Re: Lund A-14 vs Alumacraft T14V
Earlier in the year when I was looking for a 14-15 foot Aluminum I was leaning towards the Alumacraft 145.
So I stopped by this dealer in Springfield MA that I saw on the net (they were also a Lund dealer). I figured Lund was out of my price range that's why I was looking at the Alumacraft.
This dealer had just finished a boat show and had all the prices of the packages up on one board. Also most of the boats were on display there too.
The Alumacraft package with a 25 HP 4 stroke was about $8500. The Lund for a similar package was 12,000.
I was able to get into both boats since they were right next to each other.
I'm sure Alumacraft 145 owners will pop in with their own opinion and to each his own! But in my opinion the difference was night and day. The Lund was
A LOT beefier made. Had the SportTrak rail system which allows the attachment of rod holders, drink holders, GPS holders etc which slide where ever you want them without drilling any holes.
The gunnel (SportTrack) was almost twice as wide on the Lund. You can sit on the sides of the Lund. This beefier top rail construction allows for less overall boat flexing in big rolling waves.
I was looking for a side console model and the Lund's console is all carpeted and very well made. The Alumacraft's console looked to me like it was an afterthought and just a metal "L" held on with screws on the side.
The Lund is classier made (IMO) has all the cables, wires and motor control cables hidden. The lockers in the back for the gas tank and battery are also enclosed.
But if you are only looking for a boat to fish with and probably trash up then don't spend the extra $ on a Lund.
I forgot what the Alumacraft had for seat positions but the Lund has 6 seat different positions (seat post holes) in my model.
The Lund's hull design (Lifetime warranty) is of a special design that makes it handle and feel like a much bigger boat.
So as soon as I sat in the Lund I was sold on Lund and decided to stretch my budget. I rationalized it out to myself that if I keep this boat for 5 years it works out to $700 more a year, $700 divided by 365 is less than $2.00 a day over those 5 years plus the Lund after 5 years will have a higher resale value so I can make up a little on the back end.
I didn't buy from that dealer, although I was ready to buy that day. The salesman was not very knowledgeable, he had to keep looking up the specs for any question I asked him. He would not split up a package. Said Lund won't allow him to do that. Was trying to dump a Johnson in the Alumacrfaft package or pay another $1000 for the Merc.
He would not budge on any of the prices they had made up even though this was going to be a pre-season deal back in March.
Shop around with several dealers even if you have to drive a bit so you don't have to deal with the above situation that I ran into.
So it's up to you as to what you want to spend and how long you want to keep the boat. Best advice is to go to a place that rents the brand you are looking for and try each out ON THE WATER. Especially with the outboards HP size. You can't tell any boat differences by the pictures or just sitting in one at the dealership.
Also especially with boats in this size range, ALWAYS get the MAX hp the boat is rated for. Any boat will handle great with just you but as soon as you add another passenger and gear to a 14 footer you won't be happy with how long it's going to take to get up on plane. I traded the new 2006 30 hp back to the dealer in the first two weeks for the max 2007 40 hp because it was taking me the length of two football fields to get up on plane with only me and one passenger on board. The 40 pops me up on plane now in 10 feet!
One other tip. Everyone (I found out the hard way) because of the boat shows, orders a new boat in March because they want to have it on the water in April. I ordered it in March and it took almost 12 weeks to come in. I called Lund and they said if I had ordered it in Feb. it would have taken only 4 weeks!
Good luck with whichever brand you buy. Post a pic back here in the forum when you get it!
