Lowe Boats

[hewesfisher]

Lookin at buying a lowe 17 ft fish and ski. Anyone own any lowe boats or know anything about them?

Thanks

Tallman

You might look into Hewescraft also. I had a 14' fisherman several years ago and loved it. I have heard that they only make boats now 16' and up.

Right on that one Marc! Good clean rides.

Yes they are, and they are pioneers in manufacturing welded aluminum boats right here WA. I have a 16' Sportsman and, like Marc, had a 14' Hewescraft open fisherman before that. Great little boat, almost sorry to have sold it, but we sure like our new one. BTW, Hewescraft has added a whole new series to their line-up this year - the return of the Open Fisherman, but as Marc mentioned, smallest size available is 16'.

I can't offer any pro/con about tallman's pending purchase, as I don't own, nor have I ever owned, a Lowe boat. Then again, I've never owned a Lund, or Alumaweld, or Crestliner, or Smokercraft, or a whole slew of other brands of aluminum boats, so I can't offer a qualified opinion on them either.

My research shows Lowe has been in the boat building business for 35 years, so they must be doing something right or they'd have been long gone by now. Hewescraft and Lund both started building boats in 1948, so they obviously are doing something right too. Hewescraft is a fine boat, but probably not the best choice for a fish and ski application as they are designed more to the purpose of fishing.

I'll only say this with reference to the number of boats that were totalled vs those that weren't, I'm in the auto collision repair business, and I see totalled cars all the time. Pick a brand, none more than another I'll tell you. Why? Because the reason a car or truck gets totalled rarely has anything to do with the quality of its construction. Instead, when a vehicle isn't totalled due to being damaged beyond economic repair (like the engine compartment now occupies the front seat for example) it's because the of the age of the vehicle and the current market value prior to the accident. Even though the vehicle was in perfect running condition prior to the accident, it doesn't change the fact that its market value may only have been a couple thousand dollars. After the accident, it might take $1800 - $2000 to repair it but that takes it way beyond an insurance company's total loss threshold, so it's cheaper for the insurance company to pay the owner off rather than repair their 12 year old Caprice or Taurus. Guess which scenario I see more of? That's right, cars totalled due to being beyond economical repair. The bottom line here is the insurance companies are all about managing risk, in other words, making money.

What does all of this have to do with how many Lowe's boats Jmay might see totalled? It's possible he sees more of them totalled than any other because there are more of them than any other. It's also possible that factors other than construction quality are at play here and that info hasn't been presented. I always look to what's behind a total loss condition, not just the fact that more Chevy's, Dodges, Fords, Toyotas, Hondas, etc. are totalled out.

I hope that helps make a little more sense. :thumright

[A9]

Exactly, I gave him my opinion from what I have heard on Lowes. Maybe I should have specified that I have no real personal experience with them. My apologies. But that is just what have heard. I did consider them for a short bit while in the market for the standard 12' dinghy. Decided to opt up for the Lund, after passing on Lowes, Duraboats and Smokercrafts. Now that I have heard your "positive" feedback on Lowes, I can also offer some positive comments about them next time I am approached with a question about Lowe boats.

Second: I didn't slam him (personally) at all. I gave him advice to check craigslist to see if he couldn't find something similar, and used, to both save money and get the boat loaded with features, and perhaps with the saved money, even get a bigger and/or better boat.

My Lund isn't really considered more then a row boat. It's a standard 12 plain to the earth aluminum boat, plus the upgraded bench seats. (no transom wood though) I'm not much of a diehard Lund fan to be honest, this is the only Lund I've ever had, and it's just got a standard 15horse Yamaha sitting on the back.

