Tracker 1542?

[mark nowak]

Just started looking at jon boats, I like this boat because of the wider bottom and the live well. Any info on tracker boats?

[Nitrofreak]

Tracker boats are great boats but what are you looking for specifically? there is a lot of knowledge here with all of these guys and gals and they can put you in the right direction.

[mark nowak]

Tracker boats are great boats but what are you looking for specifically? there is a lot of knowledge here with all of these guys and gals and they can put you in the right direction.

I am basically looking for info on the tracker brand, good or bad and info on tracker Jon boats themselves. This will be my first boat and I want to make sure it is a good first boat or if I should look else where. I have fished out of a number of other brands but it is tough to look any where else with the prices tracker offers.

[Nitrofreak]

You have a great point.

What will you be doing specifically with the boat IE... Lakes, river, pond and maybe we can get you close to what you want.

Me personally I like the Apache it gives you the best of both worlds.

[mark nowak]

You have a great point.

What will you be doing specifically with the boat IE... Lakes, river, pond and maybe we can get you close to what you want.

Me personally I like the Apache it gives you the best of both worlds.

Mainly small lakes and ponds, I might get out on the Missouri river a little bit.

[Nitrofreak]

I have never fished that river but if it is swift you want to be able to mount a stong trolling motor to it and a small gas engine.

Have you tried looking at trackerboats.com?

[done]

I have owned 2 boats, a tracker 14' jon and currently a Tracker PT 175 txw.

Overall my experiences have been good. However, there were a couple issues I had with my jon. First and more serious, the transom was majorly lacking in strength to mount any motor on it. It flexed enough that after a year I got cracks on the bottom of it and along the sides. I had a 8HP OB on mine which was well below the max rated HP for it. They have since added a cross member to it to strengthen it but it did tick me off that they had such an obvious design flaw.

While my service experience with them has been limited, I have seen enough folks post on here to get the idea that their customer service overall sucks big time. Should you have an issue with your jon you will potentially lose it for months as they ship it back to a plant and screw around with it.

They do have a good price and look fine. Knock on wood my PT175 txw has performed flawlessly for about 12 months so far.

[Wayne P.]

Compliment on your choice of boat sizes. You are among the few that start your boat quest with a stable size jon boat.

[bassnleo]

Read my thread below titled "Really not happy with Tracker Marine".

I have not had my Grizzly 1648 since March 13th.

Nuff said...... >

[Nitrofreak]

I think tracker makes some great boats Mark but you definitely owe it to yourself to shop around and look harder at the construction of these boats before deciding on a particular make and model.

Pay close attention to detail...How strong is the stern, Is the material reinforced enough to withstand the occasional rock banging and check out the manufactures reviews of their product by real customers with consumer reports.com

And I am sure there are other sites that you can find by going to google and type in your request.

[mark nowak]

I think tracker makes some great boats Mark but you definitely owe it to yourself to shop around and look harder at the construction of these boats before deciding on a particular make and model.

Pay close attention to detail...How strong is the stern, Is the material reinforced enough to withstand the occasional rock banging and check out the manufactures reviews of their product by real customers with consumer reports.com

And I am sure there are other sites that you can find by going to google and type in your request.

Thank you very much, that is what I plan on doing. I appreciate the help.

[Nitrofreak]

Your welcome and good luck make sure you keep the same frame of mind wider is better, stability is important.

[Fishes in trees]

Trackers and the other Bass Pro boats are cheap for a reason - i.e. they cut alot of corners.  They are manufactured to a minimum standard. Hopefully you will shop around and as you compare other brands to Trackers you will begin to see where they cut corners.   You live in Kansas City.  I don't live very far from there.  There are a number of reputable boat dealers in the KC region.  Take a Saturday and a tank of gas and drive around and visit all of them.

I've got a Lowe I bought new in 2002.  I've fished it hard and smacked it into a lot of stuff.  I think I would have sunk a 2002 Tracker.  This is not an anti BPS rant.  I think Johnny Morris is a marketing genius.  I just think he makes cheap boats and I don't mean cheap in a good way.

[mark nowak]

Trackers and the other Bass Pro boats are cheap for a reason - i.e. they cut alot of corners. They are manufactured to a minimum standard. Hopefully you will shop around and as you compare other brands to Trackers you will begin to see where they cut corners. You live in Kansas City. I don't live very far from there. There are a number of reputable boat dealers in the KC region. Take a Saturday and a tank of gas and drive around and visit all of them.

I've got a Lowe I bought new in 2002. I've fished it hard and smacked it into a lot of stuff. I think I would have sunk a 2002 Tracker. This is not an anti BPS rant. I think Johnny Morris is a marketing genius. I just think he makes cheap boats and I don't mean cheap in a good way.

I have done that a couple of times already. I was also looking at Lowe boats, Blue springs Marine had some very good prices, and seemed to be very knowledgeable. Where did you buy your Lowe?

[Nitrofreak]

[ I think Johnny Morris is a marketing genius. I just think he makes cheap boats and I don't mean cheap in a good way.