a boat

Good Morning, from what I have seen of Marks boats I highly rate them. I think he is building one of the best made plate boats I have seen and is doing the right thing putting foam and bilge pump under the sealed deck. He builds them very well from the photos of under the floor he has posted here on Fishraider and I like his hull shape with the deep dearise and turned down chines, I am sure they would ride very well. As for Stacer, from 469 and up they run LEVEL floatation and self draining decks. How Telwater choose to do this with both their brands of boats is with a marine plywood floor, or you can upgrade to an allycore floor, that sits in channels either sides of the hull. It will allow a little water under the floor, but I have filled a boat with water personally and most runs out the scuppers. What water gets under the floor is taken care of by the bilge pump. One advantage of the removeable floor is just that, you can get the floor up if you need to get under there for any reason. Cheers, Huey.

Good Morning Hazza, I think you probably have not seen the larger Stacer boats. They ARE self draining with scuppers at floor level that allow the water out and they also come STD with 1100 GPH AUTO bilge pumps(I would not call that little). I personally would rather be in a Stacer if the worse happens than some other plate boats that DO NOT have any underfloor foam floatation and some even do not have bilge pumps, but rely on so called sealed underfloor areas for buoyancy. For Stacer to have the LEVEL floatation they swamp test every model and it must remain level with max load. Yes they do it in calm water and usually the worse happens in rough water, but a Stacer will still be one of the safest boat on the market because of the amount and positioning of the foam in hull. The simple facts are that a boat that has been passed( by third party inspection) for LEVEL floataion is safer than a boat that is only BASIC floatation, and again I know which boat I would rather be in. Even in the bigger models over 6M where the ABP does not come into it the boats are still built to the LEVEL floatation standard. Cheers, Huey.

Hi Choad, you have covered most brands and we have sold many of those thru our time. Most on your list are good boats, with some some I would stay away from personally, but if you want a Offshore Alloy boat it is hard to go past the pontoon style of boat from NZ. Stabi-Craft is the most common but we import a brand of boat from NZ called Aqualine, similar in desgin, but a deeper deadrsie to Stabi and in my opinion a better finished off boat. In NZ they are called Kiwi-Kraft and have a better reputation than Stabi for ride and performance.In all my years of being around boats I have never been in a better riding mono hull alloy boat and with the added safety and stabilty of the tubes they are pretty special boats. You would be doing yourself a disfavour if you did not check these out at www.aqualineboats.com. They are dearer than the Stacer range of boats we also stock and sell, but are definately a better riding boat in the rough than a Stacer which is saying something because Stacer is one of the best riding alloy boats with the EVO hull they run which gives a deeper deadrise than most tinnies and on the offshore boats they run 4mm and up plate material and offer the benfit of LEVEL floatation which is a great safety feature that most of the other brands do not have. In my opinion, I would not be looking at anything smaller than around the 5.7M and up range of boats if you want to go out wide in safety. To give you an idea a Stacer 5.7M Plate cuddy cabin with a trailer sells for about $30K while the 5.9M Aqualine Sports will set you back about $35K incl trailer. Add about $19K for a "clean" 150HP outboard including on water costs and you are set to go. Just my 2 cents worth, Huey.

Hi Matt, thanks for sharing your story, but it is like comparing apples to oranges when you compare the fuel economy of an old fashion carby engine to a modern engine like a 4-Stroke-it is not a valid comparison. It has been proven time and time again that ALL the new tech engines will use at least half of what an old carby engine does. Never heard a story about landing Marlin, so I can not comment, except to say that an E-TEC is as quiet as a 4-Stroke at idle or trolling speed, as for the frequency than maybe the marlin like the tone of a 4-Stroke more thanan old fashion carby or even the first generation DI engines-I do not know, but the E-TEC is a big improvement over both those in terms of noise and fuel economy. I wish you all the best with your Honda and I hope you have many years of trouble free operation and that engine is still going in 30 years . Then I will be the first to say that I was wrong when I doubted the longivety, in terms of years, on a 4-Stroke outboard. We will have to wait and see. Cheers, Huey.

