I am in the market for an aluminum fishing boat around 14 to 16 ft and I was wondering is it worth the money to go ahead and get the all-welded types or are the boats with rivets just fine im going to buy it new and plan on having it for many years just wanted to know if it even makes a difference. Thanks guys in advance for the help



Jaysun7776


Mesquite TX

I've owned an all-welded boat for 3 years now (Tracker), and haven't had any issues.. My brother has owned an all rivetted boat for ten years (Alumicraft), and he hasn't had any issues either...In my opinion, the newer rivetted boats are very well built compared to many years ago...If there were issues, I'm sure they'd stop making them with rivets..I don't think it would make any difference, but that is only my opinion.. Matt.

Rivets , are much stronger , and are easy to replace compaired to fixing a crack in a weld.

Given enough time, any rivet will loosen, but it is not a big deal to tighten or replace loose rivets as long as you have access.

I've got a 1976 smokercraft (riveted). Every couple of years we have to tightness a rivet or two but it's still in pretty good shape for being 35 years old

Awesome thanks for the info guys !