Current and previous vessels you've had and...

[badmoonrising]

The issues you had with them. Me first

1980s: 15 ft Alumacraft with 15 hp Johnson. Powerhead at around 900 hours ($500). Multiple ignition coil failures $55 each, 4 times.

Early 90s: 17 ft. Proline with 115 Evinrude. Powerhead at around 1200 hours, $1800 (parts only). Sold vessel after purchasing my Starcraft. New owner had to replace the lower unit a year later. ($1500).

Late 1990s- present. The 1968 Starcraft. Previous owner was the original owner. It sat for 10 years due to the owner's health. Used exclusively in salt/brackish water until '87. He had the head rebuilt after the head gasket failed after the vessel was a couple of decades old. Engine was locked solid due to lack of proper maintenance when I bought it. Otherwise, it would still be running.

I installed a model year 99 3.0 liter and Alpha One Gen 2 drive in '99. It needed a carb. rebuild in 2005. Currently at about 1200 hours. Runs and starts like new.

2006 - present. The Party Cruiser. Needed a carb. in 2007 due to improper fuel lines installed by Tracker (incompatible with ethanol fuel). Cost: $0. Covered by Boat US insurance.

The end.

[smlranger]

1984? Cheetah fish 'n ski boat with 140 Johnson. Got it used in 1991. Boat was fine, fast and fun but had a thru hull fitting in a live well that leaked all the time. Had to make sure the bilge pump was working .

1992 ProCraft fish 'n ski, 18' with 150 Merc 2 stroke. Bought it new. Great boat but the Merc trashed a piston in second year of ownership and the extended warranty company that the dealer sold to me refused to pay (said I got 'bad' fuel). Me and the dealer had some 'discussions' and I got a good trade in on another new boat (listed next).

1994 ProCraft fish n' ski, 20' with 200 Merc EFI with a Mercury extended warranty. Great boat, handled rough water well and handled like a 20' jet ski. Wanted to do more serious fishing so sold it in 1998 and the guy who bought it from me is still using it.

1998 Ranger 692VS Fisherman, 19' initially with Merc 150 Optimax. The Optimax was in the shop 14 times in the first 16 months of ownership. I think part of the problem was the dealer's mechanics were not skilled on the Optimax in spite of their many consultations with Mercury. Finally, I told the dealer to take the POS off my boat and replace it with something reliable. Dealer gave me a great trade on a 2000 Merc 175 EFI which was bullet proof for the 11 remaining years I owned that fine fishing boat.

While I had the Ranger, I also got a new Starcraft 20' pontoon in about 2001. It had a 60 hp Yamaha 4 stroke. It was rigged for fishing and was a great boat but too slow for me at the time. The Ranger had me spoiled so I sold the Starcraft after about 14 months. I paid $12K for it new and sold it for $11,500 14 months later so that was good.

Traded the Ranger in 2010 for my current boat, a 2011 Sylvan 20' Mirage fish pontoon with a 115 Honda. My only mistake was not getting a tritoon so paid the dealer to install a third tube on it last year. Best $2,800 ever spent. Love the boat....vinyl flooring, rigged for fishing but great cruise the lake boat too. Runs about 32 mph, handles and rides well. It will be my last boat and should take me well into retirement.

[Texoma Toon]

Growing up in Los Angeles my parents had boats, cabin cruisers, but my first one was a 1975 19ft Fantasy trihull with a 305 IO. Never had a problem with it, but did get caught in a storm on the way back from Catalina and almost swamped it in the middle of the channel. In 1978 I bought a new 18ft Ranger with a 150 because I had been bit by the bass bug. Ended up selling it when the first daughter was born cause we needed the money in those days. Sold it to a guy I knew in San Diego. He liked to take it out in the ocean and invited me and my FIL one day and as we were coming back into the breakwater behind a 50ft cruiser he decides to go around it. Yep he nose dived over the wake just like I told him he would......dumbass. Lost all our fishing gear over the side and the coast guard pulled the boat to the dock so we could get on the trailer. Sent him a bill too. I was boat less during rest of the 80's and early 90's fishing with any friends that would take me along. In 98 I bought an 87 tracker with a 50 horse that ran like a top. Also started fishing Lake Fork every chance I could. Never had prob with it at all, wish I still had it. 2002 bought a repoed 2000 19ft bumblebee with merc 200 that ran 74 gps wot. That was a fishin machine at fork. Never ever got skunked in that boat. Set my personal best at 10lb 3oz for bass. Sold it in 2006 when we got the place on Texoma and bought our 2007 G3 pontoon. Lovin every minute on the toon.