For the 3 Rivers thing, I would agree with you. It is by no means ok to shoot hooks at another boat. I would call them into the local police station so quick and would try and get their guide business shut down, or atleast damage their reputation in order for them to lose business... I would definetely even consider legal action if one of the hooks even touched (let alone hooked the clothing) of a member of my party, any of my gear or my boat. A hook hitting you as you are passing by at 20 mph would do some serious damage. They hurt bad enough when you poke your finger with them while fumbling through your tacklebox. I don't know how they told and convinced their clients to "aim and cast at those guys" as your boat drove by. And I don't believe they own any river by any means either. I do see what you mean though when they have the "I own the river attitude." And as far as you not being the "only one" to have run in's with them, I'd love to hear more about some other stories people have had with them, if you know anything about any other stories. Would like to hear em. I don't shop their often. A handful of times a year, never spent more then $10 or $15 bucks a time there. It's out of the way for me and I work at a sporting goods/outdoors store so I get a good discount on any fishing gear. Personally I believe that 3 Rivers is pretty expensive and the knowledge in their isn't superb. Pretty centered around river fishing only, which isn't a bad thing, but I only fish the rivers to pretty much CnR easy to caatch fish like Pinks and chums. Mainly a saltwater and lake guy. I do know some people who have had service done their and are pleased with it, including a TR-1 install. Boat wise, I like Alumawelds, never talked to any of their boat salesman about them, so I can't comment on them, but overall I think its just a bit overpriced in there. Plus the guys in there kinda think they are hotshots, and aren't willing to give any advice or time into helping out someone looking to get a few odd's and ends and tackle, but will be more then happy to help someone out setting up a new tacklebox or getting a bunch of electronics into a new boat.

Lastly, the Kirill Krakakov guy isn't me. I already have spoken about my opinions about lowes and don't feel any need to make a new account to bash the living heck out of them or defend myself. I have nothing against Lowes, am not biased with Lunds, so I don't need to rip on them from another identity and fictitous name.

[Bodofish]

I never thought Kirill was an alter ego. There are those that lurk and pop up with a new name and account to stir the pot (as if we really need that).
Tried with the Sheriff but Sno. County is extremely pro business and unless they actually saw the infraction or someone was injured they weren't going to get involved except for taking a report to keep on file in the event someone does get injured.
Sorry you won't be here for the BBQ.

[A9]

So you don't know much about any of the other stories? Curious to figure out what else they've done....

[Bodofish]

Most of it is just the pushing folks out of holes by anchoring very close and trying to get inside. The same year we were cast upon we talked to a couple other groups at the ramp that had the same thing happen. It was all folks running props on the river having to run in the channel. The guide would just keep telling his passengers to keep casting. I don't really think they knew what he was having them do. His casts were hitting the mark.

[jmay]

Wow, good monday morning. I did not make my comments in hast, or to put the guy down. He asked for an opinon and I gave one.

Fact: A vast majority of boats have plywood in them and are just fine. However there are companies now making boats with no wood at all, and instead are using composite materials....just like the next home decking material. Most of the users on this site live in a very wet cilmate, wood and wet don't mix. I read a ton of industry propaganda, and magazines you will see less and less wood in the future. The retooling expense is large for the company and mainly only large higher dollars boats are wood free now, but that will change with technogly and time.

I never stated or inferred that if you do not have a Triton or a Grady that your boat is junk. I have owned a Sears 12' alum, a 14' Hewes, a 16' Marlin, a old 1968 14' Lund, and now a 06 Triton. 4 of the 5 boats I have owned where used peices of junk in many peoples eyes but they floated and worked for me, and thats all the important.

Hewesfisher was correct that is easier for an insurance company to total something rather than repair. Sometimes that is very true, but I always try to do what the owner of the boat wants to do. Many times I tell peope if they want to save their from being totaled we can put a reman engine vs new and not pinstripe the hull with factory decays, cutting the estimate $3000, and they get a useable boat verus a cheap and a heap of scrap.

I have had the luxury of seeing thousands of boats ripped up and can make a educated opinion that Lowes tend to get more damage on a stump hit for example than other Alum boats. Trust me, I have seen a lot of $40-50,000 boat that are no better build that a Lowe. And I am just not some pen head that sits behind a desk all day and tells people "no" all day. I go to shops and look at boats personally, I have been to the Southeast after Hurricanes to and the mid west after hailstorms to write estimates, I also spend 85-100 days on the water myself, and worked a full service marina for 6 years. I have seen a ton of boats, and gave my opinion.

Personally I think Raider a former Hewes employee in Colville makes the best Alum boat now, do I owed one, no the price tag is too rich for my blood.

I'm a big kid, and kind admitt when I screw up, I do it a lot, but I don't feel I was coming down on anyone.

[jmay]

Not trying to be a "know it all" or a jerk, I just trying to pass on the future of building building with "no wood" It started about 5 years ago. Now several companies are doing this, right now its limited to higher end boats, Centurian, Caravelle, Cobalt, Triton, Ranger, Champion, but more compaies will move this way in coming years. Each company has it own flashy name for it but the process is all the same.

