by Bruce Middleton, November 12, 2007

What you need to know about buying and owning a big bass boat…

Buying a big bass boat is the dream of most every bass angler. A big casting deck up front and a smaller one in the back of the boat so you have plenty of room to cast with any style of cast you want and lots of room for your partner in the back. Standing up so you can see farther than ever before. A boat you can steer from the front so you can go out on windier days because it’s easier to steer the boat now because the trolling motor is up front and you have an extra powerful trolling motor to do it with. Lots of storage space so you aren’t tripping over tackle boxes and rods all the time. A stable platform that you don’t have to sit down in, all the time, and if you do stand up in it is not tipsy at all. Carpet on the floor so it’s quiet when you move around now. A huge live well in the boat to keep your fish alive in, while you look for the camera. A bilge pump in the boat so that you never have to bail out the boat ever again. And a big motor in the back to get you where you want in a hurry. Yes, a big bass boat has it all.

Well just about, you no longer can fish those lakes that require no gas engines. The main motor is just too heavy to remove and put back on again later, plus all the connections. That’s ok there are only 4 or so lakes like that around anyway. And you have to use extreme caution when loading the boat because of the investment you have in it, not like the little boat that you could just slam up on the trailer. No there are a lot of changes you have to make when you own a big bass boat.

Now to get down to the nitty gritty of it, are you going to buy a new boat or are you going to try and find a good used boat to buy? By buying a used boat you can get a larger boat for the same money a smaller new boat would cost. If you are going to buy a used boat you will need to have a large amount of cash on hand to buy the boat outright with as most people selling a boat don’t take payments. And if you buy a new boat you can expect to be making payments of $300+ for 5 to 8 years depending on the model and the price of the boat. You need to check the going rates at your bank or credit union for the APR for buying a new or used boat. Also too you should check and see if the manufacturer has a financing plan and at what rate if you go with a new boat. The manufacturer is usually quite a lot better than a bank rate. Also too try to buy your boat at a big boat show, as this is when you can get the best prices on a new boat especially last year’s model.

Next you will have to decide which type of boat you will be buying, an aluminum boat or a fiberglass boat. Generally speaking an aluminum boat is less expensive than a fiberglass boat. But there are only five makers of aluminum boats, Bass Tracker (the most popular), Lund, Fisher, Duracraft and Starcraft. Makers of fiberglass boats include Ranger, Statos, Triton, Skeeter, Bayliner, Venture, Monarch, Bass Cat, Nitro, Viper and many more. As you can see the fiberglass boat makers far and away out number the aluminum boat builders. This is because the aluminum boat can’t handle larger outboard motors and aren’t as stable or as soft a ride at high speed. Aluminum boats are also easily pushed around with the slightest wind and therefore harder to control. They are rougher riding as compared to a fiberglass boat and they don’t have a smooth bottom. Aluminum boats also don’t have a lot of other features that come standard on fiberglass boats.

These features include a safety ladder in case you fall overboard, more storage space, rod stage area, larger motors, bigger consoles with more gages, bigger trailers, more electronics, more battery power, and wider decks for more stability even in bad weather, more options as far as sizes of boats, electronics, trailer types, widths and so on.

When buying a used boat it is important to look closely at the hull for any damage or sign of repairs to the hull as this can mean the boat has been in an accident and may be unstable at best. Look at the transom for wear or damage by the boat motor and look at the whole back end for evenness. It should have no bulges or indentations. Look down both sides of the boat and look for any wrinkles or warping in the sides, as this is again a sign of previous damage. Look to see if the whole boat has been newly painted, this is possibly a warning sign. It could mean the boat has under gone a complete restoration and the new paint is covering up things like fire damage, a car wreck or other problems. Next look at the deck and the carpeting. Walk on it and cover every square inch. Feel for any soft spots, as this is a sign of damage. Look at all the storage compartments and stand inside them too. Check the hinges and the doors for dents. Now check the console and see how it feels behind the wheel. Does it have a tilt wheel? Lastly check the paint job for toughness and any new paint spots.

