How bad are Tracker boats?
I know they are not a War Eagle or G3, but ----
They’re only the #1 selling brand of aluminum boats on the planet and have been for many, many years. Sure, it’s not the sexy name brand but Tracker’s warranty is as solid as anyone else’s. They don’t have the fit and finish of a Ranger or Triton aluminum boats (which actually are made in the same plant and come down the same assembly line…aside from decals, trim and trailers, they’re the same boat) but they also don’t cost the same amount of money as either of those brands. As far as bang for your buck goes, it’s extremely hard to bet a Tracker boat. You don’t stay in the boat business for 41 years if you’re making a “bad” product. FWIW, I do not own a Tracker boat.
“You don’t always know where you stand till you know that you won’t run away.” ~Slipknot
It’s not talking crap if you can back it up…and nothing can back it up better than facts.
I bought one of the heritage 40th anniversary editions last year.It’s solid and built well even though I haven’t even put gas in it yet.But ,the layout is great.
I have never owned one but I do live an hr from Cabelas & an hr from BP so I look at them all the time. I have seen a lot of them where the paint & or spray liner has been pealing off & even seen a couple with cracked welds, all were on brand new boats.
I would say do some research on the warranty & see how good they are if you need to turn in a warranty claim. Also inspect the one you choose very well before buying.
Plan on a used boat…40hp range…for the back creeks and rivers.
Just see Tracker prices lower than others.
Carolina skin is another option…like the low/no maintenance of aluminum.
DRMajor
Got a 2019 1754 Grizzly with a 60 Mercury back in OCT for my birthday. I live on Santee river which is where I planned on the boat spending most of it’s time. Check local listings but the Santee has been in flood stage since I bought the boat and I have spent most of my time chasing stripers at the Lake. The boat runs and handles great! The Versa track is really handy and has made mounting rod holders and gigging lights very simple. I’m very pleased with the boat and the price. I’m packing her up this weekend and heading to the Everglades to catch some Oscars next week!
Stephen Rogers
Good luck in the Glades!
Say hello to the mosquitoes for me…
DRMajor
I looked hard at them .went on the hull truth and changed my mind. Lots of broken welds and stringer issues
I have had their most basic 1648 modified v grizzly for over 10-years. I put a tiller 30 hp on it and it runs good. The only upgrades it has is I added their gun box and put in my own aluminum skin floor. I use mine in the creeks for camping, gigging and running the dogs to the beach primarily. I rarely put in open water beyond crossing lighthouse or Stono inlet but obviously if you catch the wind bucking be tide even the folly river can get downright nasty and the boat gets beat. I will be the first to say that the welds on the boat are not very pretty but to be honest I’ve had very little problems. I just took it this past year for the first time to a local aluminum welder and had him reattach the skin to about four of the ribs and reinforced a handful of the ribs. I know very few aluminum boats of this age that have not had to have similar repairs as a matter of fact I had a buddy with an express that cost over four times the tracker and he sent his back to the factory four times in less than two years for broken welds. There are definitely some better made boats in this class and I would include war Eagle, Duracraft, Sea ark, and express all as better made but for the cost difference I believe the tracker is hard to beat. If I’m not mistaken my boat was actually manufactured by crest liner and tracker just put their name on it. When I was looking I looked at the crest liners down in Estil and I could not tell any difference at all outside of the additional cost between that boat and a tracker. All in all I would say if you plan to spend over 90% of your time in the creeks it will be fine, if you plan to cross open water on a regular basis then I would consider the Carolina skiff for the additional flotation and the ability to take more of a beating.
Absolutely horrible quality. I would never own another one.
Stink how bout elaborating??? Which model did you have? What specific issues did have?
quote:
Originally posted by stinkbaitAbsolutely horrible quality. I would never own another one.
And yet countless people have owned several of them without a problem.
Fact is, there isn’t a boat manufacturer in the world that can say they’ve never had an issue with their boats. As is always the case, bad news is going to travel further/faster than good news. Regardless of the name on the side of the boat, there’s going to be just as many happy customers as unhappy customers, if not more, but the unhappy customers are always going to be more vocal about their experience.
