# Looking to buy a new 1648 john boat for the creek and river



## skipper123 (Jul 19, 2016)

Been thumbing thru the forum looking for someone with one of these Tracker Marine Grizzly boats. At $3000 she affordable, After much research she seems to be the working mans boat with the most features for the buck. Have been looking at the Weldbuilt Crawdad best looking and affordable but found some bad news from a forum member on here, after reading that Im scared of weldbuilt. Sounds like he had a nightmare, I hate nightmares, I have been down the pro rated warranty road with Alumacraft on the wood floor in a 1991 bass boat before not good. At nine years old it was shot. Yes the previous owner obliviously left it outdoors for eight years always under a canvas cover bad news. That cover holds the moisture inside and rots and molds everything. She looked brand new no fading from the sun on anything and completely rotten. OK on to the War Eagle 1548 best built I think and one heck of a nice boat but I cant afford it, shes $1500 more than the Tracker .Then the G3 1548 DK or the 1652VB with flat floor looks good and well built still cant afford shes $4500 at Augusta Marine Also looked at the Lowe Roughneck from AK Mcallum seems like a nice tough boat as well and priced right. A little bit of a drive up to NC but not bad. Maybe a closer dealer gotta look. Back to the Tracker Grizzly shes 100 ga all welded and no wood big plus, and I love the flat rub rail and the versa track system another big plus. I have mounted rod holders on a round gunnel/rub rail before its a pita. The Grizzly I can build it a piece at a time just like a AR15, A great platform to build on. Rod/Gun locker and live well can be added as well as many versa track accessories around the gunnel and can be moved or removed anytime another big plus. Anyhow would like to here from you guys that own one of these Grizzly boats and if you had any troubles as in bad welds and if the Tracker Marine boyz took good care of you. Another big plus for me now is logistics on purchase and if I had a warranty issue getting it back to the dealer. Just found a dealer in Augusta/Evans GA 20 miles from home at Clarks Hill Lake thats another a real plus.


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## bobberboy (Jul 19, 2016)

I have a 2009 1448 Grizzly. I don't get out that much so my experience is kinda limited. I like the boat a lot and my only complaint is the paint job which isn't that great. Don't know anything about how the boat is prepped and painted but the paint doesn't seem all that durable for my money. Given I'm not all that concerned about the paint it hasn't been a problem for me and wouldn't prevent me from buying another. Have not had any dealings with customer service so can't comment. Maybe as important or more important is the relationship with the dealer.


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## nowgrn4 (Jul 20, 2016)

New Tracker grizzly 1548 is max rated for only 25HP. Something is wrong with that. With 2 guys and gear, 2 batteries, trolling motor, cooler and a fuel tank you will have to run the piss out of that little 25 to get anywhere. The G3 and War Eagle are both rated for 40HP, that sounds a little better.


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## skipper123 (Jul 20, 2016)

Im looking at the Grizzly 1648MVX and its rated for a 40HP max Im planning on a 30HP Tohatsu, I think that will plane her off well even under a heavy load with the right prop. Wish I knew some one with this set up to see how she runs. I noticed Backwater Marine installing 20HP Tohatsu on their 1648 weldbuilt. I was running a 20 on a 1448 80ga Nova boat and it did well but I dont know the speed.


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## hipster dufus (Jul 21, 2016)

i have a 1648 mv weldbilt w a 30 hp tiller tohatsu pt/t efi. i had mine built at 100 gage. so it is heavier then mweiners. 2012. have had some minor issues. nothing like mweiners. the 30 hp will push me at 27+ mph w 2 guys,26 w 3. will use a lot more fuel w 3 guys. she will porpoise on me if i trim out wrong. i use so little gas i bought a 3 gal tank that takes up less room. i hope this helps.


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## skipper123 (Jul 21, 2016)

Man that sounds great I was wondering if she would hit 20mph with the 30HP Tohatsu with the Tracker being 100ga Sound like she may hit 25 thanks for the info on the weldbuilt.


