Help needed

Finally upgrading from my 2000 14ft tin boat. Can’t decide between these two options.

1 – 2020 Alumacraft Classic 165 Tiller w/ 60 HP Evinrude
2 – 2007 Lund Explorer 1800 SS w/ 135 HP Honda

I am leaning toward the Alumacraft, but open to opinions. Mainly fish on medium sized bodies of water, and occasionally Simcoe/Bay of Quinte.

I have a graph that I will put on either boat, and factoring in the purchase of a trolling motor for the Lund, they’re priced about the same.

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Charlie,welcome,the very first thing I would do if you are considering the Lund ask for records of a transom being replaced recently.
If not have it inspected thoroughly by someone who knows what they are looking for,IE,corrosion or swelling around all the rivets at the back side.
If you are near Bemidji reach out to Scenic here.

Any idea of how many hours on the Honda??

I’d buy the Lund but thats just me. Your money, your toy, your choice.

Iowaboy1 wrote:

Charlie,welcome,the very first thing I would do if you are considering the Lund ask for records of a transom being replaced recently.
If not have it inspected thoroughly by someone who knows what they are looking for,IE,corrosion or swelling around all the rivets at the back side.
If you are near Bemidji reach out to Scenic here.

Any idea of how many hours on the Honda??

I don’t know specifically how many hours are on the Honda, although I imagine it’s quite a few. The Evinrude has ~30 hrs on it, FWIW.

I have a 175 competitor tiller so i am
Biased but i love having a tiller. The transom on that alumacraft shouldnt be wood either so thats a plus

The issue with the E-tec is you should make sure you have a shop that will still work on an E-tec. They are no longer being made. Many people have issues with those motors. I had two and put about 1000 hours on them with only a starter and an injector stuck open. If you were to have an issue and you had to drive a ridiculous distance to service it would not be great.

Oof this is not exactly comparing apples to oranges. This is like comparing an apple to an onion. Boats are 13 years apart with significant size difference and 75hp difference and a tiller vs a wheel boat. There is a reason they a similar price points.

If these are really your only two choices I’d go newer boat but I also wouldn’t limit my choices to these two boats.
Then again I would rather have Honda.

Charlie Smith, the Lund is a lot more boat than the Classic. Just depends on how many people you fish with.

I think I would continue searching. The Lund with the potential transom issues scares me. The Alumacraft with the Evinrude scares me as well. Interesting you picked those two as your final choices because they are far from comparable. If you are coming from a tiller you would likely not like the console boat and vice versa.

I would probably pass on both and spend some more time researching, checking out used ones, climbing around boats at boat shows, etc. From the post it sounds like you aren’t 100% sure what you want as they are very different rigs. The price is the one thing they really have in common.

I’d agree with others…seems like you need to go back to the drawing board.

Make a list of all the things you “must” have in a boat and the things you’d like to have. You’ll figure out where to start the search and narrow it down.

These boats are very different and both potentially flawed. The etec is an issue as is the transom potentially. On a 17yo boat there could also be alot of minor issues you’ll need to address. I’d keep looking.

Sounds like you need around a 2016 17′ Aluminum boat with a 90 HP Honda tiller.