Who makes the best production all welded jon boat? I'm waiting about a 1648.

My vote is for Alweld. Have had a 17 footer for over 20 years and not a single issue with the hull! It is build to last. They are a little on the expensive side, but it will be the last aluminum boat you will have to buy!

Mine is a weldbilt 1648.. Its a good boat for what I use it for

I had a Lowe 1648 before someone stole it from under my carport.
Loved that boat.
My only complaint was that it wasn't an 18ft.

There's a whole lot of good all welded aluminum boats out there. If you're just wanting a knock around boat, just compare the hull thicknesses and buy the cheapest apples to apples all welded boat.

I know a guy that has a new Lowe, not a John Boat. The deck split and it took 3 months for the repair to be made. Had to be sent back to Lowe for the fix. That soured me on Lowe boats.

We have a new Lowe boat dealership right here local and before I bought my used boat I looked at everything they had on the lot and I was not impressed. In fact I was disappointed because I had looked at Lowe boats several years ago and thought they were pretty nice aluminum boats but they seem to have changed

IMO there was never any comparison between a Lowe and an Xpress like you bought.

I have heard of quite a few horror stories on welded boats spliting and the dealers not covering them under warranty. Some splitting twice within months in the same spots. I have a 1988 polar kraft rivet boat that still dont leak a drop and love it. All my boats have been rivet with zero problems.

I have an 2014 Lowe and have been nothing but pleased with it. No sure about the new models though.

I’ve had a weldbilt and a g3 and the g3 is a lot tougher. I have 1 dent in the g3 from being blown into a very sharp rock sticking out of the water at the dam. I had the weldbilt for 2 years and it had dents all in it. It would dent if you hit anything. The aluminum they build the weldbilt sour of is way too soft and thin. I won’t own another one. The g3 has been a very good and tough boat.

If you could find an older Polar Kraft with the "V" shaped back seat they were damn good boats. Tons of them were used for duck hunting.

I've got an 18ft seaark that is the cats meow. I love it.

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I've fished NW Florida all my life,and seen many cypress stump collisions.Folks down here are fond of G3,Scandy White,Rhino,and Extreme boats.Just throwing it out there...

I have a 20' CC Sea Ark. I like it too for comfort and stability. It's a heavy cow though to maneuver and even though the aluminum is thick it gets dented from even slow bump because of all the weight behind it.

What kind of running/driving lights you got on the front of that boat?

They are just LED driving lights I bought off of eBay. I got 2 spot and 2 flood to see which I liked best. The flood lights are the way to go.

I’ve got a 70s model MonArk riveted boat. I grew up in that boat and have spent a lot of hours in it. Had it in rough (for lake Guntersville) water a bunch of times, and it still doesn’t leak a drop. The interior needs a total make over, but the hull is as solid as ever.

Bowtartist, those Sea Arks are fine boats. I saw a 20 or 22 footer the other day and I was drooling over it.

I would have had a 20 ft river cat when I bought this one if I'd been a few hours earlier. It was the deal of the century. 2012 model 200 hp suzuki 4 stroke good units and an I pilot TM for 18k. I wanted it in a real bad way but some other feller drove from Indiana to get it.

Mine may be for sale soon if I have to do surgery. I haven't had mine out in several weeks due to back pain. If I go, I end up suffering for 3 days due to all the wake on the weekends.

Mine is a River Cat 200 with 115 Suzuki 4 stroke. I got it new for $22K