Fishing boat opinions

[Harbi]

I'm looking for a mainly fishing, but sometimes skiing/tubing boat for the family. I'm looking to spend less than $10,000 on a used boat with at least a 75 hp motor which would be comfortable/safe on big water like Mille Lacs. I've been looking at the lund tyee (mid to late 1990s era). Can anyone who owns a tyee chime in on how they like the boat and how well it might tow with a midsize SUV?

Other suggestions are welcome also. Thanks in advance.

[BobT]

I don't own a tyee but I am a little familiar with them. A tyee isn't a real small boat unless they were in that era and 75hp sounds under-powered to me, especially if you are planning on skiing/tubing.

[Harbi]

Yeah most of the tyees I've looked at have 90 - 120hp motors. I think they would be about the size I would like (16.5' - 17.5')

Would a tyee be too large to tow well with a v6 grand cherokee or 4runner type vehicle?

[mojogunter]

My brother in-law has an older tyee(91). It has been a good boat for him. The Johnson outboard not so much. It is only 16.5' and is a little narrow, but he fishes big water all the time with it, and it does fine except in really windy conditions. Then it is a little small. If you get into the bigger tyees like the 1950 or an older one with an I/O that may be a little much to pull with a Grand Cherokee, but the smaller ones with an outboard motor would be fine.

[fishinfey8]

We used to have a 17 foot 1989 lund tyee with a 115 hp merc. We towed it with a v6 Ford explorer, as well as a dodge caravan just fine. It was a little bit big for the vehicles, but if you have an overdrive button and drive it cautiously like we did, I think it would be doable.

BTW good choice. I loved that boat!

[MuskieJunkie]

Would a tyee be too large to tow well with a v6 grand cherokee or 4runner type vehicle?

In the size youre talking about no.

I tow a Crestliner Sportfish 1750 w/ 115 4 stroke with my V6 4runner and have never felt under powered.

Having towed with a V8 Grand Cherokee I can say the braking on the 4 runner is MUCH better. The 4runner has 4 piston calipers on the front.

[Legend_89]

Harbi,

I have a Lund 1850 Tyee with a 115 Merc. and fish Mille Lacs. I love the boat. It has high gunwalls which are great for a lake like Mille Lacs. Especially with kids. The 115 maybe a little undersized for the 1850, but it will still do 38-40 with 3 adults and 2 children. As far as towing with a vehicle I have a Chevy Sub. so it handles it pretty nice. Never topwed it with anything smaller. Thats where a good and proper sized trailer pays off. Hope this helps! Good Luck!

[Harbi]

Thanks for all the great replies. They help a lot.

[Fred_Bear]

IMO if you're going up any hills on the way to the lake you're going to be underpowered if you get into the 17' 90 HP and up class. Ruined a 10 yr old 4.3 blazer pulling a 1650 fishhawk with 60 HP merc for 2 summers. A v6 will pull it, but gas mileage won't be pretty and it will take years off your vehicle. My .02

Also make sure the motor is as big as allowed for the boat or close to it if you plan on skiing behind it.

[wayne123]

I think the size of towing vehicle depends a lot on how often and how far you tow the boat. I use a minivan to tow a 16ft fiberglass boat about 10 times a year and mostly short distances. If I towed long distances every weekend I do not think it would hold up. I always take it out of overdrive when towing.

[BobT]

The one common denominator I hear when people talk about what they can tow with their vehicle is engine size. In reality, being able to pull a load is only half the equation. What most seem to forget about is being able to stop the load once it is moving. That's usually a bigger problem but most often overlooked. Depending how the trailer is balanced, the tongue will either lift your tow vehicle or push it down.

My Prairie 300 ATV is rated to pull up to 1,400 lbs. according to the manual but I can tell you from personal experience that it isn't nearly heavy enough to stop a 1400# trailer if I have to.

It's amazing how many bumpers I see that are twisted down toward the ground due to towing excessively heavy loads and then trying to stop them. If your tow vehicle isn't designed to handle the load you are taking some serious chances.

[Sergio M]

I have a 1993 LUND TYEE II 1650 with a 75 hp merc. I love the set up! It runs 35.5 mph on the gps which is not to bad for this boat. I take the wife tubeing and it works fine. I fish Mille Lacs and Leach, but agine I dont stay out when the weather is really bad. All in all its a good boat. I pull it with 1500 cheve truck pulls fine.