How do I know what it's worth??

[Eric Wettschreck]

Hi everyone. It's time to retire the 1964 10' Sea King and get something a wee bit newer. I've never purchased a boat before. The old faithful Sea King was given to me. I have absolutely no idea how to tell what a boat is worth. I'm not rich, looking to drop maybe 4 grand max. What are the things I should be looking for??

[leechlake]

well, first what size boat do you want or what type of waters do you fish. Without knowing that I'd go with a 16' aluminum boat and 25 hp motor. That combo catches more fish in Canada than probably any other combo, it's small enough but also usually big enough for a lot of waters. Add a depth finder and a $150 dollar trolling motor and go at 'em.

I have a 1800 prov 175 yamaha with all the bells and whistle and I still catch a lot of fish with a 14' boat and 15 horse, the fish don't care what type of boat you are in!!!

[Eric Wettschreck]

I was thinking 16' aluminum, motor doesn't have to be huge as I mostly fish the prairie pothole lakes around SW Minnesota.

[Rost]

Before I bought my boat, I think I hit every boat dealership HSOforum in the midwest. The more prices you see, you'll get a feel for whats a fair price or not.

I agree that you don't need a 20 ft boat to fish Shetek or any other SW MN Lake. I would think you could get a mid 80's Lund Rebel for the 4k price range. Great boat!

[Eric Wettschreck]

Lund Rebel, gotta remember that. Thanks for the info.

[New Yankee]

Hey Boiler,

Drop me an email at ramagie 'at' sio.midco.net

[JohnMickish]

Now is a good time to be looking on the internet. There are a couple of "trader" type websites that will give you lots of prices. You should be able to quickly see what things are worth. I second the rebel.

[Walterwontfalter]

go to any search engine and type in used boat values. NADA blue book has boat values on their HSOforum that I've used in the past. I'd post a link on here if I could. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

[JohnMickish]

NADA values are a good guideline, and what the bank uses but remember, it's true value is what people pay. Value of a boat in Minnesota in May is way more than the book value.

[The_Duckslayer]

If you hunt you may want to look into Jon boats as well. They provide a much more stable shooting platform. Take care and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

[ZapBranigan]

Yeah the old Lund Rebel. I bought mine a few years ago. It's a 1988 16' with a 1988 45HP Mariner Tiller. If you are serious about a Rebel Then I would highly recomend a tiller. The space saved in the boat is well worth it. They are not real wide but they can get into lakes larger boats cannot. On and off the trailer quick and easy too. It has been a really great boat. Many years ago I bought it used for $4500 but it had every whistle and bell for that small boat put on it. Now even loaded I'm sure I've seen them around $3200 take your time and call around.