Riveted jons - Lowe, Alumacraft or Tracker???

[G Lap]

I have recently started reading this forum . . . seems to be an excellent source for information and ideas.
I am looking at different brands of new riveted jon boats and would appreciate you guys' opinions. I will be buying a riveted boat rather than welded primarily b/c of price. I live the the Houston area and have found dealers selling riveted jons by Lowe, Alumacraft and Tracker in this area . . . but I do not have any past experience with any of these brands. The aluminum for the Lowe is .072" thick, the Alumacraft is .070" thick . . . not sure about the Tracker. It will most likely be a mod-v 1648 or there about. The boat will be powered with a 1988 Suzuki 20hp that I already have.
Does anyone have any preference towards or against any of these brands from past experience? Am I overlooking any other good brands of riveted jons that could be found in this part of the country? Thanks for the input.

 

[huntinfool]

Any of those mentioned will be a great boat. I personally have a Lowe. I am in the Katy area, so your welcome to come over and see how mine has faired. It is an '84 and it is still kicking. I would look at the options for the transom, and seating and let those help you decide. I work on boats for a living and I will say that we do all of Trackers welding and glass repairs and they do have some on their aluminum boats. But they are always due to using it in rough water. So you might want to stay away from them. But again that is a personal pref.

Welcome and good luck with which ever you choose.

 

[G Lap]

Thanks for the reply. I did read on another forum about some owners of Tracker jons having pin holes on the transom from corrosion on boats as new as 2001 or 2003. This is not to say that these weren't due to saltwater use or that this same corrosion would not also be seen on other brands. I went to a Lowe dealer in Spring, and looked at the 1648MT. It seemed to be built pretty solid. The sales person told me about a Lowe lifetime warranty on the hull, but you know how those things go . . . a lot of fine print.

 

[huntinfool]

Any boat that goes into the salt and is not THUROUGHLY cleaned is subject to corrosion. This is just a fact of salt and aluminum boats. One nice thing about SOME of the tracker boats is that they are going to an aluminum transom, but I don't think they offer it on the topper model. I think it is just in the bass tracker. So depending on which model you get it could be woth putting up with a couple small things.

 

[Aaron Lariscy]

I would stick with Lowe or Alumacraft in that order, when I bought mine I looked at the Alumacraft and Tracker and and the Alumacraft is a way nicer boat. My grandfathers Lowe is even better however there were no local dealers for me to go that direction.

 

[knox37]

I have recently started reading this forum . . . seems to be an excellent source for information and ideas.
I am looking at different brands of new riveted jon boats and would appreciate you guys' opinions. I will be buying a riveted boat rather than welded primarily b/c of price. I live the the Houston area and have found dealers selling riveted jons by Lowe, Alumacraft and Tracker in this area . . . but I do not have any past experience with any of these brands. The aluminum for the Lowe is .072" thick, the Alumacraft is .070" thick . . . not sure about the Tracker. It will most likely be a mod-v 1648 or there about. The boat will be powered with a 1988 Suzuki 20hp that I already have.
Does anyone have any preference towards or against any of these brands from past experience? Am I overlooking any other good brands of riveted jons that could be found in this part of the country? Thanks for the input.

Sorry I am a little confused you title reads Jon boat but in your post you mention buying a Mod V. Is it just me or our these 2 different kinds of boats. I am sure it would make a difference in feedback if you wanted a v or a jon please verify which one you want. I have a Tracker Topper 15 and love it it may not be as nice as the other 2 but if floats does not leak and is less expensive. But if you are looking for a v than I think Trackers is very nice for the price.

 

[reedjj]

I would go with the Lowe or the Alumcacraft. They are the only ones that offer riveted boats in the 1648. or with a mod V. Tracker only offers up to a 1542 flat bottom in a riveted model.

Alumacraft offers a 1648 with no center seat or one with a center seat. Plus you can get either one in either flat bottom or mod V riveted.

Lowe only has them with a center seat. Both are good quality and will last a long time.

 

[G Lap]

Yeah, I looked at those Alumacraft models and the one with no center seat looks real useful with a lot of open space. If I was always going to be fishing by myself or with one friend, then this one without the center seat would have a big advantage. We have a two year old son and a daughter on the way. So with this in mind, having the center seat seems like it would have better seating for one adult and two kids . . . both while getting out to the fishing spot and while fishing. The prices for comparable Alumacraft and Lowe models both in the flat hull/flat bow design and the modified hull design are very close.

 

[Scottinva]

I don't know about the Lowe or Tracker, but I have had an Alumacraft 14x48 with 20 hp jet on it. The boat is about 20 years old and has been used on shallow rocky rivers its entire life. It is a riveted boat. It has been beat up really bad, but is still a good solid boat and really doesn't have any leaks.

Scott