# End of year sales



## trevor464 (Aug 7, 2019)

I know this is not the end of the year and arguably in the heat of the season, but I am pretty well set on getting a raft at this point. I am primarily going to use it for fishing and since most of my friends have boats or are guides and nobody has a raft, that is the route I wanna go. 

I'm looking at mostly the NRS Outlaw 13'. I check CL every day and have just been keeping a lookout for closeouts or sales. 

My question is - where are the best places to keep an eye out for sales? I'm guessing the fall and early spring are best times for new boats? I am not dead set on getting one right away and want to wait until a really good deal comes along. 

Any ideas, advice, or input is greatly appreciated. Thanks ahead of time 

Trevor


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## theusualsuspect (Apr 11, 2014)

I've bought several boats from DRE because I live in Denver. Their Raftopia sale/consignment event in the spring is good, I find that the sales the raft manufacturers offer around black friday through Christmas are also very good. Those are my thoughts.


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## trevor464 (Aug 7, 2019)

theusualsuspect said:


> I've bought several boats from DRE because I live in Denver. Their Raftopia sale/consignment event in the spring is good, I find that the sales the raft manufacturers offer around black friday through Christmas are also very good. Those are my thoughts.


Thanks for the help I appreciate it - I am in Bozeman MT, forgot that might be a good detail in the area I'm looking


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## sonofdad (Jul 21, 2015)

congratulations on deciding to get a boat, you'll not regret it!

i'm sure others will chime in on other sources for used boats, but craigslist is a great place to start. if you're familiar with RSS and have a reader, i'd suggest setting up your boat searches as feeds and subscribing to them. it'll save you heaps of time and you'll be able to stay on top of new posts.

this link should help get you started. good luck in your search!


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## codycleve (Mar 26, 2012)

So does NRS still make the outlaw or is it now the star outlaw.. If your looking at the star outlaw I know where you can get one brand new shipped to you house for $1,759.


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## raymo (Aug 10, 2008)

trevor464..rafting is addictive. I think it's worth the 10 hr drive to DRE for their Raftopia, it's made up of private boaters selling their rigs, come with your game face on and a mouth full of chewing tobacco and do some spitting and dealing for a rig you like. I go about every year just to kick the tires on the rafts. I've seen some sweet setup's. Stay in touch on MS eather way you go. Love to hear your story as you descend into the dark side.


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## trevor464 (Aug 7, 2019)

sondofdad - thanks so much for that RSS idea! I didn't even know you could do something like that. I think this should help me out not only looking for a raft, but in general! 

cody - I'm interested. The best I could find was $1,975 on Outdoor Play with a 10% coupon. 

raymo - I haven't been in the loop, so wasn't quite sure what theusualsuspect was referring to right away. After both of your input, it sounds like a good time. I have family in Westminster so it might be worth a Fri-Mon trip down there. I'm guessing have cash and be ready to deal? 

Thanks again for everyone's help, I really appreciate it


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## MontanaLaz (Feb 15, 2018)

The Fort at Big Timber sells off rental packages. You could give them a call and see what they have. I haven't been by in a few months but I recall almost always seeing at least 1 rig in their parking lot with a for sale sign on it.

I bought my new rig a couple of years ago direct from Maravia/Cascade during their end of year sale. The exact same boat (different and less desirable color than I ended up with) was sitting in a local shop, I won't name and shame, but...they were completely uninterested in discussing a deal or sale price. They said, quote: "Maravia doesn't do deals, take it or leave it." I run an oar rig and had no need for thwarts, so I called Maravia and ordered my boat with no thwarts and end of season discount and saved $1,500 off the local shop price. They shipped it out the next day and I only paid $143 for freight.

Needless to say that local shop doesn't get any business from me. Not only were they uninterested in making a sale on a new boat, one of their guys totally tanked me on the sale of my old boat at their annual yard sale and swap. My previous boat was an Incept, I was about to close the deal, and the shop's guy walks over uninvited and says to the potential buyer, "That boat is cheap Chinese crap, don't waste your money." I reply No, Incept is a quality boat. Repsonse: "That thing would melt into a puddle if I put MEK on it." I said go get some MEK and prove it. Dude says "I've been repairing boats for 20 years and have never heard of Incept, so your boat is a plastic pool toy, I don't need anyone telling me about boats" and then just walks off.

WTF!!! I almost punched the a$$hat. Rant over, but the moral of the story is to not be afraid to shop around or buy online. It's really too bad because I am almost always willing to pay a reasonable premium at a local shop to support the business and get the customer service that comes with it, but I won't pay $1,500 for the privilege of being insulted. It was 2 different people on 2 different occasions.

Anyhoo, if you are interested in who to not buy from, PM me and I'll tell you who to avoid once you get east of Bozeman.


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## codycleve (Mar 26, 2012)

Use promo code AG20 at outdoorplay. It takes 20% off the boat.


