Haines Hunter Today

[troy]

Are Haines Hunter boats of today built as good as the older models.
I hear a few comments that today's Haines are not built as strong as they used to be.
Troy

[Blackened]

G'day

Troy.... in all seriousness, what these days is built as tough as they used to be?

Dave

[larfin]

You only need to look at the weight of the older ones to know the fibreglass was a lot thicker.
cheers
greg

[Spaniard_King]

Hard to find a boat manufacturer that would not be trying to save a buck wherever possible. To get a minimum standard you need to get a boat built to survey.

[troy]

Forgot to mention other brands as well.
The reason i mentioned Haines only was because i am considering buying a 520 Prowler but cannot get much feedback on them.
Troy

[Vitamin Sea]

Hi Troy

To quote a maye of mine who used to work at HH in the mid to late '70's

"back then they were built to a standard, not a price"

Regards

Bill

[Reel Blue]

Back in 1994 when I bought my HH 520 SF it weighed 470 kg dry hull weight. The company was owned by OMC. I think you will find that the current crop of HH boats under John Haber are much heavier. The current 510 Breeze, which looks a very similar boat with the same dimensions as my 520 SF, weighs 680kg. My 650 Classic weighs 1300kg and the 600 Classic 1150kg. Compare these weights with other brands. HH is prepared to give a seven year warranty on their hulls. I would be surprised if the old haines Hunters are much heavier than the current boats and would be interested in seeing some comparitive weights. Ie does the old V19 hull weigh more than 1150kg dry and is it rated to handle 230hp?

[Vitamin Sea]

Ie does the old V19 hull weigh more than 1150kg dry and is it rated to handle 230hp?[/quote]

Hi
Not sure of dry weight, but it would be somewhere around the 1000 - 1200kg mark.

The 19C is rated to 280hp

Cheers

Bill

[PinHead]

weight has nothing to do with strength of the boat..less weight these days is due to no or very little timber being used which makes for no problems with rotting transoms etc and also stringer epoxies these days due to advances in technology.

[cbs]

weight has nothing to do with strength of the boat..less weight these days is due to no or very little timber being used which makes for no problems with rotting transoms etc and also stringer epoxies these days due to advances in technology.

You mean no timber apart from the transoms, and very single transverse or longtl frame in the hull.

Well at least in the 800 prowler I looked at late last year....


That and the resins are polyester based, not epoxy based.

[TJ Bear]

Quotes of hull weights are a load of crap when it comes to HH as none of the boats are weighed out of the mould shop there just guessing themselves. Put your HH over the scales dry and deduct your trailer weight and see what she goes. HH once built a great boat and had some of the best most loyal staff of all the trailer boat builders some with 20+ years service, unfortunatly due to management changes there is only 1 employee left that was from the origanal crew with over 3 years service, all staff are new. Some HH's are built in Melbourne now and in my opinion are of a very low standard I would not even consider a new HH. Do some enquiries as to what has happened to the 3 8m boats supplied to ET for his lodge, one sank and the other 2 are all in need of major warrenty work after only a couplle of months service. There are far better boats out there in my opinion.

[troy]

Quotes of hull weights are a load of crap when it comes to HH as none of the boats are weighed out of the mould shop there just guessing themselves. Put your HH over the scales dry and deduct your trailer weight and see what she goes. HH once built a great boat and had some of the best most loyal staff of all the trailer boat builders some with 20+ years service, unfortunatly due to management changes there is only 1 employee left that was from the origanal crew with over 3 years service, all staff are new. Some HH's are built in Melbourne now and in my opinion are of a very low standard I would not even consider a new HH. Do some enquiries as to what has happened to the 3 8m boats supplied to ET for his lodge, one sank and the other 2 are all in need of major warrenty work after only a couplle of months service. There are far better boats out there in my opinion.
Thanks TJ Bear that is the feed back i am receiving from people that are called up to correct the problem
Troy

[lampuki]

Hi Troy.

I have been in an older haines and one (as recently as Tuesday) that was built Decmber last year. It was horible conditions, but the boat was awsome. I own a cruisecraft and a Platley which I am selling. V impressed with the new Haines. It was a 650 classic.

[MarkDiver]

There is a good looking HH 635L in the 'Boats - For Sale' section. I have seen photos of this boat - if you'd consider and inboard mercruiser then she's tidy as and probably of the 'older vintage' as discussed in this forum. It's got a smaller 3.7l engine which shouldn't be too excessive on fuel consumption (guessing! as I have a 5.7l V8)

[charlieash]

