looking at maybe selling my 16/54 1995 alumaweld drift boat and getting a 17/60 wiliie drift boat. my question is this, is there really that much of a difference between the alumaweld and the willie rowing? the alumaweld is really the only drift boat i ever rowed, bought her brand new. i think she handles great.just looking to upgrade. i would like to here fom someone who has tried both.i know there may be a difference between the 16 and 17 foot. but what about the same size boats.

I have a old 16 ft Alumaweld that served me well for 15 years. Its been all over the west and Canada, been in some big water, and caught hundreds of fish. A couple of things that stand out about that boat. The trailer it came with was a POS. When I was looking for a new boat last year I bought a Willies. I found the folks over there were super cool to work with and got my new boat set up just the way I wanted. I went with the 17 ft this time and can't believe the diff the extra foot makes. Rows the same as a 16 but can haul a lot more stuff ( and the stuff is out of your way) It has a nice galvanized Baker trailer and a roller.

I did not sell the old Alumaweld. I keep it around as a loaner. Over the years my buddys have been using it, so I figured it was a way to never lend out my new boat. That and I am pretty attached to it. Lots of nice fish caught out of that boat. I thought about buying a new Alumaweld, but could not pass up the deal on the Willies. And like I said before, the people at Willies are first rate folks.

I bought a new willie back in September a 16x54.I delt with Mike,he made that boat transaction as smooth as silk.It was a pure pleasure dealing with willie's and the boat came out just as I ordered it.I ordered it September 8th and picked it up September 28th.Which made it around three weeks early.I really like my drift boat and I'm glad I went with willie.How ever I wasn't to thrilled with the eight hour one way drive or the layer of coat-it / gluvit on the bottom.I used it on mellow rivers from the 3rd week of October till the 1st week of April and I would say I'm missing around 1/4 to a 1/3 of the protectant on the bottom.I also wasn't to happy about the inside clear coat and paint that semmed to chip farely easy.It's not worth the drive to take it down there and ***** so I've learned to deal with it.The pro's out way the con's.
Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

I've rowed both boats on most of the peninnsula rivers and can tell you there's a HUGE difference in the way the 16/54 Alumaweld and the 16/54 Willie handle compared to one another. Willie's is lighter, drafts less water and handles more responsively. I can row mine back upstream in current I could never row the Alumaweld.

I have no personal experience with Willie's 17-foot drifter, but I've been told it's considerably more difficult to row in the presence of any wind whatsoever, i.e., the bow is like a kite. There is plenty of room in the 16/54 and I'm not sure the extra foot of length would be worth the tradeoff.

Good luck.