Anyone have any first hand insight on these? Slightly bigger than the Lund Alaskan, welded vs riveted and cheaper. Looks like a super functional layout for my uses at the top of the Chesapeake, crabbing, fishing and waterfowl. I don’t have delusions of fishing the main stem of the bay.

Looking to buy a 18’ SC with a 90 4stroke and a galvanized trailer before next spring.

JMO
if I ever buy another new boat for whatever
reason, I'll be driving to Louisiana to one
of the boat builders like Hankos or someone
like that. They'll build whatever you want however
you want it built, and it'll still be serviceable
when you're long dead. They know how to
build an aluminum boat better than anyone
I can think of. If you want some kind of goofy
bracket welded on for some special widget,
they won't argue with you and try to chastise
you about it, they'll ask you how big and where
do you want it?
I still have and am happy with my Alumaweld,
but if I had it to do over, I'd be having a Louisiana
built boat instead

That will work fine for your intended purposes. It has a wider beam and a few inches of length on the Alaskan. Couldnt find any info on the chine. I really like reverse chines for the stability.

I like my Smokercraft, very well built!

Chinook3

SmokerCraft are well built. I had a 16 footer and it was a tank.

Well i do agree that there are some very good aluminum boat builders in the south.
But thats not to say all the others are junk either.
Welded has an advantage, but aluminum hull thickness needs to be considered and compared also.
Thats a nice layout, but the ride could be a bit rougher in choppy water due to the helm location.
The Bass Pro Tracker Grizzly models are also welded, and could be used for a comparison at least.
Some time spent on the internet checking out other names like G3 boats, War Eagle, and Alweld, wont cost a dime, and will give you more insite as to whats out there.

I think you might want to be careful. SmokerCraft are riveted boats, which is fine but make sure what youre getting into here. These are usually very lightly built boats to achieve a price point in my opinion. The transoms and keelsons are not as stout as you might like. So get your own eyes on one and make sure it is what you want. I have never seen a SmokerCraft which was awful but I've never seen one that is the equal of a Lund either. Not really close.

The open layout with a V bottom and no or minimal bow casting platform is really what I want.

Anyone have a polarkraft Outlander?

Fake news. Lots of Smokercrafts are welded.

I prefer my Lund over Smokercraft as well, but the Smokers you find here are all welded now. They are in the “American Angler” line.

Woodson, did you ever find your boat? A really clean 1999 Lund 18' Alaskan just came up for sale here down the block. 2006 60 hp Yamaha tiller, trolling motor, EZ Loader trailer, spare, 8k or best offer.

No I’m not a buyer till next spring likely. That does sound like a deal though.

Yeah, I don't think that it will last long. The guy doesn't realize what he has. I sent a couple of pictures to my boat buddy and even he is interested. Lund doesn't make these any longer and I haven't seen many ever come up for sale. Newer boats are made from recycled aluminum that our Canada camp owner tells me are softer and they dent and leak more often.

My Dad had a riveted Smokercraft around 1970 and it leaked like crazy because the seats were riveted to the bottom. He ended up returning it and getting a Lowe. I guess the moral of the story is to avoid seats riveted to the bottom.

Am I crazy to worry about dealing with rotten wood more than rivets?

My fear of buying a older boat in said configuration is redoing a transom or flooring.

I recently bought a brand new boat that didnt have any flooring. lol
But it does now, at least you could probably use the old floor as a template for cutting the new plywood.
Or have someone cut it for you.
On most aluminum boats, the wood on the transom is attached on the inside simply as a means to stiffen it.
Removing and replacing isnt an issue unless access is restricted due to the boat design.

My S14 Lund, like all Lunds in that era was over built and had an aluminum clad transom and splash rail that drained any water back over the transom before it even got into the boat. No small thing because we back trolled pretty often out of that boat. Right now the water is really high here and I’m pretty sure that the exposed wooden covered transom on my Alumacraft is gone being upside down up north. The exposed wood on my Mirocraft got replaced with one made from Nyloboard, a near indestructible synthetic board.

I looked at the Alaskan, good looking boat! The narrow gunnels need addressed for downrigger mounting! And the aluminum needs to be thicker overall! For near the same price Alumaweld, and Willy boats make similar boats of higher quality

I’ll check those out thank you for your insight.