Used boat or new boat

Should i buy a used jon boat with everything installed already or should i buy one of those from academy and buy everything seperately and build my own rig

That's a question you'd be better off asking yourself. I guess it boils down to what you want and how much you're willing to spend.

If you go used, don't buy anything without a title in the seller's name. Demand to see it, and ask the seller to go to TPWD with you to transfer it. Anything less can cause you untold grief down the road.


If you're looking for a skiff or jon boat, there are scads of them for sale. A few have titles. Shop wisely, and you can get a lot of boat for not much money.

Good luck. IslandJim

Ive just started looking at used ones. Ive found a couple jon boats from the 80's that look to be in very good shape. Ranging $1000-$1700...10 to 20 hp engines. Electronics, batteries, trolling motors. I'd prolly be looking at $5000 if i go the other route. Most of them say the trailer doesnt have title due to being homemade. Will this be a problem, other than maybe a ticket down the road if i get pulled over? Do these jon boats get around good with those small engines on open water when there is a good wind blowing?

No flatbottom or mod-v is going to like open water when the wind is blowing much. My 18' mod-v does OK up to about a whitecap, after that it is just a brutal ride.

My fishing buddy has a 1548 G3 w/20hp Yammy on it, and it is a fishing machine. So yes, they can work just fine with the smaller motors, if a 20 is considered smaller.

As for the trailer, you can usually get a trailer tagged as homemade even if it's not. In doing that, you don't have to worry about tickets. People do that because it's often easier than transferring paperwork on a trailer or the paperwork got lost along the way and they don't want to mess with all the red tape. If your county is a stickler on the rules, then it might make getting a trailer tag more difficult.

Sounds like you’re talking about your first boat. Having done both, I most highly recommend going with a dealer first. One stop shopping and you know where to go if problems arise.
Used equipment can be a great deal. However, you’re on the hook for figuring things out. That takes time and can make a first (or early) boat experience a burden as it consumes cash and missed time on the water. Perhaps a better way to approach the question is to know if you want to mess about with an older boat and equipment (likely fixing what was someone else’s problem) or do you want to get on the water “right now?” This time around, I chose the former. Its been rewarding but I missed a lot of lake time this summer.
Ed

I am selling this one if you're interested:

Alumacraft Jon

Great advice title on all 3 boat motor and trailer..will save you grief and again when you sell