd do such a fishing trip rarely. I would say 99.9% of the times
I
will be doing bass fishing.

Sergio

"bill a" wrote in message
om...
Like some other guys said, jets are bad about intake clogging. I've
had
one for a couple of years with a 6 degree deadrise bottom, but I run it
in
shallow, fast running gravel type streams. If I was mostly going in
lakes and inshore, I think I would stick with a prop as the others said
(power, speed, fuel mileage, noise, clogging). The other thing not
mentioned so far, is that jets don't corner well, even with v-bottoms.
I
frequently see newbies sitting in their boats on dry land because they
misjudged making a corner. While you don't have to do the twisty stuff
near as much in lakes, some hard swerving is bound to come up
eventually.
The other thing on aluminum hulls is the bottom thickness. If you get
overly brave about running shallow, you inevitably will hit the bottom
at
some point. Why have it if you don't use it?
The common jet boat bottoms around here are .19" thick and a 5052
alloy,
very tough stuff. They call them plate boats. If you have .100" or
less
thickness and 2024 alloy, touching hard rock and even gravel sometimes
will open you up. You then sink really fast.
hth
bill

"Sergio Ramirez" wrote in message
...
Hello all:

I'm considering buying my first boat, and wonder if any of you folks
have
any advice/opinion on the following:

- Lund boats or Alumacraft boats. I want a light 16' deep-V boat that
I
can trailer in my small Toyota pickup, which is rated for 3500 lbs
trailering. Around here there are a lot of Tracker boats, but I've
heard
complaints on Tracker customer service and problem with leakage
through
the welds. They tell me Alumacraft is a good quality boat, and Lund is
top of the line.

- The jet propulsion engines from Honda (BF35 or BF65). They really
look
interesting because it allows access to shallow areas and it's
quieter,
but I wonder if this new technology (or perhaps not new, I don't know)
is
not that well developed that it's best not to get into it at this
moment.

I'm in central Texas and I'm looking to do mainly bass fishing around
the
Hill Country lakes (some of them pretty large bodies), and perhaps
once
in a while go to the Gulf coast to do bay fishing or close-to-shore
fishing.

Thanks in advance for your help
Sergio

Sergio,
The 1860 Tunnel Special is one of my most popular boats this yeat, go
anywhere, do anything in it.


"Sergio Ramirez" wrote in message
...
Pat:

What model of Alumacraft are you referring to?


"Pat Goff @yahoo.com" pmgoffjrbot wrote in message
...
Sergio,
There are plenty of good options for you to review. If you're wanting
to
stay with Aluminum, a nicely equipped tunnel mod v will get you into 5"
of
water, and still maintain control in rough water. Alumacraft makes a
nice
package.

If you'd like to test ride one, drop me a line and
we
can set it up.


"Sergio Ramirez" wrote in message
...
Bill, Bob, SimRacer:

Thank you all for your help. From your comments it's obvious that
the
jet
propelled engine is not the best choice for my target application. I
was
thinking that a jet-driven engine could add extra capability to the
boat
for
shallow water and allow me to fish the shallow flats in the Gulf coast,
but
it's obviously not the case. You need a more specific rig for that. In
reality I'd do such a fishing trip rarely. I would say 99.9% of the
times
I
will be doing bass fishing.

Sergio

"bill a" wrote in message
om...
Like some other guys said, jets are bad about intake clogging. I've
had
one for a couple of years with a 6 degree deadrise bottom, but I run
it
in
shallow, fast running gravel type streams. If I was mostly going in
lakes and inshore, I think I would stick with a prop as the others
said
(power, speed, fuel mileage, noise, clogging). The other thing not
mentioned so far, is that jets don't corner well, even with
v-bottoms.
I
frequently see newbies sitting in their boats on dry land because
they
misjudged making a corner. While you don't have to do the twisty
stuff
near as much in lakes, some hard swerving is bound to come up
eventually.
The other thing on aluminum hulls is the bottom thickness. If you
get
overly brave about running shallow, you inevitably will hit the
bottom
at
some point. Why have it if you don't use it?
The common jet boat bottoms around here are .19" thick and a 5052
alloy,
very tough stuff. They call them plate boats. If you have .100" or
less
thickness and 2024 alloy, touching hard rock and even gravel
sometimes
will open you up. You then sink really fast.
hth
bill

"Sergio Ramirez" wrote in message
...
Hello all:

I'm considering buying my first boat, and wonder if any of you folks
have
any advice/opinion on the following:

- Lund boats or Alumacraft boats. I want a light 16' deep-V boat
that
I
can trailer in my small Toyota pickup, which is rated for 3500 lbs
trailering. Around here there are a lot of Tracker boats, but I've
heard
complaints on Tracker customer service and problem with leakage
through
the welds. They tell me Alumacraft is a good quality boat, and Lund
is
top of the line.

