done

LOL. How true is that? I imagine with my jon and even my dads boat growing up how many self inflicted issues we created.

Wow! That definitely should not have gotten through QC. It would be interesting to see the sequence of events that let that get out. That a dealer would stake their reputation on such a flawed craft is even more surprising. I did go through mine pretty good. Obviously there are parts under the deck that I cannot check. After each one of these shakedown cruises I have inspected the welds on the hull and such to make sure stuff was alright. I guess one thought I would have is that with the recent mods made to their topper jon line, maybe they have started to get the message. It is good info to know though. I guess one of the biggest takeaways you can get is one of your suggestions, inspect your new boat bow to stern before signing anything. If you see even one thing wrong refuse to take delivery and demand a different boat.

I never turn down an excuse to fish...shoot me a PM when you get the itch. There are some interesting areas above the steam plant. I have not gotten down to the lower end to much so maybe we could collaborate and get the full lake picture.

cart that sounds like a failure all around. Pretty much any manufacturer will screw up product, and sooner or later have it get through QC to the dealership (some more than others). If that damage was as obvious as you say, they dealership should have stopped the deal and told him he needed to wait for them to get another boat. To be honest, had I been through the same ordeal you are talking about, there would be no way I would ever go near another Tracker product either but especially the dealer and I would do everything in my power to make sure everyone knew about my experience (so thanks for sharing). The one thing with this one I greatly appreciated, the Tracker dealer at BPS walked the boat with me before any paperwork was signed. He insisted nothing be signed before the walk was done and we went over everything and every inch of the hull. I am not sure if he was extra careful because he saw with the amount of work I had done on the boat i traded in and figured I would do it anyways, or if they are that anal every time. This one though looks very well put together (talk to me in a year to confirm that). Now, all that being said, my toppers issues were disappointing. It was a cheap boat though, I did not expect a top notch craft for the price I paid. However, because they sold me the boat, with the motor, and without a single mention of the potential issues with the transom, I was not too happy about that. SouthFla, one thing I will say, watch the corners around the transom for cracks and the bottom of the transom right underneath the plug. You can significantly strengthen it with 4 Aluminum "L" beams riveted to the top of the transom and the back bench seat. You will get that transom to sit pretty still then.

Well they are great sellers. I just grabbed a Pro Team 175 txw and so far I like it a lot. Time will tell how it holds up but it does have a pretty good warranty on the hull. I do like aluminum hulls though. I really prefer them. I do find it interesting though be it boats, cars, etc how you can have folks who will swear to the brand as the best thing since sliced bread and another who will bury them as the worst on the market. Both can have very good reasons for their feelings and good data to back them up. I have heard the same on tracker boats.

I have had 2 TMs my entire life. The first I fished for a year was a MK Endura 50# stick steer. I fished it a lot but in heavy wind it sucked having to continually reach back for the stick. about 3 weeks ago I got a new boat with came with a MG 45# foot control. It is taking some getting used to it, but so far I would take the foot control any day. Being able to work a cove and move around logs, position against the wind, etc without taking a single finger off my rod is awesome. My first 8 hours on it, I looked like a drunken fool as I tried to get used to the foot control but the better I get, the more I love it. As for brand name, will have to let you know, my MK served me well and never kicked up a fuss even when I ran it into some rocks, and stumps. The MG has a tough act to follow after how well my MK treated me.

Sounds like a plan Bigbub! I have not gotten to allison yet, but been working my way down there. I will generally go from seven oaks up to I-85 (sometimes a little past I-85). Yeah this summer has been really tough. Have had a little luck up there but not a ton.

I did get mine at a BPS in Charlotte, they have a service center right onsite. I know they have a certified aluminum welder and do Tracker and Merc warranty work right there onsite. I have no idea what the wait would be though. To be honest, I have had my Pro team <3 weeks so talk to me in 12 months and we will see if I am still singing their praise. I was impressed they actually did upgrade (a well needed upgrade) their jon design though.

Hey bigbub, ya got one Wylie fisher here. Love it. Been working on figuring out Wylie for the last year or so. Generally launch from South Point in Gaston County.

