Buddy and I are going to be buying a new boat VERY soon. Lookin at a lot of 17' Aluminum boats. Crestliner, Triton, Tracker. Just looking for any and all info that y'all can come up with.

Rand

Triton or Express

My best advice is to look over any boats you're interested in with a fine tooth comb.  I looked at a lot of models (I wanted a 17-ish aluminum) before I settled on a Tracker 175.  

On any of the boats you want, you really need to get in them and get your hands dirty.  If you buy new (or even out of somebody's back yard) just looking at the boat may seem nice, but as soon as you climb around it and start trying to figure out where you want things you will notice extra likes and dislikes you may not have considered before.  

As far as just general boat layout (meaning, how comfortable/effecient, but not necessarily whether it's a sound used boat or not) look at how much room you have at the helm seat, whether you have to squeeze in behind the wheel and if you have room for your legs.  How are the rod lockers?  Are there enough to get your gear stowed and will it safely hold everything?  Will it be a pain removing longer rods?

Try to figure out where you would put your junk--uhm, I meant tackle!  Right away you will fill that sucker up!  So make sure you have all the storage area for the things you want to take, but also the things you HAVE to take: extra pfds, a light, signaling equipment (if required), etc.  A new boat will quickly run out of storage space and all the little things you didn't notice before will turn into much larger headaches after you've had the boat for 6 mos.

Anyone else have any input?

I was looking at Tritons the other day and I love what you get for the money, especially compared with Bass Tracker.

love my tracker

another option if you wanted a glass boat is stratos. they have a 17 ft

for bout the same price as the tracker.

They won't compare to a glass boat, but the only aluminum I would trade my champion for is an Xpress.  The closest thing you can get to a high performance aluminum bass boat.  Everything else in my opinion is a pimped out jon boat.  They are nice and I love the tritons, G3's, crestliners.  They are all nice, but IMO Xpress is the way to go.

one thing i will say is the new tracker revolution hull is a way smoother ride than the older stlye flat bottom trackers. i see allot of aluminum manufacturers still use the flat bottom old tracker shaped hulls and they beat you up. the deep keel on the new trackers really make it a smooth ride IMO.

I looked at some Xpress boats yesterday and some red flags went up immediately.  There seemed to be a lot of creases in the aluminum where the hull made the transition from the bow to the side of the boat.  It looks like a real candidate for a stress riser.

As far as comfort in an aluminum boat. . .  I have an easy chair in my den.  I don't need one on the water ;D  I would swap a little bit of a rough ride any day for not having to do all the maintenance and babying a glass boat takes.  

I can also get by with a lot less horsepower and burn a lot less gas in my old Tracker.

don't forget alumicraft  I love mine,,,here is a pic

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1213554116/60#60

my advice is probably not popular, but i would say save up, pay cash, and buy a good used one =)

Snowbass23 nailed it. Get the dealers to demo several different boats before you buy. none can tell you anything but looks sitting on a showroom floor.

I would get a Stratos 176xt

http://www.tackletour.com/reviewstratos176xtpreview.html

Looks like I need to start saving  

polar kraft hp175  best one on the market! check it out

17' 5 "

93" beam

widest and most stable 17'5 out there

ummm....honestly i wouldent buy a alluminum boat...u need to chech out stratos boats...176xt and 186xt.on and there are some pretty cheep nitros too..

Depends on what you are going after and what type of water.

I have a G3 1756 with a 40hp Yama with a Jet Drive Conversion (practical 30hp) for River fishing. Its a tank, Ive banged it on the shoals more than I care to admit  :-[ because of the Jet Drives superman inducing mobility...but its very stable and I even took it on the lake a few times before buying my bass boat....on a very busy large lake it wasnt that fun, but I was never scared I would tip either....