tracker grizzly ?? any owners

[hunter4life]

hey guys, am lookin very hard at the tracker grizzly boats, was wondering if anyone owns one, was thinking on the 1860 but not sure if i need one that big, was also thinking of the new 1754 with the livewell and casting decks, or maybe the 1648 would be all i need , my goal is not to put to much cash into it, how are the hulls holding up, and how do they ride , are they fairly stable in the water if u stand on the front decks, im wondering if i should purchase the floor and sides with it , it looks like it would be pretty noisy walkin on it and was thinking of putting my own floor in with plywood and carpet ---any info and comments would be greatly appreciated --thanks , if any one has any pics of their rigs that would be appreciated,
EMAIL:
bobondersma@aol.com

[BigDaddy]

Welcome to the site Hunter!!! This should be good that is the same boat I am looking at. I would like it for using in island lakes and the river for pulling wire and jigging.:D

[jimbos43]

I realize the wallet has the final say, but if you think there's the slightest chance of getting out on a great lake, go as big as you can afford.
"I'll never go out on the big lakes", you say?
This will be your next thought, "dang, why didn't I get the bigger boat"

As far a ride, compare hull weights. It makes a big difference on how they handle the waves.

[mich buckmaster]

I own a 1648 grizzley. I bought it last year from D&R SPorts. I love it. It really isnt made for three guys, but you can do it. I put a floor, carpet, and an electric start 25 horse merc on it. I made a place for my trolling motor to mount on the front. I went and bought the extra handle so I can stand and steer. I also bought the one that has extra support where the motor goes so you can push a 40 horse. I guess my boat will go about 27MPH. That helps when motoring down the river.

If you want to have bigger go with the 18 footer. The 16 is nice and isnt very tippsy. I cant wait to get it out this year. I have been getting it ready for the river. I will take some pictures soon and show my rig. Let me know if I can be of any help.

[hunter4life]

thanks for the replys guys,
i think maybe i will go with the 1860, it sounds like in the long run itll be worth it, i went down to D & R sports, and took a look at one, wow what a boat, really heavy duty looking, i was told that a 40 hp would push it alright, and i would deffinetly want to have a more heavy duty trailer , other than the one from tracker, hey mich buckmaster i would love to see your pics of your grizzly, exspecially the floor and the bracket u made for the t-motor, they told me that guys lay down a 4x4 down the middle, then insulate it for sound dampening with liquid foam, then lay down 3/4'' plywood, carpet it--- i think if i purchased one though i would also extend the front casting deck and add storage below it, thanks agin yall---bob

[sillyburt]

I bought a 1648 a few years ago and love it!! you can put your own floorboard in very easily. you might want to if you plan on doing any duck hunting with it, because the floorboard that you can get for it is just a sheet of alum. with sand sprayed on it. very slippery I would suppose.

I made my own floor with a 4x8 sheet of 1/2" marine board covered with carpet. it fit just fine with only about 1/2 foot to cut off the 8' section. (great designers or just lucky?) if you make your own floor put screws thru the carpet, board and then thru the ribs on the bottom of the boat. PRE-DRILL before screwing as the alluminum (6160-t6?) is very strong and will break screws right off before they bottom out!!! (that was fun!!) also I used stainless steel screws and painted them as they were on top of the carpeting. the paint was so they don't get hot in the summer (barefeet).----if you decide to do this e-mail me!!

the boat handles well, but does have a tendancy to have the **** end slip around from behind you on turns. this is common I am told with flat bottoms, even thought the grizzly is a semi-flat bottom. other than that I can walk around the whole boat while fishin without worry about it tippin over (anywhere on the boat)!!

I also use only a 54# thrust trolling motor. perfect for inland lakes but not the river. one thing about the boat is it moves around alot with the wind. sometimes the motor is too small when the wind really picks up. later I will put on a 15 horse and it should boogey.

the 18 footer is a real TUB. but if you want to go duck hunting this one has plenty of room that's for sure. also you may want to think about where you're going to store it. the 16 footer just barely fits in my garage!!!! if you get the 18 footer try to get a trailer with a removable tongue to save you some room (or tracker makes the swing-out-of-the-way tongue)

either way the boat feels very strong with the WELDED seams rather than rivets, besides it seems like rivets always leak eventually.

good luck to you I'm sure you will like your boat regardless of what size;)

p.s. if you put in your own floor be sure to drill little holes thru the carpeting and board towards the back of the boat to shed water. it will go thru the floor and spill into the bottom of the boat and thru the gulleys;)

[DEERSLAYER]

Sillyburt,

Why put the screws though the carpet? Why not put the floor down fist then glue down the carpet for a little nicer look? Also, I just bought a john boat and the dealer said you can have a solid floor with only 1/4" plywood if you just go down to the local lumber company, get a sheet of foam equall to the hieght of the ribs, cut to fit between the ribs and put the board down over top of it. The foam helps support the plywood while adding floatation in case you spring a leak.