Recently I was at a my brothers bbq who's good mate actually works at Haines Hunter and obviously we got talking about Haines Hunter with him as I own one and E.T's problems were brought up. The problems with E.T's boats were the modifications that the surveyor insisted be done were what actually caused the problems. This is by no means a Haines Hunter Warranty problem as the modifications were done as per E.T's surveyor and the problem will fall between them not with Haines Hunter. Before I bought mine I did a factory tour and did alot of research. These bastards are built like a battleship and as far as I know they are still heaviest boat per size built and their finish in my opinion is right on it. Even the small detail like flow coating right up and under the gunwales which most boat builders don't bother to do. If you saw their stringer grid setup and the amount of glass that goes into these tigers you couldn't help but be impressed and yes I have been through other glass boat manufacturers factories. If you want an honest opinion on the 520 Prowler ring Rod at LRM service centre as I know he owns one and loves it. His number is 3287 4333 and always happy to have a chat about his boat and anyone who knows him knows he doesn't talk crap. To finish off I think this might be a case of "Tall Poppy" syndrome and I reckon the only one who wouldn't own one is the bloke who couldn't afford one. I have a 650 and I love it, It would be easily the best built/finished glass boat I have ever owned and I have owned a few ;)

[boatboy50]

Back in 1994 when I bought my HH 520 SF it weighed 470 kg dry hull weight. The company was owned by OMC. I think you will find that the current crop of HH boats under John Haber are much heavier. The current 510 Breeze, which looks a very similar boat with the same dimensions as my 520 SF, weighs 680kg. My 650 Classic weighs 1300kg and the 600 Classic 1150kg. Compare these weights with other brands. HH is prepared to give a seven year warranty on their hulls. I would be surprised if the old haines Hunters are much heavier than the current boats and would be interested in seeing some comparitive weights. Ie does the old V19 hull weigh more than 1150kg dry and is it rated to handle 230hp?

Guys,

I think Reel Blue has hit the nail on the head.

Under John Haber's ownership I have seen the standards lifted 200% over what the OMC owners did.

The quality of materials used, hull design, usability, strength and R&D have all been lifted to a much higher standard.

The old Haines were never built any better than the current ones. If anything, they were built worse. Yes, the glass was thicker, but that just means it's a heavier boat, not a better one.

I would very much like to hear more factual detail about the ET issues, as i've never seen or heard of these before.

Regards

Darren

[Greg P]

I thought all HH in the bigger sizes were now built to survey standard regardless (or something) ? I remember reading some PR stuff about them - maybe wrong though

[disorderly]

I thought all HH in the bigger sizes were now built to survey standard regardless (or something) ? I remember reading some PR stuff about them - maybe wrong though

I just love this "built to survey"tag.
Unless it actually has been built to survey and has actually been surveyed,been inspected,paperwork done ,fee's been paid ,then this term means jack as far as I am concerned.
I'd love to try and convince my local building authority that I built my Home to the required code without any of the engineering and architectural plans and approvals and due process which validate this claim.

I thought that was what edencraft claimed and look at that last deleted thread.

Scott

[Spaniard_King]

Scott,

it probably means nothing to you as you do not understand the ordeal required to build A boat to survey standard. :)

[Mark-P]

Buggered that one

[Mark-P]

Lets put this to the the test, anyone Genuinly looking to buy a haines in 3 months time is quite welcome to come for a run in my prowler !!!!
Provided it has'nt sunk ;D

Mark

Ps there probably are better boats out there, but no mater what you've got someones all ways got better !!!!

[bustastu]

I can't be happier with the quality and ride of my 2006 580 Breeze, even if it is one of the smaller and cheaper styles of the Haines Hunter fleet and when the day comes to upgrade, it will be another Haines Hunter for sure.

[Spaniard_King]

I can't be happier with the quality and ride of my 2006 580 Breeze, even if it is one of the smaller and cheaper styles of the Haines Hunter fleet and when the day comes to upgrade, it will be another Haines Hunter for sure.

Thats what i thought,, having owned a 580... but I looked beyond my nose and found something better;)

[Crestcutter]

Be interesting to see how they are in 30 years time.My old 213 is one solid bitch and when i did my refit it was only the floor that needed replacing.Stringers were perfect. They were built well considering what the guys had to work with back then.
I have no doubt the edens will be and are a good boat, but be interesting to see if they are still has highly sort after in another 30yrs time.

Gary , could you pm me that fellas number that does the full pod extensions for the 213c. I have pm'd you for it but i think the pm never made it. Cheers.

[Lewy]

I'm not talking about Haines or any brand but Fibreglass in general. These days with vaccuum infusion boats can be built much lighter and stronger. Too much resin in a layup can mean less strength and more weight. Infusion will only allow the fabric to take up the correcft amount. I dont know how many boat companies are using the method but it bloody good when done right.

Regards

Lewy

[ozscott]

some newer boats are built lighted but not all. For example the bare (and that means no plate glass windscreen in or rails or anything at all) hull in my 19.6 foot hull length Seafarer Vagabond from the 70s was 850kg according to Lindsay Fry the owner when I spoke to him. Now a 6.0 metre Seafarer Victory according to their web site is about 1100kg (that would include the bibs and bobs that they add such as screen, standard pump, electrics, switchgear, battery etc - so perhaps that (particularly if the screen like mine is armour plate) would add 150kg or so) - so it seems Seafarer have not gone backwards and perhaps are a tiny bit heavier?

Cheers