vol-fisher Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 Looks like a good chance that Platinum Equity is going to somehow acquire Triton boats and move them to Flippin Ark. This is the same bunch that bought Ranger/Stratos/Champion during the bankruptcy. Tennessee has lost alot of jobs and money in the last year alone just in the bass boat industry. You will have all these boats being built under one roof if this goes through. Just wondering for any of you Triton owners, if this happens what are your thoughts? I know as a Stratos owner I kinda liked the thought of the Ranger folks building the Stratos boats. So far the only decision I didn't like is they done away with the Stratos 200XL model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lunkerhunter1982 Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 The only reason I can think of moving them to another facility is to use interchangeable technologies and manufacturing processes. I don't like any of this because the fewer independent brands there are, the less innovation there will be and the fewer products available to the consumer. As far as all that goes, there will be fewer jobs too. Monopolies aint a good thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vol-fisher Posted July 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 They have moved all of Stratos and Champion from Ashland to Flippin early this year. They also did away with the Champion brand, however they kept 3 of the Champion hulls and are calling them Stratos Elite Series. So if it happens, you will have all these boats being built under one roof and kinda streamline the process. But Triton had not been an indepedent company in a while now once they sold out to Brunswick. The Basscats, Bullets, Allisons, and Phoenix line are still family or small group owned as well as some smaller names as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 the price of new boats is out of reach for the common everyday fiserman...about the only way to buy one is to get a demo or one they let out to their pro's...$50000.00 fo a new boat is rediclious...just like automobiles...they need ti rethink their pricing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lunkerhunter1982 Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 the price of new boats is out of reach for the common everyday fiserman...about the only way to buy one is to get a demo or one they let out to their pro's...$50000.00 fo a new boat is rediclious...just like automobiles...they need ti rethink their pricing... Because of the nature of the economy, and of bass fishing and those who participate in it, I think there will be a wholesale restructuring of the bass boat market. At least I hope so anyway. Back when everybody was making money, and/or credit was extended to anything short of a monkey (they could probably get it too if they didn't throw feces at the loan officer), $50,000 boats still didn't make sense. BUT they WERE attainable. Nowadays, not so much. The most a top-of-the-line boat should cost should be somewhere in the $30k range, IMO, with all options. There is no reason for a rigged 18 footer to cost more than $15k. Same with vehicles. I don't need TV screens and crap in my truck. But everybody ends up paying for these addons one way or another. This economic crisis won't be such a horrible thing in the long term if it brings some common sense back to boat producers and consumers. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 None of the Champ guys are happy with this. A champ hull is NOTHING like a Stratos, but at least they will still be available and people like Skeet who have remained loyal to that manufacture will still be able to run them... They're all way over priced, but so are $50.00 swimbaits and $15.00 jerks/cranks.... I guess it just shows how poorly fisherman as a whole group manage their money.... cause most of them I know ain't rich! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stump9000 Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 I saw this on BBC a while back and it looks like Skeeter and Tracker will be the only two big name boat companys left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softbaitmaker Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 I was not surprised to learn Triton was on the chopping block. The big rush on Tritons was back in the late 90's and early 2000 when Earl Benz owned them.They flooded the market with them and promoted them well back then. I know Flippers Tournament here was giving on away in their classic and their was bonus bucks flowing like water for tournament winners that were riding in Tritons. I know of at least 60 people in the Flippers trail alone that purchased New Tritons the first year. I went for a ride and drove one and was not impressed. Good boat but I liked my Bug Boat better. I knew Earl Benz when he was with OMC back many moons ago before OMC went bellie up the first time. Triton Boats would have been OMC boats that were designed by Earl to pull OMC out of the death grip of bankruptcy and they told Earl they didn't need another boat so Earl took his design and opened his own company which was Triton and finished driving the stake threw OMC's heart when the boats came out. I have driven past teh Triton Plant several times in past few years and have watched the boat inventories of completed boats setting under covered boat port go from alot to a few. I knew it was only a matter of time. As far as boat prices go, their are still a few good buys out there. Phoenix Boat company offers a BeeLine Boat that is affordable and a really well built boat with alot of good qualities. Now I didn't say a cheap boat but an affordable one. Anyone looking to purchase a boat might look at them. Now also take into consideration also that the cost of any boat is not the boat. It's the options on the boat. Trolling motors ain't cheap, Electronics are very costly and the outboards now days are what is rediculous at best. A new big HP outboard alone can cost more then many new automobiles. That is the worst part. I am seeing more and more new boats running 3 and 4 year old motors where when folks boat their new boats they also bought those long extended motor warranties. Smart move in most cases. Just my worth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastenfish Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 Looks like a good chance that Platinum Equity is going to somehow acquire Triton boats and move them to Flippin Ark. This is the same bunch that bought Ranger/Stratos/Champion during the bankruptcy. Tennessee has lost alot of jobs and money in the last year alone just in the bass boat industry. You will have all these boats being built under one roof if this goes through. Just wondering for any of you Triton owners, if this happens what are your thoughts? I know as a Stratos owner I kinda liked the thought of the Ranger folks building the Stratos boats. So far the only decision I didn't like is they done away with the Stratos 200XL model. I don't necessarily think I will like it. I am on my second triton and I could see a slight decline in quality craftsmanship from my first to second triton. Namely the carpet. The carpet on my first trition was extremely resiliant and dried out very quickly. In my current triton if you get caught in the rain that thing will not dry out for a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lunkerhunter1982 Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 I don't necessarily think I will like it. I am on my second triton and I could see a slight decline in quality craftsmanship from my first to second triton. Namely the carpet. The carpet on my first trition was extremely resiliant and dried out very quickly. In my current triton if you get caught in the rain that thing will not dry out for a week. I thought it was just me that thought that. The carpet is not as good as it used to be. It also isn't glued down as good, and the seats are more likely to tear/rip. JMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.