Stumpalump said:
Older one's along with canoes were sucked up when scrap aluminum was high. People would buy boats for 1/2 of what it would scrap for with no intentions of using it for a boat. Theft was also a problem. Old tins sitting against garages or in yards would be carried off for quick cash. Perect boats especially canoes got cut up and scraped. Thank the Unions for running the price up and thank the Russians for flooding our markets with cheap aluminum and saving what was left of the boats. One of the reasons I despise you farktards that hack up these old boats into stupid carpet covered paricle board POS conversion wannabe bass boats. If you have a reasonable condition older tin then save it. They perform as good or better than the new stuff anyway. If you want a bass boat then buy one and stop hacking up the heirloom quality older boats that are left.
Wow bro, who pissed in your cornflakes?
Based on your logic, because it's old, you can't modify it? That's as stupid as telling guys they can't hotrod their "classic" cars. If guys are buying these boats cheaply, that tells me there isn't a lot of value to that "classic" boat. Thank god I live in America where I have the freedom to choose what I do with my own personal property. Turning the boat into what you want it to be is half the enjoyment of owning it. I think you picked the wrong forum to join if you don't like seeing older aluminum boats get modified.
And that's a pretty bold statement "They perform as good or better than the new stuff anyway." Sorry, but a bare bottom aluminum V-hull from the 60's or 70's isn't exactly a high quality rig. If they were truly better, that would be reflected in the open market selling prices. And not everyone making conversions is making it into a "bass boat." Some people just like having a flat floor and/or some storage space. Why do you think there are so many manufacturers of decked V-hull aluminum boats these days?
While I do agree with VinTin on the sawzall savants, you're failing to take into account that aluminum boats are much more efficient than fiberglass bass boats and offer a much lower overall ownership cost. Not everyone wants to pour money into the water to own a glitter rocket. In places like HP restricted and electric only lakes, I LAUGH at guys that use their big heavy fiberglass bass boats. Not to mention shallow and rocky areas as well. My buddy uses his "classic" decked 16' V-hull for fishing, crabbing, and pulling the kids on tubes. And guess what, it's comfortable for all those activities. But would it be just as good if he did all that in a bass boat? Nope, it would SUCK!
There's a lot of things that will eventually just disappear or only be a few left of. That's just a part of life and we have to deal with it. Eventually, the classic boats will become rare enough that their classic status will elevate the price enough to deem them too valuable to modify. Until that time, you should probably just direct your rage to something else, or at least on some other site because this isn't the right venue for it.