[wwind3]

1968---Ouachita 12ft jon boat with 9.8 Merc---motor was perfect till friend borrowed it and sucked up sand and killed water pump.Boat rivets leaked.

1970 16ft Ranger bass with 85 Merc--no probs with anything---bulletproof and quick.

1979 16.5 Venture bass with 115 Merc----bulletproof and fast. Venture hull held world bass boat speed record-i think around 82mph . Mine was radared at 55mph and almost hands off the wheel at that speed---beautiful setup. Paid $7500 new and sold it for $7000 in 1984.

Boatless till around 1992-started using my dad's stick steered bass boat with 40 Merc till electrical systyem threw craps in 2001

Current boat since 2009

[smltooner]

1969 - My father bought a new 20' Twin-Alum pontoon with a 1965 40hp Johnson. Ran that motor til it died, then bought a new 40hp Evinrude in 1975. Ran that til 1997.

1971 - Bought a 13' Boston Whaler with a '71 25hp Johnson with tiller steering. 1973 we traded up to a 40 hp Johnson and added a steering wheel. Ran that until I sold it to a co-worker in 2000.

1996 - Bought a 1996 Lowe 16' aluminum bass boat with a 1996 60 hp Evinrude. Sold this in 2007.

2007 Bought our current Tracker Party Barge.

[tracker2]

OK. here goes nothing....

1975 - 15' Rinker Tri with 65 Merc OB first and only new boat.
1977 - 17' Caravelle Open bow with 165 Merc IO
1964 - 28' Owens Cabin Cruiser with twin 6 cyl Hercules This was a plywood hull rig that leaked like a drainpipe.
1972 - 42 Starduster House Boat with twin 120 Merc IO Steel hull, flat bottom
1975 - 37' Delta Clipper House Boat with twin 307 Chev V-drives Up on plane at a mile to the gallon....
1978 - 19' Astrocraft closed bow with 120 OMC IO Antique adventure. Had a sliding fiberglass top.
1983 - 16' Switzercraft modified tri with 120 Merc IO
1984 - 24' Tracker Party Barge started with a 50 Merc and later swapped a 90 Merc OB
1986 - 18' Sea Sprite with 140 Merc IO
1986 - 20' Tracker Bass buggy with 40 Evinrude Almost swore off pontoons after this one.
1990 - 18' Rinker Open bow with 4.3 Chev Lead sled.
1999 - 21' Tracker Party Barge with 90 Merc OB This is the latest and present.

I know I have missed some 8', 10' and 12' rigs along the line but figure they were just fill ins for fun at the time.

[lakerunner]

14 ft Ouachita bass boat / 50 Johnson

15 ft Galaxy walk through/ 50 Johnson off the Ouachita Motor was a POS

14 ft Lowe Lake Jon/ 9.9 Merc.,later changed to 25 Mariner

18 ft Lowe pontoon / 25 Mariner off Lake Jon

15 ft Starcraft converted closed bow into deep fishing boat / 25 Johnson

10 ft plastic 2 man/ 2.5 hp Johnson/ 18lb troller

15 ft (forgot Brand) bass boat I bought rebuilt and sold / 70 Chrysler

14 ft Tracker jon/ 25 Merc.

10 ft Buster Boat/ 36 lb 24v troller for push and 28lb for fishing

20 ft Sundancer Fishing Pontoon/ 48 Johnson ( lower unit broke on 2nd trip, got full refund ) 90 Merc 2 stk

24 ft Sundancer Pontoon/ 90 Merc 2 stk off 20ft toon. Replaced Merc with a 90 Honda

22 ft Tracker Regency/ 90 Merc 4stk, now 90 Evinrude ETec

[bassn386]

I got started kind of late:
1993: 93 Suncruiser Jamaica 240 with 115 hp Evinrude. Only problem was that starter solenoid would hang up and had to take the cowling off and tap it to engage.
1997: 94 Champion 19' with 200 hp Evinrude. Towards the end it was a couple hundred $$ every time I turned around
1999: 99 Four Winns 240 Horizon (sold the Suncruiser)
2006: 06 Charger 296 Bass Boat with 200 hp Optimax (bought this at wife's insistence, even though she only fishes once or twice a year) Traded the Champion.
2011: 11 Bennington RCW2575 as described a bit below. We sold the Four Winns because it was hard for some of our friends (and sometimes us) to get on and off, especially when the water was rough. It's nice to be able to walk on and off without having to climb over the side. Some issues with fit and finish that Bennington doesn't seem to want to fix and the dealer is incapable of doing correctly.
Also last year we bought our son's Yamaha Wave Runner because his wife was complaining about all the money he was putting into it. After about a grand (his money) it ran great but she still wanted to sell it. So we bought it and he gets to do all the maintenance (I pay for that).