Hi Pelican, not a dumb question. Larger sterndrives have fresh water cooling systems that cool the block and help with corrosion because no salt water runs thru the block, which is good because they are only cast iron blocks and would corroded badly and quickly if subjected to salt water. Salt water does still run thru the heat exchanger and manifolds so that is why they need to be replaced quite regularly and can be a costly experience. On an outboard there would be nowhere to fit the radiator or " heat exchanger" and all the necessary plumbing and it would hard to get enough air flow to keep it cold enough. Also because an outboard runs an alloy block or powerhead, corrosion is not much a problem on a trailer boat if it is maintained correctly and flushed with fresh water after each use. I do not think we will ever see the day that an outboard is not cooled just the way it is today and has been for about 80 years-it is simple and the outboard run cool enough to survive and in fact in cold water (not really here in Australia, but overseas) there is the real problem of not getting enough heat into the engine especially at low RPM and light load. That is why thermostats are so important on an outboard wether it be a 4-Stroke or 2-Stroke, they are there to keep the engine at operating temperature when it is not working hard enough for itself to build up the necessary heat. The thermostat will stay shut until the ideal operating temp has been reached allowing the pistons and block to expand as they have been designed to. What happens in really cold water is that the piston will heat up quicker than the block, which has cold water running thru it and therefore the piston becomes too big for the bore and the engine can seize. It is important if running in near freezing water to make sure your thermostat is workign and allow the engine to warm up before asking it to work too hard. Hope this answers your question. Huey.

Hi Steve, if that is your boat in the picture, than the internal GPS will be fine. The internal aerial do not work in a hardtop boat, but shooting thru canopy or screens is not a worry. Hope this helps, Huey.

Hi Tankin, wlecome to Fishraider, yes the Verado is a technological masterpiece, but it really does not do anything better than an E-TEC, while E-TEC outperform, are cleaner and cost less to maintain and service than any 4-Stroke. Your point about car engines is pretty invalid becasue they spend most of their life below 2500 RPM and have coolant running thru them, an outboard engine gets a much tougher life than that. All I say to people is it will be interesting to see in 20 years wether we still have 4-Stroke outboards that have survived 30 odd years like many 2-Strokes have and are still going. I have not seen many Mercruisers of Volvo sterndrives that are older than 20 odd years and if so they usually have needed expensive services to them going, like manifolds/risers/gimbal bearings and more. Thank you for your input, Cheers, Huey.

Hi Pekingduck, tha max weight for any single axle trailer is 1500KG. Be aware though that some brands of trailers are only rated to 1200KG for single axle. It has to do with wheel size and bearing load capability. Check the VIN plate on the trailer-it will tell you there. Cheers, Huey.

Hi Guys, let me throw my 2 cents worth in. If somebody said I HAD to buy a 4-Stroke outboard I would be buying a Suzuki. We have had good experience with these being that the Johnson range of 4-Strokes were just rebadged Suzuki and at present we have Suzuki wanting us to sell their range of outboards, and I am considering this quite seriously becasue they are the best 4-Strokes I believe for 2 main reasons. Firstly they are big cc engines that give them good low down torque and the abiltiy to swing large diameter props-this will help on a large twin rigged boat when you have to get anywhere on only a single outboard. Secondly they are the only 4-Stroke that run a timing chain instead of a belt like the others. In my opinion, a chain is superior to a belt. Also offer 5 year top to bottom warranty at present which is hard to beat. I have heard the other company offering this warranty has some exclusions as to what is warranty. As a few have mentioned though is to make sure you go enough HP to do the job, especially pn one engine. Also be aware that the transom can carry the extra weight and not upset the way the hull rides thru the water. We have seen many boats that do not perform well with the extra weight non the stern-they will struggle onto the plane, have to run at high RPM to keep it on the plane and in the worse case, "porpoise" badly when the outboard is trimmed out. But I would still prefer an E-TEC personally, but that is what is good about a free market, you can spend your own money anyway you like, sorry I could not help myself. Cheers, Huey.

Hi Tom, a 5HP outboard will struggle to plane the boat with 2 adults aboard. It does allow you not to register the boat, but honestly that is not hard or expensive and a 6/8HP go alot better than any brand single cylinder 5HP, so that is what I would be doing. The only exception is that for a few years (1996-98) Evinrude/Johnson made a twin cylinder 5HP that was the detuned 6/8HP that really went well compared to other 5HPs and was ALOT smoother than any single cylinder design. See if you can find one of those but they are hard to find and when we get them in they do not stay long. You may also come across 2 cylinder 4HP Evinrude and Johnson which run smooth, but will not have the performance you need. Hope this helps, Huey.

