Cheap boat 2024

Lures'n'Liberty reply :

Yes, I know, boats aren't cheap, but I'm looking for something small and affordable, probably a 9.9 ish tiller jon boat. My ex father in law had a 10' with a '50s 5 HP Evinrude that got the job done well, but was just a wee bit small for the river. I've found a few early '70s bass boats that look like bathtubs in my price range, particularly a '73 Quachita with an '80s 75 hp Evinrude that supposedly ran 2 years ago. I'm looking to keep it under $2,000 and pull it all over god's green acres with my extended cab S-10 4x4 4.3, which is rated to tow 4500 lbs, but will probably get stuck on a steep launch ramp if I do, plus I live in PA where hills are a factor, so I'd like to keep it under 3,000. My other vehicle is an '86 Honda Gold Wing that will supposedly tow up to 600 lbs, and if you can think of a decent boat/motor/trailer that's less than that, I'd consider it as a first boat to eventually become my second, especially if I can put it upside down on a ladder rack.

Lures'n'Liberty reply :

Must haves - 2 live wells (I can deal with coolers and aerators), room for 2 to fish. Low maintenance, or at least as little maintenance as possible for a hole in the water that you throw money into. Trolling motor. Enough fuel capacity to fish all day without refueling on the water or rowing home. EX FIL's boat required carrying a gas can as tank was on the motor. Would prefer not to do that again. Ability to troll with 6 lines.

NYWayfarer reply :

Check Craig's list. I did regularly until I found what I was looking for. A canoe in the $200 range.

Found a Pelican Explorer for $200 in decent shape. Bought some foam block car top kit. I am hoping my son and I can get it on the roof this summer.

Good luck with your search

Lonnie Clemens reply :

It is good to see your post. I have a 1989 Chevy S-10. A few weeks ago I bought a 12 foot Mirrocraft semi V jon on a trailer. It has a 3.5 h.p. Eska outboard. Gave $500.00 for all of it. It is possible to keep the cost down.

Lonnie

Lonnie Clemens reply :

If you keep the price down you will keep the stress down. The more you keep the stress down the more you will enjoy boating and fishing. Boating and fishing should be a stress reliever and not something that causes stress. I might see a lot of fancy bass boats out there. But at least I do not have the burden of paying for one. There are a lot of pre-owned boats and motors out there. Newer does not mean better.

thomas15 reply :

If you stick to aluminum then no problem towing with your S-10. For reference I have a 16' StarCraft with a 50 HP merc., no problems pulling it with our Ranger 4x4 4.0, in-fact I tow it short distances with our Ford Escape with a 2.5 4cyl.

As others have said it might take a lot of searching to find what you want at the price you are willing to pay. Right now is not the best time to find boat deals but don't let that deter you.

Going back to my boat, I have a live well, a single one that is about 10 gallons. If I had to install another one I don't know where I would put it. My boat has a console so if I didn't have that there would be more room though. Storage is a big problem on this boat and while it is rated for up to 4 adults any more than 2 fishing is crowded.

BrianSnat reply :

If you aren't in a hurry, you can find good deals on Cragslist and the Facebook sales section. Beware when they say the motor ran great X years ago, but hasn't been used since. If the motor hasn't been run reguarly, carbs gum up, seals dry out and you might find yourself speding several hundred bucks getting it running again.

I've seen many a 12-14 ft jon boat or V hull with trailer with an electric motor for under 1K on Craigslist and Facebook. Ocassionally with a working outboard gas motor too, but an outboard usually brings the price over 1K, at least around here.

My boat is an old 14' Grumman with a Yamaha 9.9. I can get it up to 20 mph alone and about 16-17 mph with a friend (fast enough for me) and I tow it with a Toyota Rav4. It also came with a 55 lb thrust electric, fiish finder, two batteries, 6 rod holders, trailer and cover and I got it for $1900.

Defintely stick with aluminum if you don't want to worry about maintenace. It's also a lot easier to handle if you are fishing solo.

Lures'n'Liberty reply :

I get the cheap Jon Boat/watch Craigslist stuff, that's probably what I'm going to do, but when I browse, every now and again I come across that 1974 bass boat that's been sitting for 5 years and think about it, but I have never been on a 1974 bass boat and I don't know what to look for in a hull. Keep in mind I'm handy, and capable of replacing carpets, building decks, general engine and trailer maintenance, and half assing the less than important parts together with jb weld and zip ties. Basically, what is the biggest risk if I buy one of these $200 pieces of crap in someone's yard, gut it, build 2 casting decks and livewells, and then put on a $500 Craigslist motor and controls if I can't get it running?

