Looking for a used boat to use as a test platform

[outboard]

For years I've bought and fixed up old motors, mainly using my 12ft Duranautic or my 16ft Starcraft as the test bed for various motors but the 16ft boat has a 20" transom, and the 12ft boat is limited to 10hp.

I've decided to look for a good used 14ft boat with a 15" transom that will be good to use for a multitude of motors.

I looked at and priced a new hull, and paying $3,400+ for what is basically a toy is not an option. (Bare bones 14ft three bench seat V hull). The likely hood that it won't last more than 10 years or so in the salt makes that an even less attractive idea.

It also needs to be an older model. I've looked at dozens of newer boats and simply cannot believe how many newer boats have major issues that were unheard of in the older models.

I've been looking for either a V hull or modified V style boat. I've found a few that were affordable, (Under $2k or so), but every last one had some horrible defect. I'm seeing broken ribs, corrosion through the transom panels, broken bench seats, missing or corroded rivets, and outright cracks in the metal.

My Duranautic 12, and my 16ft Stardraft are both over 50 years old and have none o f those issues and have lived in saltwater their whole lives. Sure, I've replaced a few pieces of wood but neither ever needed new rivets, or anhy welding.

I looked at several Lowe brand Mod V hulls lately, all newer than 2005 or so and everyone had cracked ribs where they bend upward to the sides. I've found dozens of boats with rot holes through the transom as well and even more with cracks or caved in bench seats that have broken away from their mounting bolts.

Its narrowed my search down to Starcraft, Mirrocraft, and Duranautic I suppose, and nothing newer than say 1999 or so.
I lean more toward a V hull than a flat bottom Mod V because they tend to be better in rougher water. I'm partial to these three brands mainly because I've had great luck with all three brands over the years, even though none of them are sold locally.

All of the OMC brands are suspect, Lowe, Sea Nymph, and Grumman all seem to have corrosion issues in the transom.

I realize that boats and brands vary greatly in other areas,
What would you expect to pay for a good used 14ft V hull that can run a 10 to 30hp or so sized tiller motor?

Any brands I should be aware of or travel to find?

I see a few on CL here but only one looks decent and has papers. I have no wish to hunt down missing paperwork or to deal with other issues. I also don't care about a trailer or motor, if its got either, fine, if not, I don't much care. I've got a few spare trailers and more motors than I can count.
It also needs to be able to handle a big man, I'm right around 385 lbs, 6ft 4in so it also needs to have a decent weight capacity.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

Spring is just around the corner (hopefully), and adds for boats should pick up. Besides CL, watch facebook Marketplace. Those selling a heavier duty 14'er will not get much interest without the trailer to haul it away. I'd think you should be able to find a deal, just takes time. Driving around some of the inland lakes of NJ may payoff too.

 

[boatyard]

I wouldn't put much weight on a trailer, most used trailers are usually junk anyhow.
I've bought a lot of boats over the years and only found one with a trailer worth owning. The rest were all either in need of new axles, spindles, bearings, lights, wiring, or they were rusted away from the saltwater.
I built my own trailer for small boats about 30 years ago, its made from 2x3" C channel with wood bunks. I had it hot dip galvanized and it uses 13" wheels, so I don't have to worry about bearing speed over the highway.
It used three lengths of steel, a coupler, two 2x4's and some angle iron. It cost me about three hours of welding, $400 to dip it and about $180 in steel and two fenders. I used simply LED boat lights and I built my own, solid steel axle on larger spindles with oil flooded hubs. I'll keep it till I die or can no longer fish.
A new trailer for a 14ft boat is about $1,400 now.
If I sell a 14ft boat here, the trailer will just about double the cost of a used boat.
Sug. retail on a 14ft boat now is $3500, and a 10hp motor is $3k, most guys prefer to find their own trailer, and usually have a motor they like and trust and really can't swing the $8K or so a full package costs, (more with a bigger motor). I find more guys who buy just the hull, new or used, and then fix up a cheap trailer themselves to save money. Most of the motors I see on boats here are also older two strokes.

Most good used boats run about half of the cost of a new one, or slightly more.

 

[outboard]

I was hoping to find one early, when they turn up in the spring they're usually gone before I ever see them.

I agree on the trailer deal, I've got one and don't need another project trailer, if it has one fine, if not, its no big deal. It'll spend most of the season in the water anyhow at my buddies dock. I have a line on a 14ft Duranautic up in NY, about four hours or so away and a Smokercraft Alaskan in PA but the Smokercraft may be too new, they seem to think its from 2015 so they're not likely to get off of their $2500 price nor do I want the later model hull. The fact that many boats lost over 200 lbs after about 1999 or so, tells me its made of lesser materials. I did look at one right up the road that was perfect but I figured I'd wait a bit to see if I find someone selling one cheaper but by the looks of it, that's not going to happen.
So far the local boat is the only one I've looked at that I can hang a motor on and use as it sits with no work, and the only one with a clear title.

 

[outboard]

Looked at a boat today, the ad had been up for over a year.
I knew when I went to look at it that its lighter than what I wanted but it is 14ft and rated to 20hp.
The seller said he's got a title for the boat and trailer, both PA titles. No motor but he said he had a few there if I wanted to buy one,

I got there and realized he had four boats for sale. All identical. Apparently they were rental or 'club' boats at some camp in PA. All were in spotless shape having not been run in saltwater or left outdoors for long.
He was asking $800 for the boat and trailer with two aluminum oars. Not all that interested in a motor since I've got a few hundred of my own here I wanted to see what he had. He opened up the door on an old camper and it as lined wall to wall with 80's model Johnson/Evrinrude 9.9hp motors with a few older 9.5hp motors mixed in as well. He said they all run but have been sitting for a few years. He was asking $500 each and said I was welcome to do a compression test. He said he only sells a few every year when those he lists are gone he locks the door and is done till next year.

I ended up leaving with the boat and trailer pictured, plus two 9.5hp motors one Evinrude. one Johnson, plus a 4hp Merc, all 1969 models, boat included. The boat title says Sears
I have other plans for the pair of 9.5hp motors but this will be a trolling motor only rig here. Its likely too small for me with any sort of gas motor and a fuel tank. It was just too clean to not make a deal on.

56 years old and not so much as a ding in it. Even the TeeNee trailer is clean. (He said the trailers were hanging in the rafters where he found them, never used since the boats lived on a rack on some lake in PA.
(Both 9.5hp motors fired up with two and three pulls home in my test tank),
Every motor he had there looked like it came through a time machine.
These are the ad pics, it was too dark by the time I got home with it to take any here.

 

[oilsmoke]

I've seen those boats around here, he must have sold others as well. The one kid had a 40hp on one. Another guy stuck a Kawasaki jetski drive in one. The thing was a like a rocket when it took off. Sears sold millions of those boats, they were cheap and light and took a beating but they were narrow. They were great pond boats but I'd feel a bit out matched in the salt in one. I've hooked 8+ ft sharks in the back bays down the shore. And some huge catfish in the rivers too.