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## skipper123 (Jul 23, 2016)

Update, just because a dealer is listed on the tracker marine website does not mean he will sale you a tracker boat. Just left premier marine Evans GA and was told he would only sell me a package deal boat motor trailer, HUUMMM OK I will order from some one else. Called Berkley Outdoors in Lexington SC bout 70 miles away and he says he will order what ever I want. Now thats customer service. Quoted boat at 3200.00 10% down to order. Also got a quote on a painted trailer to match for 1250.00 heck I cant buy a used one and replace everything needed to make it road worthy for that. Think I will just save up a few more coins and buy a new trailer to match the Tracker. Also stopped buy Augusta Marine and checked on the G3 some one said it was the same price or cheaper for the same boat. Not, it was one grand more than the tracker and no versa track, same 100 gauge welded boat and same layout but it was a 1652BV open flat floor not a 1648MVX I guess four inches is worth a grand but Im sticking with the Tracker, I like the versa track system.


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## turbotodd (Jul 27, 2016)

skipper123 said:


> OK on to the War Eagle 1548 best built I think and one heck of a nice boat but I cant afford it, shes $1500 more than the Tracker



This is true. Having looked at "ALL" the major brands when I was boat shopping, I chose the 1548 WE. Looked real hard at Tracker Grizzly boats but there were a few things that the WE beat them out on. The ribs in the grizzly were taller than the war eagle. Those tall ribs are not fun to walk around on. And most importantly (to me) is that when you put a floor down over the ribs, because they're so big you lose a LOT of interior space. Another thing I did not like about them is that the ones I've seen, the paint was flaking. Not by itself, but a small scratch turned into a big flake coming off. And also, lack of storage space and lack of floatation. One of the Grizzlies I looked at was a "commercial rated" boat, no flotation at all. That is one thing I will say about War Eagle; they'll still float more or less level if you leave the drain plug out and let it fill up. The safety thing. Will it get water logged eventually? Probably in a few years, yes. But I'd rather know that it'll float when swamped than to worry about 10 lbs of extra weight in the flotation. Yeah I, too, was looking to save as much as possible but in the end I shopped around and found a 548LDV for the exact same price as the Tracker Grizzly 1648. Only thing, I had to wire it and put the accessories in myself, which isn't hard. If you pay war eagle to do it (pre-rig) the little stuff adds up-and quickly. I bought mine bare with a floor, and the floor was free (promotional) at the time, and I also got OD green instead of camoflage, as camo was an extra $250. With an old 25hp 4 stroke, I am seeing 29 mph regularly with just me, with the girlfriend and all her stuff that she brings, usually 26 or 27. I'm absolutely tickled with it. Smooth and dry ride, confident, handles pretty good, .100" material, etc. I know a few guys with Grizzlies and they like them but they are not top of the line boats by any means, but I don't think they're meant to be. About on the same level as Waco's welded boats and Weldbilt.


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## lovedr79 (Jul 27, 2016)

my only complaints about mine was the paint and how heavy it was. but it was a tough boat.


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## jsmoody (Jul 27, 2016)

I would look at Alweld and for sure get a price on a Weld-Craft.


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## skipper123 (Jul 30, 2016)

Finally pulled the plug and ordered a new 1648MVX grizzly with matching trailer. One of the strong deciding factors, the dealers them selves. Got real tired of begging dealers to price out a boat and trailer, I think it was not enough profit in a boat and trailer for them to bother. Tracker was the one I could price out myself online add the items I wanted call the dealer and tell him to order it. Way to go tracker this systems obviously works. The wife and I were sitting in a cove fishing and had five boats around us, they all had tracker wrote on the side. They have to be doing something right. Im sure this is not the best boat on the water but it sure is the most enjoyable to purchase. Im not going to beat it to a pulp duck hunting so Im sure it will give many years of good service. I ordered it from Berkley Outdoors and Marine in Columbia SC and ETA is two to three weeks. Cant wait till she gets here.


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## RiverLife (Jul 30, 2016)

My neighbor picked up a new Tracker. He ran it a few weeks and hung the for sale sign on it.

