Tracker grizzly

Looking at a new small lake boat this year, and am liking the looks specs and price of the grizzly 1648. Anyone have one, or have experience with a grizzly? I haven't seen one in person yet, and probably wouldn't unless I ordered one. I have read some bad comments on tracker boats, but with such a simple boat, I can't imagine a lot could go wrong.

I've checked out boat specs from all the major builders, all seem nice, and some are crazy expensive for a bare bones aluminum boat. I am leaning towards a yamaha f25 if I went with the 1648. Also trying to find more info on the Suzuki 30.

Any input is appreciated!

Tracker puts engines that are too small and cheap out on trolling motors and depthfinders and charge obscene prices to upgrade them. Those are the reasons people speak badly about tracker boats.

They aren't bad boats, just are equipped poorly from the factory and the upgrades to stuff you do want are overpriced.

I have a 1860cc grizzly tracker, I love it. Solid built boat that I hunt and fish out of. It’s foam filled in the voids under the decks and floor. That makes the water on the hull sounds muffled instead of the slapping/popping sounds. I have a 90 horse on it which is the max hp. I also rigged the TM and electronics myself. There are other boats that I’m sure are better, but would be hard to trade me out of mine. I’ve had it for 5 years.. absolutely zero problems. Would definitely buy again.

The coating they put on the deck is rough as sandpaper on the one I checked out. Be sure you check one in person before buying. They look so good on the computer, but you see things up close that you may like or not. Happy boat shopping!

I’ve looked at the tracker basic boats for a long time. I agree with top what has already been said about the way they equip and upgrade. I would do my own personalized rigging. I too like the 1860 and I currently own a 1648 that isn’t a tracker. If I was going to buy a new aluminum boat it would probably be an 1860 with a side console, max HP and ptt. And like prater said, you would have a hard time trading me out of it.

Fished out of a Grizzly 1648 for over 15 years. Not a single problem. Treated it rough. Buy bare bones and equip to your liking.

Sent from my LM-K920 using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

so my question is can you buy it stripped down cheaper and just put what you want on the electronics end of it ?
sounds like that is the way to go to me :dono

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Originally Posted by Ketchn

so my question is can you buy it stripped down cheaper and just put what you want on the electronics end of it ?
sounds like that is the way to go to me :dono

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Well, a 1648 and trailer is 5500ish. There is no option to select a motor on the tracker website, so probably 4-5 grand for a motor with PT. A 1548 sportsman which is closest rigged option, with 25 merc, some storage and wiring is about 11k I think.

In that size have you looked at the Classic?

I had a 2007 tracker - all welded. Construction was solid and all around good boat. Mercury is your only option though from the dealer.

If you’re handy at all you can rig most everything yourself, and save a lot of money, especially on an aluminum boat. Take your time and think through it and lay everything out before you start drilling holes. Buy your stuff separately, they’ll overcharge you like crazy for accessories. That’s what I did with the last boat I bought. Instead of having them rig it all out completely I bought the components I needed and mounted and installed everything myself and saved a bunch of money, down to mounting the motor myself. Shop labor isn’t cheap... One other piece of advise, don’t go with the package motor that’s cheapest. Under powered is no good. I think you’ll be woefully disappointed with a 25 on a 1648. I’ve got a 50 on a 1556 and have never thought I wish I had less horsepower. JMO.


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FWIW I have a much lighter riveted Alumacraft 1648 jon boat with a 2020 Yamaha F25 on it and it tops out at about 30. With gear and a fishing partner it does about 27 mph. Plenty fast but I bet it goes down quickly with a hull as heavy as the Tracker. I'd go with the max hp rating for sure on the Tracker. There are other boat manufacturers which make rugged boats that are designed a little more for speed. For example, I've seen where a War Eagle 1648 runs about the same as my hull with an F25. I'd definitely do more research before getting locked totally in on the Tracker if you want to pair it with a smaller hp engine.

Regarding rigging it - it seems they pretty much charge full msrp on all accessories the dealers install. I guess you get free installation in a way but that's pretty straight forward for the most part. I will say getting a bare hull but adding the trolling motor wiring can be helpful, given they install thick enough gauge wires. Just doesn't seem to me they offer any type of bundle price incentive to make dealer accessories the sure fire way to go.

What I've found out from shopping around the last few weeks, is availability for anything is terrible. Alumacraft couldn't give a solid date for a boat arrival, but sounded close to July. Yamaha outboards September. There isn't much for used jons in my area. I went with what was closest to me and earliest availability. A tracker 1648 tiller and a Suzuki df30a. I know it won't be a speed demon, but 90 percent of my fishing will be in stumps. Hope it works out!

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Originally Posted by Veedo

What I've found out from shopping around the last few weeks, is availability for anything is terrible. Alumacraft couldn't give a solid date for a boat arrival, but sounded close to July. Yamaha outboards September. There isn't much for used jons in my area. I went with what was closest to me and earliest availability. A tracker 1648 tiller and a Suzuki df30a. I know it won't be a speed demon, but 90 percent of my fishing will be in stumps. Hope it works out!

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2 friends of mine had the grizzly stick steer model. The package motor I think was a 25 hp. Mercury will last a few years but did not last and they had to install an aftermarket Ptt. They both bought Yamaha’s 40hp 1 had 4 stroke the other 2 stroke which I think came with PTT and motor problems ended if I was going to get a motor unless something has changed it would be Yamaha. The boat was basic and everything accessory wise was taken care of by them. The boat itself was a good boat. I did a internet search and another manufacturer builds the boat and put grizzly on them for BPS. Unless BPS as bought the boat company now. I want say SeaArk but can’t swear by it now the was 20 years. Do your research before investing.


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Tracker is sold on price, not on quality.

They cut corners where they can to hit a certain price point, doesn't necessarily make them a "bad" boat, but better options exist.

Just make sure you look at the all the rigging, metal thickness, options, etc. to make sure you have a good apples-to-apples comparison. A lot of new boaters buy Tracker because all they know to look at is the price.

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Originally Posted by artcarney_agr

Tracker is sold on price, not on quality.

They cut corners where they can to hit a certain price point, doesn't necessarily make them a "bad" boat, but better options exist.

Just make sure you look at the all the rigging, metal thickness, options, etc. to make sure you have a good apples-to-apples comparison. A lot of new boaters buy Tracker because all they know to look at is the price.

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The grizzly is a .10 boat, with a .190 floor. Pretty thick boat. There isn't any accessories in it, so I don't think much can go wrong other than a bad weld or foam issues. I'm having the motor put on at the Suzuki dealer. Thanks for all the feedback guys.

2020 GRIZZLY 1648 Jon - TRACKER Hunt and Fish Jon Boat

Veedo- You won't regret the Suzuki 30. I have a 4 yr old tiller ptt on my 16 Carolina Skiff = Love it!!

u2s

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Originally Posted by up2specks

Veedo- You won't regret the Suzuki 30. I have a 4 yr old tiller ptt on my 16 Carolina Skiff = Love it!!

u2s

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Glad to hear! I really don't see many around, like it or not, I was really leaning towards a Japanese motor.