I would advise that you take along a flat blade screwdriver and pop the tops of the battery(s) in the boat. Look at the water level in each cell and insure they are all high and no cell is low. Take along a battery tester and check the level of charge of each battery too. There is no sense in buying a boat with dead batteries. Also ask when the last time the trailer wheel bearings were greased. Check the tire pressure too while you’re there and look for any rust on the trailer body. Ask too if the boat has ever been in saltwater. This has a deteriorating effect on the engine water pump and other parts of the engine if not flushed out immediately after use.

Now move to the trailer and give it the once over. Again look for any new paint. Look for any sign of a bent tongue or any place where you can see obvious welding marks that have been painted over. Check the tires for wear and check the license for the expiration date. Check the lighting system and make sure they all work. Is it a single axel or a dual axel trailer, if a dual ask if any of the axels have a brake system on it and check it out if it does. And lastly check the wheels, are they steel, aluminum or chrome? Steel is better than chrome as it gets less hot on long trips. Test drive with the trailer behind your rig. Make sure that the trailer doesn’t ride to one side or the other. This will wear out tires quickly and is a sign of damage.

On any boat you buy, new or used, check to see if the seats are comfortable. How much legroom do you have? Is the foot control for the trolling motor in a comfortable place for you? Are the electronics clearly visible to you from the driver’s seat and the front butt seat? Is any obstruction in your way from either the front casting deck or the rear casting deck? Look for quality, as you get what you pay for. In this case you are interested in resale value. Resale is a form of value.

How big is the motor, is the boat rated to handle this size motor? Does the motor have good water flow from it when it is running? Does it idle smoothly? Does it come up to full speed fast and smoothly? Does the engine smoke at all? Does the boat ride flat on the water or does it ride with the nose up or down? Can the motor tilt be adjusted? You need to be aware of all of these things when you buy a boat. This will save you a lot of time, money and grief later on if you can have them taken care of first before you buy the boat. And if at all possible you should always take a test ride in the boat before buying it so you know how it handles and so you have a chance to look for all these things I just mentioned.

Treat this sale just like you would if you were buying a used car. Get a real title for the boat. If one can’t be found I would be very suspicious as a lot of boats are stolen and sold out of state. Get a title for the trailer too. Remember you will have to get a license for the boat and the trailer each year so you will need the title for each. And don’t cheat and write down a lesser price than what you really paid for the boat. If the boat is found to be stolen and you are reimbursed, you will only get back the money you wrote down on the title. Again, without a title, buyer beware.

Now I made a statement at the beginning of this story that aluminum boats were less expensive that fiberglass boats. Now this is true up to a point. Bass Tracker has a medium top of the line boat out now for around $13 thousand dollars depending on the size of motor you put on the boat. They also have about the same boat with lesser motors and a few less features for $9 and $11 thousand. The bass tracker is 85 inches wide and 17 feet long. Now while researching this story I found that Statos has introduced the 176XT for $12,995 to compete with Bass Trackers comparable model that sells for $12,990. It is a 17-foot boat and 83-inches wide. Nitro also has introduced the Model 640-fiberglass bass boat. Their boat is 16 foot 5 inches and 83 inches wide. All are comparability priced with the same horsepower engine for comparison. All three have a 50-horse power motor and are pretty much alike in all respects except the Statos and Nitro have a rod storage space, a bigger live well, more general storage and of course a smoother ride, especially at high speeds.

Aluminum boats also are so light that they are easily blown about by the wind and require a lot of steering to keep them going straight on a windy day. A fiberglass boat is lower to the water line and heavier and is not blown around by the wind as much or at all. But the main difference is that when two men stand on the side of the Statos or Nitro boat, it hardly lists or tilts at all. But when the same two men stand on the edge of a Bass Tracker it leans over so far it almost takes water in over the gunnels. This shows the dramatic difference in stability between a fiberglass boat and an aluminum boat. It also shows how stable a ride they have verses aluminum. Finally, a fiberglass boat for the low price of an aluminum boat. Three cheers for Statos and Nitro.