I ran over to check it out in hopes of possibly buying it. When I got up close I saw the reason he was selling. Paint was lifting all over. It scratched easy and once a little scratch got there the paint lifted and flaked. Seemed cheap construction compared to my Lowe I ended up with.

I would wait and save up more or buy a quality used setup. Boats are a dime a dozzen. Most buy them and they sit in the back yard,garage, or barn.

Fishing partner just got a killer Ranger for half the original price. People bought it new launched it twice and it has been sitting in their garage. They wanted the space back and wanted it gone. Deals are out there!


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## skipper123 (Jul 30, 2016)

To late for that shes on order and Im happily waiting delivery. Supposedly they have changed their paint process and the baked on powder coat paint has a warranty now, if not pics of that nice new boat will be all over the internet if it just falls off. Hull also has a five year warranty. I dont see how any one could stay in business with a bad product now with all the social media these days exposing them. I read many bad reviews and many good reviews on the tracker and almost every other alu boat hull as well. This will be my forth tracker hull but the first welded one. I did not notice any major difference in alumacraft or tracker hulls I have run over the years. To be honest paint is not a big issue on a creek and river boat its going to get scratched up running thru the swamp. I plan to camo the boat myself. Thanks to all that have replied I appreciate your honesty and opinions. I will post pics when she arrives and after we use her a little.


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## bassin0331 (Sep 1, 2016)

I just got the 1448, I love it, plenty of room and fishes amazing. Trying to iron out some plaining issues but awesome boat


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## Ictalurus (Sep 2, 2016)

skipper123 said:


> I dont see how any one could stay in business with a bad product now with all the social media these days exposing them.



Have you never stepped in a Wal-Mart?

:LOL2: :LOL2: :LOL2:


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## wmk0002 (Sep 2, 2016)

bassin0331 said:


> I just got the 1448, I love it, plenty of room and fishes amazing. Trying to iron out some plaining issues but awesome boat



Got any pics?


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## bassin0331 (Sep 2, 2016)

wmk0002 said:


> bassin0331 said:
> 
> 
> > I just got the 1448, I love it, plenty of room and fishes amazing. Trying to iron out some plaining issues but awesome boat
> ...


I will post some in a few mins


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## skipper123 (Sep 20, 2016)

I use to shop wal mart until I saw that documentary with the smiley face no more, not for three years now, anyway update on the Grizzly 1648 MVX and the 30 HP Tohatsu they are a awesome pair the Tohatsu pushes the Grizzly bout 26 mph by gps loaded with two people and full gear. Boat rides like a much larger boat and takes a rough chop high and dry. The Tohatsu is so quite we talk running down the river and planes the big Grizzly with the factory sent alu prop well. She will sit on plane at 12 mph trim down. The EFI is easy start and go no BS about warming up hit the key and go. The long multi function tiller is killer with the trim switch in easy reach as well as the large forward shifter. The is the easiest boat to load I have ever owned and has no guide ons on the trailer go figure. The wifie drove it on the first time perfect while the jaw of the onlookers dropped as they did not get their laugh as usual around the boat ramp. All and all shes a keeper and a great fishing machine. Only bad thing so far is trying to buy those versa track accessories one of the reasons I bought this boat. You cant just pick out an item and buy online. In todays world REALLY ? you have to fill out a begging form and beg some one across the country to send you a pick of the items and a price so you can send them your money NOT !!! my boat sits now with all bro craft rod holders and Im now making home made accessories to fit the versatrack rail. Great idea and design but the worst marketing on items I think I have ever seen. I bought the boat and trailer online site unseen but cant buy the versatrack accessories online. OK Tracker Marine you keep your versatrack items Lund and a few more boat makers sells these items online as well and are happy to take my money. So far purchased over a grand in accessories, the brocraft rod holders work well and fit the versa track rail perfect.


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## skipper123 (Sep 20, 2016)

OH yea bout the paint Tracker fixed that it seems glued on now and the inside is like rhino liner now with a grip to it. The paint in now powder coated and looks great. I had the tracker boats in the past that had missing paint from day one they did a great job of fixing that on this new Grizzly. The trailer is also like rhino liner seems tough and looks super, never had that before way to go tracker !


