# New here! Buying boat! Help ASAP plz!



## Kustrud (Dec 17, 2014)

Hey guys, bout to buy my first boat and want some opinions real quick. Please don't add any other suggestions as I have narrowed it down to between these two as I found two good deals. Grizzly Tracker 1648 and a War Eagle 542. Now the WE seens th obvious choice but if I look at the specs I don't know. I'll use it hunt with 2-4 people, probably 2 most of the time and same for fishing on a big lake. Both about the same price with a trailer, will run a 20-25 hp motor, but I like the fact that the Griz is .100 Guage al where as the WE is .08. They don't go to .1 until their bigger boats. The Grizz is also a little bigger. Anyway, let me know your thoughts please as I'm about to pull the trigger. Thanks!


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## lowe1648 (Dec 17, 2014)

If you plan on having 4 people in it very often I would go as big as you can. I have had 4 people in my 1652 and doing anything but riding around is a pain.


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## GarryB (Dec 17, 2014)

I've heard that tracker has problem out of the welds cracking. I can't vouch for that myself it's just what I've read when looking for my boat. Like lowe1648 said though the bigger the better. My 1548 G3 is a 2 man fishing boat. It'll hold 4 people but anything beyond 2 people fishing is a real pain unless you fish with one pole. So I say WE for durability and Grizzly for the extra room.


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## Djknyork (Dec 17, 2014)

If you live were its rocky I'd go with the grizzly for the heavy aluminum. Best of luck with whatever you choose.


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## rockdamage (Dec 17, 2014)

4 people ---.100 gauge boat--- 25 jet = epic fail


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## Lil' Blue Rude (Dec 17, 2014)

I think you'll need more motor to carry 4 people. 4 people in a 15' 42" would be pretty cramped.


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## Wood_Duck (Dec 17, 2014)

I have a 1546 and with the old 30/25 merc it couldn't get on plane with 2 people and a two coolers in the boat and struggled to do 8mph. New 40/30 yamaha though and it jumps on plane, runs 18 with 3 people and 26 with just me. You'll need more motor in a bad way. I'd go for the war eagle, .020" isn't going to hurt unless you're in really rough rocky places and it'll help abit with weight. The fourstroke 25 merc jet is a dog though if you're looking at a 25.


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## BigTerp (Dec 18, 2014)

I have a '96 Tracker Sportsman 1648MV with a newly rebuilt '94 Johnson 50/35. With hunting gear, decoys and guns I refuse to allow anymore than 3 people in the boat at a time. Rides great with all of that and 3 people, get about 27mph that way. But a 4th just seems unsafe to me. It fishes great with 2 people and with 3 gets a bit tight, but is very doable and I do fish with 3 alot. Mine is riveted and I'm guessing the hull is .08 or even less. I tore a nice hole in it this summer pretty easily. Nothing some proper welding couldn't easily fix though. If I ever do it again I'll be looking for a thicker gauge boat because my local river is shallow, narrow and ROCKY.

Here is how we get to and from our hunting spots with 3 guys, decoys, guns and gear.







And here is how it fishes.


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## reedjj (Dec 19, 2014)

This is what 4 people plus decoys and gear look like in a 1756... Not sure Id wanna try 4 in anything much smaller.


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## Kustrud (Dec 19, 2014)

Hey guys thanks for all the help! I honestly didn't notice the Jet in this forum so my apologies. Going to get my boat tomorrow, settled on a 2015 War Eagle 648 with a trailer for $4,800! I'm gonna go with a 25 of some sort. Il start a new thread as I have some questions about motors in the right place.


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## GarryB (Dec 22, 2014)

Lil' Blue Rude said:


> I think you'll need more motor to carry 4 people. 4 people in a 15' 42" would be pretty cramped.


It is! Trust me! Last outing I had 4 people on my 1542.. No fishing poles made it doable but still very cramped. The two new guys (250lb+) decided to both stand up on the front of the boat while cruising stump infested waters they got the hint when I slowed down to an idle cause I couldn't see where we was going lol


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