Now don’t get me wrong. Bass Tracker is a great boat and has wonderful qualities to its credit. It has a long history of great performance and longevity. It was the first boat to even come close to offering an affordable bass boat to the masses and it still does. Aluminum boats are rugged and can take punishment that a fiberglass boat would spring leaks under. They have a rugged bottom that you can run up on the beach without any damage whereas a fiberglass boat must have added protection in order to save the bottom from damage. Bass Tracker is a boat I would recommend it to any one looking for an affordable, tough bass boat. But for myself the medium top end of Bass tracker has new competitors and those competitors are fiberglass boats and I prefer fiberglass to aluminum.

Of course there are other boats out there that you can spend a lot of money for, in the upper fiberglass and aluminum class. They offer many more options but especially longer lengths and larger motors that can go up to 250-horse power. And if you can afford to shell out $42,000 to $62,000, you can get just about any option on a 27-foot or longer fiberglass boat you can think of. But this story only deals with a comparison of middle or smaller sized boats.

This story is as much for me as it is for you the reader. I have tried to cover all the bases that I would do if I were looking at a boat both new and used. (Actually I am, I get to buy my big bass boat as soon as my wife’s new car is paid off.) And I have studied all the brochures of all the bass boat manufactures of both aluminum and fiberglass boats. I have looked at boat prices from $7,000 to $25,000 and decided that $13,000 was the price range that I could afford and still get everything I needed in a bass boat. It would have a depth finder both front and back. A powerful 2 battery trolling motor. A 50-horse power motor or at least a 40 on it. It would have plenty of storage space and a place to store my rods. A full live well and a bilge pump are a must to have on the boat. And the console and butt seat must accommodate my 6-foot 3-inch frame and 240 pound weight with comfort. The trolling motor controls must be easy to reach and not tiring to use or awkward. There must be enough gages on the console to know everything about the engine, not just a tack, and a fuel indicator and temp gage. I want an oil pressure gage, and all the others gages that are available.

And the trailer must have submersible lights, a wind down wheel on the tongue for easy moving of the boat and trailer. The spare must be easily accessible and the same size as the other tires on the trailer and the tires must be full sized car tires not those little tiny 12 inch tires that have to run at 99 mph just to stay up with you when you are doing 55mph. The winch must have a strap and not a wire. The tie downs on the rear of the boat must be wide straps that ratchet tight and have large hooks. I would prefer brakes on the trailer axel(s) but that isn’t a must have and another option is steel wheels. Steel wheels are just fine, as they don’t over heat on long hot trips. I would also like a quick carpet repair kit and small cans of touch up paint that matches the boat colors in case of minor scratches. I want a two battery trolling motor and a recessed foot control.

Now all in all I don’t think that, that is asking too much when looking for a boat, or at least a new boat. Now a used boat, well to be honest, I would have to personally know the person I was buying it from before I would even consider buying a used bass boat. Now say my good friend and fishing partner Bob decides to give up fishing, he is over 75 after all. Now say, he asks me if I wanted his Bass Tracker boat and gave me a price. Yes, I would buy his boat. But you see I know this person and I know that the boat is housed in a garage when not in use. He tells me about the battery problems he has had in the past and the new prop he put on last year. I know that boat about as well as anyone except for my friend who owns it now. Now that is a used boat I would buy. Now say Joe Smith down the road wants to sell me his boat. Well I don’t know him and I don’t know a thing about his boat, how it was treated or anything about the maintenance of it. So no, I probably wouldn’t buy his boat. I would rather take my chances on a new boat with a guarantee rather that take a chance on a used boat with a questionable history. In order to buy Joe Smiths boat it would have to be the deal of the century to get me to buy it.

