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Re: CALLING ALL ALUMINUM BOATERS!!! [Re: i-Fish] #12343043 07/16/17 10:52 PM
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RKT Offline
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I fished over a decade out of an Xpress X 19. A lot of the fishing was done on Lake Conroe and Lake Livingston. I enjoy fishing offshore more than shallow. The X19 fished offshore rough water in Conroe very good. The nose stayed down and kept the trolling motor in the water more than my partners glass boat did. The boat handled the rough water good while driving but I would get a little wet at times. I did have to stay on the trolling motor more than most glass boats but it was not that bad. The 19 foot Xpress has a hull weight of about 1500 lbs. that is not a light boat. It is heavier than many similar sized glass boats. I only had a few problems with owning an Xpress. One was it came with the worst costumer service I have ever seen with a boat company. The other is that aluminum does flex. As it flexes more and more over time it becomes weak. The type of weld that Xpress uses on its keel is basically a butt weld with no cap over it. My Xpress eventually cracked right down the middle on the keel about 8 feet long.

So my advice - if you are planning to run hard a lot in rough water then do not go with aluminum. If not, then the aluminum Bass boats could be exactly what you need. If you can handle repairs when needed without the boat manufacturers help then an Xpress is a good aluminum boat overall. I would also look at the Ranger and a few other quality aluminum boat manufacturers. I loved my Xpress until it cracked.

Moritz Chevrolet - 9101 Camp Bowie W Blvd, Fort Worth, TX - Monte Coon (817) 696-2003
Re: CALLING ALL ALUMINUM BOATERS!!! [Re: i-Fish] #12343206 07/17/17 12:44 AM
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beartrap Online Content
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I can't comment on Xpress customer service because I've never had to use it.....my 2001 16 ft Xpress has survived 16 duck seasons on the Ark/Moss rivers.....2107 mile trip on the Mississippi,Ohio,Tenn,Tombigbee,intra coastal waterway,Apalachicola and Flint rivers,786 miles down the Missouri river.......had one tiny little crack at base of transom and welding shop charged me $25.00 to fix...
I don't know how you can use and abuse a boat more than all that....put another way,if I bought another aluminum boat,it would be an Xpress...

Re: CALLING ALL ALUMINUM BOATERS!!! [Re: i-Fish] #12343613 07/17/17 05:11 AM
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forsanmedic Offline
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I fish Whitney all the time for sand bass. i am normally off shore on humps and channels with my terrova spot locked. I drive a Deep V G3 175. It is 8 ft wide, with deep sides, and is heavy compared to the mod v aluminums. Especially with 20 gallons of gas in the tank that runs down the centerline of the boat. It stays still in high wind enough to stay on a school of sandies or stripers. I have run texoma, whitney, and tawakoni in winds over 25 and it handled it fine, especially if you quartered the waves when moving around. Now that being said, it only runs about 30 mph instead of 60+ like the glass bass boats. The deep v aluminum boats are used all over the Great Lakes as Walleye boats. Now, before this boat I had a tracker 165 mod v and it was very rough when the wind was up and pretty much unfishable in the high waves.

Re: CALLING ALL ALUMINUM BOATERS!!! [Re: RKT] #12344021 07/17/17 03:23 PM
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TwoLakes Offline
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What did you do with the cracked Xpress? Couldn't the crack be welded back up and painted? Would seem to be a much easier/cheaper fix than a glass boat that gets a big gouge down the middle running over a piece of rebar.

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