TOXIC reply :

Restoring old fiberglass boats with wooden stringers and transoms is not for the faint of heart or thin of wallet!! Besides, you're not gonna put that on your ladder rack!! The boat is just one part of the repair/upkeep/maintenance. Now you have a trailer as well and a motor to break. Until you get to a fair sized boat (depending on the water you fish) you will be limited to the days you can go. Budget and boating never belong in the same sentence unless you are looking a floating the local ponds or very small lakes. I had a Bass Hunter 2 seater and a 40lb thrust TM that I fished lakes up to 300 acres. Now I have 21 feet of fiberglass and a 250hp. Each has it's place.

Lures'n'Liberty reply :

OK, I see what I'm doing here. I want a boat that I can use to not fish alone. No, I can't put a bass boat on a ladder rack or pull it with my motorcycle, but I've got a few options. I had use of a little baby Jon and it's just not big enough for my home river, although it wouldn't go to waste. After reading, I think I really want 3 boats. One, my kayak, it can already cover pretty much all of the small the jonboat territory and the fits on roof angle well. For $200, I'd imagine I'll buy one some day. Some day might come later if I can buy a $200 bass boat instead, but yes, totally 100% on the expensive rebuild on the stringers and transom, even more with hydraulic steering, electric tilt, etc, etc. Maybe to ask again, if I go look at a $200 boat, what should I look for in a hull before I dump hundreds of dollars and hours into it.

J Francho reply :

On 5/8/2017 at 11:41 PM, Lures'n'Liberty said:

I go look at a $200 boat

There won't be much to see.

Up here, a 14' semi-v aluminum boat with a 10-25 hp motor and trailer in running condition will set you back $1000 or more. You might find a deal, but that's pretty standard rate.

thomas15 reply :

On 5/8/2017 at 10:02 PM, Lures'n'Liberty said:

Basically, what is the biggest risk if I buy one of these $200 pieces of crap in someone's yard, gut it, build 2 casting decks and livewells, and then put on a $500 Craigslist motor and controls if I can't get it running?

When you drive around the area (I'm in Carbon, in the Pocono's btw), you will see with no effort at all numerous boats in yards, been sitting there for obviously some time, in the weather. The problem is that boats want to be on the water, not full of water. Fiberglass boats and most Alum boats have foam (for floatation and hull strength) under the deck and wood stringers and a wood core transom. The foam can hold 100s of pounds of water and will not drain out. This rots the wood stringers and transom and/or adds a lot of weight to the boat.

A small alum jon boat that is open hull holds no secrets under the deck. There might be some foam in a compartment under the seats and wood in the transom but fixing those are easy compared to ripping up the floor, removing any waterlogged foam, replacing stringers and transom cores and that will take a lot of time and money. I would guess that most wrecks in peoples yards are far from seaworthy.

That doesn't mean you cannot find a fixer-upper or a good deal. I know of a guy locally that bought a bass boat about 5 years ago for $900.00 Not much to look at but even as of late in the season last year he was fishing with it. As far as I know there are no structural issues with it but I have seen numerous cases of people buying an old boat thinking that they could fix it up, then have hours upon hours of care free relaxation on the water but end up with a big gigantic headache.

I have a very good friend that bought a fiberglass runabout boat for $700.00, three years now and less than 1 hour total on the water. This guy will never use this boat as intended. Forget about structural and visual distress, his motor needs a couple hundred dollars worth of parts, (water pump, fuel pump, ignition parts, new battery, fuel lines, on and on).

I'm not trying to be mean but if you want to spend your time fishing, not fixing (and praying), and have a budget of $2000.00 get something small, simple and honest. Something with no secrets hidden under carpet or vinyl. Being in a broken down boat that leaks and runs bad is an awful experience out on the water.

TheRodFather reply :

I am in the process of restoring a "cheap" boat. It is a decked console type aluminum bass boat. I'll tell you this, the amount of work that I am putting into it is more than I anticipated. Not that I'm not capable of it, just that the further I dug into it, the more I felt needed fixed. It is essentially stripped to the aluminum hull at this point and I have decided to do the TIG welding of a few holes and tears myself myself. I could pay a welder, but I figure this is a great time to learn a new skill.

I have been practicing TIG on some of the scrap alum that I pulled out of the boat. I deleted the front livewell. The motor didn't run and I had to spend a couple hundred in parts to get it running again so that's waiting to go back on after the holes are filled and the new transom is installed.

The wiring was a mess, so I ripped it all out, new switches, wiring, the works. I have a thread started that you can see pictures of the build. It has stalled for now till I feel comfortable with the welder, after filling holes it should be downhill from there, some plywood and carpet and time to fish!

A lot of it comes down to what your skill level and available tools are. The TIG welder is the only thing tool I have had to buy, I am a woodworker and car tinkerer, so all bases were covered as far as that goes, grinders, sanders, table saw etc.

