Looking to buy a 2nd hand Bow Rider

[garryl]

Hi everyone,

I've been doing my research for a while, reading articles and the like, quite a few great posts on Fishraider too! I'm interested in a bow rider around the 5m mark for fishing and dragging the kids around on a tube (kids age between 4 and 12). I've come across a 2003 5.4 Quintrex Freedom Sport with a 115hp Yamaha Saltwater Series 2-Stroke, it has 170 hours on the engine. My brother has gone to have a look (long story) and taken some pics and reports are it looks pretty good. My thoughts are it seems like a good buy at $23,000, compared to other boats I've seen on Boat Point, e-bay and the like. Anyone got any thoughts before I take the drive to check it out in the flesh? I'm a little concerned about the hours on the engine, but it's got a good service history and I'll probably take it to a mechanic to get it checked out before I part with the $$.

Any comments appreciated.

[cut_loose]

Hey mate, that's a good buy for the money.

170 hours on a motor is nothing, the Yamaha 2 stroke outboard is a proven performer, very reliable, but from memory a V6 engine, she won't be the quietest motor, and she won't mind drinking the fuel.

Check the trailer for rust *springs are ALWAYS rusty on a trailer, just about*

Ask for the reason of sale, make sure you revs check everything, and if all is sweet, buy it !

[Croydon]

G'day Garry,

I've got the same motor on my Barcrusher. They are pretty bullet proof but as advised they are a little noisy and a bit thirsty. Been round for years and 170hrs is nothing. Good luck with your search.

Dave

[TheCount]

Sounds like a good boat for the money. I bought the 2004 475 Freedom Sport with 50 hours on the Merc 75 for $22k about 6 months ago.

How is the trailer looking?

Any chance of taking it for a run first?

TC.

[garryl]

Thanks guys, pretty much what I had thought. I originally started looking at the 4.7 as I mainly fish by myself and am worried a bit about getting it back onto the trailer with a bigger model. Then this one came up (friend ,of a friend, of a friend) and made me think a bit. I figure I'll be up for a bit more in running costs. He has offered to take me out for a spin, but for me the main thing is to get someone who knows what they are looking at check the engine out. Checking the trailer condition is a good tip, thanks for that. I hope he looked after it better than I did my old one! I guess the noise is something I haven't really considered too much. Another friend of mine has a similar sized 4-stroke, but I should probably get a bit more up closs and personal with a 2-Stroke before making up my mind.

Thanks again,

Garry

[a boat]

Hi Garry, all good advise from the guys and that is a good rig at a fair price and as for the engine, as carby old tech engines go, the V4 design is a smooth running engine and at a cruise speed, due to not having to rev as hard as some clean tech engines, the noise is not that bad with an engine like this boat has on it. My advise is get someone to check the basics of the engine and then go for a run and make your own mind up.The simplicity and performance of that V4 will be a bonus over some newer tech engines.

Cheers,

Huey.

[garryl]

Well, there's nothing like getting my mind set on something and just going out and doing it! Hope it all works out OK. Found 2 good boats. One was a 500 the other the 530 that I mentioned above. The 500 had a 90hp Yamaha on it, and it was a bit newer, had the foam infills on the side and the live well in the middle. Overall it was probably in a bit better condition, corrosion and marks wise. The engine was about the same, around 150hrs.

I took the 530 out on Friday with the owner drove from Kincumber to Gosford sailing club. When he let me take it I hit a weed patch protruding out between the markers (travelling pretty slow). A few minutes later the high temp alarm went off, pulled the motor up and it was covered in weed, but it certainly got me thinking. When we got out I was surprised by noise level from the motor, even at WOT (love that term) I didn't think the noise was too much, and I didn't notice much smoke, even when it started up (engine was cold). Had the engine checked out and it was all OK according to the mech.

In the end I couldn't go past the extra person capacity (6 v 5), and the extra hp (115 v 90). As it was a bit older the 530 was going a bit cheaper as well. The kids are getting bigger and the more mates they can fit in, the faster I can go, the more liekly I can keep them happy and involved.

Took it out on Lake Illawarra today with the family. Stopped in at the boat shop on the way and bought a 3 person tube, ropes etc. Kids had a ball, especially the 11 yo. The 4yo (her birthday) even got out and had a run on th etube, the little dare devil. Didn't miss a beat and was pretty easy to get in, away, and drive around. Trouble came when I had to get it back on the trailer with a current and wind blowing (about 2:00pm). Wife was on the winch, and I've got a heap to learn about handling the bigger boat. I would have looked like an absoloute fool. It a lot harder than the 12 ft tinny! Anyway, great day out, well worth the $$. Next test will be next weekend up at Umina, hopefully I'll get a fish in as well.

Thanks for the advice, fingers crossed.

Garry

PS It's got an awesome Navman Trackfish 6500, (not 100% sure if it is awesome, but a heap better than my base model fishfinder!)

Edited February 20, 2011 by GarryL

[cut_loose]

Sounds like a fun day out there mate, glad your happy with the new purchase.

I was out there as well, that wind was a bugger for fishing so you did the right thing by taking the kids for a run on the tube.

Don't know if you seen me out there but i launched and put the boat back up around the same time as a 530 Quinnie Freedom Sport with a 115hp Yammy. I had the 460 Ally Craft with a 60hp Yammy. If was, very very nice looking rig, caught my eye for a second.

