V bottom jon boat vs flat bottom

[scoobeb]

I have a 1648 alumacraft jon boat and while I love it I'm personally tired of getting beat to death in minimal wind. They just ride so rough. So I was looking at a lowe v1668w which looks like an awesome v boat.

My question is can anyone tell me the pros and cons of a boat like this if anyone owns one like this,here is the link.

https://www.loweboats.com/utility-boats/1668w/

I really want this boat or something similar to it,my main concern is stability, I would think a wide bottom boat like this would be stable in a v bottom. They call it a utility boat not jon boat but imo it's a v jon boat. All I need to know is that it will be stable to fish off of and will it make a huge difference riding in rougher water and what these boats usually draft in water. Any help would be great as I'm hoping someone has a boat similar to this. It's the tiller version of course. Thanks for any help.

 

[surfman]

The ride is slightly improved but, don't expect much. See if you can get a ride in one, in rough water, in order to smooth the ride the nose needs to be trimmed way down into the waves, otherwise the boat just belly flops from wave to wave, still slightly better than a flat bottom but not a huge difference IMO.

 

[water bouy]

I never owned a flat bottom after riding in a couple for the same reason. Stability hasn't been an issue in my vees but it could be if it's turned into a bass boat with high floors.

 

[TheLastCall]

I have a Princecraft Yukon 15 it is very similar to the lowe your looking to buy. I’ve never owned or even been in a actual jon boat, they aren’t very popular where I’m from.

Stability will not be a issue. I can easily stand anywhere in the boat and not feel like I’m going to fall.

It is a smooth ride. At slow speeds you don’t feel waves under 2ft it just glides through them. On plane it’s smooth but you still can’t just plow through big waves. Like surfman said the trim has to be adjusted properly or waves will just hit the flat bottom.

I’ve been out in 3ft waves and never had a wave come over the bow.

The only time a wave has come close to come over was my fault going backwards into the waves, a wave came close to going over the transom. It would of come close or over in any boat.

I believe the sides are higher than most Jon boats.

It does draft about 8 inches of water (not moving) not counting the outboard. With the outboard down add 10 inches. Once on plane your draft is maybe 2 inches + outboard.

I don’t go in less than 2ft and when it’s 4ft or less I trim the motor to its shallow drive and idle in the shallows. Big rocks come up quick here.

I guess the big cons are deeper draft, more expensive, less space for same sized Jon boat.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bob9863]

I've had a number of flat bottom punts, they are fine duck boats and fine shallow water boats for fishing.
I've also found my little V nose flat bottom boats great, no where near as stable as the flat bottom punts but they don't fight the water like the punts.
What we call a V nose punt is the best of both worlds, its not the smoothest at WOT but it is as stable as a full flat bottom punt.
This is a typical boat of the style.

 

[Scott F]

They call it a utility boat not jon boat but imo it's a v jon boat.

Isn't the definition of a jon a flat bottom boat? Am I wrong, but if it doesn't have a flat bottom, it's not a jon is it? I've seen V hulls called jons on the internet but when did the meaning change? (sorry about the thread hijack)

 

[scoobeb]

They call it a utility boat not jon boat but imo it's a v jon boat.

Isn't the definition of a jon a flat bottom boat? Am I wrong, but if it doesn't have a flat bottom, it's not a jon is it? I've seen V hulls called jons on the internet but when did the meaning change? (sorry about the thread hijack)

That's why I said imo.

 

[scoobeb]

I have a 1648 alumacraft and it's a great boat but it just beats the crap out of me in almost no chop. Now this lowe v boat is extremely light like my 1648,will it really draft that much more still being as light as it is. I can get and float in inches of water even with 3 full adults. I usually fish in 4ft or less. I do fish sometimes in I mean low water,inches so if this boat won't do that then I may as well keep what I have.


My 16ft key largo was a v bottom fiberglass boat and the boat and motor together weighed over 1200 lbs and I got in a ft of water to float so I can't see a 375 lb aluminum v boat would draft alot of water. If that is truly the case then like I said I may as well keep what I have. One other issue I have is during the winter here on the west coast near the anclote island area if anyone knows that area it gets I mean full of grass on top of the water and the flat bottom runs straight over it and then builds up around the water intakes on the lower unit and causes it to stop water flow and causes it to over rev,this happens I mean like every 10 seconds when the grass is real bad so I have to stop and go a million times and it takes forever to get anywhere so my thinking is a v aluminum boat will cut through that grass and push it away from my lower unit instead of going straight over it and stopping every 10 seconds.


Will an aluminum boat be able to cut that grass out of the way like my fiberglass boat did or no? Also I'm wondering if the aluminum boat will sit low enough in the water to cut the grass away like my fiberglass boat did.

 

[water bouy]

You may need some kind of prop guard:

https://www.driftboatparts.com/product-p/prop_guard.htm

 

[scoobeb]

You may need some kind of prop guard:

https://www.driftboatparts.com/product-p/prop_guard.htm

Good idea but by looking at it,it wouldn't do any better because what happens if you look at the prop guard pics the grass gets caught on the back side and then it's so long it actually builds up and extends out towards the intakes so no matter what as long as I have a flat bottom jon boat this will happen. I can deal with the grass with a boat if I absolutely have to.


My main concern is boat ride,I have read that even a semi v jon boat rides much better than mine so I can't see how a full deep v like this boat I'm looking at wouldn't be a night and day ride,I'm just hoping someone here who has had both type of aluminum boats can chime in and give me real world differences.

