Thread: boat question

I have a 1970's Fisher Marine 15' 36" bottom MV alum boat. Leaks about 2 gallon a day. It works but I get a bit edgy in cold water if it is rough or like in the intercoastal waterway (North Lnading river).
I am debating a alumincraft 14' crappie. It has a 42 inch bottom and 2 built in seats, weights 330 lbs. I have a 10hp 4 stroke 97lb motor. it this a good choice or would an alumincraft 1648 be a better choice. I also looked at the welded models but they were all over 550 lbs, me thoughts were the 10 hp would just be to slow pushing that much. The fisher marine is about 200 lbs and my gps says I go 17 mph wide open(11 pitch prop). (15mph with 7 pitch prop). penny for you thoughts.

Just for rough figuring, what would your boat do with 2 more people in it? That would give you a rough idea as to what to expect out of the 1648. Good boat tho.

I have a 14' Alumacraft Crappie Jon and love it. I've had it for over 11 years now. With my 9.9 and just me in it I can go 17mph. Very stable, I've had it at Kerr a handful of times but mostly fish the Suffolk Lakes. I like not having any ribs or bench seats to step over. I only wish it was a couple of feet longer to accommodate all my stuff.

I had a Fisher about that age for years and it served me well. It also formed many leaks and I was tired of messing with it. (gave it to my nephew)
I bought the Alumicraft 1648NMS (no middle seat), so I could put a good sized live well in the middle. I just bought the shell, and outfitted it myself.
When I installed the pedestal/seat bases, I was impressed with the fact that they backed the aluminum over the floatation with 1" marine plywood, giving you a solid mounting base. They also have level flotation for the rated capacity.
I like it in other words.

I was in someone's jonboat this weekend that was a 1440 and I thought it was plenty wide and was surprisingly stable when making water over the side.

I, like Tap, have the Alumacraft 14’ Crappie Jon. I have a 15 on mine and she scoots alone pretty good. I’ve had mine over 16 years (92) and she has served my Dad and me very well. We always had, and still have, regular 14’ jons with 5 or 6 hp motors, that I grew up with, but the smooth bottom and sides of the lined Alumacraft sure is nice after years of dealing with all the ribs in a regular jon. Although I must admit that if I was in the market for a new boat now, I would insist on the 16’ Crappie Deluxe and hang a 25 on her. Maybe it’s my advanced years, but I now find the 42” bottom to be a little cramped. The higher sides and transom would also be a little more security for the bigger waters.

Check out Carolina skiff boats. They have kit boats that you can customize to your needs. The J boats are 64" wide. They hulls are cheap and it is a fiberglass hull but draws so little water that lower horse motors are not much of a problem. Do yourself a favor and give them a look before you make your mind up. CF

I have a j16 carolina skiff and like it, but my 9.9 yamaha 4 stroke won't plane it out, however that doesn't bother me, just thought i'd share that. It's in the 400lb. range I think, just for the hull. that makin water thing is always a good standard to measure a boat by, and mine does good. I see alot of j12 and j14 skiffs in lake prince and burnt mills too, before it got shut down. oh yeah, the boat doesn't get real hot in the sun like aluminum. I bout got a divorce when I bought mine, now she and her sister use it to croaker fish when I'm at work. now she say's we need a bigger boat. after they use it you never know what youll find, they move anchor ropes etc. and I was at prince one time and a crab crawls out from under the deck.

oh yeah, the only thing that kinda irks me, bout the j16 is the lip that goes around the boat makes it kinda hard to load the boat on the trailer some times because it wants to hit the roller stop at the front of the trailer instead of riding over it. so when you do your final cranking up, you have to lift up on the front to get it over the bow stop. Iv'e adjusted different things on the trailer but that caused other problems. I know someone else with the same boat that also says the same thing, but its still a good boat.

on my old 18 footer (Lowes) my dang 9.9 would only push me 7 mph ......it was tuned up and ran great......just too much boat i guess.......i dumped it off at a garage sale for 50 bucks and was done with it.....i have a little better motor now that pushes me a blistering 32 mph ! all day at NWR last weekend when we launched at Bob's I still got 26 mph w/ 2 people loaded in the boat.....