If you live in some part of the world wherein the vicinity of your house, there is shallow water, and you want to utilize a boat to make a trip with your family or going to fish, the best thing that you can do is one to purchase an airboat.
An airboat or in some places knower as a plane boat, swap boat, is a flat-bottomed boat propelled by an aircraft and automotive engine. The places where the airboat is most popular are Florida Everglades and the rivers and Lousing Bayous.
Anyway, one of the most important questions that always comes first of everything is about the cost of an airboat, and that is what we will see on the next part of the article.
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How Much Does An Airboat Cost?
The purchasing cost for an airboat is around $40,000 up to $50,000, anyway if you prefer to go for a cheaper option, you can find an older airboat for $10,000 to $30,000. The cost for an airboat is relatively high because there aren’t many production models and the complexity of the mechanism that makes the airboat move.
If you want to know more about the cost of an airboat, I can guarantee you that you are in the right place, together we will take a look at the general cost of an airboat, why it is so costly, and what is the cost of maintenance. So let’s go.
Why is the airboat so expensive?
There are many factors that influence the cost of an airboat, one of the most that affect the overall price, are its rarity and difficulty in finding some of this boat.
Only if you live in a specific place on the planet will you easily find an airboat. Otherwise, you will have to put a lot of effort into finding one.
This is the first attribute that make the airboat expensive, others things are the design, motor.
The design utilized for build the airboat is of aluminum or fiberglass, they tend to be problematic during the working of the material.
List of Different airboat cost on sell
To give you a general overview of the cost that is present on the market, I decide to research the airboat that is present on the internet.
| Models | Price |
|---|---|
| Cottonmouth airboat 2001 | $8500 |
| Aircat hurricane (ONLY HULL) | $3500 |
| 2019 20.6 ft. Panther Airboat | $ 85,000.00 |
| 2016 13′ Airboat | $ 19,000.00 |
| Straight valve 0540 | $ 14,500.00 |
| 2004 Diamondback | $ 20,000.00 |
| 2007 Master Marsh Jimmy White Airboat | $ 18,000.00 |
| 2016 Diamond Back | $ 54,000.00 |
| 2019 Benny Webb | $ 42,000.00 |
| 2014 DIAMONDBACK AIRBOAT 13’8″ | $ 30,000.00 |
| 15×7 Panther Classic | $ 27,000.00 |
| 2016 Hamant Airboat- 13’6″ | $ 38,000.00 |
| 15’x 8′ Alumnitech | $ 48,500.00 |
| Don Davis 10×6’2” | $ 7,000.00 |
As we can notice after analyzing 14 different airboats that are on sale on southernaiboat.com, the thing that makes varying the price of an airboat is mainly the type of engine that use and the length of the boat.
The average cost is $29,642.85
This cannot seem like an incredible discovery because almost all the boats range by this value and the cost for the bowrider boat.
Cost of airboat by types
As for other types of boats, also the airboat is used for different purposes. The first’s types of airboats were used mainly for military purposes in 1915, it was used in the Mesopotamian campaign of the first world’s war.
During the years the airboat has evolved and nowadays are used for different scope, and as you can imagine they differed in prices.
In the market, you will find the following types of airboat:
- Ride boats
- Touring boats
- Commercial airboat
- Fishing and hunting airboat
- Ice airboat
- Search and rescue airboat
- Law enforcement airboat
Each one of them has its purpose, and in the next part of the article, we will see the main characteristics of each model and the cost related to these types of the airboat.
Ride Airboat cost
The ride airboat is the classic type of airboat, it is mainly used to make a short trip, the size start from 24’ and it is built with stainless steel, and incorporated with flexible seating arrangements, the average cost for a new ride airboat is around $20,000.
In a ride airboat, you will find the following characteristics:
Engine power starting of 550HP, a fuel capacity of 60 gal, GPS, and many others options.
Touring airboats cost
The touring airboats have a different use, as they are mainly used for people who have an agency near rivers and want to do some business by making a tour of the place with airboats.
There are different models of touring airboats present; all depends upon the seating that you require.
It can start from 6 passengers until reaching 40 passengers.
The cost for touring boats depends mainly on the size; anyway it goes from a minimum of $20,000 until more than $300,000 for 40 passengers touring airboats.
Commercial airboat cost
A commercial airboat is a type of airboat that can be categorized in the same category as the touring boats.
The only distinction among the 2 is the number of seats; in the commercial airboats in the majority of the case you will find less seating.
After doing some research, the cost of commercial airboats is sitting between $15,000 up to $30,000 considering a secondhand and new model with less configuration.