 

[water bouy]

A vee hull rides much smoother, imo.

There are many different kinds of prop guards:

https://www.google.com/search?q=outboard+propeller+guards&client=firefox-b-1-ab&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjOkN2M4ILZAhUF7FMKHRM9CpQQ7AkInwI&biw=819&bih=502

 

[MrGiggles]

You may need some kind of prop guard:

https://www.driftboatparts.com/product-p/prop_guard.htm

Good idea but by looking at it,it wouldn't do any better because what happens if you look at the prop guard pics the grass gets caught on the back side and then it's so long it actually builds up and extends out towards the intakes so no matter what as long as I have a flat bottom jon boat this will happen. I can deal with the grass with a boat if I absolutely have to.


My main concern is boat ride,I have read that even a semi v jon boat rides much better than mine so I can't see how a full deep v like this boat I'm looking at wouldn't be a night and day ride,I'm just hoping someone here who has had both type of aluminum boats can chime in and give me real world differences.

A boat that cuts through the grass is also going to draft deeper. It's a double edged sword.

A semi-V just gives you the ability to cut waves without slamming into them or stuffing the bow. The ride is still rough on plane because there is little to no dead rise.

I have a 1448 Alumacraft F7 (Semi-V with flat bottom) that is very stable and will handle some rough water, but you best hold on, it's a rough ride.

For a smooth ride you want a dead rise around 20*. I couldn't find the angle for the Lowe, it's something you will want to look at.

Sounds like a Mod-V jon would work halfway decent for you, they will handle waves a lot better than a jon (will still pound though), and still have a pretty shallow draft.

 

[Bob9863]

Theres always a bit of give and take, a v hull is way way smoother and cuts through the chop better, it also handles the rough better.
A flat bottom boat also handles shallow water and timber beter, its more, much more stable to stand in.

So it depends on what you want to do with your boat, then pick if flat, V hull or V nose punt (flat)

 

[scoobeb]

I really like the way this lowe is designed,but I do love my 1648 due to its shallow draft. My buddy has a 1648 modified v which is just like mine but that little semi v and it was way less stable then mine and it was near as rough and yes still pounds you. I can deal with a boat that needs a bit deeper depth to run it because once it's on plane it should run in skinny water. This lowe is extremely lightweight like my 1648 so how much water could it need to plane and float compared to my 1648????


I would absolutely trade to have a much better riding boat were it won't beat my back to death,I hate also stopping every 10 seconds to take the grass off the lower unit so if a v would cut through the grass and help eliminate that imo that alone with the better ride is worth it to me.

I'm curious how much water could this light boat need to float,my 1648 will float in like 4" of water so if this boat floats in say 6 to 8" that would be fine. The issue I have is it's never calm out on the gulf,just a slight 10-15mph wind makes the ride real rough. I'm hoping this boat may be the answer to my needs.

 

[scoobeb]

Theres always a bit of give and take, a v hull is way way smoother and cuts through the chop better, it also handles the rough better.
A flat bottom boat also handles shallow water and timber beter, its more, much more stable to stand in.

So it depends on what you want to do with your boat, then pick if flat, V hull or V nose punt (flat)

I was searching the differences between the flat and v aluminum boats and it said anything 16' and larger in a v bottom is just as stable as a 16' flat bottom, is this true? The bottom of this v is 5' wide according to the specs,I would think that would be extremely stable,correct or no?

 

[water bouy]

Our opinions don't seem to matter much. Why not buy a used one cheap and see if it works or not.

 

[scoobeb]

Our opinions don't seem to matter much. Why not buy a used one cheap and see if it works or not.

Why would you say that,it means alot to me to hear some of your guys opinions, I never said your opinions don't seem to matter much. That is why I posted this to hear all your guys opinions and if anyone has any real world facts from owning both. I love this site and the knowledge it brings . Also I don't have extra money to just buy another cheap boat to try,I must sell my whole rig first then buy a whole new complete rig which will be near $2000 extra on top of what I can get for my setup. My 1648 setup is worth around $4-5k it's a 2015 1648 in near new condition /near brand new 2015 trailer and brand new 2018 20hp 4 stroke efi tohatsu never been run in open water.

 

[Crazyboat]

To the OP, the boat you shared in the link will pound your gums just about as fast as a jon boat will, if you look at the rear of that boat you'll see it's got NO deadrise whatsoever on her, just curved sides.

You can trim the bow down so she will "cut" therough the waves a little but with no weight to her any waves 1' or so will rattle the rivets lose, if not your fillings.

You need deadrise and or weight, you won't have either in that boat.

Best of luck, buy a bigger boat if you want comfort.

 

[WV1951]

Don't know where you are located, but look around on craigslist, fb marketplace, and see if some used one are around. There is no reason to buy new, when there might be some used semi v's in your area. Should be able to save at least half off a new.

 

[scoobeb]

To the OP, the boat you shared in the link will pound your gums just about as fast as a jon boat will, if you look at the rear of that boat you'll see it's got NO deadrise whatsoever on her, just curved sides.

You can trim the bow down so she will "cut" therough the waves a little but with no weight to her any waves 1' or so will rattle the rivets lose, if not your fillings.



You need deadrise and or weight, you won't have either in that boat.



Best of luck, buy a bigger boat if you want comfort.

So with the boat weight plus 3 full adults and gear I will be over 1000 lbs total weight in the boat,even with all that weight it still wouldn't be a better ride then my 1648 flat bottom jon boat????????