My current boat (14 foot smoker craft v) works for me. It has a livewell, rod locker, room for 28x 3700 trays, day box, cooler, fish finder, two trolling motors, onboard charger, 25hp Johnson etc. Only thing it lacks: enough stability for my grandfather to fish comfortably. I am working and saving like crazy to buy us a new boat. I plan on selling the two I own right now. I figure I can get max 4500 for both of the boats. We fish small electric only lakes 90% of the time.Part of the reason is because we don't have a big boat, another is access/availability. I am fine with not being able to take on big lakes and rivers at this time in my life. 

 

I am looking at 1860 Mod V All-Weld boats, mainly Tracker and Alumacraft. Plan is to start barebones i.e. boat trailer trolling motor and batteries, and upgrade as the money comes in. I want to buy new. We are getting a new garage at the lake house so the boat will have a nice place to stay and we plan on keeping it for a long time so no worrying about depreciating value. Planning on getting a Karavan trailer, not sure what model yet. As for trolling motor, looking at the Fortrex. They can be had real cheap due to people upgrading to the ultrex. I have a Garmin 93SV for the boat already, not sure if I will sell it or not yet. 

 

here are some of my initial questions/concerns:

1. Alumacraft vs. Tracker? I am leaning towards Tracker because I like the price, layout and availability of them. The square layout sets itself up nicely for my deck design when I extend the casting deck down the road.

2. Dealer vs. DIY? I am all about DIY projects. Last build went a bit over my head. Learned a lot, but can definitely do better. I am not afraid to do it myself, only thing that scares me is messing up on a boat I will have for a while. I also don't want to void the warranty. Would be nice to save some money though. That being said, I want things done perfectly, and I am not 100% confident I can make it perfect. talking about trolling motor and electronics installation, wiring, etc. Basically anything the dealer/I could do to set it up as I like.

3. 80 vs 112? This is an electric only rig for now. I think the extra money up front for a 112 will help significantly. This is a big boat so it can afford the weight of three batteries.

4. Foam or Carpet? I want to install some sort of floor covering to protect rods and reels and make the bat semi nicer. I am looking at Hydroturf and Seadek, eating towards Hydroturf due to price, but if SeaDek is way better ill go with that. My thought process is to foam the subfloor where the deck will eventually go on top of, providing cushioning for my open rod locker. I like boat carpet, but I want to avoid gluing to the aluminum due to the mess

5. Eventual Upgrades? Gonna have this boat for a while. Possible upgrades I can see myself adding are power poles, 12" graph (or two), outboard (9.9 or 75), the deck (a primary concern), ultrex 112, etc. What order would you put these in after the deck and is there anything you'd add?

6. 1860 vs Alum Bass Boat? for the same amount of money, I could look into an early 2000's Bass Tracker 175 or similar. Boat wouldn't be new, but would be ready to roll and have an outboard giving access to bigger lakes. Something to consider.

 

Overall, I am certain the 14' won't cut it. My grandfather fell a few years back in a Jon and I have been worried ever since. I think the best option is an aluminum boat. I can fish shallow, beat it up, but have stability and a new boat for years to come. This is a big decision and I am working towards saving every penny I can.

stable, electric... Have you looked at something like this?  https://pondking.com/

There are several companies that make these. There should be some used around also. You can also add a gas motor to some models.

Looks like a cool idea.

For the ultimate electric power boat, the technology hasn't made it to the consumer market for boats yet.  It would use the new lithium or other light weight, high efficiency batteries and the high powered, high torque super efficient motors they are developing for electric powered vehicles.

Until it does, it's just a mater of picking out something that meets your needs and fits your budget.

1 hour ago, Way2slow said:

For the ultimate electric power boat, the technology hasn't made it to the consumer market for boats yet.  It would use the new lithium or other light weight, high efficiency batteries and the high powered, high torque super efficient motors they are developing for electric powered vehicles.

Until it does, it's just a mater of picking out something that meets your needs and fits your budget.

there are at least two companies making that now.  Torqeedo and Pure Watercraft.  It's expensive though.