As a person who has done something sort of like what you describe, I would put this as an alternative. You go out and buy something (say a reel), get out on the water and it sucks, sucks royally. You just cannot get it to work. So BR being the great spot for information you post a question on it asking to others opinions trying to figure out if the product sucks or your use of it does. I mean you can take the best casting reel on the market, put it in my hands, and I will out catch it every time with my worst spinning reel. So you can jump in here talk about how you bought this reel, and ask folks here how they use it, how it works, etc. I know with jigs, I went out grabbed some Booyahs, and was totally ticked at how they worked or didn't. Asked here, and got some great feedback that I was really not using them right. Anyhoo, just an alternative to why some folks would do this, besides they are just bragging. The other thing would be, they are just flat out excited and want to share. I know we all do that when we get a new boat.

How about our beloved BBall team in CLT? That has horrific ownership. The team had a lot too prove to recover from the rather unpopular way they got their stadium. Their ownership puts rap and gangsta themes to the entertainment and wonder why nobody in Charlotte will come to see them play. The way they price all these professional sports teams, who is going to buy the boxes? The rich folks. The local big businesses. This is a professional banker town in the bible belt. When you talk big companies you are looking at Duke Energy, Wachovia, Bank of America, etc. When you look at the Panthers and how they market the team in Charlotte and fill those seats, they cater heavily to those companies and it pays off. There have been rumors that Jordan may take over the team completely. I would LOVE to see that. Absolutely LOVE it. That man knows how to run a business and how to run a B-ball club. I think the team would do well under his full management. I don't want to come off sounding like a bigot here but no matter what sports team you have, you have to throw out an image that fits your audience. Each city has its own character and a smart owner will market his team to fit the unique character of the city they market in.

The only thing I can see saving him is he HAS to see the writing on the wall. Let's be honest, the man can play ball. He has killed the atmosphere at so many teams, and been booted that there is an ever decreasing number of teams that will take him. Seriously, if he gets himself thrown off of Buffalo, he may not be playing again. Even he has to see that. I would hope that would lead him to just say "No comment." to the press and keep any discourse between himself and ownership/QB behind closed doors.

It will. I would not be happy about it but it would stop it quickly. The one thing i can say about that van, it's breaks are good.

Not sure about the panthers. Seems every year they predict we will do good, we end up choking seriously. IMO, unless Fox comes up with something better than the same ol' playbook he has been using for 5 years (you could write a "beating the Panther for dummies" book easily) they are going to stink it up again. I mean we used to have a game out of calling the plays the panthers would run and we were dead on > 60% of the time. If we can do it, you know the guys who are paid to do it on the other teams are not having any trouble. In the AFC I am anxiously waiting to see what the Bills will to with TO. I wonder if he will wake up and learn to keep his trap shut and focus on playing ball. If he does, they will be a pretty good contender I think. The man can make a serious impact positively or negatively at a team like Buffalo. Whether it is good or bad depends on his learning 2 words: "No comment".

LOL. Burley you are killing me. Browns to the super bowl. Classic!

Alright, was hoping I could get some opinions on this. I have a 2006 Grand Caravan (6 cyl). It does have a hitch on it but does NOT have a towing package. I used to use it to tow my jon around in a crunch(it weighed maybe 500lbs at most). The standard maximum towing capacity on the van is 2,000 lbs. The boat I have is rated at about 1,002 lbs with the trailer. I have no intention of using the van all the time but in a crunch, how safe would say periodically using the van to tow (maybe 45 minute drive at most), would be for the tranny? I have no intention of getting on the highway with it or going long haul (got a truck for that). My main thought is a campground about 45 minutes from here. I use the truck to tow the camper, if possible would love to have the van tow the boat when we go so I do not need to make 2 trips but I do not want to go replacing a tranny either. Thoughts? Opinions? Am I crazy to even consider it?

I feel for ya man. I have family coverage and it is expensive. Last time I had emergency surgery (appendectomy), I had to argue for 2 hours with the claims person that is was an emergency (cause it was out of network) because apparently, just because the procedure code was "Emergency Appendectomy", did not mean it was an emergency. The only way you get reasonable coverage from any of these guys is to take a ton of time and complain, complain, complain, which does not make your employer to happy.

