What do you think of Bass Tracker boats?

[kens]

Trading my Bass tracker Pro 17 for a Pro 185. Personally I like Bass Tracker boats. Mine is built like a tank.

[Slade House]

theyre good at what they are , but if i had to do it over again, i would buy an xpress

 

[Catt]

2 hours ago, Slade House said:

theyre good at what they are , but if i had to do it over again, i would buy an xpress

 

As much as I like Xpress unless you buy the Hyper Lift Hull you're not getting anything better.

[Todd2]

I went with a used Tracker last year and I like it,  if I were going new, I think the Ranger blows away the Tracker and Lowe. I can't speak for Xpress or anything else. 

[desmobob]

7 hours ago, kens said:

Trading my Bass tracker Pro 17 for a Pro 185. Personally I like Bass Tracker boats. Mine is built like a tank.

My Pro170/Merc 40HP four-stroke is in its third season and I am very happy with it.  The only (small) issue I've had is with the folding tongue feature of the trailer.  I love the boat for its price, storage, layout and fuel economy.  It's a very complete fishing package for a bargain price; just add gas, load your gear and go!  The only thing I've felt needed upgrading was the fish-finder.  I love fishing all day on a couple of gallons of gas.

Tight lines,

Bob

[WIGuide]

Tracker makes a decent entry level boat. Over the last 15 years or so they have made them a lot better than they used to. They still lack a few options that would make them a lot nicer, but you get what you pay for.They aren't the best that's out there, but they aren't the worst either. They're capable of being a nice boat for someone.

[Brett's_daddy]

11 minutes ago, WIGuide said:

They aren't the best that's out there, but they aren't the worst either.

What would you say are the worst?

[Caia326]

I just purchased a new Pro Team 175TXW and I really like it. Its easy to tow, good on gas and goes fast enough for me. I do wish it had a bit more storage but so far that is the only thing I would change about it. 

[WIGuide]

18 minutes ago, Brett's_daddy said:

What would you say are the worst?

I don't know that there's one brand that's the overall worst, but rather models within a brand. My dad's second hobby aside from fishing is buying and selling boats. I've seen a lot of them and have fished out of a ton of them too. I've seen weird things from layouts that just don't work, to storages that you have to move seats to open because there's inadequate clearances, livewells with drains inches above the bottom of the livewell, wasted space, and just poor design in general.  

[Pbkiller123]

So I've been fishing out of 94 17 tx for a month or so here's my opinion. It lacks storage by a long shot and like any aluminum boat it will get blown around a lot. I am envious of heavy glass boats because of this. But at the price point they are at you cant beat them at all. If you need to go fishing on a low budget that's what your should buy

[dave]

My 2003 Grizzly 1754 CC does what I need it to do,  where I need to do it very well.

It doesn't ride in the chop very well.  It feels like it is flexing from the mid point forward and the console shakes.   The guy from whom I bought it,  said the same thing.  

When the water is flat,  it gets up fast and moves with the Mercury 60HP.

Storagewise...uh...

I've never been in the TX style Trackers.

[Fishing Rhino]

What is a boat?  A boat is a platform on the water to get you where the fish are, or, where you think they are.  That's it in a nutshell.

The fish do not know if the bait that passes in front of their nose was cast by a man in a float tube, from the shore, or in a hundred thousand dollar bass boat that will do a hundred miles per hour.

Yes, some are nicer than others, a lot nicer.  If you've got the money, and you want a Cadillac rather than a Chevy, God bless you.

At the end of the day, when you are fishing in a tournament, or for bragging points with your buddies, what counts is what you bring to the scale.  There are no style points when it comes to fishing.

The man in the boat is more important than the boat the man is in.

[Nice_Bass]

I am on my 6th year.  It does the job but wont buy one again. I could make a list of the issues I think it has, but that might not do someone else any good.

The people in the back of my boat have never complained about fishing for free! (I don't fish tx's). 

[carlm01]

I originally was on the fence between the tracker and the lowe , I ended up buying the lowe at the time because of the weight and the all  metal construction , Since then I've traded up and bought a lund , The bottom line is buy what you like and can afford ....  good luck ...

[S Hovanec]

1 hour ago, carlm01 said:

The bottom line is buy what you like and can afford  ...

 

so much truth in that statement.