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## boostr (Sep 21, 2016)

I think you can order the Versa Track accessories thru Bass Pro Shops.


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## boostr (Sep 21, 2016)

skipper123 said:


> I use to shop wal mart until I saw that documentary with the smiley face no more, not for three years now, anyway update on the Grizzly 1648 MVX and the 30 HP Tohatsu they are a awesome pair the Tohatsu pushes the Grizzly bout 26 mph by gps loaded with two people and full gear. Boat rides like a much larger boat and takes a rough chop high and dry. The Tohatsu is so quite we talk running down the river and planes the big Grizzly with the factory sent alu prop well. She will sit on plane at 12 mph trim down. The EFI is easy start and go no BS about warming up hit the key and go. The long multi function tiller is killer with the trim switch in easy reach as well as the large forward shifter. The is the easiest boat to load I have ever owned and has no guide ons on the trailer go figure. The wifie drove it on the first time perfect while the jaw of the onlookers dropped as they did not get their laugh as usual around the boat ramp. All and all shes a keeper and a great fishing machine. Only bad thing so far is trying to buy those versa track accessories one of the reasons I bought this boat. You cant just pick out an item and buy online. In todays world REALLY ? you have to fill out a begging form and beg some one across the country to send you a pick of the items and a price so you can send them your money NOT !!! my boat sits now with all bro craft rod holders and Im now making home made accessories to fit the versatrack rail. Great idea and design but the worst marketing on items I think I have ever seen. I bought the boat and trailer online site unseen but cant buy the versatrack accessories online. OK Tracker Marine you keep your versatrack items Lund and a few more boat makers sells these items online as well and are happy to take my money. So far purchased over a grand in accessories, the brocraft rod holders work well and fit the versa track rail perfect.



Good to hear about the Grizzley. Iv'e been looking at the same boat. How is the casting deck? Is it stable when standing up there?


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## skipper123 (Sep 25, 2016)

The casting deck is stable, me and the 85 pound doberman pinscher fish well from it with him moving around. Great deck to bow fish from as well.


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## boostr (Sep 25, 2016)

skipper123 said:


> The casting deck is stable, me and the 85 pound doberman pinscher fish well from it with him moving around. Great deck to bow fish from as well.


Good to hear

Sent from my SM-G900T3 using Tapatalk


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## Ictalurus (Sep 26, 2016)

Glad to hear you like your new boat. Can't wait to see some pics of it in action.


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## turbotodd (Sep 27, 2016)

The tracker dealers want to sell them. They're a "cheap" boat. There's some markup in them. The salespeople make their money by 2 things: More markup and more volume. Just like Wal-Mart. It's a cheap boat, they mark them up considerably, "package" them, and sell the poop out of 'em to price point buyers. Just like Wal-Mart. Most war eagle dealers don't make much on the boat itself. And most war eagle dealers make their money on the accessories and the motor alone, and a lot of the dealers are multi-line dealers and the other lines many times have more commission in them than the boats-hence why the salespeople don't put a lot of time into a boat sale. Also, on that note, 90% of boat lookers don't have the money or credit to buy, in that sense, they're wasting the salesperson's time.


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## skipper123 (Oct 7, 2016)

turbotodd said:


> The tracker dealers want to sell them. They're a "cheap" boat. There's some markup in them. The salespeople make their money by 2 things: More markup and more volume. Just like Wal-Mart. It's a cheap boat, they mark them up considerably, "package" them, and sell the poop out of 'em to price point buyers. Just like Wal-Mart. Most war eagle dealers don't make much on the boat itself. And most war eagle dealers make their money on the accessories and the motor alone, and a lot of the dealers are multi-line dealers and the other lines many times have more commission in them than the boats-hence why the salespeople don't put a lot of time into a boat sale. Also, on that note, 90% of boat lookers don't have the money or credit to buy, in that sense, they're wasting the salesperson's time.



