Looking To Build Or Buy A River Boat Ideas/opinions Please!

[jtram]

Im looking to build or buy a river boat it will primarily be used on elk for smallmouth spring river for whites and catfish and occasionally on tailwaters such as taneycomo and beaver. trying to decide riveted or welded jet vs prop tiller vs. console flat bottom or mod. how big of an outboard. cost is an issue looking 3000 bucks or so. any help ideas would be great thanks.

[ozarkgunner]

You wont get into anything new with a jet for that price. I'm not sure you can even get a boat and trailer for 3K anymore. For abut 6K you can get a 25 hp 16 foot boat with a trailer.

[jtram]

not looking at anything even close to new looking at old functioning equipment age doesn't spook me!

[Wayne SW/MO]

It's hard to find a riveted jon boat and for good reason, some of the uses you mention can be hard on rivets. The other reason is economics, TIG welding is much cheaper to do than riveting. Material thickness is probably the most important and I would avoid the .050's. I don't believe any modified V's were made from the thinner material, at least none were when I was in the business.

[Deerhunter2]

I have a 17' long by 56" wide welded flat bottom boat (Alweld brand) with a 90 hp Merc. with a jet on it. Has stick steering set up about 7 feet ahead of the motor. I can run the boat fully loaded in water down to 4 inches deep, which is great for the small rivers here around my home. I also run it in the tail water below bagnell dam some. Also run the Missouri river around Herman, Mo. and Washington, Mo. So in short the set up works great for me from supper shallow water to deep muddy water, although it is not worth a crap in a big lake with waves over 1 1/2 feet. In waves the jet comes out of the water alot. A riveted boat will start seeping around the rivets after just a little use with a jet on it no matter what size the motor is, (personal experience). Tiller steering is fine with a jet motor no bigger than a 40 hp, jet motors bigger than that (prop motors also for that matter) will wear you out with tiller steering. I personally would not run a prop motor if I plan on running any shallow water, unless the motor is 15 hp or less. Never a good thing when a prop motor touches the bottom, (something will and has to break). All of this is just my personal opinion from my experiences with several different boats that I have owned. Others my disagree with some of my opinions, but I hope it helps you out somehow. Oh, I don't know where you live but around here (Central Mo.) you could find a decent older 16 foot welded boat with a running 40 hp jet motor for around 3,000, if you wasn't afraid to buy one that might need a little tlc. And, I totally agree with Old MFU, the thicker the aluminum the better the boat. My Alweld brand boat is 0.100 thick and it has taken a beating without much problems.

[stanthefisherman]

I'm also on the market for an aluminum boat, although I'm looking for something new (probably going with a Lowe Jon). I've been finding this website to be very helpful

http://www.aluminumboatguide.com/
 

as far as comparing similar types of boats.

[gotmuddy]

It's hard to find a riveted jon boat and for good reason, some of the uses you mention can be hard on rivets. The other reason is economics, TIG welding is much cheaper to do than riveting. Material thickness is probably the most important and I would avoid the .050's. I don't believe any modified V's were made from the thinner material, at least none were when I was in the business.

tig welding is more expensive than riveting by far. However if your talking new construction, no boat makers use TIG welding, they use spoolguns.