Decided to join a private fishing club in East Texas, they have a 300 acre lake, Florida bass, crappie, bream, lots of stumps and shallow water.I have always fished out of fiberglass boats, but thinking about going with aluminum due to stumps and 20 hp limit Looking at buying either a tracker 175 or an xpress 7 xp bass model. Tracker claims lifetime hull and deck warranty, but deck is treated plywood. Xpress is all metal for decks, but does not have as good of rod storage or compartments .Did not really want carpet, which is possible on Xpress but on Tracker if you opt for no carpet you get vinyl that already looks like it's coming loose at the seams in the showroom. Xpress willing to swap out and credit buyer for upgrades to trolling motor( not sure 45 lb minkota edge strong enough) where Tracker says it's a package and if you swap trolling motor you get no credit for the base model( also 45lb edge).
Do any of you guys have experience good or bad with either boat? Plan to buy and keep for a long time.

I have a tracker 175 TXW. I keep it in the garage when it's not fishing. The matched trailer makes loading easy even in bad wind. No problems with the hull despite the big waves here at Possum Kingdom lake. No issues with the carpet yet.

Issues:

1.I still need more storage.
2. Livewells are wasted space. I don't fish tourneys and use an ice chest to keep my fish. They leak and anything you put in them gets wet.
3. Tracker needs a wire tray for the power and transducer cables. If you lose a transducer it's a big job to replace it.
4. The trolling motor and fish finders that come with the boat are junk. Swap them out for better models.
5. The rubber bumpers on the side of the boat will roll up if you hit a dock or something. This will happen in wind. You'll need to put additional screws in to avoid this.


had my boat going on three years.

I have a 97 tracker 175 ProV. Deck is junk and definetelty needs replacing. Most of the hinges have pulled out of the wood as well.

have you looked at the ranger aluminum boats? I have the RT188 (which is 18'8"), and they have a RT178 as well. lots of storage, all metal, and ranger quality. my dealer allowed me to swap, and get credit, for the cheap stuff; got a 24v fortrex and 2 hds gen 3 units instead.

I love my G3 Sportman 17, because it is a great all around boat for both large and small bodies of water and for chasing sandies on the Sabine River. Downsized from a Skeeter TZX 190 after the first of this year, because I own a share in a private hunting / fishing club and it was hard to get the big boat on and off their 20 acre lake. Haven't regretted the decision one bit and would suggest you check out G3's line of bass boats.

I own an Xpress, and will say that while shopping many different tin boat manufacturers, I found Tracker to be about the worst experience. No flexibility in rigging or gear unless I was willing to eat every dime, no negotiating anything, and pricing that wasn't that great on what they offered. Build quality was by far the worst when compared to the boats I shopped (Xpress, G3, Sea Ark, Crestliner, Tracker, Lowe). Everything on a tracker boat look to me like a complete afterthought. Like they took a hull and started adding stuff to it without any plan in place before they started.

In the end, I got an Xpress, I don't want to say it was comparable to the tracker because it was only in length, width, and console location. The difference in the actual boats are night and day. When I bought the Xpress I negotiated the price, TM size, and a couple of other things to get where I was happy. Completely different experience than trying to deal with Tracker. The Xpress I ended up with is a far better built boat than the similar featured tracker, with better options, at a cheaper price. Win, Win, Win.

Then there are the droves of reviews to read on Tracker boats, very few of them flattering. A LOT of them on broken welds and months without their boats while they are being repaired.

Sorry, I don't own one, and given my experience coupled with others', I never will own a Tracker boat. I have no doubt many people have them, and love them. Buying anything like a boat is somewhat of a gamble, I just feel the odds are longer with Tracker than with many other reputable manufacturers out there. I would not hesitate to buy a G3 or Sea Ark either. The problem I had was finding one in the model I wanted to be able to test drive and walk around it before throwing my money down.

Don't get me wrong, my Xpress boat ain't perfect, no boat will be. But I am happy with it, much happier than I think I would have been with the Tracker.