The stringers, floors, transoms and any place where wood was being used in a boat have been replaced with a polyurethane. The poly is a super-strong core material used in aircraft, and it can never rot. It is made to have a super stong bond chemically with fiberglass, and is unaffected by climate changes. In addition, structural tests show the material to to be lighter than wood, yet stronger than most wood/fiberglass laminates. Builders are now useing the one-piece composite and fiberglass stringer system for unparalleled strength and rigidity. The newly designed stringers have two braces running from bow to stern, and several cross-members (depending on size) connecting width wise that are engineered to have 100% contact with the hull. This design makes boats extremely rigid and helps eliminate deck and hull twisting, and dry rot.

[jmay]

This is from, what I feel is a very fair and well written boat magizine "Bass and Walleye Boats" its a sister publication to Trailer Boats This is Oct of 2005, so a little dated but they tested Aluminum bass boats, 1 lowe, 1 tracker, and 1 triton, their finding are much the same as mine. Lowe make fine boat, fit and finish is lacking vs boats in the same price range. Would I own a Lowe? Hell yes, but before I put down my money I want to know the pros and cons of each product and make an educated purchase.



Our Lowe tester came equipped with a new Mercury OptiMax 150 two-stroke DFI engine. With this powerplant, we hit a best of 54.7 mph at a very low 5050 rpm, indicating that our rig needed some more setup and propping test time. That was not reflected in our 0-30 acceleration times, however; the Lowe/Merc combo easily smoked all competitors with an astounding 4.6-second average time. Engine height (or more accurately, lack of) caused the low top speed and rpm as well as helped the punch; the Merc was mounted with the propshaft 5 1/2 inches below the bottom. This affected handling, too; at top speed, the Lowe was difficult to control as it wandered and hunted approaching 54 mph. With more jack height, the Merc could have twisted its 23-inch pitch Tempest three-blade at a more reasonable 5500 rpm or so, and we would have seen a better turn of speed as a result.

We also noticed some flexing at speed when we crossed waves and boat wakes. Fuel economy was truly excellent; in fact, the Lowe achieved the Best Cruise (highest fuel mileage of all boats tested). At 2500 rpm and 24.6 mph, the Lowe/Merc combo was barely drawing fuel through the lines at a very miserly 7.9 miles per gallon.

Ride-wise, the Lowe worked very well when we cruised out into the open, choppy waters of Stockton Lake. In a foot chop, we never got wet nor did we get bounced around much. Handling at midrange speeds was very good; the boat carved nice tight turns with no bounce or skip. It was only when we cranked up the throttle that the low engine height began to negatively affect the hull’s handling characteristics. I’m sure that with the motor a couple inches higher, the handling eccentricities would be minimized.

Construction was on par in most areas, with a few items that needed attention; for example, the storage lids flexed noticeably when we stood on them, indicating a need for a bit more reinforcement. The dash had a few sharp edges underneath where my knees would (and did) hit in rough water. The dash also flexed noticeably when I grabbed the wheel and pulled myself out of my seat. Those seats, by the way, were very comfortable and well stitched with very attractive vinyl. Storage capacity was excellent, with three livewells and multiple dry storage boxes.

This tester needed a little rigging attention. The tach, trim and fuel gauges didn’t work at all, and we noticed quite a few dangling wires under the dash and at the transom under the hatches. Wires were routed with little thought to order, as were hoses and cables. Our boat had no trolling motor battery as well. Lastly, we noticed some hanging carpet edges up under the deck and in the storage boxes. Overall, this is a nice boat, and with some attention paid to the little details, it would be a good contender for any angler’s hard-earned bucks.

This Triton is a genuine all-around nice boat. It wasn’t the fastest despite having a Mercury 200 OptiMax for power (we hit a best of 65.5 mph at 5470 rpm turning a 25-inch-pitch Tempest propeller). Setup probably hurt the Triton’s top speed somewhat; this boat’s awesome 0-30 holeshot (5.3 seconds, good for second place) was due to conservative engine height and propping. The Merc was positioned on the 6-inch setback Pro Hi-Jacker manual plate with its propshaft a full 3 1/4-inch below the Triton’s pad. With a taller blade and elevated engine height, the Triton could easily have challenged the Xpress/Evinrude for top speed honors without giving up much in the punch department.

