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I wouldn't say over engineered but the fact that it's an older Tri-V hull built in 1986 is odd. By '86 almost all builders were putting out true V hulls. Apparently K Craft did as well after this boat was built and was trying to find a pro to use their equipment. They never found one and the company went out of business a little later. If they used racing hull construction methods in this boat it's probably built well enough for handling bass fishing waters. If the boat checks out completely, motor included, I still wouldn't give anymore than $2500 for it. It's certainly been well kept as the gelcoat appears to be immaculate for a boat that age. The layout is rather unusual and those side mounted rod boxes basically sucked. They were barely suitable for 5'6" to 6' rods which were normal rod lengths at the time. Anytime you're spending in the $3-4K range for a fiberglass bassboat you're usually looking at an older boat. Older boats can not only have regular breakdowns mechanically but you've got to look at the construction aspect of the boat. Older boats were built with wood as the structural reinforcement. Wood rots when left exposed to water. A rotted old boat can be a real loser. Anyway, good luck and welcome to the forum.

K-Craft boats has some ID now. A couple brothers in North Carolina built some racing hull boats in the early to mid 80's and decided to get into bass boats. This is one of theirs. Apparently they didn't last too terribly long before they went out of business. As for whether this boat is worth $3500? I'd go over to NADA and punch in the numbers for a motor and trailer of that vintage and add about $700-800 bucks for the boat. It's certainly a rarity but as to how good a boat it was???????

Saw a St C Tourney Legend Drop shot rod this morning, brand new for $145 over at BFHP this morning. I see it's already sold though.

OK, that last picture you posted has really got me wondering. The starboard gunwhale cap is actually part of the console!! Man, that is one funky looking boat. BTW, it's very unusual that an '86 would still be an old sponsoned V design. By 1986 virtually everyone was building straight Vhulls.

Just looking a little further at the boat there are some rather interesting features. First is the gunwale width, especially towards the rear of the boat. It is rather wide and angled upwards. Sorta reminiscent of the old ArrowGlass Freedom series of bassboats. Another thing is the liberal use of pinstriping. It was kinda unusual back in those days for a manufacturer to go to the time and expense to have inlaid pinstriping applied to the top cap like that. I've also realized that that thing I was pointing out appears to be a rather unusual storage compartment between the driver and passenger seats. Rather odd but is resembles a storage compartment that Cajun put on a boat they called the "Ultra". That boat was Cajuns attempt to build a high performance bassboat in the late 70's. That boat had no square corners and all compartments were curved. That boats between seat compartment is angled in a similar vein. Another thing which isn't good is that side mounted rod box. Those were never a good idea. that's a rather odd boat. If you can find out anything from the owner go ahead and post it. I'd be curious. BTW, as LBH said, that boat is in remarkable shape for something around 25 or more years old.

BTW, what's that silver with red trim thing just under the front deck seat?

Welcome to the site.

Here's a 1974 K craft I found. A little longer than that boat. http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1740351/0

I'm envisioning a colony of flying ants going about their business until they unsuspectingly go flying over Avids pool with a chlorine cloud rising above it... they never knew what hit 'em. ;D

I found it in a 1999 BPS catalog. It was the first autopilot style trolling motor. It also had a built in transducer but would only work with their sonars. Those TM's were running between $1300 - 1600 back then. That didn't include the sonars which were $300-600. The sonars could be networked together so your buddy in the back could have the console sonar displaying what the front sonar was displaying!! : It looks like if you bought the whole system you'd easily drop $2000 - 2200 on a complete setup. I guess that and the fact you're seeing so many complaints is the reason that company isn't in business any more. Use it to sink a brush pile with.

I've known of a lot of different boat companies but that's a new one on me. I wonder if they built anymore than that one. ;D

There was just a thread on here about the Revo disassembly.

Did you super shock your pool?

I think I would've thought a little longer before posting that analogy.

I don't use the Zoom plastics but I've got plenty of 11" worms in either Lucky Strike Sneaky Snakes or an out of business company called Big Bite. I fish them T-rigged with at least a 5/0 hook, sometimes a 6. You can throw them C-rigged as well.

Fiberglass bassboat design, hull wise hasn't changed too terribly much in the past 15-20 years. What has changed are structural composition, ergonomics along with the hull width of most boats. Typically, an 18 to 18 1/2 foot bassboat 15 or so years ago was around 86 - 90" in beam with a 150 or 175 hp rating. As time went on and in anticipation of the heavier 4 strokes, they widened the beams to the current 93" and up which require a higher hp motor to hit max hp. Most, but not all boats were composite construction by 1999. Most of your name brand boats are well made. The biggest differences come in the hull design as far as ride and speed are concerned while running and the fishability of the hull while you're fishing. Each brand has it's strong points and quirks. As is always suggested, take any boat you're interested in out for a test run and have the motor gone over by a qualified mechanic. Good luck.

I'm proud to announce that during my deer hunting days I regularily shot amadillo's whenever I came across them on the conservation hunting grounds down in Sourthern Missouri I deer hunted on. I shot them not to eat obviously, but because they're a nuisance migratory animal that's made it's way this far north. If you've ever been walking through a field and put your foot into a dillo hole you'll know the reason. Most landowners encourage people to shoot them. The conservation dept. has no standing on the animals that I know of. Since they're non indigenous to this state I suppose they have no problem with the killing of them as long as it's done in a safe manner.

Of course. I've operated on 10hp limited lakes before and fired the big motor when a storm was approaching. Any conservation agent puts the book away when your life and limb is possibly at stake.

8-) Outstanding! I can use my rod box for something useful now like golf clubs. Rod storage will be a snap with one of these!

Reading your original post, it states your reel began getting rough to use just a couple months after owning it. Why didn't you take it for service then since it obviously wasn't working right? No, you continued to use it while it had a problem. No wonder the thing seized up. Sorry bud, but I buy and sell reels all the time including Records and Calcutta's. I handled both brands of reels and I'd put a year old Record up against a year old Calcutta anytime. Both are great reels in my book.

That style of boat was actually known as a Sponsoned V-hull boat. Manufacturers thought at the time, that you couldn't build a true V hull bassboat without it being too tippy due the high center of gravity. Thus they added the sponsons for fishing stability. You still see Challengers around for sale, the reason I'd probably steer clear of that thing is the distinct probability that most of the wood in that thing is rotted. Stringers, floor and especially transom. I'm sure that boat is probably priced at $1500 or less. I'd advise looking towards an aluminum boat if you don't have a lot of money to spend. Anything fiberglass at that price range will probably be a serious fixer-upper.

Stuff reminded me of that green wire the florists use. I got a spool for free and gave it away. Just feeling that stuff on the spool was an immediate turnoff.

There have been some posts here recently stating that isn't quite the case. Just exactly what was wrong with the reel in the first place? What do you mean by wear and tear? You've raised a whole bunch of questions but haven't explained any of it. Perhaps before you go trashing ABU, you need to explain exactly WHY they're denying warranty service on the reel. BTW, I've handled several Records that were around a year old. They were very solid and smooth, as smooth as any Shimano. Calling them a piece of junk isn't helping your case in my book.

?? Stuck float?? What motor?

Lowes is based out of Lebanon Missouri. They're right on I-44 next to the G3 and Landau factories and across the highway from Trackers Aluminum boat plant. It's sorta the aluminum boat mecca of the country right there. Still in business, contact them and they could probably answer any questions you have.