Good Mornign Wise One, welcome to Fishradier,this topic has been discussed many times on every internet site and you will always get differing opinions, so here is mine. I would prefer the E-TEC because it has the same noise and is a smoother engine than the 150HP Verado ( the 4 cylinder Verados are not as quiet or smooth as the 6 cylinder versions), the E-TEC has the same emissions rating-3 star, it is a simplier design with less moving parts and it will outperfom the Verado especially in the ability to plane the boat. This comes down to torque and there is no way a 1.7L 4-Cylinder 4-Stroke can compete with a 2.6L V6 2-Stroke, which has a power stroke every revolution. All this plus better fuel economy at idle speeds and at WOT and a lower cruise RPM becasue of the greater torque. This is not even taking into account the extra servicing costs of the Verado compared to the E-TEC and do yourself a favour price up that supercharger and you will be shokced if you have to replace it out of warranty as well as the cost of a cylinder head if that fails out of warranty. I could be wrong but at this stage no-one can show you a Verado, or any 4-Stroke outboard for that matter that has lasted 20 odd years, but there are heaps of old 2-Strokes still happliy running and E-TEC is just a HUGE improvement on already proven outboards like carby 2-Strokes. The only plus on the Verado side of things is the DTS, which I also like, but again out of warranty they are an expensive system to service and repair if problems or gremlins arise and I have heard of a few cases of this. Alot simplier to replace a $40 control cable instead of the "fly by wire" the Verado runs and the new design BRP control boxes are a big improvement over the old OMC designed ones. Just my 2 cents worth, Huey.

Hi mate, the gearbox is easy to remove. Disconnect the shiftshaft, trim the outboard up and remove the bolts and the gearbox falls away. If you have low gear oil which has caused the gears/bearings to fail then yes that will be the cause of the hardshifting and can be expensive to repair, but I doubt that is the problem. I am guess the tightness will be in the linkages in the powerhead. While you have the gearbox off, best to drain the oil checking for water and debris and then replace the gearbox oil, we have a good kit for about $35 which includes HPF gear oil and pump to make it an easy job to do once a season. Also with the g/box off replace the impeller while you are there-not expensive and easy to do, unless it was done in the last 18-24 months. Call me if you need any further help, Cheers, Craig.

Good Morning, remove the gearbox and see what difference that makes. If the gearshift is nice and free then the problem is in the gearbox. If still stiff you are going to have a problem with the linkages in the engine, due to the fact that you say when the controls are removed from the outboard the control box is nice and free. Cheers, Huey.

Hi Nick, we sell Navman as well as most other brands so take what I say anyway you like. If you are looking at the 8120 I think at this moment in time for the price there is not a better unit. For under $4k you get a 12 inch screen with 800 x 600 pixel count and upto 1Kw transducer, which is pretty hard to beat. We have fitted a couple to boats and the owners are happy with the unit. We have not seen any more dramas with Navman than the other brands we deal with and they have been resolved quickly by Navman-maybe people having dramas could be related to where you bought the unit from. Andy if you were quoted $8k for only the 8084 then you are been overcharged. The unit sells for about $3K with GPS and Sounder while a 2KW Radome is about $2,400. I get reps in here all the time and what I look at is power / pixels and screen size. We fitted a Furuno the other day and yes it was good unit but for less money if it was my boat I would fit the Navman 8084 becasue of the bigger/better screen. Just my opinion, Huey.

Hi Andy, two great boats you have narrowed it down to. I think either will be about the 3-3.5 ton mark wet. My suggestion to you would be to go for a run with Twin Verados and unless you are thinking of twin 6 cylinder Verados than I think the 4 cylinder (1.7L) Verados will not be enough HP. You would have to run them at high RPM to cruise(above 4500) and the Verado are know industry wide to not be that good on fuel at the higher RPM and also when needing to get home on only one engine, there is no way a single 1.7L engine is going to plane such a boat. As I said go for a run and trim one engine out of the water and see what I mean. I think the 4-Cylinder Verados would be my last choice to power either of these two boats and we sell them. I would rather 2 x 150/175HP DI 2-Strokes (E-TEC or OPTI) or a big cubic capacity 4-Stroke like the 150/175 Suzuki at 2.8L each. Talk to Lydnsy Fry, who makes Seafarer and see what the factory would recommend. Also call Nathan at Cruisecraft, he is a good guy and will be of help if you decide on the Cruisecraft. I know they have fitted 4 cylinder Verado to the new 685 Explorer and he might give you an indication how they went. If he asks I do not have a problem if you mention that I said you should probably speak to him. PM me or call if I can help you decide, Just my 2 cents worth, Huey.

to Pete and his team at Go Fish in Dural. Next time I am on my way up to Wisemans to do some skiing I will call and say Hi. Cheers, Huey.

