Boat Buy opinions

[Bigdawg90]

Hey Guys,

New to the Tulsa area. I live off Keystone and want to start fishing. Mainly Crappie, Catfish and some Bass fishing. I want to stick to shallowwater and coves. My main experience with fishing is from when I lived in Arkansas. While I lived there and Cali, my buddies always had boats so this will be my first purchase.
I lined up a 2002 Tracker Grizzley 1648 with a 1998 Johnson 50hp outboard. It’s also got a year old Minn Kota Edge trolling motor with the battery. It’s on a trailer and the guy says everything is good to go. He wants $4500 and I’m offering $3700. NADA books at $3400 without the trolling motor. Mainly this will be a learning and do it all boat. I’ve never even had to put one in water before. My friends in Arkansas always had theirs in the water already and in Cali it was docked at a Marina.

I was looking at a simple Jon boat, but I’m 260, and my dad and brothers are all over 350. A 12 footer would barely hold two of us.
Before I go see it, any of you guys have suggestions for the things to look for, and make sure I don’t get a lemon. Although I’m very handy and take care of all my own engines (small, large, 2 and 4 stroke and diesel), I have never worked on a boat or outboard and don’t want to walk into a quagmire.
Thanks,
Matt

 

[makeithappen]

Great choice going all weld. Rivets are a nightmare. Most people spend their time looking in the boat. I would go over the bottom of the boat and the transom carefully, myself. Cracks should be easy to spot as the paint will chip / flake vs a scrape or a dint (neither of the latter are a big issue unless the dint compromised the hull). Don't trust it running on just motor muffs. Take it for a test drive with the owner and make sure you can get to full throttle, and turning slightly while full throttle to check for hub slippage on the prop. Verify reverse engages correctly and that the pee hole is spitting a steady water stream. Good luck!

 

[montesa]

You may want to consider an 18’ with the combined weight you’ll be looking at. I had a 1650 and it was really weighed down with 800lbs of people and some camping gear. 25hp motor.

 

[Ready_fire_aim]

Honestly to me that sounds like a darn good price as long as everything checks out.

Look at the motormount/transom area inspect closely for damage. Check the under hull area closely.

I would strongly suggest meeting the seller at a lake and doing a proper test. I have bought a boat in the past that ran good on muffs in the guys yard, but turned out to be a POS dud. Since that experience I always lake test a boat before buying.

On boats like this the outboard motor is the majority of the expense. So if the motor is good go for it.

I will say the guy who recommended looking for a larger boat isn’t wrong either though. Especially if y’all are big guys. That 16ft aluminum is gonna get small FAST with more than 2 guys and gear.

 

[montesa]

Honestly to me that sounds like a darn good price as long as everything checks out.

Look at the motormount/transom area inspect closely for damage. Check the under hull area closely.

I would strongly suggest meeting the seller at a lake and doing a proper test. I have bought a boat in the past that ran good on muffs in the guys yard, but turned out to be a POS dud. Since that experience I always lake test a boat before buying.

On boats like this the outboard motor is the majority of the expense. So if the motor is good go for it.

I will say the guy who recommended looking for a larger boat isn’t wrong either though. Especially if y’all are big guys. That 16ft aluminum is gonna get small FAST with more than 2 guys and gear.

Good points. Also he said two of the guys are over 350lbs. And he’s not a small guy either. Kind of a unique situation. That really changes the dynamic of a smaller boat. I personally wouldn’t plan to load a 16’ like that regularly. Everyone will have to sit in the back or it will nose in to any waves. That’s 1200lbs in the back of the boat.

 

[KOPBET]

... Also he said two of the guys are over 350lbs. And he’s not a small guy either.

That's what you call "gross" load capacity. e.g. "You're gonna need a bigger boat!"

 

[dancer4life]

Possibly a pontoon/tritoon.

 

[montesa]

He said dad and brothers over 350. So we could be looking at 3x350 + 260. You’re well over the total recommended carrying capacity. Will make the boat not fun. Use reverse and swamp it kind of thing. I’ve done it. I’m well over 250 myself so I’m not judging.

 

[Barn Dog]

Flip all the switches and knobs. Make sure the wiring is intact and not bubba'd up. Just two of you in that size boat and your good, but if a third wants to go it will struggle. Lots of good suggestions above here as well.

 

[dennishoddy]

I'm going with others as a lifetime boat owner saying that the OP's weight issues with the crew is going to be an issue. The 50 hp will likely not come on plane with a full crew + gear. It doesn't take a lot of weight to slow a boat down.
As an example, I have a 14' v bottom with a 20 hp Mercury on it. Just me onboard it will run 28 mph on a GPS. When I add a passenger and a few buckets of bait/jug lines, speed drops to 18mph. While still on plane, the fuel usage doubles.
Also have a 19.5' aluminum hull deep V with a 75 hp on it. 45 mph with just me, and 38 with a passenger and load of fishing gear.