Dominator or Impact

[bkerschner70]

Time has come for me to part ways with my 05 Crestliner Sportfish and am looking at the Alumacraft Dominator 185 or Lund 1850/1875 Impact. Looking at going with a 150 as that's what all of them are rated for, I've been extremely happy with my Yamaha 150 4 stroke and wouldn't hesitate on that motor again. There is a lot of hype about the newer Mercury 150 4 strokes so if I go with a Lund it seems that's generally what you're going to get unless you want to pay more to have a different motor put on. I would appreciate anyone's input as to what their experiences are with either of these boats, top end, holeshot, overall performance, rough water handling, dry ride or not. Thanks in advance for any input as I'm going to the boat show tomorrow and of course every salesman is going to tell me their boat is the better one.

[CaptainMusky]

One of the main differences you will notice between those two boats is the Dominator has the wide gunnels with storage compartments. While the Impact has narrow gunnels/rails, with storage compartments that wrap around the boat essentially at the same height.

I have a Tournament Sport, which is basically the same hull as the Dominator and with the wide gunnels. It does not have the jump seats in the back (though I wish it did).

I absolutely love this boat. Mine has a 150 Suzuki (LOVE THIS MOTOR) on it and I get 44 MPH GPS with the current prop and was pushing 50 with a 23 pitch prop. But that one didn't troll down real well so I went with the 21 that the motor came with.

About the only thing I can nitpick about my boat is that there are only two speakers in it and they are both in the front. None in the back. Its either super loud in the front or you cannot hear it in the back.

I love the gunnel storage. Some guys like the storage that wraps around like the Impact (similar in Competitor). Its nice for fighting fish like sturgeon and muskies. Its also a bit nicer getting into the boat since its not as big of a step down.

The ride is very dry and only get wet from spray if the wind is blowing it back toward the boat.

Regardless of which boat you get, if you decide to get a full windshield, definitely get the bimini top right away. You will love it. I need to get side curtains for mine, but that has proved invaluable in some nasty days on the water.

[bkerschner70]

I have the top with side curtains now and plan on doing it again. I was also looking at the T-Pro but the windhield seems lower than on the other models. That's something I'll get a better look at tomorrow but it seems like the dominator has a little more windshield height.

[CaptainMusky]

That's interesting about the windshield height, hadn't noticed that before, but looking at the pics it does appear it sits up higher.

I know the interior depth is the same between the two, but the console does appear to be higher on the Dominator vs the TPro.

[Shadowstalker190]

I was almost in the same dilemma and went to the boat show this weekend also. I looked at the competitor and impact and picked up the competitor because I could get the Yamaha 4 stroke and got many upgrades for significantly less than an impact. My dream was always to own a lund boat but was not impressed at all by the impact. If you look at the specs the alumacraft for me was the better boat for the money. I got a custom made travel cover, upgraded batteries, Yamaha 4 stroke motor, more storage, better layout and better prices on add-ons than I would have going with a lund for probably $5k less than a lund impact. I found more "options" were standard on an alumacraft than lund. And I got electric brakes on the trailer at no additional charge. Being my 1st boat purchase in 10 years I was shocked that cabelas had the best price. I shopped around both boats to about 6 dealers and cabelas was hands down the best value for the price. We will see how the dealer end of it works out but I was impressed. And all of the add-ons were right out of the catalog so you saw what the price was for every option you wanted. The same alumacraft at a dealer I priced at the outdoor show a couple weeks back was $2,500 higher than I paid and I got more "quality" options than I was originally quoted. Just my 2 cents.

[Kyhl]

I also have a T-Pro with the wide gunnels and I love them. You give up some interior space but they make good storage, and a step, and a seat, and a shelf.

Love sitting on them on a hot summer day with my feet in the water while I fish. Plus my dog likes to lay on them, or walk the perimeter of the boat via the gunnels.

I wouldn't want to lose the wide gunnels but could see where more interior space could be nice.

