Aluminum Jon Type Bass Boat Confussion?

[jjeagen243]

 Looking for opinions. I've been fishing out of a 175 tracker, my son's boat. I'm looking to buy a new boat but I'd like something a little more stable with more room. Thinking about Seaark, River Cat,
  Express XP200 or XP180, Hyper-lift hull or G-3 1860SC. I know, not your typical Bass Rig but I like the 94" Beam and 67"to 72" bottom width. I'm a Diabetic and don't have the sea legs I used to and I'm thinking these selections maybe a little more stable of a platform for me and give me more room to take my wife out once and awhile just to do a little cruzin. I love to get into Tournaments and bass fish Santee Area and other inland lakes and rivers so something that can handle skinny water as well as a time when I have to cross a lake with 2 to 3 footers. I know I won't have all the storage of a glass bass boat but that's o.k. Aluminum is also o.k. with me. I'm 63 years old and this would be my first boat purchase and hopefully it will be a good experience. If any of you guys would care to share your experience's on these boats with me, I'd surely appreciate hearing from you all. Thanks for hearing me out. I know ultimately its my choice but I sure wouldn't mind a little advice.

[coldfront]

I looked around a lot at aluminum.  Xpress, Crestliner, Triton.  Of those, and this is not a knock on them, Tracker was my second least favorite.  Lowe was at the bottom.

I finally settled on my ranger RT178.  A 17.5 footer with a 90-92 inch beam.  It's a very very stable boat.  Solid, not tippy even with two large anglers in it.  As much boat storage as I see in comparably sized glass boats (say Nitro 750)

I don't run on a lot of bigger waters much, but we do get some areas that do push some big waves/rollers (nothing like the really big waters)  2-3 foot waves is a situation that, to me, calls for careful selection of boat ramp or finding a bit calmer water.

it's a ranger.  it'll be a touch higher cost.  but break it down in terms of comparable equipment.

I'll say this, I spent about $23K on mine but with that I upgraded to:
75 hp opti
80lb Fortrex
3-bank digital charger (Minnkota)
HDS7 gen2 touch lowrance at console
Side imaging 'ducer
Elite 7 HDI at bow
One-point GPS receiver/antenna (Lowrance)

if I priced this out on a tracker, the differences were not that significant.  Everybody plays games with their 'stick price'...and not a single one of those manufacturers equips those boats like they ought to.

lots to think about.

for bigger water, the RT188 (18.5 foot boat) is available.  Standard 90hp, but rated for 115.  Probably a better boat for bigger water.  Solid.  stable.  Lots of room, lots of storage.  Wood free.  Large livewell.  tremendous underdeck storage.  and the Ranger boys pump foam into all the underdeck 'free space' which give the boat a very solid, almost glass-like ride.  Minimizes that annoying aluminum 'slap'.

It's worth your time to give them a look.