It didn’t have the best fuel economy, either; it barely bested the E-Tec 200 H.O. for fourth place with an average 4.5 mpg and best cruise of 5.8 mpg at 3000 rpm and 32.9 mph. So if the numbers don’t make it a winner, what does?

This is a clear cut case of ride quality, fit and finish, attention to detail, construction quality, and deck layout contributing to this rig’s rating at the top of the heap. This was the only rig fitted with a foot throttle and Teleflex Pro Trim controls, and they were nice to have. Out on the water, the Triton’s ride bested all the other similar-design rigs (Polar, Xpress and Lowe) as it was butter-smooth and desert-dry, even in the rough. In the calm water, the conservative setup helped to provide a porpoise-free romp up to its 65 mph top end. The rig exhibited no chine walk or oscillation at speed. Turning at any speed was smooth and predictable. At rest, the Triton was very stable no matter where we put our weight on the deck.

At the dock, we checked the Triton over from top to bottom. It passed muster easily. Rigging detail under the dash was truly excellent, while at the stern we did notice a few loose and dangling wires and hoses. Not bad, just could have been better. Other than that, very few little flaws were evident; for example, a smidgen of carpet glue was smeared on the side of the console; also a few of the carpet seams were not glued down properly. However, those were little details easily fixed by a good dealer or simply better quality control at the plant. No sharp edges were there to catch unsuspecting anglers, and the seats were very comfortable with excellent vinyl and stitch quality.

The construction of this hull was really top shelf, and it showed when we were out on the water. No flex was evident whatsoever, and the hull responded to crosswaves and rough stuff with a resounding solid “thump-thump-thump”. The transom is anchored to the hull and stringers with five massive knee braces, and the rubrail was substantial and solid.

Little niceties abounded on this Triton. We listened to the great-sounding radio/CD player after testing was done, and were impressed to see the assortment of storage compartments located in and around the fore and aft decks. A great little cooler sits between the consoles. Tackle storage was best-of-test, with no less than 13 total tackle tray storage areas. The dash was very well laid out and detailed with soft-touch switches. Overall, for $33,354 this Triton provides very strong value.


Now this thing is cool. At the ramp, the Tracker is the closest thing to a fiberglass boat that an aluminum hull can ever be. It’s very unique stretch-formed and welded hull gives it a smooth, highly finished look that really rivals the best fiberglass hulls. It is difficult to tell that it’s aluminum unless you look closely.

Design-wise, the Tracker Avalanche is a cross between a multi-species fishing boat, a bass boat, and a runabout. It would be very versatile for a family angler, and in my book, it’s my pick for overall best of this test. It’s not the fastest, it’s not the stingiest with a gallon of fuel, and it’s not the quickest. However, it’s ride, overall utility, attention to detail, and quality rank it as the best.

With a conventional (non-pad) hull and heavier weight, the Avalanche will never be the fastest boat on the lake. However, with a Mercury 150 OptiMax, we hit a solid 60.4 very controllable miles per hour at 5340 rpm turning a 23-inch-pitch Mercury Tempest propeller. Acceleration from 0-30 occurred in 6.4 seconds, slowest of the test — but keep in mind that in our history of bass boat tests, 6.4 seconds is a strong time indeed. Under 6 seconds is truly excellent, 6 to 7 is very good, and over 7 is pretty sluggish. The Tracker’s time is very acceptable.

Handling and stability at rest and at speed were the best of this test. The Avalanche simply does wha

[Bodofish]

Fair enough! That's what were looking for. Real meat and no hear say. I knew you'd shine! o:)

[GJorgy]

I've had a 17 foot Lowe since 1994 and have had NO problems with the boat. I use the livewell for crab or bled out fish and had to replace the pump just this year (salt water ate up the innerds). I use it for everything from bass fishing to fishing out in the salt. The bow mounted trolling motor is obsolete now but still runs strong for 13 years old. I would definately recommend the boat for the budget minded person.

[kdmiller8251]

WHOA...... Havent been on in a while and came across the responses to my thread! Yikes... Everyone is all fired up! Well anyways, thanks to all of you how offered some input good and bad. Shame on you to those who got off subject and out of control..

I still am trying to figure out which boat to buy a Lowe or Lund.. Both are the same layout and style. As always it comes down to price. I believe either one will work well for me, just gotta take care of the boat. I will see what happens and keep everyone posted.

Thanks again

[Bodofish]

My point in a round about way