I am looking for a 17-19 foot bass boat, to replace my 1981 16 ft Tracker with a 10 hp motor on it. I want at least a 75 hp motor, and preferably an aluminum boat since I often fish real shallow water, but I might get a fiberglass depending on what kind of deal I can get, I would like to stay under a 10K budget. I have found 3 boats that I would like to go look at soon.

The first one is an 04 Triton tr186 with a 150hp Mercury XR6, Lowrance hds9 and hook7 units, and a Minnkota Terrova that's still under warranty for $9500.

The second one is a 2000 Procraft 185 with a Mercury 150hp XR6, Humminbird 899, and 859 units, and a 24v Motorguide X5 for $9000.

The third one is a 2010 Bass Tracker 175 TXW with a 90 hp Mercury Optimax, Motorguide trolling motor, the electronics are unspecified but it has 2 units looking at the pictures, its listed for $9500. 

I haven't seen any of them in person yet but going by the pictures all three look to be in good shape. I am leaning towards the Tracker since it is the newest and it is aluminum, I know Triton is a well known brand, I haven't heard much about Procraft. I have very little experience with boats other than the one I have now, any advice is appreciated.  

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ 

I will not be offering any advice but will say that there are 'several' threads on this forum that may help you out.

 

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/search/?q=" used bass boat "&updated_after=any&sortby=relevancy&search_and_or=and

 

Good Luck

A-Jay

Hello and welcome to the forum. Good luck in getting the boat you want.

The outboard motors would be the most important item of significance if I was looking at 10 year old boats. Inspect them thoroughly or have someone that is qualified to would be a good start.

I had a 2001 Procraft 185 with that exact motor.  First of all, I did not have any problems with the boat or motor, but with a used bass boat, as I’m sure you know, it’s a matter of how it been taken care of.  That being said, IMO I would list my pro’s and con’ as:

 

Pro’s

 

1.  The boat did really fish well for an 18’ boat

2.  Easy to maneuver in trees.  I did not get high centered on stumps, etc.

 

Con’s

 

1.  For me, I sat low in the boat so see how  comfortable you are in seeing out when sitting in the boat.

2.  It had a fairly rough ride if the lake was rough, but honestly, that is the case with most if not all 18’ bass boats.  The longer boats as a whole do ride better in rough water.

 

i hope this helps

17 hours ago, gimruis said:

The outboard motors would be the most important item of significance if I was looking at 10 year old boats. Inspect them thoroughly or have someone that is qualified to would be a good start.

What do I look for when I inspect the engine? I am an auto mechanic but I don't have much experience with outboard motors.

Do a compression check on the cylinders for sure I would guess.

32 minutes ago, bassfisher444 said:

What do I look for when I inspect the engine? I am an auto mechanic but I don't have much experience with outboard motors.

Compression of each cylinder and lower unit fluid to make sure no water has gotten in.  You probably won’t be able to get any Procraft parts if you need them.  Johnny Morris bought them and shut them down.  He owns Triton and still makes them.

20 year old glass boat vs 16 year glass old boat vs 10 year old tin boat. If the waters you plan on fishing don't require a fiberglass boat, providing the motor checks out, I think the choice is obvious. 

23 minutes ago, slonezp said:

20 year old glass boat vs 16 year glass old boat vs 10 year old tin boat. If the waters you plan on fishing don't require a fiberglass boat, providing the motor checks out, I think the choice is obvious. 

What kind of water would require a fiberglass boat?

28 minutes ago, bassfisher444 said:

What kind of water would require a fiberglass boat?

Any water that has heavy boat traffic or big water. Require is relative. Big water is relative. Large shallow water reservoirs tend to get rough with less wind than their deeper counterparts. Powerplant cooling lakes are designed to "catch" wind to help cool the water and tend to be rougher with less wind. A 17ft boat will react differently on a 300 acre lake, than a 3,000 acre lake, than a 30,000 acre lake under the same conditions. In general, a fiberglass hull will handle rough conditions better just because the hull weighs more than an aluminum. I have an aluminum hulled boat that will handle rough conditions better than similar fiberglass hulls, simply because it was designed that way.

 

If you are fishing small impoundments, the Tracker is the way to go.

Most of the lakes I fish around here are 750-4,000 acre impoundments. However I will occasionally go down south to fish the bigger lakes like the ones on the Tennessee river system, I am also planning a trip to Santee Cooper in April. 