Actually thinking it could be, remember going for a run, seeing someone put there boat on the trailer and after coming back from the run seen them still trying to put the boat on the trailer ? I had a bit of trouble myself, that wind + current there was really bad.

Edited February 20, 2011 by cut_loose

[garryl]

Yeah, sounds like me. Hope I didn't look too much like a fool. Took a while and I ended up getting right in the water to push it sideways, all good fun. Before that I tried driving it on but got it crooked, also hurt my wife's hand on the winch handle when I pushed the boat back in and the handle spun. Just think I mneed to get out and get a heap more practice! It will probably take a while before I go out by myslef methinks.

[cut_loose]

Very nice lookin unit mate

Yeah, just go down to a quiet ramp after work or something and just practice driving on and off, when there's no one around, that's how i got use to it

[thylacene]

We had a 2006 540 Quinny bowrider with a 115 4 stroke EFI Merc until October last year,it was a great all rounder. Towing tubes in the lake, bottom bashing and the odd trip out to the shelf chasing tuna.

I found it easier to drive on the trailer then to try and winch it, took a little time to set the trailer up so it coudl all happen nicely, took about two hours adjusting skids etc to get a nice even load, and sorting out the trailer depth, not quite enough to float it but deep enough to drive on easily. Winching sucks. Put a couple scratches under it getting it sorted out.

The bowrider is a good all purpose fishing platform, we fished three at the rear comfortably and another off the front.

My only complaint was the steering position, being speed boat style it was sit down, and as the helm is amidships seeing over the front becomes and issue in a bit of swell or chop. Standing meant being hunched over and if it was a bit rough would end up with a sore back and shoulders.

If you are intending on doing more outside work than lakes then consider a glass boat instead, but if estuaries and the odd bit of bay work etc then the bowrider is a good choice.

Cheers

Thy

[Wazz01]

Hi Garry,

I've got the 2009 model of the same boat and I love it as well. But like you, me and the missus struggled with getting it on the trailer. Looking at the trailer in the other thread you have rollers rather than the skids I have on mine. I'm not sure what difference that makes but we found getting the keel onto the center roller very tricky for a couple of reasons.

Firstly the steering wheel being on one side meant that the boat would fall to one side as it came out of the water and would tend to steer off the center rollers, the answer was to stand in the center of the boat while driving it up.

Secondly the other big problem we found was the way the rear skids were set with the center roller to "guide" the boat keel to the center roller. The roller that was fitted had too large a diameter, so when the keel ran down the skid it would jam against the outside of the roller rather than dropping into the center of the roller.(In the photo you can see the new roller in place, and get an idea of how the skid guides the keel to the center.) Took us a year to figure this one out, changed the roller and now the boat finds the center every time, and with a bit of practice we can now drive the boat up most of the way, before the winch takes over.

Hope that makes sense, anyway, you should get lots of enjoyment out of your rig once you figure out getting it on and off(like what the other blokes said, pick a day when no one is around and spend and hour practicing getting it on and off.

[garryl]

Thanks again guys, Went much better this weekend, although the quiet conditions helped a bit. Interesting skid arrangement Wazz, most of the trailers I've looked at have the skids running "North South" along the trailer, from the picture your skids run east west and would drop the keel into the centre. I don't have any skids, just Rollers on swivels, maybe something for me to look at. I also like the tip of standing in the middle, when I drove on standing behind the wheel it was also difficult to judge where the centre of the boat is, standing in the middle would certainly help. Now, just need to make some more time to practice! Also agree with Thy's comments about the location of the steering wheel, can be a bit uncomfortable when it's choppy, and it is hard to stand up, also the bimini takes up a bit of fishing room becasue it is so far back in the boat. It's OK for me because I generally only fish with 1 or 2 in the boat. The kids love sitting up front so I wouldn't swap it for another configuration at the moment.

Garry

[Wazz01]

Thanks again guys, Went much better this weekend, although the quiet conditions helped a bit. Interesting skid arrangement Wazz, most of the trailers I've looked at have the skids running "North South" along the trailer, from the picture your skids run east west and would drop the keel into the centre. I don't have any skids, just Rollers on swivels, maybe something for me to look at. I also like the tip of standing in the middle, when I drove on standing behind the wheel it was also difficult to judge where the centre of the boat is, standing in the middle would certainly help. Now, just need to make some more time to practice! Also agree with Thy's comments about the location of the steering wheel, can be a bit uncomfortable when it's choppy, and it is hard to stand up, also the bimini takes up a bit of fishing room becasue it is so far back in the boat. It's OK for me because I generally only fish with 1 or 2 in the boat. The kids love sitting up front so I wouldn't swap it for another configuration at the moment.

Garry

Garry the photo is a bit misleading, yes there are eastwest skids to guide to the centre but there are also north south skids that sit outside the east west that actualy take the weight of the boat. I've read somewhere else (and I can't vouch for its veracity, but it seems reasonable) that glass boats sit on rollers and aluminium sit on skids. I'm sure there are plenty of blokes on here that can offer better advice with roller set ups.

Yeah the standing in the middle is the way we line up the boat with the trailer post, the only trouble is trying to reach the throttle at the same time.