tracker boats questions.

[88evinrude]

as the title says i have a few questions about tracker boats.the first question i have is about the revolution hulled boats. the questions being when was this hull first used and do they used wood in the transom. ive been told all revolution hulled boats have a all aluminum transom but if they dont when did they stop using wood.my second question pertains to the hulls and how they are put together. ive heard they stopped using rivets in the bass boats in the mid 90s. can anyone tell me for sure.

 

[Scott Danforth]

The first generation of tracker bass boats were all welded construction. This goes back to the late 70's

 

[88evinrude]

The first generation of tracker bass boats were all welded construction. This goes back to the late 70's

thanks for the reply. i havent had a aluminum boat in years and have never had a tracker before so im trying to learn about them.

 

[gm280]

88evinrude, I can see pros and cons to welded aluminum hulls verse riveted hulls. Yes welded seems like a very good method to build metal boats. But if cracks do show up, the only way t fix them is to have them rewelded again. However, riveted hulls allow for a little more flex without many issues. Yes riveted hulls can and do leak over time. But most of the time a re-bucking of the rivet(s) usually is all it take to fix those issues. Occasionally replacing rivets are needed to repair reoccurring leaks. So I can see positive and negative issues with either hull design. I would personally take either type myself. And really sorry to hear about your glass boat demise. JMHO!

 

[88evinrude]

well i looked at a older tracker bass boat today on my way home from town.i have some questions about it. i dont know much about aluminum boats and i wont pretend that i do but here are my questions. the boat has a piece of wood between the transom and the outboard and from my research it seems some trackers do. was this a common factory thing to do.the second red flag to me is the transom wood at the bottom bolts is soft im sure it needs replacing but from what ive looked at it looks like it would be a pain to do as the top transom corner braces are welded in.the boat has a older 50 hp mercury but im not 100% on its condition as the battery was dead. i doubt i can do anything to the transom other than replace it but i thought id ask.

 

[88evinrude]

No Title

here is what the piece of wood on the outside looks like and from what i can tell it looks like it belongs there.

 

[GA_Boater]

The wood between the motor clamp and transom is a cosmetic piece, used on many AL boats. Using it allows scratch free motor installation so new owners stay happy.

I know nothing about wood or wood-free Tracker transoms.

 

[GA_Boater]

We were posting about the same time. That piece looks fairly robust. The one I'm talking about are usually thin, 1/4-3/8". On that Tracker, it may be thick for motor clamp spacing so the clamp has enough meat to grab.

 

[88evinrude]

The wood between the motor clamp and transom is a cosmetic piece, used on many AL boats. Using it allows scratch free motor installation so new owners stay happy.

I know nothing about wood or wood-free Tracker transoms.

im in the same boat as you when it comes to tracker or even aluminum boats.

 

[88evinrude]

We were posting about the same time. That piece looks fairly robust. The one I'm talking about are usually thin, 1/4-3/8". On that Tracker, it may be thick for motor clamp spacing so the clamp has enough meat to grab.

from what it looks like it looks to be a good 3/4'' thick and from my research it seems like a common piece on the older mod v bass boats. tracker still does this with the jon boats to this day