@slonezp covered it nicely above.

 

 In the big picture, when you set yourself up with a rig that is safe & completely capable in the biggest water you will ever fish, chances are you'll have exactly what you're hoping for every where else.

 Chose something else, expect different results.

Best of Luck 

A-Jay

18 minutes ago, bassfisher444 said:

Most of the lakes I fish around here are 750-4,000 acre impoundments. However I will occasionally go down south to fish the bigger lakes like the ones on the Tennessee river system, I am also planning a trip to Santee Cooper in April. 

I have fished Santee Cooper and did it in a 17ft aluminum. The alligators tossed the boat around more than the wind and the stumps...LOL

 

If the majority of your water is small, than why go big? The 2 bodies of waters I primarily fish are complete opposites. A 9000 acre impoundment, which is the busiest fresh water waterway per acre in the US and the Great Lakes. 

 

4000 acres is nothing in the grand scheme of things. For 10 grand, I would go with the Tracker providing it checks out mechanically. 

To bad you are not closer to GA, I could offer you a 20' Javelin Dual console (Renegade 20DC) at a good price.

2 hours ago, Way2slow said:

To bad you are not closer to GA, I could offer you a 20' Javelin Dual console (Renegade 20DC) at a good price.

And there's a fair chance that the top speed on that rig is acceptable.

A-Jay

With the stock 225 on it, it does ok.

I've pretty much decided I'm gonna sell it, probably list it next spring unless something comes up sooner.

I've had it in the water four times in the past two years.  Since my granddaughter has married and moved on with her life, and my dad died several years ago, just haven't had the desire to go by myself.  Those four times it has in the water was when my granddaughter was wanting to go.  I haven't told her I'm going to sell it, and probably won't.  She will pitch a fit.  She was almost raised in that boat and has a ton of fond memories for her fishing with her papa and gramps (she calls me papa and my dad she called gramps).  When my dad was living, he loved to fish so I made a special effort to go every other weekend to take him, and naturally since my granddaughter lived with us, she was also in the boat anytime it was in the water.

It's a bit of a pain getting it setup to run in the tank every couple of months and buying batteries that might get use twice.  I don't let my motor sit without being run regularly.  That prevents all kinds of carb and fuel problems, that's lawn mowers, chain saws, weed eaters, log splitter, and several outboards.

I looked at the Pro Craft and the Tracker today. The Pro Craft was the original owner and had been garage kept its whole life so it was in great condition, however he sold it a few hours after I looked at it. The Tracker is also in great shape, original owner, kept under a car port with a cover. The seats and carpet are in great shape for a 10 year old boat, and the motor runs good. It is only Tracker 175 with a 90 hp motor I have seen, most of them only have a 75 hp rating and come with a 60 or 75 hp motor, I'll probably make an offer on it. 

Also is the 90 hp Mercury Optimax a good engine? 

Depends on the year, and the luck of the draw.  They all went through their development pains in the early years of the DFI motors.  For the first few years Opti-Max's had the nick name Opti-Pop's.  I would definitely look for a 90 on one, 60's left a whole bunch to be desired, and 75's were not a whole lot better.

It's a 2010 90hp Optimax that came with the boat. 

2010 w/Optimax should be able to get a computer read out of engine run hours, time at various rpm's and any service records. 300 hrs is a threshold for 2 cycle OB engines if the majority of run time is above 5,000 rpm's.

Compression check is easy, water pump psi should have a gage. How the boat was stored when not on the water, garaged is ideal. The boat trailer tires over 10 years should be changed and general trailer condition indicates how it was used. Salt water kills trailers a OB engines not designed for that use. Check for trailer rust, a hammer test works.

Electrical wiring, batteries, pumps, TM and sonar units may need to be replaced so factor those into your budget.

The TR -186 w/xr6 is a good boat and motor, solid fishing plateform and safe. I would avoid the Pro Craft if glass over wood construction.

Good luck,

Tom

I ended up getting the 2010 Tracker for $8500.

On 1/17/2020 at 6:19 PM, bassfisher444 said:

I ended up getting the 2010 Tracker for $8500.

 

Nice..Congratz...Get some pic's up if you can..

Congrats on the new boat. We need pics of your new ride!

It's in the 20s here now and the boat is covered up, I'll snap some pictures when I pull it into the garage and uncover it. I'm going to do some routine maintenance and a few upgrades.