Thanks for all the replies!
It's always good to hear from those that have some experience and the Fire never fails for that.
I had called the guy that loaned me one last Fall in Montana and asked if he'd buy the same boats again, he had three alike he'd recently purchased for his family at the time he'd loaned me one.
He said he was a little disappointed in having to patch a leak in one already and the frames were too heavy..
His is a fishing family that uses the crap outta everything related often, I'm not so sure the leak he had would be all that out of line for the amount of use they had seen unless a seam had come apart.
Hell I have knocked holes in heavy aluminum pontoons on boats and airplanes, it's gonna happen. That's why most these boats come with patch kits, but the heavy frame thing I logged as a possible issue.
Anything to help start eliminating brands from the list of boats that appear to be nice in the ads.
sea eagle 285 frame less......just bought a couple going to use on the yellowstone and small lakes......bob
Well that boat would take care of the possible heavy frame issue and sure looks to be a valid candidate.
I'm not so sure I like the options with the five packages they are offering, wish they just let me select the options I wanted but it'll be on the short list, thanks for the info Bob...
The price varies all over the board with these boats, I'm guessing it's all about the material the toon's are made of?
With that thought, I've eliminated anything too bargain priced, so between $600 to $1500 looks like the range.
That's a huge range considering.
Might be one of those items that would be worth scouring Craigslist for a top of the line one used?
A Bronco Xtreme like 280shooter mentioned would be cool to find used, that's a $1350.00 rig right there.
If it holds air and isn't UV'ed out I don't know why not......
Lake use is one thing but I decided I had to have one after I sat and watched some fly fishing guys doing drifts on a really nice river one day with this type of boat.
Put in at one spot, take out at another, just need enough control for a little steering along the way....sweet....