Printable View
My wife gave me the go ahead for a boat BUT she wants input on it before I purchase - so I can rule out my Lowe Jon boat with 40Hp tiller (all in camo):sad:
But she does have a point......looking for something that I can take her and my 2 daughters on and have some room. Be able to fish from it, tow it easy, but be large enough to tube or board behind - Skiing would be a nice bonus!!
Any ideas as to what I should be looking at? I was thinking 16' side console with a 40Hp or should I go larger??
Well, now should keep her.......
"I owe, I owe, it's off to work I go..."j/k. I wouldn't go smaller than a 40, preferable a 50. Check marinas on line for used boats, you might find a deal. Just beware that most fishing boats are not set up to tow tubers or skiers, fish and ski models are.
Roe+
I own a 16' and it's fine for two, when there are more peoples in the boat I wish I had a bigger one. But at the end it all depends on the $$$$. A 90HP on a 17.5' is good but a 150hp on the same boat is better.....
Very nice, I love boat shopping! The first thing you need to establish is a price limit, next is are you gonna go new or used. You say you gonna use boat for just more then fishing and this was the same reason I went from glass bass boat to tin rig. A 16 footer with a 40 or 50 is just fine for fishing but add the wife and 2 kids and a friend or two and you gonna have some trouble pulling a skier. Tubing will be fine, but don't forget the stress on the motor and transom. If you wanna stay in a 16 footer I would go we larger 16ft model that can take a 90 like a princecraft. I have 17.5 ft crestliner with 115 and if I load my boat with 2 adults and two kids I can feel the motor struggling.
Just a few words of advice from someone who has made these mistakes in the past and lost money; don't buy a cheap make, they are cheaper for a reason and you will regret the purchase; max out the horse power and max out the trolling motor. Things like graphs, radios etc you can add on over the winter.
happy boat shopping!
18' Lund Aluminum with a 90hp Evinrude E-tec. You'll have all of every world.
i gotta agree with jtracc... max out on the power... i know more than a couple people who are on there second motors (nothing damaged just needed the power upgrade) and they all said the same thing... why didn't i do this in the first place!! Good luck with the shopping hope to see what you end up with
I recommend at least a 17.5 foot boat and if you plan to have 4 people in the boat and do some tubing, I wouldn't purchase anything less than a 115hp motor.
I was in your exact position 10 years ago and bought a 16ft Sylvan Profisher with a 40 merc. Great on gas and very reliable. Now that the kids have grown 10 years it is marginal power wise so I would recommend a 60 or 70. I don't use it enough anymore to justify an upgrade so it will have to keep on serving me well for now.
I bought a 16 ft with a 40 4 stroke,it was great at first til the kids wanted to tube and ski,and all 3 kids and wife and dog were on board for a fishing outing. I ended up upgrading to a 70 4 stroke and what a difference,no complaints at all now fishing or tubing,lots of power and lots of room for everybody.Go with at least a 70hp or more on a 16 ft.