Bass boat rig under 20'4"

[Take the bait]

I am Looking for a bass boat that will fit in my garage. My garage is about 20'4". So far I have looked at crestliners ( vt 17 ) charger 176 , stratos 176 vlo and going to bass pro tomorrow to look at nitro z17 and tracker 175. Not looking for any type of Jon boat , just a bass boat that will fit in my garage.

[Russ E]

i had the same issue. looked long and hard at nearly every boat out there.

those are all decent boats.

one thing to keep in mind is having a reputable dealer nearby for whatever  boat you choose.

For me Cabelas is 5 miles from my house. they are a ranger dealer.

I bought a Ranger Z175.  its 17ft. 6in. long 

with the motor down, and tongue folded it is right at 20 ft. 

it has an initial higher sticker price than the nitro z17.  If you buy all of the options to match what the ranger has standard the difference is not much.

mine has a mercury pro xs 115 with a command thrust lower unit. It handles rough water surprisingly well. Jumps on plane fast. With full tank and livewell, it will run just shy of 50 mph  in summer. 51 mph in spring. very easy on gas.

I have nearly every option available including the Ultrex trolling motor.  it cost $32000.00.

you can get it for around $26000.000 if you don't add options.

[Take the bait]

Difficult to find a nice boat dealer here in the Tampa area. I have a bass pro about 10 mins from my house but not sure about their boats ( haven't heard good things about tracker and nitro ) . Too bad the nearest cabelas is 700 miles and 10hrs away

[Catt]

Bass Cat

Margay w/swing away tongue 20' 3"

Sabre Vision w/swing away tongue 19' 8" (weird bigger boat than the Margay)

 

Aqua Tech Marine Palm Bay, Florida 

 

[Russ E]

There are several happy nitro owners around here. I  was told the boats are better after Johnny Morris bought ranger and triton.

[Hez]

What are the dimensions of your garage?  

 

Any chance it will go in at an angle - fitting diagonally?  

 

That is what I did with my 18' Ranger...I needed 23' of space.  My garage was only 18' deep.   

[Take the bait]

8 hours ago, Hez said:

What are the dimensions of your garage?  

 

Any chance it will go in at an angle - fitting diagonally?  

 

That is what I did with my 18' Ranger...I needed 23' of space.  My garage was only 18' deep.   

Remeasured the garage and it came out to be about 20'7 will remeasure again but the boat will not be on an angle, still have to fit the tow vehicle in there. I still like the crestliner vt17 . The front deck is aluminum. But are all the new bass boat decks aluminum or fiberglass under the carpet? I just don't want the wood to rot under the carpet 

[PECo]

Don't forget to measure the width of the boat on the trailer, too.

 

The depth of my garage is 22'-8", and the door opening is 104". My old boat was 102" wide on the trailer and had to be pushed into the garage by hand. I traded it in for a 2017 Triton 179 TrX with a Mercury 115 Pro XS four-stroke that's only 20'-5" long with the trailer's swing tongue folded and the motor down, but, more importantly, it's only 98" wide on the trailer, so now I can back it into the garage with my tow vehicle.

[Take the bait]

The garage is a 2 car garage. With the tow vehicle I have about 8' - 8'6 in width to work with. Worried about weight capacity. May only ever fish 3-4 once or twice but most bass type boats have 4/555 limit. Don't want to overload the boat.

[Russ E]

15 minutes ago, Take the bait said:

The garage is a 2 car garage. With the tow vehicle I have about 8' - 8'6 in width to work with. Worried about weight capacity. May only ever fish 3-4 once or twice but most bass type boats have 4/555 limit. Don't want to overload the boat.  

 The front deck is aluminum. But are all the new bass boat decks aluminum or fiberglass under the carpet? I just don't want the wood to rot under the carpet 

 

 

the one drawback of bass boats under 18 ft., is they are Made for 2 people. not much more. Mine is rated for 4 people 600 lbs.

4 people in my boat would be crowded.

4 average size guys will weigh more than 600 lbs.