Lures'n'Liberty reply :

On 5/10/2017 at 4:49 AM, TheRodFather said:

I am in the process of restoring a "cheap" boat. It is a decked console type aluminum bass boat. I'll tell you this, the amount of work that I am putting into it is more than I anticipated. Not that I'm not capable of it, just that the further I dug into it, the more I felt needed fixed. It is essentially stripped to the aluminum hull at this point and I have decided to do the TIG welding of a few holes and tears myself myself. I could pay a welder, but I figure this is a great time to learn a new skill.

I have been practicing TIG on some of the scrap alum that I pulled out of the boat. I deleted the front livewell. The motor didn't run and I had to spend a couple hundred in parts to get it running again so that's waiting to go back on after the holes are filled and the new transom is installed.

The wiring was a mess, so I ripped it all out, new switches, wiring, the works. I have a thread started that you can see pictures of the build. It has stalled for now till I feel comfortable with the welder, after filling holes it should be downhill from there, some plywood and carpet and time to fish!

A lot of it comes down to what your skill level and available tools are. The TIG welder is the only thing tool I have had to buy, I am a woodworker and car tinkerer, so all bases were covered as far as that goes, grinders, sanders, table saw etc.

I'm a jack of all trades, master of none. 10+ years experience in the automotive field, went to trade school for auto mechanics and body and my old man was a shop teacher, I'm pretty handy and highly resourceful, although I'd have to learn to TIG myself. Please link your thread, I'm very interested. I found a friend with a nice Blue Fin something like you're describing, too. It's a little out of my price range but unless I find the perfect hull, it's looking like the way to go.

thomas15 reply :

On 5/10/2017 at 8:58 PM, Lures'n'Liberty said:

I'm a jack of all trades, master of none. 10+ years experience in the automotive field, went to trade school for auto mechanics and body and my old man was a shop teacher, I'm pretty handy and highly resourceful, although I'd have to learn to TIG myself. Please link your thread, I'm very interested. I found a friend with a nice Blue Fin something like you're describing, too. It's a little out of my price range but unless I find the perfect hull, it's looking like the way to go.

Here is btw, a link to a chat forum that is all about boat restoration. Lots of in-process pictures, questions/answers, advice and success stories. http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat-repair-and-restoration/boat-restoration-building-and-hull-repair

Browse around and you will get an idea of just exactly what it is your getting into.

TheRodFather reply :

Here is the thread I started for my restoration. The title starts out "total boat re wire", but as you can see, quickly escalates

Lures'n'Liberty reply :

There doesn't appear to be a working link in your comment, Rodfather, but I did find the thread and it looks like you have a nice project. I know very little about what to look for in a hull, but my family has owned and operated an automotive electric business since 1957 and they put me to work when I was old enough to push a broom! I hope some of the wiring tips I put in can help out. It looked like everyone was steering you in the right direction but there were a few little details that were missing, primarily that you can't connect the switch panel to the key. You can absolutely do that, but you will need a key switch with an accessory position and it will add more components and connections that are prone to failure if you didn't catch my comments.

N Florida Mike reply :

I wouldn't recommend old fiberglass boats.

A " friend " sold me an older v- hull 14 ft fiberglass boat for 400.00 including the raggedy old trailer. W e were planning to use it for inshore fishing.It didn't have a working motor for it at the time so it sat there for awhile. Not having a motor for it was a blessing in disguise - one day the kids were playing baseball and the ball hit the transom and put a hole in it.

Turns out the transom was weak.I think anything over 25 horse would have broken it off and we might have lost everything,including our lives.

I know a guy who has a nice Carolina skiff sitting in his yard who can't use it because it's waterlogged.

TheRodFather reply :

On 5/12/2017 at 11:23 PM, Lures'n'Liberty said:

There doesn't appear to be a working link in your comment, Rodfather, but I did find the thread and it looks like you have a nice project. I know very little about what to look for in a hull, but my family has owned and operated an automotive electric business since 1957 and they put me to work when I was old enough to push a broom! I hope some of the wiring tips I put in can help out. It looked like everyone was steering you in the right direction but there were a few little details that were missing, primarily that you can't connect the switch panel to the key. You can absolutely do that, but you will need a key switch with an accessory position and it will add more components and connections that are prone to failure if you didn't catch my comments.

Yes, I am familiar with all the different ways that the components can be hooked up, but never owning a boat before I was unsure how things are "normally" done. Rather than use the 12v keyed power (stator voltage from older outboards is not meant to power much) to energize a relay to power up the console and switches, I just decided to use a battery cutoff switch and 10g wire to supply the "house" electrical and skip the relay.

The 12v keyed will just power the gauges, tach, etc, but not the backlighting part of the guage. That will be hooked to the nav/running light circuit. No sense having the bulbs be on in the daytime.

