i am in the market for a bass boat and ran across a tracker avalanche at a reasonable price.  My main question is aluminum hull vs. fiberglass.  The boat is very appealling to the eye.  It is deeper than most fiberglass boats I have looked at and wider.  One big dfference that I noticed is the weight.  It is about 800 pounds less than other 18ft fiberglass boats.  Any and all opinions and info will be appreciated.

Thanks

800 pounds? Here's the weight of a Triton 186, according to the website: Approximate Hull weight - 1440 lbs

Tracker Avalanche, again, according to the website: Weight (approx.) 1505 Lbs.

I do know some aluminum rigs are lighter, I don't think this is one.

Here some 18' models specifications, including the Avalanche.

http://www.tritonboats.com/frames2.asp?cat=1&bid=128

http://trackerboats.com/boat/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.specs&boat=1977

http://nitroboats.com/boat/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.specs&boat=1950

http://www.rangerboats.com/flash/specification.cfm?mid=4968&series=vs

After hearing so much about the Avalanche, I decided to check this boat out.  Price wise, I don't see that much difference in the price of a 18 ft avalanche from an entry level, pure fiberglass model from most of the major manufacturers.  They both come in around the low 20's. Of course, the Avalanche is being advertised with a vastly underpowered OB. When you slap a 150hp Optimax on the back (still 25hp below recommended), you're pushing $26-27 grand.  I can easily get into a pretty nice fiberglass 18 footer for the same price. You're also limited to colors.  As for the Avalanche, they're mating an aluminum hull with a fiberglass cap.  I'm wondering what the longterm reliability and maintenance will be on this type of boat beings it's so new.  It's also too early to tell if there'll be problems down the road with the mating of the two completely different materials.  As for the weight, as already listed, there's no advantage to the Avalanche like you'd think.  It's also too early to tell what kind of resale value you'll have down the road with the thing considering this type of boat is so new.  BPS boats, regardless of branding, already don't hold their value real well.  I'd hate to see some sort of longer term problem with this aluminum to fiberglass mating make these boats impossible to resell down the road.  I definitely give the better resale value to the fiberglass boat right now.

My other issue is with BPS and tracker marine itself.  I usually don't bash Nitro boats or any of the other brands they sell like Tahoe but I do know from first hand experience a couple friends have had with a Tahoe amd a Nitro boat,  that I'd NEVER own a NITRO boat, EVER.  Besides ones experience with getting a shoddily put together "brand new" Tahoe boat, their customer service is beyond bad.  In his first season his boat was into the shop numerous times for repairs, some of the repairs were for damage done by the service department. The other friend with the Nitro had to make numerous trips to Springfield, many times because the work wasn't done right in the first place. Not a good deal when you live 250 miles away.   There's a reason there used to be a complaint forum specifically for Nitro boats.

If you'd like to hear the full story pM me. It's pretty unbelievable.