What in the world is going on with the price of duck boats these days???
I'm comsidering purchasing a new boat since I've been out of one for the last several years since I started kayak fishing. I figured I'd look for something in the 16-17ft length with a 40-60hp motor on it. The boat would serve as a duck hunting boat for my two boys and I with a few fishing trips here and there when all three of us wanted to go since my kayak will only accommodate two.
After doing some research on the web and reading all the hype about Havoc boats I decided to look into them. I was really liking the look of the 1756DBST with the 50hp 4 stroke Mercury with the big tiller on it. The problem was that they want almost $20,000 dollars for one! I about had a stroke over the price being that I'd still have to fork out even more cash to get it set up like I wanted with front and rear depth sounders, a jackplate, and a few other odds and ends.
So last night I was on BoatTrader and saw that Marshall's Marine in Lake City has the new Xpress H16DB with a 50hp 4 stroke Merc with the big tiller on it in stock. I sent them a message requesting a price on the rig. This is what I got back from them this morning:
$18,095 out the door for boat, motor, trailer, 1 fold down fishing seat, and a SS prop.
Am I really seeing these prices? Are people really paying these prices for duck boats these days? The Xpress price really was the shocker to me! I'd still have to add a trolling motor just to be able to fish out of it! Not to mention that Xpress has a nationally advertised price of $21,895 for their H18 Bay center console with 90hp Yamaha four stroke, seats, leaning post, 383 Humminbird depth sounder, and saltwater series trolling motor on the bow all included at that price. Why would any one buy the little 16ft HyperLift with a 50hp for $18k when you could get the bay boat with a lot more options and almost double the horsepower for $3k more?
Maybe it's just me but some of the boat manufacturers are out of their minds!!
I don't know what War Eagle charges for a 17ft boat with a 50hp but I know that I can get a 1756 Lowe Frontier DLX with the 50hp Merc for around $13,000 all day long and even though it's not a performance hull I can't see the other two being worth $5,000 more for a similar set up.
Hell, my old man bought a brand new 17' Ranger bass boat with a 115hp Etec a couple years ago from a dealer in Florida for $17,000!
Okay, I'll stop bleeding all over the interweb now. It just blew my mind what dealers were asking for some of these "jon boats" these days!
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