[sillyburt]

hunter4life, tried to email you back but it wouldn't go thru

wow thanks sillyburt
for all the great info, i prob will plan on do what u did , any other info or things that would help me out would greatly appreciated , is the 1/2'' thick enough , or should i go with 3/4'' for the bottem, do u have a board goin up the middle, with out it does the 1/2'' bow at all do to the v type bottom floor, also how does your 25 hp handle the griz, do u wish u went with a bigger boat , man i just want to be sure of everything before i lay down the bread, i reallly appreciate the time thanks agin , bob

The 1/2" is fine for strength because the spacing on the ribs is so small. it is not a problem at all. the 1/2" is also great for being able to bend to form the V. I also put some 2x2" peices of marine wood at the very front and back under the 4x8 sheet. this prevents the wood from sagging in these areas. if weight is a problem cut the 2x2's down in half with a table saw. you would be suprised at how a 2" high piece of wood fits perfect for the height. these 2x2 can be found at any lumber store. use the pressure treated spindles used for a deck (2x2 square).

NO I didn't use a 4x4 down the middle. this may be different for the 18 foot model. the slight bow in the floor is hardly noticable and offers you extra? space.
also use two pieces in the front and back so there is a gap at the V this allows for the 4x8 to be bent. I also cut small grooves around the vertical ribs so the 4x8 doesnt hit. be careful for the front rib as it is on an angle and hard to measure where it is!!

I made measurements from the back of the boat where the sheet metal floor on the back begins.

the floor board works excellent. I even have plans on building sides in the exact same manner using 2x2 for the top. that may happen this summer.

also any wires can be run the a groove in the side walls. it looks kind of tacky unless you put up side walls. consider putting a sheet of plywood on the top of the front and rear deck if you plan on using this for duck hunting? this will probably keep you warmer than if you were sitting on just plain metal.

also buying some sheets of foam would be a great idea. I unfortunately didn't do this on mine. you can put the sheets of foam (after cutting them on a table saw) between the ribs. this will keep noise down in the boat if you are walking in it or drop a shell on the floor. yet another great reason to have anything down for a floor. when I first got the boat I would take it out fishing and every time I walked around it I would trip between the ribs and make a hell of alot of noise stepping on the bare metal scaring the fish possibly.

I don't have a 25 horse on it just the 54 pound trolling motor. you'd be suprised at how fast it actually goes at full speed. it's enough to get a little wake going and works fine for most smaller lakes like 100-150 acres big. besides the motor's only about 100 bucks on sale. Bass Pro has them ever year with an extra prop and a free charger!!! I want to mount mine eventually on the front like mich buckmaster said he did.


I wish I had the boat here with me so I could post pic's of it, but it is up north right now. next time I go up there I will get some. please post any other questions you have. I love this boat like the world for it's versatility. It can be used for everything I want it to do and for the price it's great. also it floats in about 2-3" of water with me and the dog in it!!!!

[sillyburt]

1/4" I think would work great if you had the foam under it, but I couldn't find any 1/4" pressure treated plywood. if you know where to get it let me know because I still have the sides and upper rear and back (for/aft) deck to do.

the reason why I put the screws thru the top of the carpet was so I could get the floor off easier in case I wanted to spray wash under it. a few times before I had the floor down I got seaweed under the upper front deck and had to spray wash it out. if I did that now the seaweed would get stuck possibly between the floor and bottom of the boat. maybee I'm just being to anal about it? I don't know? also I wanted to wrap the carpet around the edges of the floorboard. I was worried that if I just put the wood in and then the carpeting it would unravel at the edges, so I glued it down and around the sides and then stapled it underneath with stainless steal staples.