Ok, now lets say you have made up your mind and you have shelled out your hard earned money and bought a big bass boat, now what? Well you want to keep it is show room condition for as long as possible so you have to know how to take care of it. This boat is an investment and the resale value of this boat is just as important to you as the original price you paid for it was. This is not like an old small open aluminum boat that you just go fishing in and then drag home and park and then just forget about. A big bass boat takes lots of care and maintenance that you would never lavish on an old open 12-foot boat.

First I would locate the battery-charging plug so you can plug in the 120-volt extension cord that sends a trickle charge to all the batteries. This charges the main battery that cranks over the big boat motor and the one, two or three batteries for the trolling motor, electronics, lights and other miscellaneous electrical needs. Second, I would find room in the garage to store the boat in. I would never leave it outside unless it was completely covered. Being inside also saves it from bleaching out due to the suns rays.

Now trailering a big bass boat is not like pulling a small aluminum boat. In the first place they are a lot heavier and wider. And if you have never backed up a trailer before my only advice to you is to go slow and don’t over steer. You have lots of time so take it. Secondly, make sure that the vehicle you are towing the boat and trailer with is large and powerful enough to pull the boat and trailer out of the water on a steep ramp where the tires are under water without a lot of grip. This takes a large and heavy rig not a little light car, as they just don’t have the weight to pull this type of boat out of the water on a steep grade with wet tires.

Now before you go out on the road with the boat and trailer you should go through a quick checklist of things before you pull out of the driveway. First check the lights on the trailer and ensure they all work properly. Next check the latch on the trailer keeper ball and ensure it is locked down and secured with a lock or bolt. Check the tie down straps and make sure they are tight. Check the tire pressure on the trailer tires and its spare and the towing vehicle tire pressure. Check to see that the winch is tight and set in the right position and lastly make sure you have enough gas in both rigs to have a good day of fishing. Check the drain plug too.

Now, no one has the time to clean and wax the boat after every time they take the boat out. But you can do a few time saving tricks of the trade that will help keep the boat looking great and cut down on the work you have to do to the boat to keep it looking good. Firstly, always wash the boat down after each trip with clean water. Use a long handed scrub brush to reach way under the boat and trailer if you find any muddy places. This will save your back and make the job go very quickly. Clean the trailer well and get underneath both the boat and trailer to get any grit or grime off from there. Wash the carpeting and the vinyl well and let dry. You can do this at home or stop by a car wash on the way home and do it there. At the car wash you can use the hot wax cycle to wax the boat bottom and sides. If you have a garage, roll the boat into it until you go fishing again. If you don’t have a garage, then cover the boat with a tarp or other cover to protect it from the elements. Now every year you are going to have to wax the boat to keep it nice and shiny. For this use a good car wax product with a soft rag to wax the boat hull, sides and top. Get inside the boat and go over any exposed fiberglass there too. Wash the carpets with a general cleaner and the seats to. Go over the vinyl with Armour-all to keep them supple and soft and they won’t split. Then let everything air dry and buff if needed.

Every couple of months check for scratches and use a tiny painters brush to spread a little manufactures matched paint on the scratch. Let it set for about a minute then buff it off. This will fill the scratch and remove any extra paint from the boat. At this time too grease the wheel bearing on the trailer and the zerks on the main boat motor. Set up a schedule for maintenance on the boat and follow it regularly. Doing things in small amounts one at a time is easier that spending two days trying to do it all at once.

Lastly think hard about what you want and what you need in a boat. They may not be the same thing. Once you have a boat take the best care of it you can so the resale value is as high as possible. And finally remember the old adage: boat is the acronym for Bring Out Another Thousand. And as some other people say, a boat is a hole in the water you pour money into. Other who do regular maintenance say a boat is for fishing anywhere at anytime for any thing.




Bruce Middleton
bpmiddleton@peoplepc.com