As far as a hull, I'm far from an expert, but I would look for loose rivets, holes, tears, etc. Evidence of RTV/Marine sealant etc would be something to look at closely. There are lots of checklists on the web to give you an idea what to check. Most seem to be for fiberglass boats though. Aluminum can be repaired in most every case, with welding, or a patch riveted on, it may not look pretty, but it can be made to seal watertight and last. Take it on the water if you can.

I am getting pretty good at filling in holes with my TIG welder, about 75% success rate at this point, a little more practice and I'm going to start on the boat.

Lures'n'Liberty reply :

On 5/15/2017 at 2:45 AM, TheRodFather said:

Rather than use the 12v keyed power (stator voltage from older outboards is not meant to power much) to energize a relay to power up the console and switches, I just decided to use a battery cutoff switch and 10g wire to supply the "house" electrical and skip the relay.

That's probably for the best, however to be clear, I wasn't referring to using the stator voltage, but the ACC circuit on an ignition switch that would be more costly and complicated but control multiple power sources with one switch and a couple of relays, making things way overcomplicated, especially in 2 or 3 years when you'd be under the dash in the middle of a lake scraping corrosion with a knife and swearing, trying to get the nav lights to come on while burning your thumb holding a lighter so that you can see because you forgot your flashlight that day or the batteries died, just saying.

david in va reply :

Man if you want so far I would put you in this for a song

Lures'n'Liberty reply :

On 5/16/2017 at 6:13 AM, david in va said:

Man if you want so far I would put you in this for a song

That is what I'm probably going to end up with, just add casting decks, portable livewells, and rod holders for trolling cats.

J Francho reply :

Casting decks in a semi-V is disaster in the making. Just put a flat floor in with some marine carpet. Also consider carpeting the benches.

NYWayfarer reply :

On 5/16/2017 at 6:13 AM, david in va said:

Man if you want so far I would put you in this for a song

Is that a Meyers? Looks like what my father in law and I fish in. Great old boat, rock solid.

david in va reply :

The boat and trailer are both lone star made in Texas 1957 model I believe

Lures'n'Liberty reply :

On 5/17/2017 at 9:10 PM, J Francho said:

Casting decks in a semi-V is disaster in the making. Just put a flat floor in with some marine carpet. Also consider carpeting the benches.

Now that's the kind of information that I'm looking for! Thank you, I never really thought about that. Are you basically suggesting that I keep the floor as close to the water line as possible? My initial thought would be to build a small deck from the bow to about a cooler width past the front bench, as low as possible, with a hatch that would allow access to a portable live well below and adding a flat floor throughout the rest of the boat.

thomas15 reply :

Just throwing out some numbers here but assume the boat has a 600 pound weight limit. It might be more it might be less I don't know.

Add up the weight of two casting decks and seating strong enough to support two adults.

Add up the weight of an outboard motor, battery(s), fuel, TM and boat safety gear.

Add up the weight of approx. 10 gallons of water in each of the live wells.

Add up the weight of fishing tackle and electronics.

Take the total of the above and subtract that number from the boat weight limit. The number you have left is the combined allowable weight of the two fishermen.

If you have the desired two live wells that is over 150 pounds right there.

J Francho reply :

On 5/18/2017 at 10:29 PM, thomas15 said:

Just throwing out some numbers here but assume the boat has a 600 pound weight limit.

Most 12-14' boats are much higher, like 800+ lbs. Heck, my plastic kayak is rated for 550. Some boats have a person weight recommendation, too. But you do want to take the additional weight into consideration.

Lures'n'Liberty reply :

On 5/18/2017 at 10:29 PM, thomas15 said:

Just throwing out some numbers here but assume the boat has a 600 pound weight limit. It might be more it might be less I don't know.

Add up the weight of two casting decks and seating strong enough to support two adults.

Add up the weight of an outboard motor, battery(s), fuel, TM and boat safety gear.

Add up the weight of approx. 10 gallons of water in each of the live wells.

Add up the weight of fishing tackle and electronics.

Take the total of the above and subtract that number from the boat weight limit. The number you have left is the combined allowable weight of the two fishermen.

If you have the desired two live wells that is over 150 pounds right there.

I'm mopping up what you're spilling, too. On a small craft as the aluminum boat above, I'd venture to say that one of the 2 wells I dream of would wind up on a rope hanging over the side of the boat. My other wouldn't have to be huge, just big enough to keep enough bait for a night of flathead fishing alive. We'll say 60 lbs for the livewell and if I can find the right chunk of aluminum for the deck/floors, including carpet I may be able to keep the weight of construction well under 50 lbs. Figuring another 20 lbs per fisherman for gear to make it even, that leaves 450 lbs for 2 fishermen and a motor. I weigh about 170 and most of my fishing buddies are tiny, so If I never bring anyone bigger than me I've got 110 lbs left for motors, fuel, batteries, and accessories.

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