Looking at my first bass boat

[Bwsweet]

Hello everyone, this is my first post but have been reading, reading and reading up on buying a boat. I currently have a decent fishing kayak I fish out of, but I'd like to go a little farther and a little faster all while being able to bring my girlfriend and German shepherd along with me. 

 

I fish mostly rivers, and I am right close to lake Champlain, Vermont. No tournaments, at least not yet. Just fishing for fun. 

 

I have fished out of bass trackers, but reading more on them I hear about wood rot and thin aluminum. I'm going to be traveling to western New York next week and I found a really nice one owner 2010 Lowe Stinger 175 with 75 hours on it. It has a Mercury 75hp Optimax and he said the trolling motor is 12v. He has garaged it for the last 3 years and sent me a video of it running. I priced the boat new, and it is about double of his asking price with comparable sized engine. 

 

I have read good reviews on the Lowe, and I think it would serve me for many many years. I stayed away from a boat to avoid registration, maintenance, etc costs but I think the fun factor of a boat outweighs those costs. 

 

Thanks in advance, looking forward to learning more on here. 

[A-Jay]

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~

I'm not familiar with Lowe Boats but good luck none the less . . .

A-Jay

[riverbasser]

Lowes are well made aluminum boats. 

[Bwsweet]

How about price? It's 7 years old, 75 hours, and 43% less money than a brand new one. It is 2 stroke vs 4 stroke as well. I know I can find much cheaper for my first bass boat, but I like the idea of a one owner find with low hours 

[WRB]

What electronics and trolling motor? 12V sounds like under 45 lbs trust. If the sonar unit has been updated, new batteries and OB serviced properly with new water pump, plugs etc, the fact it was garaged is important. Check the trailer out closely and plan on new trailer tires if 7 years old, Goodyear Marathon are good tires. 75 hours run time on the OB is another important factor. 

Sounds like a good boat, always negotiate the deal.

Tom

[fishnkamp]

I think i can help a little since I own a 2010 Stinger 170 with an older 2 stroke Merc 75.  First they make a fairly nice boat.  This is the 11th bass boat, jon boat or canoe my wife and I have owned, including two fiberglass rocket ships.  The difference between the 170 and 175 is all on the top floor plan. The hulls are the same.  Lets talk about the good things. The boat has a really nice ride, very stable and I have fished mine in winds that no aluminum should be out. I can not help it the stripers bite good then sometimes.

The boat will not be the fastest you will find but that is partly do to how the mod V works and that assists in the better than most ride. It is a trade off.

Now for me I did not like the floor plan on the 175 because I want the big tackle storage the 170 had up front. The 175 has two livewells and sacrifices the tackle storage.  Take a fem minutes online and look at pictures of a 170 and a 175. Several other things that I did not like was my storage lockers had no locks. I had to drill and install locks myself.  I have to be carefull my drain tube clogged once and water filled a storage locker costing me a lot of expensive tackle. I check them carefully often now. One note the boat was originally setup with a Merc 25 for a HP restricted  lake I fished. It now has the 75 you see in the second picture.  I did make some upgrades when I purchased it. I have a 24 volt 70 pound thrust trolling motor, on board charger good electronics etc. That boat has been launched on lakes,and rivers in MD, PA, VA, NC, TN, and KY.  It has seen a ton of fishing here at home on the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal rivers.

If I  were to by one today I think I would rather go for a newer Ranger or Triton but these boats will work.

If you do purchase it make sure to take it to a local marine dealer and have all of the old fuel lines replaced from the tank to the engine. They were built with good fuel lines then but those lines are not ethanol rated and all of the industry is dealing with the ill effects of ethanol. It is not expensive but have them changes and you will avoid  more costly issues.  One other thing is it helps to add side boards to the trailer in order to get on and off the trailer.  Id I can help any more just ask.  Good Luck in your search.

 

Here are a few pics

 

[Bwsweet]

Thanks for all the great information. I definitely do not need a speed demond boat. Just like my pickup trucks I own, they are nothing fancy or speedy but they get me from point A to point B reliably. 

 

I have been trying to understand the 12v vs 24v trolling motor. He thought it was a 12v and motorguide. Is switching to 24v as simple as hooking the batteries in series or will that burn up the motor instantly? (Thinking about it I'm sure it would). He did mention the boat has been sitting for the last 3 years, but in his garage with cover on it. If the boat is everything he says it is, what kind of offer do I give him? Is there a good rule of thumb to make an offer? I have been comparing prices on the internet and these lowes seem to hold their value. 

[fishnkamp]

Not sure what to offer him but here is what the trolling motor low down is. Most 12 volt trolling motors provide between 30 and 55 pounds of thrust. That was the standard for the Lowe 170s and 175s. I paid to not use that and instead add the extra battery ( so there are three on board) and upgraded to a 24 volt 70 pound thrust model. I wish I had stepped up to an even more powerful model as there are times in d heavier wind or current that more power would be nice.  If the boat comes with a 12 volt unit a local dealer can upgrade it to a more powerful one. They are expensive but you could sell off the old one to help pay for thc cost.  You might be happy with the one on there. As for the batteries it works like this. There will one on board that will start the engine and power things like the lights and livewells. The trolling motor will use its own dedicated batteries. A 12 volt system will have 1 dedicated battery and a 24 volt model requires 2 dedicated batteries. The batteries used for the trolling motors are always deep cycle batteries and should be like group 27, 29, 30 or 31 depending on the size that particular brand offers. I run 3 group 30 Cabela brand AGM batteries and they have held up well.

[RUSS9999]

My 2002 Lowe 180W has a 12 volt 55 pound thrust on it, ran off 2 batteries and I have never seen a day that I said I wish the TM was bigger. It's a 17' 10'' boat, 86'' transom and a 90hp. It's more boat then the 170 or 175. I can fish two very long days with out charging batteries. One is a group 29 and a group 27