I’m looking for an aluminum bass boat for my son and myself. He’s 13 and I’m betting he wants to join the fishing team when he hits 9th grade. We do t have a boat anymore so I’m looking for a used aluminum boat so it can be beached during scout campouts, used for the family, bumped and dumped a little bit. I don’t need really fancy, but reliable and stable. I’ve found a few from Lowe, Xpress, and a few others. Anything I should watch or look out for? Tips? Better ideas?

JMO- If I ever decide to spend the money for
another quality aluminum boat again, it'll be
from one of the boat builders in Louisiana
like Hankos or one of those places.
They'll build it right, and most of them will
make any kind of custom modifications you
ask for

This. Other reputable companies like Lund, Alumacraft, Crestliner etc make Those types. The bottom skin thickness is a biggy to me. My river guide boats are Alumacraft welded models, the lake boats are Lunds.
Be sure to keep your transom height in mind with motor #haft length if you buy pieces separately.

Osky

Lowe or Express would be good for what you wanting, you should be able to locate a good used one to save some money.

An 18'-19' foot bass boat style hull aluminum boat with 115-150 hp motor will fish comfortably and ride dry in semi rough water. Ranger, Xpress, Vexus, Tracker, Crestliner... there are lots of options.

I’ll 100% be buying a used one. My plan is to keep it at $10K or under unless I find a steal of a deal on something. I’m not turning a kid loose to learn how to drive a boat on a new one.

I had a Gregor and really liked it. It was welded so very strong

I have a Ranger VS1782 SC and it has a .125 welded hull. Very good in rough water and the Merc 115 Pro XS pushes it at 45 MPH plus.

I run an 18' crestliner here in SE AK and I have beat the crap out of it. Its been a solid boat and I love it.

Getting beers off the mail boat in 3-4 waves right off his wake is sporty! Been there done that but we had to have our beverages.

I would say as the OP is looking for a pretty economical used boat. Rather than brand to look for it might be better to have a list of things to carefully inspect when looking at a boat so he doesn't buy a boat and then get hit with a couple of pricey repairs/upgrades. Probably want to include the trailer too.


Aluminum boats aren't my thing but I would do at least the following..

Inspect the hull carefully for repairs, welds or sealed leaking rivets, check for cracks. Inspect the transom for rot, inspect the floors for softness. Check each piece of electrical gear for function, look at the wiring make sure its in good shape and hasn't been butchered. ideally you want to have the inside of the hull dry and and have the boat put into the water and then make sure its still dry after a bit..no rivet leaks.

as for the engine compression test and check it pumps water, runs ok etc.


Trailer make sure it has some maintainable hubs like bearing buddies or the ones you can pump grease though. Trailer it a bit make sure they don't get hot. Check the lights, check the tires to make sure they are correct and bot cracked.


any aluminum bass boat guys have stuff to add to the list?

To add to the above, make sure the live well system is squared away. Fouled-up live wells can be a pain in the rear to sort out.

We have a Crestliner made by Lowe, I like it

Aluminum boats aren't bad to repair. I had a rotten transom on my last boat guy Opened it up. Pulled the wood out. Filled the transom with square aluminum tube and welded it up. Had a crack in the front and some loose rivets . That he welded up. Charged me 200. The Motor is the expensive part especially 4 strokes.

I wish you lived closer to WA. My nephew is going to sell his 2016 Lund Fury XL 1625 for $12k. It’s got a deep V hull but a wide chine, so it does well in bumpy water while being really stable. Casting deck, Minn Kota terrova with i-pilot, Lowrance sonar, Mercury 40hp, galvanized trailer. Hell of a package. He just wants the money to roll into a tournament rig.

Love the fact we have a youngster interested in boating and fishing

Hank

I have an over 20 year old 14 foot Lund WC-14 that I use as a portage boat in Ontario. It has been drug over boulders countless times and looks like it. And yet I can tie that boat to my dock and leave it over night and when I come out the next morning there is not a drop of water inside it. So my vote would be to get a Lund. Here's one in Texas that looks in good condition and meets your price point.

Click Here

The welded Gregor 13'6" is in a class by itself.

I know these aren't considered great boats by some but over the past 30 years I've had several different size Trackers. The only one I had a problem with I bought used cheap. It had a leak in the hull that I fixed with JB Weld right after I got it, used it for three or four more years and sold it for more than I paid for it. I've got a 17 ft 40 hp model now that I bought new in 2013. It gets fished about twice a month March through November; had it's share of contact with rocks and stumps. no leaks and it's always worked perfect. For my use, bass fishing or trolling for trout on smaller lakes and resevoirs, they've been worth the money.

My son-in-law has a Tracker that is a darned good boat. It rides dry, handles some rough water well, and fishes comfortably. No leaks and everything works like it is supposed to. It is a stable boat, he is 6' 4" and about 260 lbs. and I am 5' 10" and 185 lbs and we can walk around on the decks, lean over to grab a fish, and do what fishermen do in a boat and it doesn't lean or tip and is completely stable.

Lots of boats out there. Where do you plan to store it? How big of boat are you looking for? What do you plan to tow it with?

I'd watch craiglist and this site: https://www.boattrader.com/


This guy has some good advice -- especially about the title!

"More water on the outside on the outside, than on the inside."
And, Please, wear a PFD.

I bought an Xpress this year after looking at several aluminum boats. Lowe, Xpress, and Crestliner all impressed me. I wasn't impressed with the wooden decks on the Tracker boats, but that does help keep their price down.

Tracker decks aren't all wood. The floor panel is wood, but the raised front and rear fishing decks are aluminum.

This is true. Sometimes it can cause a thumping noise when you walk on the deck if the panels aren’t flat.