Need opinions Is it worth it???

[bkreder001]

New to the boating world and I got ripped off about a month ago when I purchased a 15 foot eagle one bass boat that was totally in need of major work. ( that the owner lied to me about) I do not have the time or expierence to do all the work, I will be selling the eagle one for a lost less than the $1,000 I paid for it. I just went at looked at a 89 glassstream bass boat with a 115 mariner on it. My question is a 115 HP engine to much for this boat since it is only 16 feet long? Is this motor to heavy for the transome? I went inside the boat and the floor seemed to be pretty solid and I knocked on the transome and it seemed solid. The owner started the motor and It started right up. I tested the steering and it is real tight ( you need 2 hands to turn the sterring wheel) the owner said it needs a a new steering cable. The gel coat looked preety good for a boat that is almost 20 years old but I did notice that there were like spider cracks on the hull and around the top around the trolling motor it looks like it was just the gel coat that had cracks but I want to make sure that the glass is not cracked all the way through. If you have time please look at this link and let me know what you think. Thanks for your imput and recommendations.

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/boa/453798195.html

 

[gunner1]

Re: Need opinions Is it worth it???

I gotta tell you, look for an older aluminum boat. The first boat I bought was last year and was fiberglass. One day I went to get in it and went through the plywood. No biggie I thought, I'll just tear it out and replace it. Well after the wood was removed, I noticed the fiberglass underlayment was shot so I took that out. I figured as long as the hull was good I could fix the rest. Well imagine my surprise when I noticed the fiberglass partially gone from one of the stringers- which was rotted! Needless to say, it went out by the road with a "free" sign on it. A guy took it for the trailer saving me the hassel of taking it somewhere to dispose of it. This year I found a 1967 Starcraft 16' aluminum boat, trailer, 50 hp outboard on the boat and a matching SPARE 50 hp outboard for $350. I tore the floor out over the past two weeks ( which was very easy ) and now I'm just going to remove the dash to replace that. In my opinion, aluminum hulls are the ONLY way to go.

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: Need opinions Is it worth it???

I agree with your preferance for aluminim. I have too many other projects going on and getting my old crestliner ready is alot of work without messing with fiberglass. I worked with fiberglass for years patching up wrecked school buses and even though I know how to work with it my question is why should I if I dont have to. Some people enjoy it and its all part of their hobby but its not a hobby to me.

 

[bkreder001]

Re: Need opinions Is it worth it???

Thanks Gunner 1 and thefairlaneman.

I have actually been looking at buying a brand new Tracker Pro team 170 TX. I really would not like to spend that much money but the way it looks you cannot trust anyone when it comes to buying a used boat and I just want something reliable because I am planning on taking my 3 year old granson on it to get him introduced to the wonderful world of fishing. Any thoughts on this boat or any thoughts on another brand of aluminum bass boat ???

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Need opinions Is it worth it???

buying any thing used is buyer beware, do you home work, then you don't get ripped off. there are a lot of post here of what to look for, and what to avoid.