If I were buying brand new aluminum id go for the xpress too. You might have to give up something to come down to what you can afford but the xpress is proven. I cant in good faith give you a recommendation on a ranger, that design is too new. If it was glass, yeah sure.

 

Did jfranco ever sell his xpress? If not that would be the used boat for you to buy. Might be a long trip but worth it.

I'm not knocking the xpress boats. It was actually mentioned by someone earlier and I looked into them. I wish their website would let you build one to your specs and show the price

Ranger RT188 with a 115 can be had around $26k. They are having some issues with porposing which they are trying to correct

On 6/11/2014 at 5:22 PM, slonezp said:

Ranger RT188 with a 115 can be had around $26k. They are having some issues with porposing which they are trying to correct

Some people are saying that the older models didnt come with tabs welded on the bottom or something like that. I think you can get them installed for free under warranty.

 

Not sure if that completely took care of the issue or not though

What do you guys think about these?

 

 

http://louisville.craigslist.org/boa/4523829972.html

 

 

http://louisville.craigslist.org/bod/4523373666.html

 

 

http://louisville.craigslist.org/bod/4523326144.html

Hi FlipSide,

 

I see from your pictures that the boats you are looking at have ribs on the bottom.  Most metal boats with the angle iron ribs on the bottom has multiple ribs near the rear of the boat.  This ribs are a major pain if you fish stump fields.  You can trap a stump or limb between the ribs and it takes a bit of effort to get off.  My express has a stepped hull and is the best choice for fishing stump fields. 

 

Most of the boats you have shown have inexpensive fish finders that came stock on the boat.  Fish finders and trolling motors are one place Tracker and others save money on.  When someone sells their boat they remove the upgraded fish finder and replace with the old cheap one.  Very few will have a GPS on a used boat.  The Fishfinder/GPS is the most important piece of equipment on the boat.

 

You don't have a lot of deck space on a 17' boat and you need to have a rod storage compartment down the one side that connects with the back deck.  This gives you a place to lay rods as you fish.  You also don't want the console to be flush to the side of the boat.  A design with a small flat area between the console and the gunnel gives you an area to lay rods.  Even 4" is useful. 

 

Frank

http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/boa/4527378189.html

 

 

Found another one I might be interested in, Let me know what you guys think