LOL, you made me curious so I went back and double checked. The lines, are the throttle line, the steering line, and the lines that run for the controls of the electric trim. They run to the corner then inside the side rail right to the console and front (there is a trim switch up front next to the outlet for the TM). I am thinking they run that way because with their position, it was just easier to run through the rail and access them for service. The back deck is full of floatation foam that they injected in there. It is rock solid forward the batteries and fuel tank. Because of their location the fuel line and hook up to the cranking battery do run under the deck and come up right there ahead of the transom.

Yeah the toppers are all riveted. Basically, they are a bargain jon. I got mine because I wanted a cheap jon that would get me in the water and get me some good experience on some of the various aspects of boat fishing. I put some serious miles on that little jon. Went from one end of Wylie to the other. The rivets held up well to some serious punishment from Lake Wylie wake. I also took it out every season and on some REALLY cold days. The only problem I had with it was that transom. Considering how cheap it would have been for them to reinforce the transom I was surprised they did not do it before. To me, if you are going to sell a brand new package deal even with a cheap boat, it should be able to be operated with that motor package without compromising the transom. The reinforcements I added cost maybe a total of $20 in aluminum and 1 hour time and significantly enhanced the strength so it no longer budged. It all worked out for the best though. I learned alot about the forces exerted on a boat, learned more on how to best reinforce those parts (it is easy to reinforce one part and cause a failure in another if you do not consider how your reinforcements move the stress around the boat), learned how to braze an aluminum hull properly, and better yet got more than a years worth of fishing out of that jon. It was a good little boat when the mods were all done. Whoever they sell it to, I hope it serves them well. Now I got a bigger boat, and the construction I did on the jon helped me really evaluate this one before buying it. I scared the salesguy a bit with some of the questions I threw at him on the design of the boat.

np Deaton, how'd the trip go? You guys put in near Ebeneezer? I usually launch from South Point and up there night has by far been the BEST time to get out there this summer.

yeah at '84 he got rid of it at the right time. I found with cars, houses, and boats there is a specific age when a major round of maintenance is due. I would think an '84 would be about due. Yeah a boat is either heaven or hell. When you are out on the water, and it is behaving, fish are biting, sun is out, you never doubt why you got your boat. Then there are the other times...when you start to think "What was i thinking buying that friggin' thing.". I am in a special place right now. Just bought a new one so everything is under warranty for at least the next year. I have enough experience with boats to fully appreciate the experience.

Not sure when they actually did this but I bought a new 1436 tracker topper jon, modded it and after some serious cracking on the transom (had a 8 hp merc on it which was less than the max recommended), I had to seriously reinforce the transom. When i traded it in, the fellas were impressed at how solid it was. I was in BPS this weekend and looked at the jons, they actually are reinforced now by Tracker. All I had to say was ABOUT TIME. For a cheap piece of aluminum I can tell you, the transom looks significantly better. I was surprised though that the transoms were so poorly suited for the motor I selected from their web site. In fact, after I traded it in, was told by the sale guy that those were horrible with anything above 4 hp. Seems that is something they would have known when I bought it and maybe, just maybe let me know that when I chose that option from their website. Anyway, no real point here, just an observation. I am glad they did it, and really, I would rate that jon over the one I had bought. So it is a step in the right direction for the boats.

LOL, along with the good advice here on keeping the line tight, my other actions depend on the size of the fish. For a good 'un, there may be a good increase in blood pressure and pulse, maybe some exclamation, or shouts. Truthfully, one thing I LOVE about bass is the jumps. No other fish I have caught in Wylie comes anywhere close to that jump as a LMB.

Ditto on Wylie this summer. Right up till mid June I was finding them easy. I have found my absolutely BEST time right now is right as the sun sets to 1-3 hours after sunset. i have gotten skunked daytime even early morning but those times of day seem to still be hot. I have tried it deep, shallow, light side, dark side, all over the place without luck. Daytime just seems to suck. Only a couple more months till fall though.

I did not have much choice. The 60 HP all they had were 4 strokes. As for Ethanol, the dealer and I talked about it at length. While the motors are rated for 10% he has had a lot of them being brought in and when testing the gas found much higher than 10% mix when the owner swears he never went to t place with more than 10% mix. I just do not buy any gas with any ethenol if I can help it.