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## trevor464 (Aug 7, 2019)

Thanks Laz, I appreciate your help and ideas. Ill definitely check out the Fort and see if they have anything available at this time. Definitely interested to hear who not to buy from! 

cody - thanks brother I really appreciate that. I am soooo close to pulling the trigger. Im just wondering how much extra I should expect to pay for frame, oars, etc. Another $1500 or more? 

Just debating on if I should take my time and piece this thing together and build it how I want it, or wait for a good package deal to come along.

Thanks again for everyone's help


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## codycleve (Mar 26, 2012)

trevor464 said:


> Thanks Laz, I appreciate your help and ideas. Ill definitely check out the Fort and see if they have anything available at this time. Definitely interested to hear who not to buy from!
> 
> cody - thanks brother I really appreciate that. I am soooo close to pulling the trigger. Im just wondering how much extra I should expect to pay for frame, oars, etc. Another $1500 or more?
> 
> ...


Are you looking for an actual fishing frame? You can build a frame with 1.25" aluminum pipe and Kee Lite aluminum fittings for around $400 bucks depending on if you go double rail or not. Gary at row frame builds a good basic frame for cheap also. The price of aluminum has gone up about 30% in the last year but it all has made in the usa stamped on it now. 

You are in Montana so you may talk to Neff at Neffs whitewater customs. He is on mountain buzz as Spider. I have had him do some work for me and does a great job. His fishing frames look great and He does make them modular if you want. 

Oars can go from pretty cheap used to real expensive square tops.
you could use that same code i gave you on blades and get 3 carlisle blades for $155 bucks and carlisle shafts would cost you another $300

The initial cost of getting set up can be daunting, but just chip away at it... Start off with what you need. Then every year add a little more of what you want.


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## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

If you can weld, you can build a frame from 1.25" EMT for under $100.

If you can't weld and use sleeved fittings and pins, you can build a frame for ~$300 inc some NRS oar towers.

Watch FB marketplace for used oars. 'Muricas river gear swap' on FB has some deals.

Cascade/Maravia has a yard sale in the early spring, I think there's a big boat swap in Salmon isn't there codycleve?


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## codycleve (Mar 26, 2012)

MT4Runner said:


> If you can weld, you can build a frame from 1.25" EMT for under $100.
> 
> If you can't weld and use sleeved fittings and pins, you can build a frame for ~$300 inc some NRS oar towers.
> 
> ...


Salmon has started to incorporate a boat swap into riverfest, but not a lot of volume there. The best deals here are when the outfitters have a yard sale.. But that is very random and usually short notice.. Still mad about the last one I went to. Sale said noon. got there at 12:15 and they had sold 8 maravia and aire boats for $1500 with frames.


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## trevor464 (Aug 7, 2019)

MT4Runner said:


> If you can weld, you can build a frame from 1.25" EMT for under $100.
> 
> If you can't weld and use sleeved fittings and pins, you can build a frame for ~$300 inc some NRS oar towers.
> 
> ...


Man, I wish I could weld. My brother back in Nebraska is a welder by trade, but he's 14 hrs away. I am not on FB, but my boss is always talking about FB marketplace too. I just can't handle the social media stuff, but might be worth it just for the marketplace. Thanks for the ideas 



codycleve said:


> Are you looking for an actual fishing frame? You can build a frame with 1.25" aluminum pipe and Kee Lite aluminum fittings for around $400 bucks depending on if you go double rail or not. Gary at row frame builds a good basic frame for cheap also. The price of aluminum has gone up about 30% in the last year but it all has made in the usa stamped on it now.
> 
> You are in Montana so you may talk to Neff at Neffs whitewater customs. He is on mountain buzz as Spider. I have had him do some work for me and does a great job. His fishing frames look great and He does make them modular if you want.
> 
> ...


Yes probably 90% of the time I am going to be using it for fishing. I was thinking about something along the lines of the NRS Bighorn II frame, but I am not super well versed it rafts - most of my life I've been fishing out of drift boats. Does Neff do something along those lines? I don't have FB at all or really any other social media so may need to message him and see if he can send me some ideas/pics. Definitely would like to support local. Thanks for the help


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## codycleve (Mar 26, 2012)

The first pic is an all welded fishing frame from neff... the second is a more traditional outfitter frame with removable fishing accessories.


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## trevor464 (Aug 7, 2019)

That welded fishing frame looks so nice!! I definitely need to reach out to him on that. Are his prices prices reasonable? Thanks for posting those pics


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## John_in_Loveland (Jun 9, 2011)

codycleve said:


> Are you looking for an actual fishing frame? You can build a frame with 1.25" aluminum pipe and Kee Lite aluminum fittings for around $400 bucks depending on if you go double rail or not. Gary at row frame builds a good basic frame for cheap also. The price of aluminum has gone up about 30% in the last year but it all has made in the usa stamped on it now.
> 
> You are in Montana so you may talk to Neff at Neffs whitewater customs. He is on mountain buzz as Spider. I have had him do some work for me and does a great job. His fishing frames look great and He does make them modular if you want.
> 
> ...



I will second Gary at Rowframe...or in MB parlance +2


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