Wide Boat Recommendations (Used)

We sold our last fishing boat that we mostly used on the Mississippi backwaters and smaller MN lakes. It was only a 14.5′ so way too small and unstable. We are looking for something much wider and in the 16′ to 17.5′ range. Any specific model recommendations? I passed on a 2008 or 2009 Alumacraft Navigator 165 CS last summer and man am I kicking myself. It was literally everything I want but it’s width was what was most impressive to me, it really stood out.

Any other models out there with similar width that I should be looking at?

Find a 16′ Lund Alaskan. I believe they have the widest beam width on Lund’s line (excluding non-river boats like Tyee/Baron etc). Always resonated with me as a sturdy boat perfect for a river. Alumacraft equivalent would be the Voyageur I believe. Both are reasonably priced. If we want to keep going Polarkraft and G3 have some nice wide boats in tiller.

Some of it depends on what layout and features you want. Tiller, side console, dual console? There are a fair number of models out there and it’s hard to narrow it down to a smaller list without starting there.

There’s more to consider than just beam width. In the age range you are looking at, I had a 2006 Lund 1700 Explorer (tiller). 17′ 0″ long, 91.5″ wide.

Had a miserable ride, the bow “V” flattened-out too fast, so instead of cutting thru the waves, it slammed into them. My next rig, a 2013 1650 Rebel XL, rode much better.

HRG

Alumacraft Competitors are pretty awesome rigs…and wide too.

I run a 2004 Lund Angler 17ft 2 inches with a 75 tiller. Would not change a thing. This boat is wider than most I have been in at the 17 ft class boats (93 inches). Its a wet ride in big water but any aluminum boat with a tiller is a wet ride in big water.

You didn’t state if you wanted Aluminum, or if you would consider fiberglass. Since Polaris bought out Larson, and then shut them down, there were some killer deals on Larson FX boats. The last year was tough though, for any boat price, not sure deals can be found. But I picked up a Larson FX1750DC for thousands less than I would have paid for the same age and equipped Lund or Alumacaft. It has been perfect for what I was looking for.

toddrun wrote:

You didn’t state if you wanted Aluminum, or if you would consider fiberglass. Since Polaris bought out Larson, and then shut them down, there were some killer deals on Larson FX boats. The last year was tough though, for any boat price, not sure deals can be found. But I picked up a Larson FX1750DC for thousands less than I would have paid for the same age and equipped Lund or Alumacaft. It has been perfect for what I was looking for.

The tiller model of the Larson fiberglass boats had a smooth ride with a decent fit/finish and always seemed like a comparative bargain to anything similar. A buddy had one and I nearly purchased one the following year.

Thank you for all the replies. I will check out some of the ones mentioned. I would prefer aluminum. Must be side console or dual console (had a near death experience with my old tiller so the wife won’t get in one without a steering wheel now). I also would like something rated for at-least 90HP. I envision this next boat having a 90 or a 115 on it. Thanks again.

I figure I should still be able to get a decent used boat (2005-2012) for 9-16K. Is this reasonable? The one I talked about above that I slipped up on sold for 14 and that was a hot market.

i drive a 2016 alumacraft competitor 175 Sport (dual console) with a 140 on the back. I wouldnt exactly call my boat a river boat but would certainly fit the bill. i like the boat a lot. If i were to ever buy another boat i think i would try to go fiberglass. Either that or downgrade entirely to a 16 ft tiller with a 25HP on it

Johnny B Goode wrote:

Thank you for all the replies. I will check out some of the ones mentioned. I would prefer aluminum. Must be side console or dual console (had a near death experience with my old tiller so the wife won’t get in one without a steering wheel now). I also would like something rated for at-least 90HP. I envision this next boat having a 90 or a 115 on it. Thanks again.

I figure I should still be able to get a decent used boat (2005-2012) for 9-16K. Is this reasonable? The one I talked about above that I slipped up on sold for 14 and that was a hot market.

I sold a 2004 Lund Angler (windshield model) with a 90 on it 3 years ago for $12k. It was in ok condition. I think your budget may be a little low. Or a lot low given the market right now.

Definitely low in my opinion.
I know this is way more boat than you are looking for butI had spotted two near identical lund 1950 Tyee that were the same year 2007, same power plants 225 Opti w/ 9.9 kicker, tandem trailers, 36v Terrova, and 2 or 3 electronic grafts. Same colors and all.
They had them listed for $35k.