again I may have gone overboard and been too protective and anal, but this is my first boat and I tried to get everything perfect and debate all the angles before I did anything. (again maybee I went too far for a boat I will probably beat the hell out of anyway?)

good luck guys

[hunter4life]

deerslayer,
that sounds like it would work great the 1/4'' for the bottom for just enought to stand and move around on, but my only concern is with the 1860 im thinking its big enough so that i can mount a couple of bases around the bottem and have the pedastals and chairs so that the chairs are removable to each base i have mounted to the 3/4'' bottom, i think the 1/4'' wouldnt hold the chair setup, but i could be wrong, hey sillybury thanks for the great tips, bob

[ESOX]

If you run wiring in between the ribs and the hull, make sure you run it in wire loom (corrugated PVC tube with a slit down one side, available at any auto parts store). It is cheap, and will save you from the eventual short circut resulting from the wires rubbing on the ribs.

[grizzly]

I own a 1999 grizzly 1648, i purchased a 40 hp mercury tiller. The boat and motor have held up well. I wish i would have bought the 4 stroke though. Oh well the money only goes so far. As for the boat, it is absolutely indestructable, i have beat this boat severly on saginaw bay duck hunting, 3 guys, avery blind, 5 bags of decoys and all the gear for a day. The boat will gps at 37 to 38 with all the above mentioned gear and guys. It doubles up as a steelhead boat, i have a custom made anchor davit that brings the anhor way up, that way i can load it on the trailer without moving the anchor, and its nice not to have that chain catching water when shutting down. I have 1/2 inch marine grade plywood with some old carpet tacked in. The boat fishes 3 guys fine when spawn fishing. I also have 10 rod holder locations in the boat, works great for pulling plugs. Sometimes i wish i would have bought the 1860 but there would be alot of place's i would not get to on the bay that i can with the 1648. All in all its a great boat and being all welded construction made the sell easy for me. I am looking into having a aluminum floor bent for it, also i put a 3rd seat mount in. If you choose the 16 or the 18 you wont be dissapointed.

Grizzly, HMMMM wonder where this clown got the name grizzly.
:D

[Mike]

I used 3/8" treated plywood for the floor in my boat. Didn't worry about screwing the floor to the ribs, I installed side walls. The floor doesn't go anywhere.

Pedestal bases - Use something like contact cement to fasten some thin strips of aluminum to the bottom of the deck. Pre-drill some holes that match your pedestal base, then bolt it in. With the aluminum, you won't have to worry about the bolts pulling through the wood.

Mike

[mich buckmaster]

Its real amazing to me how I did everything that Sillyburt, said andI put my wiring in the housing that ESOX was talking about. I guess sportsman think alike. I will have pictures hopefully by the end of the week.

[hunter4life]

look forward to seeing your pics , mich buckmaster, it'll give me a good idea and better picture of what i want to do, for u guys who laid the carpet down , were did u find the best price on it, the menard , home depot type stores, or like a boat store, is there a better type that i should look for , or its all outdoor carpet the same, oh yea and also for u 1648 owners what trailer do have for it , was wondering if the standard tracker trailer was holding up ok, was told they aint the best trailers, sorry for all the ??? bob

[Swamp Monster]

Hunter4life,
Have you checked out the new 1754 Grizzlies yet. They offer a good compromise between the 16 and the 18. They have the extended front deck and you can get them with a side console or a center console along with all the other options the Grizzly offers.
Personaly I want the center console model because I like that style and I like to stand (not that you have to) when running and it gives you plenty of room to fight big fish on either side of the boat. I don't know if they offer this model in a tiller version or not but if they don't they should. Have fun shopping!

i have a 16ft fisher that i put a floor in that works and looks great!i used cedar tongue and groove. it will move to fit the V in the floor and stays cool on the feet. start in the middle of the floor and work out to the sides.put some sand down with a clear finish and it looks great.it will add less weight than ply wood.you can also pull up a couple of boards if you need to to clean out the trash if need be.i fastend to the ribs with self tapping hex head screws.they will sink in flush with the floor,or you can leave them a little up to help with the sand for non-slip. hope this helps STRIKE ZONE

[STEINFISHSKI]

Another good idea is to spray the bottom with some type of sealant to dampen sound, and waterproof rivet joints before putting the floor back in. I'm not sure what type to use, but recently heard about doing it from a guy who just replaced his floor.