Fishing and hunting airboats cost
Until now, we analyzed airboats used mainly for touring and commercial purposes, but another important category of airboats that are primarily used in the USA is the fishing and hunting airboats.
If your passion is to fish in shallow water, your next step should be to buy airboats.
The cost for fishing and hunting airboats is not so different from the others models.
The main distinction is that you will find more appliances for inserting the gear necessary for fishing and more space to move inside the airboat.
The cost for a fishing and hunting airboats is around $20,000$
Ice fishing airboats cost
If you are passionate about fishing and cannot stop doing it during the winter season, other options can permit you to fish during the winter.
Many companies produce airboats with specific hull designs made to let you sail free in the ice.
For that type of boat, you will pay a little more because the hull has more strength and more safety.
The estimated cost for an ice fishing airboat is around $25,000.
Search and rescue airboats cost
This type of airboat is not so frequent to see; in fact, it is bought by people who have a license on rescue or like to operate for the benefit of people.
A you can Imagine these types of airboats are more expensive than the other one that we spoke about before.
The reasons are because a search and rescue airboat is fitted with a more powerful engine and may be fitted with special firefighting equipment.
The average cost for a search and rescue airboats is around 35,000$
Law enforcement airboats
The last category that you may find in the market are the airboats build for law enforcement officers.
This type of airboats are built to be ready for any condition, the engine will be more potent than the others types of airboats.
The estimated cost for a law enforcement airboats is around $40,000
Cost of Maintenance For An Airboats
The maintenance cost for airboats is slightly different from the other boat models because the building design and the engine used are not the same.
In the first part of the article, we analyzed the initial cost that you need to purchase an airboat.
After that cost, that we seem do not be so cheap, you should consider all the maintenance cost for airboats to understand better what you should expect to spend monthly and yearly.
Engine maintenance cost for airboat
The engine used on the airboat is usually the same that you will find in the truck or car; for that reason, before you buy an airboat, you should look at which type of engine you are buying.
As for another boat model, particular maintenance should be done, trying to arrive too late, causing irreparable damage to the engine.
The cost of maintenance is variable for an airboat as for others boat’s models. It can cost you a few hundred of dollars years or can cost you thousands of dollars.
Your main worry should be not purchasing an engine that the manufacturer no longer produces because you will not be able to change the spoiled part.
Fan maintenance cost for airboat
The fan for an airboat could be considered the main part, together with the engine, so your main goal after purchasing airboats should be the one to maintain in the best condition possible.
Ordinary maintenance requires not a huge amount of money because you should only check and clean the main part.
Opposite case if for some reason the fan of your airboat fails. In case of complete replacement of fan, you will need a huge amount of money; on average you will spend from $1,000 to $4,000.
Hull maintenance cost for airboat
At least once per year as for other types of boat, the hull needs some paint touching to refresh the color of your airboat.
This is not a costly operation, and it will cost you a maximum $50 per years
5 Important Things To Know Before Purchasing An Airboat
After analyzing in details, all the cost related to the maintenance is now essential to know some important thing that you need to know during the use of your airboat, mainly for your safety and for a more quiet usage.
1- Airboat is not used for rough water
If you are thinking of going out and making some trip or excursion with your airboat during bad weather, you should change the idea immediately.
This for your safety and for the safety of the people that are on board with you. The airboats are not built for rough sea, because the hull is not immerging deeply on the water, and in case of rough see can compromise negatively the stability of the airboat.
2- Make training before buying an airboat
The airboat is not the same as for other boats, it need time to handle in the best way possible .It would be best if you considered making some course or trying to drive someone else’s boat before purchasing an airboat.
3- Remember that on your back, you have a fan
It can be strange to mention on a list of the important thing to know before purchasing an airboat, but it is not like that.
Some people that are not focused can forget how dangerous the fan on the back is. Also, if the fan is caged, sometimes it cannot guarantee complete safety.
4-Risk of capsizing
For the reason mentioned before, the shallow draft of the airboat can be your enemy if you are not an expert.
When driving the airboat, always keep in mind that you have a shallow draft hull, and that huge alteration, of course, may cause a capsize of the airboat.
5- Cost of safety equipment
Sometimes, safety equipment costs are not evaluated before purchasing an airboat, but they should be.
The safety while you are sailing with your airboat must be your priority, so before purchasing your airboat, you should evaluate the cost related to floating devices, life jacket, and seatbelts, that can cost you around $500 to $1,500.
Conclusion
As you notice during the article, the cost for an airboat is variable; many things must be considered before purchasing one.
Whatever your future evaluation on buying one or not, I hope that this article has given you a better idea about the cost related to an airboat.