[Flanker]

1956 16' Chris Craft Sportsmen...great boat
1961 32' Chris Craft Constellation twin 283's... great boat but never worked so hard on a boat in my life
1971 Sea Ray SRV 190 (still own) super boat still running strong
1976 Arrow Glass Cheetah TriHull 160 I/O Cherry red with mother of pearl interior, 1st new boat...just got married the wife wanted furniture I bought a boat (have different wife now)
1981 Bayliner 28' Cruiser 350 I/O had more fun on this boat than anything I ever had.
1998 Crestliner Fisherman 1850, deep v with 150 merc OB...no problems
2003 Bentley Pontoon 20 foot with 50 HP 4 stroke Merc OB...well built boat no problems
2010 Crestliner Bataba Bay 25 foot 150HP merc 2 stroke...well built no problems to date.

[Doctordeere]

Early 60's Sears semi-vee with a 50's Mercury Hurricane. Got squashed flat by a pine tree during an ice storm.

12' Delhi Woodstream jon with a 3.5 Eska. Best dang crappie rig I ever had. Miss that lil' bugger.

"Wild Thing" inflatable hybrid (kinda hard to describe) with a 15 'Rude. Very frightening and unusual ride.

1990 Bomber 175 (re-branded Fiberking Starfire) bass boat with a Yamaha Pro-V 150. What a waste of a good motor. Never knew a fiberglass turd could go that fast. Good riddance.

Homemade paddlewheeler - 36" centerwheeler powered by an ancient Craftsman lawn mower engine. Times were lean but there were fish to catch. So we improvised.

1998 Smokercraft Sunsport, 90 Merc 2-popper. Good times, no complaints except the quality of vinyl and the stitching thread.

2012 Encore Bentley 200 Cruise SE with 50 Bigfoot 4-popper. Too new to tell, but I think I got it right this time.

[BoatCop]

These are just the boats that I've personally owned. If I listed all the boats I've operated, I'd use up the sites entire bandwidth.

1974-1978: 1965 17' No name runabout w/60 HP Enivrude
1978-1981: 1969 16' Raysoncraft flatbottom w/ 110 HP Mercury Thunderbolt OB
1985-1987: 1974 18' Sea Ray w/4 cyl 120 HP Mercruiser
1990-1998: 1978 22' Viking Deck Boat w/ 250 HP OMC I/0
2005-2012: 1975 20' Spectra Daycruiser w/455 Olds Jacuzzi Jet w/Place Diverter
2012-Current: 2012 22' Sun Tracker DLX Party Barge w/ 90 HO 4 stroke Mercury OB

[GregF]

I grew up around boats but I didn't buy one of my own until I moved to Florida 30 years ago. I ran my 12' Jon boat with a 7.5 for a year or so and it just ran.
In 84 I bought my Harris used.
The Harris came with a 402 40 HP Mercury that I nursed along for 5-6 years.
The 402 ate a switch box and I had a couple lower unit problems that had me in there a couple of times. It really wasn't that much trouble for a motor that old but it was cranky until you ran it hard for a while.
In the winter 1989-90 I got a new Merc Mariner 75 for it. That motor was OK for about 3000 hours using a stator, regulator, several carb jobs, a couple tilt trim solenoids, a bunch of plugs, top seals on the L/U and a tilt/trim rebuild.
That was replaced with a 2002 Merc 60 4 stroke big foot that went 3075 with a high pressure fuel pump, a couple idle solenoids, a lower unit seal kit. I replaced the impeller twice and the plugs twice. There were about 40 oil changes and lower unit oil about 6 times.

I have a new Yamaha 70 now.