Like I said, I don’t and never have owned a Tracker. I have family members and friends that have owned/do own Trackers and they love them but that doesn’t make Tracker the best boat on the planet. I have family members and friends that have owned/do own other brands of boats they hate because of bad experiences but that doesn’t make those brands of boats the worst boats on the planet.
“You don’t always know where you stand till you know that you won’t run away.” ~Slipknot
It’s not talking crap if you can back it up…and nothing can back it up better than facts.
I’ve never owned one but, I know a few that have and have never heard a complaint.
NN
I have an 11 year old Tracker Grizzly 1548 with a tiller 40hp Merc 4-stroke that has treated me very well. All welds are still in tact. My boat is of the earlier traditional jon designs in which the interior ribs run port-starboard. No factory skinned floor options were available at the time, so I made a drop-in floor out of treated 1x4s so that I could have a self draining flat floor. I noticed a few years ago that the Grizzly line went to longitudinal stringers and a fully skinned interior. I wonder if all these Tracker complaints with welds not holding up are somehow related to the longitudinal construction?
I think if people truly grasped the amount of Tracker boats sold in relation to the number of complaints, they’d see the number of complaints are miniscule in comparison. The fact remains, there’s not a boat manufacturer on the planet that hasn’t had or doesn’t have complaints about their products. From Tracker to Xpress to Freeman to Viking, people are always going to find something/have something to complain about. Like I said before, Tracker is and has been the #1 selling brand of aluminum boats on the planet. If these issues were truly was widespread as some are trying to make them sound, that would no longer the case. Again, I do not own, nor have I ever owned a Tracker boat.
“You don’t always know where you stand till you know that you won’t run away.” ~Slipknot
It’s not talking crap if you can back it up…and nothing can back it up better than facts.
Good economical fishing boat drmajor. IMO.
Bought a used one several years ago, beat the heck out of it fresh an salt water. Sold it for more than I paid for it. Only issue I had was a few pin holes from Electrolysis from some bad grounds. Rewired and sealed Electrical system no other issues. I had to Isolate starting battery from trolling, previous owner had both together and it would kill the outboards charging system.
There are a butt load of these boat around and stinkbait is the only person I’ve ever heard mention anything negative about them.
Stink, what issues did you have?
They are the only “affordable” jon boats out there… Never thought I’d see $20,000 ++ for jon boats…
Hard to find 16-18’ “deal”.
DRMajor
Tracker offers several models in the 16’-17’ range for under $20k. Ranger and Triton each offer a couple of 16’ models under $20k.
Like’em or not, Tracker offers one of the best warranties on their aluminum boats in the industry. Limited lifetime on the hull, 5 year bow to stern, 3 years on the trailer, 2 years on installed electronics…
Trackers are simply hard to beat for the money.
“You don’t always know where you stand till you know that you won’t run away.” ~Slipknot
It’s not talking crap if you can back it up…and nothing can back it up better than facts.
quote:
Originally posted by drmajorThey are the only “affordable” jon boats out there… Never thought I’d see $20,000 ++ for jon boats…
Hard to find 16-18’ “deal”.
DRMajor
I agree, boats are bringing a premium price right now. Signs of a Good economy! Friend of mine sold his 2016 239 FS Keywest For more than he paid for it. Was at the Scout Plant and they are rolling! Even doing some Seven Marine installs.
I had 2 of their Jon boats and both of them had warped bottoms. You could sight down them and see how bad it was. They were warped so bad that when you tried to trim up the motor even a smidgin, they would bounce so bad it would beat your teeth out. I’m talking hitting the trim button more than 2 quick bumps. Gave them back to the dealer and bought a triton Jon. Nice hull on it and would run perfect. You could trim that hull way up and she would run awesome. My cousin bought a tracker and had same issue. The dealer ended up putting a wedge on the motor to bring it down even at a steeper angle to get it to run even semi ok. I will never own another one.