Well that was not very nice and I paid cash for mine thank ya very much, just kidding , I know its a cheaper boat but after reading many different reviews some good some bad and fishing in a few friends boats many years old I bought a Grizzly and at this point we love it. She rides nice high and dry with the new 30 hp Tohatsu uses little fuel and takes rough water with ease, I would have to give her a good review today, as far as versa track dont buy on that because you can buy versa track items online bass pro shops or any where else with out a pain in the ass and they are way over priced. I have 10 items mounted on the rail now none of which are versa track. Somebody really screwed that up. My fault I should have checked it out better before I bought the boat.


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## Rockhitter (Oct 9, 2016)

Glad you are liking your new boat and trailer. Picture please.


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## johnnybassboat (Oct 9, 2016)

Ictalurus said:


> skipper123 said:
> 
> 
> > I dont see how any one could stay in business with a bad product now with all the social media these days exposing them.
> ...


 Maybe you should check out the Tracker transom cracking issue and what they wont do to fix it. Many unhappy Tracker 195 owners out there. They are still in business and just bought Cabelas, can anybody say monopoly.


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## turbotodd (Oct 12, 2016)

Here ya'll go. Was on the water ALL weekend. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm tired of fishing. Or more specifically tired of catching fish. Kept 90. Caught probably 101-103ish total in 3 days. On the way back to the ramp, I decided to take a quick vid because I was thinking about this thread. The boat is a '1 model War Eagle 548LDV, 15' long, 48" wide. Running a 2000 model Yamaha 4 stroke 25hp short shaft. I'm cruising along at 29.9 mph in this video. Typically on water like that, I'm seeing 30.3 to 30.5 at 6210-6240 RPM. On smoother water, 29-ish at 5970 RPM. The rev limiter is on at 6300, off at 6250 but you can feel the timing go "weird" at 6250ish. 11" Turbo Hotshot, little more bowl lift than I wanted but it's a good overall prop which moves 2 of us well at right close to 27mph. I think there's more in it but it works so well as-is, I hate to mess with it. At least for what we use it for.

When I bought this boat I looked at ALL the major brands and settled on this one. One big reason was the floor and the ribs that the floor sits on. The ribs on a lot of the other boats were pretty tall, like 4" plus. These are about 2", so you have more boat interior to move around in. But what I didn't realize was how well it rides in a chop, and how dry I stay as the "captain". It rides awesome for a tin boat. Nearly as good as the 17' glass bass boat that I sold before I bought this one. I've had this boat since new in June 2012 and use it often, a lot of times on rougher water-stuff that I should not be on. I pulled the front deck off over the last winter to build a storage box and while it was off, I looked at the welds...everything perfect, no cracks or anything. I'm highly impressed with how tough this thing is compared to the 1542 Grumman I had before it, and before that a Weldbilt 1448. Both served the purpose but both rode like what I call a typical tin boat...beat you to death in any chop. A "vee bottom" would ride better but you also lose a little interior space.

Vid:
https://vid262.photobucket.com/albums/ii94/toddh687/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-08/ABE3361F-B68E-4049-AFEE-876E4A32E2B1_zpsdxtqoacm.mp4

It ain't no hot rod, but its been stone reliable for as long as I've had it. I'm told that if I had dumped the Yamaha and hung a Mercury 25hp on it, that it'd be faster. I don't think so, not a 4 stroke Merc for sure as I run one occasionally as a guide...and it is a SLUG. Reliable and I like the EFI but it's slow and torque-less.


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## Riverrabbit (Oct 14, 2016)

I just picked up a late model 2016 1448 MVX with aluminum transom about a month ago. Very happy with my decision. And Canon rod holders work great with 1/4" carriage bolts. I don't bother with any of the versa track stuff. Drink holders, GPS mounts, rod holders.. it all works great with 1/4" Carriage bolts. The other day I added a console from the Lowe dealer they sell for the roughnecks.. fit perfectly and the Versatrack provided a great spot to secure the console for a nice clean install.


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## Zum (Nov 4, 2016)

Glad your happy with your boat purchase....on the Internet most times you only hear bad things about products.
Happy boating 

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk


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