Pros/Cons of Flat Bottom vs. V-hull

[Brett's_daddy]

What are the pros/cons of a flat bottom boat vs. a v-hull boat? We're talking smaller craft in the 12ft. - 17ft. range. Also what are the pros/cons of a welded hull vs. a riveted hull?

[slonezp]

Flat bottom will draft shallower and ride rougher. It won't track as well at slow speeds because there is no defined keel. Deep v will handle rough stuff better. Won't draft as shallow. Welded vs riveted you'll get all sorts of responses. Riveted boats flex. I have never seen a warped hull on a riveted boat, I have on 2 welded hulls. I have heard of rivets shearing off on boats that get beached a lot in the sand. People claim rivets will leak. I've owned 2 riveted boats since 2004 and never experienced any leaks, and I don't baby my boats.

A modified v will give you a shallower draft than a deep v and will track better and ride better than a flat bottom. 

[Brett's_daddy]

If you're only fishing on small lakes and ponds will you really see the benefit of a v-hull?

[slonezp]

Probably not. What boat(s) are you looking at? Bare bones? or something with an interior?

[FloridaFishinFool]

Take welded over riveted any day. Also check hull thickness. A thicker hull is preferable to tin foil boats with extremely thin aluminum hulls. For a 14 to 16 foot boat I'd want it around .100" (of an inch) thick. Today you will find them thinned down to like .0625"  just too thin for me.

I started out with flat bottom and will never go back.

From my own experiences, I had a 14 foot aluminum flat bottomed boat with a Yamaha 25 on it, and when I was crossing a lake with a chop of about 12 inches, I had to slow down because I could watch the flat part of the bow bend inwards with each hit on the waves. It was so bad I thought on a number of occasions the hull would split open or cave in there.

The flat bottom boat was like a hammer on top of the chop taking each hit kind of hard, while the V bow slices through the wave action giving me a better ride and a more secure feeling.

In all fairness I have been told I over powered the flat bottomed boat and the new owner says he loves it, but he put a 10hp on it and can not get it to do what I could with a 25hp on it. So hopefully he feels a lot safer in it than I ever did!

So for me, from now on, I will only use V bow boats.

[Catt]

I'm currently running a Alweld 1652VJT

Hull: Mod-V 2 1/2" Proformance Tunnel with smart tabs

Length: 16'

Bottom: 52"

Beam: 72"

2014 Tohatsu MF40AEFL

3-cylinder, Fuel Injected, 4-Stroke

I fish Toledo Bend in this boat

[carlm01]

There's many options out there , Are you buying new or used ?  what are you fishing for ? what's your price range .. The list goes on and on .....

 

[IndianaFinesse]

Get a modified V-bottom.  Then you can go nearly as shallow as a flat bottom, have the stability of a V-bottom, and have the floor space of a flat.  Besides that, everything slonezp said:

On ‎3‎/‎26‎/‎2016 at 8:41 AM, slonezp said:

Flat bottom will draft shallower and ride rougher. It won't track as well at slow speeds because there is no defined keel. Deep v will handle rough stuff better. Won't draft as shallow. Welded vs riveted you'll get all sorts of responses. Riveted boats flex. I have never seen a warped hull on a riveted boat, I have on 2 welded hulls. I have heard of rivets shearing off on boats that get beached a lot in the sand. People claim rivets will leak. I've owned 2 riveted boats since 2004 and never experienced any leaks, and I don't baby my boats.

A modified v will give you a shallower draft than a deep v and will track better and ride better than a flat bottom. 

 

[Catt]

2 hours ago, Centralinfinnesse said:

Get a modified V-bottom.  Then you can go nearly as shallow as a flat bottom, have the stability of a V-bottom, and have the floor space of a flat.  Besides that, everything slonezp said:

 

A mod-v will run as shallow as any flat, it just does it more comfortable.

[Bluebasser86]

My last boat was a mod V and it could get as shallow as any fish could swim. 

[Brett's_daddy]

On 3/26/2016 at 10:10 AM, slonezp said:

Probably not. What boat(s) are you looking at? Bare bones? or something with an interior?

I'm looking for something with an interior, front/rear decks and side console.

 

On 3/28/2016 at 11:34 AM, carlm01 said:

There's many options out there , Are you buying new or used ?  what are you fishing for ? what's your price range .. The list goes on and on .....

 

That's it, I'm on a very tight budget. This is my first boat...I just want something that me and my son (and wife) can have a fun day of fishing on. We mostly just fish small lakes/ponds and most likely wouldn't be going on really big bodies of water. My budget was small to begin with but shrunk even more when I found out it's going to cost $800 to get my vehicle set up for towing (hitch and wiring harness) so I'm most likely looking at about $2500 - $2700 max boat budget.

[Catt]

1 hour ago, Brett's_daddy said:

 I found out it's going to cost $800 to get my vehicle set up for towing (hitch and wiring harness) 

Don't who is charging you that but U-haul will do it for 1/2 that!

[Brett's_daddy]

That would be the local Honda dealer. I did get tipped off about U-haul and called...$344 installed with a lifetime warranty.

[SHaugh]

The type of boat doesn't matter as much as the relative condition and quality of the boats available at the right price... skimmed craigslist in your area and found this one....  looks like a sweet deal for only $1300....

https://vermont.craigslist.org/boa/5482035850.html

My point is that age, condition, maintenance, and price are much more important than design issues or what it's made out of.   My advice is to be most concerned with finding a well maintained good quality boat.

 

[tiredbobmarley]

First thing....you don't have to pay anyone to put on a hitch.  If you have an extra set of hands it will probably take about 20 mins to do.  I did it on my little SUV.  Wiring was a little tougher but I had a friend who knows more help me out. 

Secondly....def go modified V.  I drove a flat bottom with the 25 hp and it was a little scary at full throttle.  Mine is currently a modified V with 25 hp and I can get into skinny water with no issue and has a much smoother ride. The v will cut off some of the space from your front deck but I find it better to have a smooth ride rather than another square foot of space. 

That boat looks good.  but most of the time older jon boats with a console will have the front of the boat covered with aluminum.  You'll also have that windshield to deal with.  I prefer more space on such a small boat

[Brett's_daddy]

What about this boat...

http://newlondon.craigslist.org/boa/5493051930.html

[sully420]

I'm a welder and I went with a Tracker pro guide 16 sc the quality and warranty plus the paint job you can't beat it you can go through 18" water no problem and you can beach the boat on rocks and sand and it won't scratch. And I have a 75 hp mercury on it rough water no problem I fish on huge lake like red lake lake of the woods its super safe and stable. And riveted boats over time will leak and pull apart

lund boats are also very good.