Good Moring Guys, unfortunately we see this all the time form so called professionals who fit a new engine to a second hand boat or even on new packages. You should never use wingnuts even with spring washers becasue they get done up by hand and will work loose. We only fit nylock nuts that need to be done up with a spanner and do not come loose. The reasons for nylock nuts is that if the battery leads come loose the retifier can fail due to the current not having anywhere to go because the lead is not making good contact with the terminal-this can be expensive. Also having a loose battery terminal can cause problems with the cranking and therefore starting of the outboard becasue good voltage is not getting to the starter motor. What we do on any service is check the battery for wingnuts and replace them with nylock nuts, so my advise to any Fishradier is check if you have wingnuts and get rid of them. For about $10 you can buy the correct battery terminals and nylock nuts, then remove the old terminals and give the battery posts a good clean and fit the new terminals and nylock nuts and you will not have future battery problems, Cheers, Huey.

Hi Roy, the Mako that Tiger Shark is referring to is the Savage Mako, it is a fibreglass boat. I have seen a few Makocraft but never been in one. They are built by the Stessl family after they closed the factory on Stessl boats following money troubles-new owners are know making Stessl boats for what I understand. From the boats I have seen I think there are better aluminium boats out there, but I think the price of the Makocraft would be hard to beat. Trust me I could easily start selling Makcraft tomorrow if I wanted to, but I think I will staying with Stacer for a number of reasons. Yes they might be dearer but you get LEVEL floatation / self drainging elkele;';'pit / a walk thru cabin, which is a huge benefit compared to the hatch that most other brands have / they come STD with bimini,front clear, VHF radio, fishfinder, auto bilge pump and nav lights and as a dealer Telwater is a much better company to deal with pretty much anybody else that we have worked with over 40 odd years. I notice that Makocraft have copied Stacers EVO hull-becasue it works, but I am not bashing them because they are not the only one to have copied it, with pretty much all the other major brands having a similar hull design, that is Savage, Allycraft and even some of the smaller custom guys are doing this. I am not saying Stacer developed this hull shape, becasue glass boats have been using it for years, because again it works in giving a boat the sofest ride and good stability. When comparing brands see what the standard boat ONLY costs and then do your comparsions. If I was looking to buy a new boat that is what I would do becasue you can fit the same outboard and trailer to two different brands and the cost difference will be the boat and you want to make sure you are getting the best value for your money. Narrow it down to 2 or 3 that you like and can afford and then go for a run and buy from a dealer that you like and trust. Just my 2 cents worth and I wish you all the best in your search for a bigger cabin boat, Huey.

Hi Andrew, sorry to but in on Frank but most of the American boats come in on US made trailers because it is cheaper to import them that way, but they are not really suited to our salt water and if like, I guess Frank discovered, you need to do work on them the parts are hard to source or even impossible and expensive compared to an Oz built trailer. What I would do is to price the boat up on a good quality local trailer like a Tinka or Mackay trailer, it would be dearer but they last longer and easily repaired if needed. Take a look around at any US built boat of around 5 years or older and most seem to be on newer Austalian made trailers, that is the US trailer that came with the package to keep the price down has needed to be replaced and therefore probably cost more in the long run. Cheers, Huey.