[Wileyw]

I've had my 2013 175TXW for 3 years now and it is an awesome boat. The ride with the Revolution Hull is better than any comparable aluminum on the market, including the Ranger, Triton, Crestliner and Lowe. It is also the only boat in the list that still uses a marine grade wood deck in the front. A plus for some, minus for others. The Tracker sits higher in the water column than the others, making it a little more prone to being blown around in the wind, but it also makes it better for sight fishing. The internal welds are all done by a computer and the powder coat paint is holding up extremely well. I believe the quality issues of the older Trackers are now a thing of the past and they rate right up there with the others. I have not had a single issue with mine and would buy again.

[ww2farmer]

My PT170 is going into it's 10th season of heavy use.....I fish almost everyday from mid April- early Nov. 

The only problems, besides normal wear and tear, have been user induced.

I don' t fish big water, my two "home" lakes are  3 mile long, and 8 mile long puddles.

I don't fish anything more than local beer money tournaments, and have no need for anything "bigger and better"

 

[slonezp]

33 minutes ago, ww2farmer said:

My PT170 is going into it's 10th season of heavy use.....I fish almost everyday from mid April- early Nov. 

The only problems, besides normal wear and tear, have been user induced.

I don' t fish big water, my two "home" lakes are  3 mile long, and 8 mile long puddles.

I don't fish anything more than local beer money tournaments, and have no need for anything "bigger and better"

 

You bring up a good point. The first priority in buying a boat should be how and where it's going to be fished. A guy could buy a new Tracker for $20k to fish Lake Erie, and then go and bad mouth the boat and never purchase another one because of poor decision making on his part.  

OP, once you choose what boat you want, spend just as much time researching the dealer as he will be your point of contact for anything that may arise. A poor dealer experience could make someone hate a brand even though the boat is not the issue

[Further North]

On 4/7/2016 at 0:44 PM, Pbkiller123 said:

...like any aluminum boat it will get blown around a lot. I am envious of heavy glass boats because of this.

I've never understood this...I have two friends that have multi species glass boats that get blown around a lot more than my CMV, and my boat doesn't get moved around any more than similarly sized glass bass boats that other guys I know have. 

At roughly the same size and free board...sure looks like six of one, half dozen of the other to me...and I have a hard time seeing weight as an advantage in a boat that I have to push through the water and tow behind my truck...but that's me.

 

[S Hovanec]

4 hours ago, Further North said:

I've never understood this...I have two friends that have multi species glass boats that get blown around a lot more than my CMV.

 

Me either.  I see glass boats putting out drift socks to go as slow as me sometimes.   Not saying I don't need to drag one on occasion too.  Sometimes it's just too windy to not use one.

[EllisJuan]

I have been thinking about picking up a tracker lately.  Something like a Pro Team 175.  Are there any large pre-owned dealers?  I would love to find one a few years old for under $10k.  Is that realistic?

[K_Mac]

I think Tracker has come a long way over the years and worth a serious look.

As far as fishing in the wind from either an aluminum or glass boat there really is no comparison. I own an aluminum boat and have fished one for many years. For the restricted horsepower waters I fish most aluminum is great. I also regularly fish from a glass boat on larger lakes. You can make the case glass is not worth the extra cost of ownership, but when fishing in the wind glass is much more user friendly.

[Further North]

14 minutes ago, K_Mac said:

As far as fishing in the wind from either an aluminum or glass boat there really is no comparison. I own an aluminum boat and have fished one for many years. For the restricted horsepower waters I fish most aluminum is great. I also regularly fish from a glass boat on larger lakes. You can make the case glass is not worth the extra cost of ownership, but when fishing in the wind glass is much more user friendly.

Any chance it's because a lot of people go light on trolling motors?

[K_Mac]

1 hour ago, Further North said:

Any chance it's because a lot of people go light on trolling motors?

As you and I both know, 'going light' when choosing a trolling motor is a bad idea regardless of what a fishing boat is made of. The reason glass is less vulnerable in the wind is weight and displacement. Wind is a pain when fishing, far more so in an aluminum boat. I wish this wasn't the case, but years of experience proves that physics applies to boats like everything else.

[RyneB]

I have a big glass skeeter and a tracker with a 40, in no way does the skeeter get blown around like the tracker. I don't know how anyone can say that it does.