 

 

 

As of last year the trackers still have a wood deck. I think most other brands are aluminum or fiberglass.

if you store it in a garage, rot should not be an issue.

 

 

[Take the bait]

A wooden deck means tracker is most likely off the list . Also hate the center rod box. Also seen that the gas tank is on the driver side of the boat making it unbalanced. If those 3 things were fixed than it might be the perfect boat ! Also wish it had a step to the front deck but can live without it 

[Russ E]

my brother in law has a tracker pro team 190 TX.. iI's ok. my biggest complaint about that boat is it does not sit flat in the water like my fiberglass boat. rear is low in the water. Bow sticks up in the air. catches wind like crazy, hard to keep in position with trolling motor in the wind.

 

If you are looking for Aluminum, Lowe , Alumacraft, and Triton all make good aluminum boats.

I would think in a town the size of Tampa there should be a dealer that handles one of those

 

[DINK WHISPERER]

I use to keep my 19ft boat in my two car garage side ways but my truck wouldn't fit. Break away trailer tongue helps too. I finally broke down and got an aluminum shed for the boat alone. 

[Take the bait]

Alumacraft pro 175 looks very nice. Can't find a lot of specs and details on the 2017 and 2018. I like the fact that you change if it comes what engine brand it comes with. Unlike how every other manufacturer comes with a mecury. 

[Russ E]

1 minute ago, Take the bait said:

Alumacraft pro 175 looks very nice. Can't find a lot of specs and details on the 2017 and 2018. I like the fact that you change if it comes what engine brand it comes with. Unlike how every other manufacturer comes with a mecury. 

Take it you are not a mercury fan.

The latest mercury four strokes are pretty nice.

I have a mercury pro xs 115 four stroke on my boat. Super quiet and has a lot of power. Don't have to use 2 cycle oil.

 

Don't see may new Alumacraft around here. Don't know of a dealer close by.

do see a couple old ones out there. the people I talk to seem to like them.

There are a ton of Lowes around here. All of the owners I have talked to love them.

[Take the bait]

Seems to be 2 dealers nearby ( about 40 miles ) which isn't horrible. Never seen a alumacraft in person. Here all you see is the 50k - 80k bass boats competing on who is the fastest.

[TOXIC]

Boat buying is very dependent on a few things but there are some basics that you need to get out of the way before finding what works for YOU.  

Length.....Sounds like you are getting there on your garage size.  I base length on the type of water I fish.  Big water = bigger boat no matter the storage because if I can't fish or have to choose my days because my boat is too small, I'm not gonna be happy and safety is a concern.

Glass vs Tin.....You can't really look at both because it's not an apples to apples comparison.  Study up, pick one style and concentrate on it.

Dealer.......This would heavily weigh on my decision.  The dealer with the best reputation and service department for the boat/motor combo you choose.  I would go so far to say, I would be swayed more by a good dealer and whatever line of boat/motor he carries than anything else.  

[WRB]

On September 16, 2017 at 3:58 AM, Catt said:

Bass Cat

Margay w/swing away tongue 20' 3"

Sabre Vision w/swing away tongue 19' 8" (weird bigger boat than the Margay)

 

Aqua Tech Marine Palm Bay, Florida 

 

^^^This^^^

Sabre is an excellent choice.

Tom

[Take the bait]

I think aluminum is my best bet. More options than fiberglass. I also fear that if I were to hit an alligator or manatee, with fiberglass that it would crack ( at high speed ) . I like the charger 176 , but I could not find a dealer. Really like the bass cat sabre vision , and at least I know there is a dealer in Florida . Looked for a nice ranger but could not find any. Took a look at alumacraft pro 175 and looked nice, just seems to be a small front deck. Will not know until I see one in person 

[Russ E]

41 minutes ago, Take the bait said:

I think aluminum is my best bet. More options than fiberglass. I also fear that if I were to hit an alligator or manatee, with fiberglass that it would crack ( at high speed ) . I like the charger 176 , but I could not find a dealer. Really like the bass cat sabre vision , and at least I know there is a dealer in Florida . Looked for a nice ranger but could not find any. Took a look at alumacraft pro 175 and looked nice, just seems to be a small front deck. Will not know until I see one in person 

It all comes down to what works for you. If you hit something at high speed with either boat, bad things can happen.