Andrew, I have not heard of anything dramatically wrong with the Trophy range, it is more my opinion. I think the freeboard could be deeper , I have been in better riding boats and in our experince of any Americian boat after a few years the upholstery / wiring / gelcoat seem not to last as well as an Austrialan made boat. The Boston Whaler are also good boats and I am sure they also will be priced well, but the Bayliner being a Walkaround compared to the BW being a centre console, I would prefer the Trophy. There are many boats I saw at the Miami boatshow when I was over there earlier this year that I think are superior to the two you mentioned, most of them do not come here but the two that stood out was Contender and Sea-Vee boats. I went for a ride in a Scarab by Wellcraft andthat was one special boat, but I do not think they have dealers here in OZ. All these are centre consoles which are great for fishing but suffer from lack of shelter compared to a walk around. I know Wellcraft do have a range of Centre Cabs and they seem to be well built boats, again though I am not sure if any body does them here. I have a soft spot for the Seafarer range of boats and I think the 6.8M Voyager would be worth checking out as would the 685 Outsider by Cruisecraft. I think those two brands compete well with the overseas brands that are popular at the moment. I think wait till the Sydney Show and pay your 20 odd bucks and I am sure you will see heaps of brands from overseas because of the good exchange rate. I personally would not want to be an Austrlaian Fibreglass boat builder trying to compete with the imports at the moment. The cost benefit for Bayliner, who produce 100 times the amount of boats our biggest builder would build in a year, allows them to purchase engines and accessories much cheaper than the builder here. Also the boats usually come fitted with engines from the states so the dealer here in Australia gets a price benefit there also. I wish you all the best with your search and take your time and check out as many boats as you can because you are talking about a fair bit of money here and you want to get the best boat for your purposes. If I can be of further help just ask, Craig.

Hi Andrew, Avante Marine at Berowra Waters is who you want to try, they are the importers of Bayliner here into Australia. See if you can speak to Warwick at Berowra Waters or Jason at the Silverwater store. At the moment the Trophy range would be hard to beat on value for money due to the strong Oz dollar. As with any brand they have their good points and bad points and the best thing to do would be to go for a ride in one and see what you think. I personally would buy other brands B4 a Trophy but as I said the Trophy range I am sure will be good value compared to an Australian made boat and most other US made boats that are over here at the moment. I think with a 5.0L MPI Mercuriser it would hard to beat. One word of warning, if you plan to tow this boat it is too wide for our roads without a special permit and trailering restrictions. Just my 2 cents worth, Huey.

Hi Peter, I responded to you other post so this may be a double up. As far as 3.90M boats go the Hornet/Bass series is about as good as it gets in terms of ride quality and dryness. Of course a boat of this size can be wet if not driven to the conditions or trimmed correctly. What do they want for the rig? With a 25HP it would be fine with 2 adults and a bit of gear, but the 3rd adult would really knock the performance about. The best thing to do is agree with the seller on price and then water test it with 3 adults and I think you will want more HP. that said if the price is right 30HP engines today as quite cheap and it may be worthwhile to consider upgrading the outboard. PM me any details you have and I will let you know what I think. Cheers, Huey.

Hi Peter, a new Stacer 400SF Bass elite with a 30HP Mercury or Mariner start at $11K. The one in the photo has two tone paint and the Minn Kota which will about $2,500 to the price. If you find a second hand one then depending on what it has you can work out if it is good value. Rule of thumb is a late model rig (under about 3-4 years) loses about 20% compared to a new one, but be aware that depending on HP and what technology the outboard ism the price many vary. To give you an idea a late model Bass Elite with a 40HP E-TEC or 4-Stroke would be worth about the price of the new package with the 30HP carby. There are alot of variables with second hand boats. The best thing to do if you do not want to buy new is post on the site or PM me if you find a boat you like and I will let you know if it is the right price and my opinion of the rig. Hope this helps, Huey.

Hi Guys, in the sportfisher (SF) series Stacer do use their excellent EVO hull. This give the little 4.0M Bass the best ride I have ever experienced in a tinny of its size. The EVO hul,l which has been around now about 5 years is nothing really new, fibreglass boats have had a deep Vee and flattened or turned down chines since the 1970's because it works. It gives you a soft ride with good stabilty at rest and underway and for a 4.0M river and inshore boat for chasing bream and bass I think you do not get better than the Stacer 4.0M Bass Elite, like the one in the picture. Put an auto-pilot Minn Kota on the bow and you are set to go. In the dinghy / runabout / bowrider or cabin boats the EVO hull design is for boats only 4.49M and up, so Jim were on the right path. Cheers, Huey.

Good Monring Ilk, if you anti-foul the boat with correct aluminium anti-foul primer and paint who should not have any worries with corrosion. Also adding some anodes to the hull will help. One thing to make sure is if the boat is to be left near other boats is that there is no stray current coming form these other boats or you do not have something of dissimilar metal near the boat like a mooring pole or whatever. We have seen cases where a hull will corrode when resting against a pole just in the area that is touching something that is of dissimilar metal. If it is to be on a swing mooring a fair distance for anything else and is anti-fouled correctly it will be fine. Hope this helps, Huey.