New boat - Lund, Smoker Craft, or Hewescraft opinions

[MCF]

12/30/14

 

Bow and Stern Marine in North Tonawanda is carrying the west coast American Angler series by Smokercraft as I mentioned above in this post. 

[ddubs3]

Thanks for all the replies. Heading to the west coast in February to pick out a Hewescraft or Kingfisher.

[Art Benham]

I hope your not going for the Hewescraft based on what you got told on this site. A lot of mis informantion !

First off the Hewescraft are good boats. Heavy, well built out of extra thick aluminum plate. Welding of thick materials like this is fine. The problem comes when welding thin materials like .80 or .60 aluminum sheet. Welding no matter how good you are, distresses the material, duh that's how it sticks to it. Unless you are a GM or Ford and have a 2m welding robot,(none of these guys do) you cannot get the same strength as you get having double the thickness, with a hand driven rivet put through it. It all boils down to what supports the outside, whatever it's made from. Most aluminum guys use folded over pieces of aluminum sheet for their hull support. The quality guys use extrusions , no comparision. Look at an airplane.. what do you see "Rivets".

 

Also make sure you have upright level floatation in her. Otherwise they sink like a rock !  Sh%t happens ya know.

 

All aluminum pricing is now going to surge because of the intro of the all aluminum truck bodies. So the commodity pricing of aluminum is going to go up. Now China, Detroit, and the boat boys all bidding for it. Lund buys enough for a whole year of production. Smaller builders like Hewes that don't purchase that way will pay a premium. Get it now.. you think they are high now... you just wait....

FYI : you can get a 20 foot Lund Sport Angler trolling platform with a Honda 150 and trailer for under 40k .. It's a great trolling and performing rig with the best resale in the business.

 

Saw a 2013 18 Crestliner in last year with a split bottom so they still don't have it right!

 

 

 

 

 

[Andre wallyandre]

Thanks for all the replies. Heading to the west coast in February to pick out a Hewescraft or Kingfisher.

There is 2 Kingfisher dealers in the province of Quebec and the way it goes now the US $ is almost 20% over the Can.$

Edited December 31, 2014 by wallyandre

[PolarBear]

So I just totaled the Tracker Targa 18WT that we had for the past four years and it is time for a new boat. I don't want another Tracker because I feel the platform in back really cuts down on fishing room and makes it hard for older guys to work the rods and fight fish. We also had a terrible experience with the marina we bought the boat from and had nothing but problems with the trailer....which led to the ultimate demise of the boat when the axle broke.

 

I'm sorry Dalton , this is the first that I have heard of this incident ....you guys caught a lot of fish on the tracker ....I wish you guys safe travels to the west coast , and Im sure you will find a great new replacement geared more toward  your fishing needs .......Mark

[BAITNH]

Take a look  at Northcoast boats they are a great downeast boat will hand build it to your needs, and they  want  to get some of thier boats  on the big lakes, they will make  a good deal for you.  Its a glass  boat  that will last.

[Egoody]

My New Boat

I've been fishing for several years, but only as a guest in others boats. Two years ago bought my first and probably my last boat. I bought the LUND Sport Angler 1800 and couldn't be happier. I figured It could handle the conditions I felt were safe to be out in on Lake Ontario and Champlain plus any of the smaller lakes here in NH. Of course there have been days I couldn't get out, but I didn't see any other boats out on those days either. I set it up with 2 Cannon Mag 10 electrics, 4 Cisco Rod holders, VHF radio and an Elite 5 GPS/Fish finder. Being 66 years young I also needed a boat I could launch solo, that's why I chose the 18 1/2 footer.

No matter what you buy, there will be pros and cons, so don't settle on just others comments. Buy the best you can afford for the type of fishing you want and then enjoy your time on the water.

 

Boat Safe

Egoody

[jimski2]

I have been fishing the lakes since the 1940's when the general boat was a 14 foot cedar strip o/b. Boats have increased every decade until now. There are thousands of inboards for sale as fuel costs, storage, docking and tow vehicles have made them undesirable. Your towable outboard is what sells today and if it is too rough to use, it is too rough for any boat out there.

Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United mobile app