While aluminum is more durable around rocks and wood, fiberglass is not as fragile as some people think.

I owned 2 aluminum boats before I bought my latest fiberglass boat. 

I obviously don't beach on rip rap, but I didn't do that with my aluminum boats either.

the stability while fishing in wind with my fiberglass boat, is much better than either of my aluminum boats were.

here in Kansas that was probably the number 1 selling point for me.

 

 

[Take the bait]

Went to bass pro , love the nitro z17 . There is one problem, Weight capacity. 3/460 is not enough to fit more than 2 heavier than average men. But other than that love the boat.Seen the tracker 175 Txw nice boat. Felt comfortable in it. Decent amount of storage.weight capacity is 4/550 which is much better. One thing the salesman did bring to my mind was hat he said if you hit something with the double fiberglass, you have the foam that will protect you and keep you afloat. He also said that hitting something with the aluminum it has a higher chance of sininking . Still going to look at other boat dealers.

[Russ E]

30 minutes ago, Take the bait said:

Went to bass pro , love the nitro z17 . There is one problem, Weight capacity. 3/460 is not enough to fit more than 2 heavier than average men. But other than that love the boat.Seen the tracker 175 Txw nice boat. Felt comfortable in it. Decent amount of storage.weight capacity is 4/550 which is much better. One thing the salesman did bring to my mind was hat he said if you hit something with the double fiberglass, you have the foam that will protect you and keep you afloat. He also said that hitting something with the aluminum it has a higher chance of sininking . Still going to look at other boat dealers.

if you are looking at the nitro Z17. I would see if there is a Triton or ranger dealer in the area to compare. 

ranger Z175 and Triton 179 TRX are both about the same size as the Z17.

[Take the bait]

On 9/19/2017 at 10:37 PM, Weedwhacker said:

if you are looking at the nitro Z17. I would see if there is a Triton or ranger dealer in the area to compare. 

ranger Z175 and Triton 179 TRX are both about the same size as the Z17.

Too bad the triton won't fit in the garage. Really nice boat. Checked Ranger aluminum and there official website and could not find any information on the z175

[Fishing Rhino]

On 9/19/2017 at 10:01 PM, Take the bait said:

Went to bass pro , love the nitro z17 . There is one problem, Weight capacity. 3/460 is not enough to fit more than 2 heavier than average men. But other than that love the boat.Seen the tracker 175 Txw nice boat. Felt comfortable in it. Decent amount of storage.weight capacity is 4/550 which is much better. One thing the salesman did bring to my mind was hat he said if you hit something with the double fiberglass, you have the foam that will protect you and keep you afloat. He also said that hitting something with the aluminum it has a higher chance of sininking . Still going to look at other boat dealers.

 

Keep in mind that "weight capacity" is not just the weight of the people on the boat.   It also includes the weight of your gear as well.  Gear such as tackle, bait, grub, beverages, foul weather gear, etc.

 

I don't know how they calculate these capacities, and I find this one confusing and dubious to say the least.

 

Weight capacity on my Nitro Z8 is 4 persons or 1000 pounds.  The placard on my 15.5 foot, square stern canoe has a capacity or 4 persons or 765 pounds. Length of Z8 20 feet plus, beam just over eight feet.  Length and beam of canoe 15.5 feet, 41 inch beam.

 

I'm thinking the input from liability lawyers have as much influence in calculating these capacities as the nautical engineers.  I'd never put anything near the stated capacity on my canoe but would be comfortable with the stated capacity for my Nitro.

 

Then again, my canoe will never be travelling at the same speeds as the Nitro.

[Russ E]

5 hours ago, Take the bait said:

Too bad the triton won't fit in the garage. Really nice boat. Checked Ranger aluminum and there official website and could not find any information on the z175

Z175 is fiberglass. RT178 is their aluminum model.