New Boat Suggestions

I bought a new 1750 Crestliner fish hawk in 99 and still have it with no complaints.

Attachment 153041Attachment 153044Attachment 153046I'm very happy with this! Not in your price range, but look till you find what you want. <*)}}}><

I really appreciate all the input from you guys! It is a ton of help so far! I will say that I have done some more research on the Tracker's and can honestly say I think I am going to steer clear of them. Main reason being I read some reviews earlier of a ton of issues with welds breaking and the hulls springing leaks as well as terrible customer service after your boat purchase. Granted I know these may have been the "bad apples" if you will but when it was one complaint right after another for several pages indicating the same issues...I am kinda thinking there might be a problem somewhere that needs to be addressed. I am now currently looking into the G3's, Alumacraft, Lowe, Lund (however I think they maybe out of my price range I am afraid but will check them out), and Crestliners.

Take a peek at boats for sale on walleye central, they have both new and used. By the time you spend 20 grand for a smaller boat and another 5 grand for electronics you might want to consider something like this, there is a picture of it over there. A lot of these boats are well kept I'm looking for something new to me also and if were considering tin this is one I would be interested in. Lot of boat for the money would handle any water in Kansas for sure.



Crestliner 2011 Tournament 202 WT

I will be selling my 2011 Crestliner Tournament 202 WT a.s.a.p. to make room for my new boat. The boat is equipped with a Mercury Optimax Pro XS 225, Mercury 9.9 Pro Kicker, Lowrance HDS 10 on the dash, Lowrance HDS 8 Gen. 2 on the bow, Minn Kota Fortrex trolling motor 101lb thrust 36 volt, 5 batteries (2 starting with battery switch, 3 trolling motor batteries), TR-1 Gold auto-pilot on kicker motor, Lowrance marine radio, Shakespeare marine antenna, Full track system with 2 Blue Water Tackle quad rod trees, 2 rod holders also in each track, 2 Cannon Downrigger swivel bases, trailer is in perfect shape. The boat is vinyl in the cockpit, carpeted in the bow. Motors have been well taken care and run perfectly. I will have more info and pictures this week. Please call or email for more info or questions. 219-688-3593, [email protected] Fully loaded 26,000 firm on price. This price is about 10,000 under what it should be listed at without all the extras. BOAT WRAP MUST COME OFF BEFORE SALE.


Price: 26,000
Date: 2014-02-28
Location: Hammond, IN
Seller: Ralph Steiger
Phone: 219-688-3593
Email Seller
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Originally Posted by zummy

I had the exact opposite experience at Cabelas. Went in there and was ready to write a check. Only thing the guy really did was show me how much better the Alumacraft was compared to Lund. I had him spec out a boat for me. Didn't want to do much but put a Merc on which I didn't want. Finally got it spec'd out, but was more than I had seen elsewhere. Left my name and number and a year later almost to the day have never heard anything back.

I researched them all.
Tracker- Horrendous customer service if something goes wrong. There are a lot of them out there because of the price point. I owned a Tracker Pro Team 175 at one point. Fit and finish was not great and my trailer was junk. However I got it cheap, had fun with it, and sold it at a profit.

Lowe- No splash rails on it. Also standing on an Alumacraft deck which was solid vs the Lowe that had some give made me ask myself how long it would last. Straw that broke the camel's back was they would only sell it with a Merc. I asked if they would order one without a motor and rig the motor of my choice and it was a negative.

Lund- Really intrigued me. One of the top Lund dealers in the country is in Pittsburg, MO which isn't far from SE Kansas. They had some Lund 1775 Impacts with 115 Mercs on them very competitively prices. Talked to them on the phone. They really wanted to earn my business. Turns out they are a Mercury platinum dealer and weren't interested in hanging anything but a Merc on the boat. That ended it for me. Lund has great fit/finish, big splash rails for a dry ride, and pretty much everything I wanted except for the motor I wanted.

Alumacraft- Really liked the boats. I went to Cabelas to look at what they had and try to work a deal. They apparently weren't very hungry, and I don't think the guy believed me when I said I would write the check right there for the right deal. Alumacraft makes a nice boat.

StarCraft- Had an 88 deep v starcraft that I really liked. However to get a StarCraft I was going to have to drive quite a way to find what I wanted. Found one I liked in Pennsylvania and darn near hopped a plan to Pittsburg.

G3- This is what is sitting in my driveway. I had been looking and found it on ebay. Its a 2010 V172C with a 2013 90 hp Yamaha on the back. He had it listed as a factory demo. I had priced some new G3 boats previously before finding it. Drove to Plainville, KS to take a look at it. Negotiated what I felt was a good deal, wrote the check, and came back on my next day off to pick it up. It had a couple carpet stains and some scratches in the decal, but I have since added more of both. I love the Yamaha outboard. I did have one warranty issue that Shady Creek handled with no issues. Fit and finish isn't Lund quality, but its a nice boat that has a good dry ride. If you want to check it out or take it for a drive one day let me know. The boat was bought from the Plainville Boat Shop. Its kind of a hole in the wall, but I felt I was treated fairly there. I have it serviced at Shady Creek, and have had nothing but good experiences dealing with them.
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I am surprised at the service your experienced at Cabelas. I bought the Alumacraft there and then 3 years later went back and traded the Alumacraft on a Pontoon with the same salesman. They have always been good to me.

Plainville Boat Shop is ok. I have known Doug since I was a kid. I grew up in Plainville. He has been known to sell some junk but I think for the most part he has decent boats. If you have any work done at Plainville Boat Shop make certain you have the work order in writing before you leave your boat. He gouged my father for over $400 to put new bearings and seals in his boat trailer when all he was supposed to do was re-pack them. The next spring we pulled the boat to Wilson and the bearings were completely shot. We had to take it to the shop there by Hell Creek Bridge and have new bearings put in it before we could go home. Turns out Doug or one of his flunkies put inch and 1/2 bearings on a inch and 1/4 spindle. That was the last time we had them do any service work for us.

Its funny how we each have different experiences with the same businesses.

I went with the G3 bay 20' and have really enjoyed it . I fish three with no problem and have a live well in front and back.

This g3 would be in your price range also with a 150 and power steering.

Nice rigs Bama and Crappie Chatt.

Ill add add one more thing, I bought my Alumacraft largely because of having a great dealer nearby. I think a good dealer is more important than a specific brand of boat or motor. A good dealer is far more important to me than saving a few bucks on the sale.

That's a 10-4 on a good dealer close by. THats why I went g3.

I really like the G3 boats too. I came close to buying a V167C a few years ago. But I was too slow to pull the trigger and somebody beat me to it.