Lund Models – What’s more functional?

My brother-in-law wants a newer Lund. He’s looking at something that’s big enough for Oahe, and versatile enough for a no-wake-lake. Here’s what he’s looking at in the 2002-2008 year range:
Explorer 1800 ss
Pro V 1800
Tyee 1850
Fisherman 1800/1700

Anybody have experience with any of these?

EXPLORER 1800 SS!!!!!

That is exactly what I run, it is EXTREMELY functional and VERY versatile. It will handle big water (Have had it in 4-6 footers on LM)

I run it in Lake Michigan / Superior, and all sorts of smaller inland lakes.

Nice and wide, plenty of room, Sporttrac rails for no-drill and moveable mounting systems (including downrigger mounts)…

Handles and rides well. I have a 140 Suzuki on the back, and it is a dream engine. I have had it up close to 50 mph.

EXTEREMELY fishable boat, he won’t be dissapointed. What I really love about this boat is the narrow gunwales. Some of the Tyees and other models have gunwales that are roughtly a foot wide, and to me, that just kills interior working space. Love the 4″ gunwales with the sporttrac rail system!!!

Also, the pricepoint should be more reasonable than the Tyee and Pro-V, and you get (in my opinion) a more versatile boat…. At least for the various types of fishing that I do….

Awesome boat, feel free to PM me if you want any more specifics. I can also post pics if you want… Heck, I’ll do it anyway right now…

Sorry, all of the fish we caught are getting in the way of being able to see the boat…

Mike

Oh yes the Pro V for sure. Tell him to get the ole check book out cuz it will cost ya The good news is the resale value is unreal. I had one 15 years and sold it this spring for $2000 less then what I bought for.

I agree with Whitsend,

I have had a Fisherman and sold it for a Explorer SS. I will post a few opinions of my own. Both boats handle big water well. The fisherman a little better with the taller gunnels and full windshield. Both trailer the same – very well. With rollers on the trailer I had both of them in very shallow accesses. I also agree with the fish ability of the Explorer with the SS. Even with a dual console it would open it up more than the full windshield. I musky fish a lot and the full windshield seemed to get in the way quite a bit. I would also comment that the Fisherman was a little more kid friendly/safer. The Fisherman was much deeper front and back and I felt a little less worry some for a child overboard. And yes, if you get the right sized motor on the back of an Explorer – the fly. As far as resale. You are if fine shape with any Lund. Sold my Fisherman for $2,500 less than I paid for it brand new after 6 years of use.

I agree with Whitsend,
Maybe I’m just saying that because I have a 08′ 1725 explorer with merc 115 four stroke with a 9.9 prokicker. The newer hull design makes it handle 6ft rollers on michigan like the older 18ft pro-v. Love the boat but would like a 2075 pro-v. You know what they say “BIGGER IS BETTER” just my .02

I run the Pro-V 1800 SE and really don’t think you can go wrong with either the Pro-V or the Explorer.
The Pro-V’s gun-whales are definitely wider but that’s not all bad. For instance, when it rains, the compartments below the gun-wales will stay dry better. There really isn’t any less room in the boat either. The big difference is you can set gear on top of the rod & storage lockers on the Explorers where as if you set gear or rods on the Pro-V’s gun-whales, you risk losing it overboard.

Both great boats in my opinion!

All very good points….

With the bigger gunwales, some guys like having those for safer spots to step down from the dock area, if docks tend to by much higher than the boat sits on the water. People with bad hips/knees, elderly or even kids… Although, I tend to like the Explorer’s stepped sides for most dock use, as well as extra seating along that side — especially when I take most or all the seats out so I can setup shop and have LOTS of working room when big water trolling. External rod storage via strap downs is nice (on that sidestep storage area), and like I mentioned before, roomy… Can kneel or sit down on the side and hand grab a fish easily.

Do the pro-V’s have any rod storage areas other than built in??? What I mean, is it might limit rod length… I run some 10′ rods for trolling, and I just strap them down ontop of my left side compartment. Works slick.

Also, as previously mentioned, kids might be a little better off in a pro-v… Harder to get up on top of that gunwale/storage area, where the Explorer you can crawl up onto the sidestep storage, then up on to the gunwale.

For me, my kids have been fine in my boat (2+ y.o.’s,) just keep an eye out like you would in any boat.

I haven’t had issues with my storage getting wet (it does have water “ledges” in the compartmen tops, which helps. Been in some good downpours, but no issues with much water at all. But yes, the horizontal storage lids have the potential to get slightly wetter than vertical doors.

I had both a 18 pro-v tiller and a 18 pro-v se. I could get quite a few extra rods in the side compartments. The difference between the two is the pro-v will take more abuse in big pounding waves. The hulls might appear to look the same but they might not have the same aluminum thickness depending on the year of boats you look at. I would say if you are more of a fair weather fisherman and dont run the boat hard, the Explorer will do just fine. It really depends on the type of fishing you want to do. I also think the Pro-V rides and sticks to the water better in windy conditions. I have fished on Lake Michigan in 9 ft waves and on Lake Erie in 7 ft waves and have not had a issue with boat taking the waves. In the end all three boats are nice boats. I know at Hoots Sports I am rigging alot of explorer’s as of lately. Today we pulled in a 1975 pro-v se with a 225 verado, I am looking forward to lake testing the boat.