If you go with a Merc and have Lowrance then get the smart monitor system. It will overlay engine and GPS information on your locator screen. Very nice. I don't use my guages any longer. Tach, speed, and voltage are displayed as an overlay on my sonar.

That reminds me, I want to try to add MPG info as an overlay. Yep, you get real time MPG information with the smart monitor. Plus an engine hour meter. Btw, the best cruising milage I have hit was 6.5mpg at around 28mph. That is too slow for me so I usually trade fuel for time by bumping it up to 32-34mph.

[bkerschner70]

Well I spent about 9 hours at the boat show on Saturday going from dealer to dealer for the best price. I have been working with 2 Alumacraft dealers over the past couple weeks and a couple Lund dealers as well. I had decided against the Dominator as I was told they are phasing that boat out after this year and had decided I really liked the T-Pro besides having the lower windshield. I had numbers worked up from a dealer that is 10 minutes from my house as well as a dealer in Faribault. The Faribault dealer won hands down on price but I would still need to service my boat with the other dealer. When they gave me their price and I told them I couldn't buy it unless they matched the other price they got defensive and told me not to bother bringing it in for service because they won't service other dealer's boats. I talked with an Alumacraft rep and he told me they are obligated to work on any Alumacraft as long as they are a dealer. I decided it wasn't worth the hassle and bought the Lund from a dealer within 20 minutes of home so I can have it serviced there as well. They were ready to deal, I didn't pay nearly what was on the windshield and they threw in a sport top and travel cover. Ended up with an 1850 Impact for $2500 more than the T-Pro 185. The service was the deciding factor.

[Mr.Seaguar]

Sitting on the gun'l with your feet in the water is a good way to get second degree sunburns. I hope you guys love your boats. I have an old alumacraft and its been great.

[slammer]

What motor did you get?

[bkerschner70]

I ended up with the Mercury 150 4 stroke. I've heard for a couple years now that they are great motors. I wouldn't have hesitated to go with the 150 Yamaha 4 stroke or a Suzuki if it wouldn't cost so much more. The Lunds come with Mercury motors so if you want a different motor you end up paying extra.

[CaptainMusky]

Enjoy your new boat! It should be real nice for you. Just a bit of info though, not that it would have changed anything, but if you are going to compare a price from a TPro, compare to the Lund Pro V not the Impact. Those two boats are more comparable feature for feature. When you do this you will see the TPro is nearly $10,000 cheaper.

It may not seem like they are different but key things like dry storage, air ride seats, # of included seats, etc all add up.

I did all these comparisons when I bought my boat. I almost bought a Dominator, but for the price difference it made more sense to get the Tournament Pro because of the additional air ride seats (all of them) and the fact it came with 4 seats/bases instead of 2. To buy those things alone would have set me back over $1000 if I had to buy them.

Anyway, the Impact looks like a beautiful boat. I really like the addition of jump seats to the back, plus they have that built in ladder. That is a handy item right there!

[Kyhl]

Ugh, don't remind me. I replaced two air ride seat bases last year in my T-pro. That was an expense I was not expecting on top of a repower.

Since you went Merc, opt for the smart monitor system. You only need one gauge. I wouldn't splurge on an entire gauge set unless you "need" them to match.

The fuel sending unit would be nice though. I don't have it. It would nice to know how far you can go on the remaining fuel when on big water.

[CaptainMusky]

Ugh, don't remind me. I replaced two air ride seat bases last year in my T-pro. That was an expense I was not expecting on top of a repower.

Not to derail this topic, but I blew out a post on mine as well last year. I contacted Springfield and it was still under warranty. Sent it in, they repaired it and sent it back. I think I had to pay the initial shipping, but that was it.

It was nip and tuck though because I needed it within a week to make a Canada trip, but the guy got it done and I was good to go. Depending on how old your boat is, that may have been an option. I think its a 5 year warranty from Springfield.

[Kyhl]

Mine is an '04. Hopefully they are good now until I sell the boat in 9 years.