Thanks guys for the useful info, I have plans now to look at a Ranger Rt178, and a 17 foot G3. Agree that the hard part is most dealers do not stock the boat but want you to order it sight unseen. Also agree Xpress dealer has been good about letting me swap out factory package depth finder and trolling motor unlike Tracker. Will update this post after this weekends research. Xpress dealer gave me his cell number and said he would meet me even though the dealership is closed for Memorial Weekend. Now that's a good guy.

Fun & Sun boats over in Hurst had some War Eagle flat bottom boats a while back that looked pretty rugged.
War Eagle sportsman has one that is 20hp rated and looks big enough to fish from.

I have a friend with an Xpress that is a pretty nice rig. It seems well built and he has used it a lot since 2007 with no issues. I have a 16' Crestliner and that thing is a tank. It is well built, and has no weld cracks. it is a 2002 model. If I was in the market for an Al boat, I would look at Boatwright, Sea Ark, Crestliner, Xpress in that order. My cousin has a Lowe, and it is not that great IMO. All storage compartments leak, it is cheaply built, and I have re-welded two seams on it.

If ur ordering a tracker u can do what u want to it.

I had a Tracker 175 for 10 years and not one problem out if. I upgraded to the 190 4 years ago and it hasn't given me any problems as of yet. I did upgrade my Lowrance when Academy had them on sale. The Merc 115 sips the gas and pushes it 50mph loaded with two on board. Tracker/Bass Pro service departments are a joke and will try to clean out your wallet one visit. Buy a boat from some who cares about you!!!

My experience:

Owned a Tracker once, just once. It literally fell apart underneath me piece-by-piece every single fishing trip. It was the worse riding boat you could imagine. If a foot or more wave comes up, may as well just jump in the lake and get wet cuz you are not gonna be dry in that piece of carp. A surf board was drier than a Tracker in the waves. Sorry, just had to speak up on Tracker.

Oh, and the G3 I owned should have had a made in China sticker because it slightly outlasted the tracker. My G3 had screws in places that did not even go into anything causing the panels to start flying off. Look careful under a G3. That glue, cheap screws, sub par plywood and terrible build quality won't last.

They build these boats fast and cheap and definitely NOT to last. It is stunning to me how they can build such garbage and stay in the boat business.

Final thought:

Tracker = junk
G3 = junk

You will not have either for a long time (three years max if yer lucky). You asked.

Any Tracker will get you an underpowered, entry level boat. If you don't use it hard and are meticulous about maintenance, it will probably last a couple of years, but don't look for it to retain any trade-in value. I've heard stories about them literally falling apart on the water. Maybe they are better now but I wasn't interested enough to research them.I liked G3 until I had one, but in all honesty, it was a salt water boat that had literally no care. Their keel system is the pits and the so-called keel strip is only stitch welded and will hold water allowing the hull center weld to corrode, especially if it's used in salt water and not rinsed properly. The two piece console is also less than stellar.
I'm more than happy with my Seaark but it was ordered and custom built with everything I wanted and none of the useless amenities that you have to take when you buy a boat from dealer stock.
Olhipi has a Crestliner that is less than two years old and is either going to go back to the factory or get replaced because of a popping noise in the transom that the dealer can't find.
The big selling point on the Seaark was the .125" aluminum used for the entire boat. If I were hopping new again, I would not consider anything with thinner skin than that, especially if you are going to fish rocks and stumps.

Find a long time Striper guide on Tawakoni named Jimmy Smith, he's been running an X-Press CC and Yamaha ever since he went into business after is parents closed the Smitty's Sporting Goods store at 112 W Jefferson in Dallas, as I recall & reps them at the Dallas Boat Show. His boats HAVE to work every day he's on the lake or he don't get paid.

SeaArk would be another boat I'd consider on a very short list, for the mentioned .125 thick all welded hull.
Ron

Sea Arc is as tough as they come , all welded generally from .125 Aluminum no wood anywhere , I own a Creastliner same thing No wood anywhere , but do have issues right now with a couple small cracks in two welds at the TRANSOM WHICH THE DEALER IS TRYING TO RESOLVE WITH THE FACTORY. But that could happen on any welded Boat. As a Professional Welder I've seen this before. Tracker is by far the Cheapest boat for a Reason!!!