- The jet propulsion engines from Honda (BF35 or BF65). They really
look
interesting because it allows access to shallow areas and it's
quieter,
but I wonder if this new technology (or perhaps not new, I don't
know)
is
not that well developed that it's best not to get into it at this
moment.

I'm in central Texas and I'm looking to do mainly bass fishing
around
the
Hill Country lakes (some of them pretty large bodies), and perhaps
once
in a while go to the Gulf coast to do bay fishing or close-to-shore
fishing.

Thanks in advance for your help
Sergio

Hiw dies it handle Lake Mead or Lake Powell size waves?

--
** Public Fishing and Boating Forums
** www.YumaBassMan.com


"Pat Goff @yahoo.com" pmgoffjrbot wrote in message
...
Sergio,
The 1860 Tunnel Special is one of my most popular boats this yeat, go
anywhere, do anything in it.


"Sergio Ramirez" wrote in message
...
Pat:

What model of Alumacraft are you referring to?


"Pat Goff @yahoo.com" pmgoffjrbot wrote in message
...
Sergio,
There are plenty of good options for you to review. If you're wanting
to
stay with Aluminum, a nicely equipped tunnel mod v will get you into
5"
of
water, and still maintain control in rough water. Alumacraft makes a
nice
package.

If you'd like to test ride one, drop me a line and
we
can set it up.


"Sergio Ramirez" wrote in message
...
Bill, Bob, SimRacer:

Thank you all for your help. From your comments it's obvious that
the
jet
propelled engine is not the best choice for my target application. I
was
thinking that a jet-driven engine could add extra capability to the
boat
for
shallow water and allow me to fish the shallow flats in the Gulf
coast,
but
it's obviously not the case. You need a more specific rig for that.
In
reality I'd do such a fishing trip rarely. I would say 99.9% of the
times
I
will be doing bass fishing.

Sergio

"bill a" wrote in message
om...
Like some other guys said, jets are bad about intake clogging.
I've
had
one for a couple of years with a 6 degree deadrise bottom, but I
run
it
in
shallow, fast running gravel type streams. If I was mostly going
in
lakes and inshore, I think I would stick with a prop as the others
said
(power, speed, fuel mileage, noise, clogging). The other thing
not
mentioned so far, is that jets don't corner well, even with
v-bottoms.
I
frequently see newbies sitting in their boats on dry land because
they
misjudged making a corner. While you don't have to do the twisty
stuff
near as much in lakes, some hard swerving is bound to come up
eventually.
The other thing on aluminum hulls is the bottom thickness. If you
get
overly brave about running shallow, you inevitably will hit the
bottom
at
some point. Why have it if you don't use it?
The common jet boat bottoms around here are .19" thick and a 5052
alloy,
very tough stuff. They call them plate boats. If you have .100"
or
less
thickness and 2024 alloy, touching hard rock and even gravel
sometimes
will open you up. You then sink really fast.
hth
bill

"Sergio Ramirez" wrote in message
...
Hello all:

I'm considering buying my first boat, and wonder if any of you
folks
have
any advice/opinion on the following:

- Lund boats or Alumacraft boats. I want a light 16' deep-V boat
that
I
can trailer in my small Toyota pickup, which is rated for 3500 lbs
trailering. Around here there are a lot of Tracker boats, but I've
heard
complaints on Tracker customer service and problem with leakage
through
the welds. They tell me Alumacraft is a good quality boat, and
Lund
is
top of the line.

- The jet propulsion engines from Honda (BF35 or BF65). They
really
look
interesting because it allows access to shallow areas and it's
quieter,
but I wonder if this new technology (or perhaps not new, I don't
know)
is
not that well developed that it's best not to get into it at this
moment.

I'm in central Texas and I'm looking to do mainly bass fishing
around
the
Hill Country lakes (some of them pretty large bodies), and perhaps
once
in a while go to the Gulf coast to do bay fishing or
close-to-shore
fishing.

Thanks in advance for your help
Sergio