The boat itself was striped in 1990, toons blasted and I primed and painted them. The boat was rebuilt with 2" square tube stringers. The connections on the toon risers were beefed up with 1x2 angle and bolted to the stringers. The deck is MDO plywood.
I made my console with fiberglass over a plywood frame and a teak top.
The toon paint was freshened up in 2002. The carpet was replaced a few times.

I am looking for a new boat but I will probably build one. I kind of like those guys at Fire and Marine in Ohio. They will build whatever I want.

[bobalong]

1974 Banshee with 70hp Evinrude bought new in 1974
1990 18 1/2 Super Sportster with 115 Mariner, bought used in 1995 (still own this)
1989 14' Misty River with 30 HP Yamaha bought used in 2008 (still own this)
2011 Sweetwater 206 with 60HP Etec bought new in 2011 (still own this)

[tuned]

Hoo boy. Here goes...
1972-Wood raft (who didn't build one?) Broke apart not long after launch.
1974-Milk jug raft. Good boat until the water got cold and all the jugs collapsed from vaccuum.
1975-17' Grumman square stern canoe. Hundreds of portages and ducks. 2HP Evinrude.
1980-Present... The first of several 'pontoon rafts'. Using either two or three canoes or sport boats. The biggest had six sheets of wood making a deck of twelve feet long and SIXTEEN feet wide! All motorized and great fun.

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1985-Crestliner 16' runabout 70HP Johnson. My first 'real' boat.
1990-The 'Porsche'. A buddy was going on a houseboat to a Canadian beach party. I asked how the hell I was gonna get there (no boat at the time)? He laughs and says why don't you take your porch? So I did. Scrounged up a couple of styro dock billets and put a motor mount and a ten horse on it. The Ontario Provincial Police boat that stopped me wanted to bust me SO bad. But, I had registered it (US and Canada) and had all safety gear, border crossing permit etc...He finally just shook his head and let me proceed. My buddy about lost his cookies when I pulled in for the weekend. After the party, I bolted the porch back on the house. A couple of years after I sold the house, I found the paperwork in my files, so I sent the new owner the registrations for his front porch.
1992-Ten foot tunnel hull racer/50 HP Yamaha. Poor hull design. VERY scary boat.
1994-12 foot tunnel hull racer/60 HP Yamaha. Stable at about 60MPH. Great boat.

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1997-10' Satellite dish/4HP. Round dish, round bench, round table, round umbrella. Turn the motor sideways and rev it up. Just like a ride at the fair ( hang on to ur beer).

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2000-New 20' SeaDoo Jet Boat w/240 Opti. Amazing boat. Couldn't quite get a 360 flat spin on plane but it did do great submarine dives. I had to add a second, large sump pump for when I filled it to the gunnels.

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I had to get rid of it because my lake is just too damn cold to be wet all the time.
2005-25' Crestliner Cuddy w/454 Merc. Class all the way. I blew it up with half of the Canadian Female Gold Medal Olympic Hockey team on board (long story). They were not impressed.
Which brings me to Al the Mirthmaker (Mark 1). While the cuddy was being repaired, I bought this rundown old pile of junk. Leaky steel pontoons. Motor barely ran. Holes cut in the floor. Guy named Al built it for sturgeon fishing on the near frozen river. I fell in love. So much so that I sold the cuddy.
2008-Found a pile of aluminum tubes and crossmembers in a pole shed. Scrabbled through the horse residue for the bolts and hoped all the parts were there. They mostly were (Premier). I moved the wheelhouse over to the new hull and Al the Mirthmaker (Mark II) was born. Over the last four years, MANY modifications. Waterglide (actually works well). Bigger and bigger motors. Bigger and bigger stereo. Bigger and bigger horn, currently a REAL train horn (Canadian tuned Nathan Airchime). Heat. BBQ. Guitar. Shack enlarged with new sleeper benches this last winter. And coconut bras.
2012-Just dragged home a beautiful triple tube South Bay 25' hull set up for I/O. A stripped project pontoon just begging for a big-assed engine. Of course the shack will be moved over onto the new hull and Al (Mark III) will be born. Planning to launch next spring.
I still have the satellite dish and hope to take another spin in it someday....

[SoapPeddler]

When I was growing up my family had a place on a lake that did now allow boat motors of any kind. I spent most of my time on a Super Porpoise sail boat that was similar to this one.



We also had a Kayot pedal powered pontoon boat. It was similar to the one below but it had steel toons.