Thread: Jon boat hull aluminum thickness question

What is the purpose of this boat? Are you going to be putsing around in a farm pond or putting on a decent sized outboard and zooming around in big water? The Grizzly is going to be a much heavier boat. Yes, that is "better" - more durable. But, it will come at a price (not just in $$). It will need more HP to push it. More weight on the trailer (not that jon boats are really heavy anyway). Etc. The thinner boat can be a long-lasting investment - IF you don't try and use it for more than it was designed for.

I will be putting it in decent size lakes and its mainly gonna be for fishing although I would wanna to try duck hunting one day,
I'm just worried the thinner aluminum wont hold up and start leaking in other words don't wanna buy something that I might regret in the future if you know what I mean thanks for your reply.

Originally Posted by DoyleAlley

What is the purpose of this boat? Are you going to be putsing around in a farm pond or putting on a decent sized outboard and zooming around in big water? The Grizzly is going to be a much heavier boat. Yes, that is "better" - more durable. But, it will come at a price (not just in $$). It will need more HP to push it. More weight on the trailer (not that jon boats are really heavy anyway). Etc. The thinner boat can be a long-lasting investment - IF you don't try and use it for more than it was designed for.

for your purpose I'd say go with the heavier metal. Reason, with the possibility of fishing OR duck hunting in big water you never know, when you're up in the brush, what might lie beneath the surface. The thinner boat won't take the beating NEAR as well.

Originally Posted by Rodrigoelgu

I'm looking into purchasing my first jon boat 14 to 16 foot, I was looking at a tracker topper 1542 aluminum thickness is 0.063 vs a tracker grizzly that has aluminum thickness of 0.100 my question is are thinner boats with less than 0.100 durable enough, I can save money by buying the thinner aluminum boat but would like peoples opinion before I pull the trigger.

I think you will find that the Topper model is a riveted boat as compared to the welded Grizzley model.
That could explain the reason for the thicker aluminum also.
If you watch any of Richard Genes Youtube videos you will find he owns 2 different boats.
One is a 1542 Topper which he installed a deck covering up the center seat and installed carpet on it.
That boat has a 20 horse Mercury outboard on it and he has used it extensivly.
I have a welded aluminum (Alweld) brand 1442 Jon which has .80 aluminum, and it also has a 20 hp Merc.
Richards second boat is also an Alweld, i believe a 1648 or 52.
The V front model Jons will be a bit better in rough water.
I personally wouldnt hesitate buying the 1542 Topper if the price was right.
But if i could find a good deal on a welded one that would be my first choice.

As mentioned, it really depends on what you want to do with it.

The Topper models are pretty light duty, designed to be lightweight for hauling in a pickup and floating down streams and ponds. The Grizzly is made for running rivers, beaching, and big water if you need it to.

I had a Quachita Semi-V that was paper thin. It was super light, but I poked holes in the bottom once when I flipped it over to use it. I never trusted that boat, it lives on the bank of a local pond.

I later had an Alumacraft 1448 that was probably .100 aluminum. That thing was super tough, I don't know if you could breach the hull if you tried. After 40 years of use, it never leaked, just had a little bit of dampness around the rear braces.

I would try to find a nice used Lowe, Alumacraft, Lund, or Crestliner jon. The deeper and wider, the better.

IMO those .063" boats are best suited for a farm pond. If you put an outboard on a .063" hull thickness boat and you hit a piece of wood at greater than 5 mph (guessing) my guess is you've now got a gigantic hole in your boat. I work with aluminum 5 days a week and .063" aluminum has no structural stability at all. All the strength in that boat is going to come from the substructure. The ribs, etc... At least with .10" it will add some strength to the boat.

Easy choice in my mind.

.063 weighs .88 per sqft. .100 weighs 1.41 per sqft

If a typical boat took 300 sqft, the weight difference between the two thicknesses would be right at 150 lbs.

I don't think I would let the weight difference deter me from buying the thicker one.

I fish out of 2110 baymax tidewater and own a topper 1542 bought it new in 2013 it has caught many fish including many trips to the coast and even flounder gigging at night hard to beat for the money. Ran it ashore many times still doesnt leak. I can only speak from my experience never has let me down.


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