Avalanche vs. Tournament V-18

[Curt Snow]

I am looking into buying a new boat for the 2006 season. I am currently comparing the Tracker Avalanche to the Tracker Tournament V-18... both with a 150 HP motor.



I haven't really been able to find any terrible feedback regarding the Tournament V-18. Most of the comments are very positive.



On the other hand, I have found virtually no feedback at all about the Avalanche.



Does anyone have any feedback on either of these?



Thanks in advance

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

I saw your post at BBC Curt and was going to suggest you come over here. I'm sure some will jump in. Good Luck!



Bill



Try doing a search too..

 

[Ken Sabin]

Curt-

I have an Avalanche. I like a lot of things about it. Especially the 96" beam. However, a 6'6'' rod wont lay flat on the front deck without hitting the consoles.

Your partner will luv it. It has a lot of room in the rear.

Get at least the 150 XR6, its what I have and runs great. Motor has a "sweet spot" at about 4000 rpm.

 

[JAMES MOORE]

I agree with Ken, I'm going into my 4th season with my Avalanche. I love it for the type of fishing I do and for the amount of storage space and the way the boat handles in ruff water. This boat is one of the best kept secrets Tracker has. It's great for mounting accessories and extra's and is just plain fun to drive and fish from.

 

[CJ Extrom]

Love mine could not ask for anything else in a 18ft. boat. Ditto what James said.

 

[JIM SHINN]

I just bought a 2002 Avalanche. It has a 2004 125 Mercury on it. I just hit top end on it this weekend and the top speed was 47.8 mph (GPS). It's a lot of boat for this motor but I'm pretty happy w/ it for what type of fishing I do. Check out Jaco's Marine - www.jacosmarine.com.



They have one a 2003 Model w/ a 150XR6 for $15,950.00 - brand new it's over $22,000.00...not hard to do the math.

If you tell them that I sent you I get a small reward. Send me a e-mail if you do go there and I can give you my full name and address. They also have one w/ a Mercury 115.

 

[Andrew Zuber]

I have a TV-18...

Excellent 'multi-species' boat...I fish lakes, rivers, and even Lake Michigan in mine...

Only thing I can say bad about it is that the front compartments and under the middle seat are not waterproof...

If you have any specific questions I'd love to answer them...



az

 

[Curt Snow]

Thanks for all the feedback so far, guys



I am still so undecided between the two boats.



As for the Avalanche, I know that it is more of a performance hull than the V-18. Performance is great, but I don't really fish any huge lakes that require 60+ MPH runs for long periods of time and don't know if I want to pay $3000 more for that.



In comparing the two boats at the Tracker site, it almost looks like the V-18 has a bit more storage in the front deck than the Avalanche, although it's hard to really tell from photos. The V-18 has 2 compartments vs. 1 on the Avalanche. I did notice in the photos of the 2005 model V-18, it looks like the storage toward the aft end of the front deck is now waterproof, which is a good thing. The layout of the storage looks like the same as my 1996 Tracker Pro Team 18, with regard to waterproof compartments, etc.



Also, how much room do each of the boats have in the stern for batteries, etc. I currently run 3 Group-27 Power Troll batteries and don't really want to have to change that. I use two of them for a 24 Volt 74 lb. thrust Minn Kota Maxxum and one for cranking and accessories. I also have a Guest 3-bank 45 AMP charger mounted under the bench passenger-side seat that I would want to install on the new boat. Hopefully there is room for that also.



Any feedback on these items would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Rick Hale]

Welcome to the board Curt-- Glad you got my posting on BBC.



Great bunch here-- watch out for "Toxic"--He will try to get you to come over the the "dark side" GLASS. LOL ;>)



Just a thought-- Have you checked out the Tundra's or Targa's for their configuration. Both have a good dry ride / lots of storage. I have a 03 Targa 18sc - Great boat.



Good luck;; HaleDamage .................Rick

 

[Curt Snow]

Thanks, Rick



As for the "dark side", I will never, ever, ever buy a glass boat! Nothing against them personally, but I simply prefer aluminum for its ease of maintenance and worry-free usability, not to mention the cheaper prices



p.s. Everyone, feel free to drop by my web site and jump onboard the forums there! Thanks...
http://northeastbass.com

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Never underestimate the power of the darkside (heavy breathing in the background)!!LOL!!



TOXIC

 

[JAMES MOORE]

Curt you should be able to imstall those batteries with out any trouble. Since I have one of the original Av's it would be easy because every thing in the back is wide open. On the newer Av's they closed in the back and put the batteries directly under the engine in the set back, and made storage compartments of the rest of the back area.

Moving the batteries to this location improved the load balance and put the weight of the batteries along the middle of the boat. I would suggest trying both out and decide from there what you like best and what best suits your fishing style. For me the Av. fit my style perfectly.