Stessco

[Silver_RX]

Still shopping around for a boat. The price has now become a bigger factor and I remember someone mensioning a stessco rv catcher 4.2 around the 8 mark. I was just wonder what sort of feed back there is about the stessco's. Good bad or indifferent I would like to know.
Thanks

[Big_Kev]

Mate Wynnum marine have a great package deal on those boats for that money it is definetly worth a look .
Talk to George , he's been there since Noah was a boy .
Regards Reel Hard

[michael_mad_fisho]

gday silver
i myself was looking at the exact same boat as i am 15 turning sixteen dad said he would buy me a boat out of the money that we got from the other boat we sold. and the rv catcher is a great boat as the george told me from wynum unfortunately i cannot buy the boat as my dad had a few clients desert him and not pay bills but if i had the money it would be my first choice as it has a 40 hp fully platforms comes with 2 removable chairs good welds nice hull. good luk in boat hunting
michael_mad_fisho

[fishsmith]

I own a stessco catcher with a 30hp honda 4 on the back,its an excellent fishing rig with heaps of beam,stability and rides well in the water....I reckon for the price you can't go wrong...


Smithy... http://www.ausfish.com.au/chat/images/smilies/cwm30.gif http://www.ausfish.com.au/chat/images/smilies/cwm20.gif

[clutter]

Silver,

I own an RV Hurricane, same as the Catcher but slightly longer. Great boat so I can imagine the Catcher is also. Do know someone who has the Catcher and he swears by it. As said before, give George a ring at Wynnum Marine. I spoke to them recently and they were doing an outfit for $7200. That was the RV with a 30 Yammy CV. Didn't come with all the safety gear but thats because people were actually upgrading and already had most of it. Another bloke to try is John at Northside, he sold me my boat. Send me an email if you want to have a chat about anything.
Mick

[Paul]

They are cheap, though generally not too badly made. We used to sell them in our shop for a while. The problems arose when there were warranty claims. The factory would not return phone calls, and we had to have some repaired at our own expense. We ended up dropping them like a hot spud. Easy enough to see, cause of the low price, but you are better off with the Stessls, and Quintrexes, etc

Regards, Paul

[Silver_RX]

Thanks for the replys people. I will have to pay Wynnum Marine a visit for a closer inspection.

[Big_Kev]

These boats are made at narangba I believe , correct me if Im wrong .
But I think if you knock on there doorstep with a warranty claim they would be sure to be responsive .
And I can tell you some stories about quintrex and warranty claims as well .
Cheers Reel Hard

[dazza]

Hi Silver,
I have had a Catcher RV 4.1 for a bit over 3 years. As far as deck layout goes it is perfect for me. Originally it was powered by a 30hp 2 stroke. I upgraded to a 40 hp 4 stroke about 18 months ago. The way the transom is designed with the welded in well it is pretty strong, so hopefully the heavier 40 won't do any damage. Time will tell.
The bottom has split in about 4 places and hopefully this weekend I am going to start welding in a 4mm plate bottom.
I think it has split for 2 reasons. Poor trailer set-up. It is a redco trailer with poly skids. Unbeknowns to me the skids warped and changed the weight distribution. 2 of the cracks were a direct result of this.
The other 2 were probably caused by carrying too much gear up the front. We often head down the west coast camping and fishing etc. Sometimes we have 100 litres of fuel 2 eskys tent etc etc.Which can get pretty heavy.
Probably a bit hardcore for what it was designed to do.
If I had to buy another tinny I would buy exactly the same thing, except be more aware of trailer and weight. I got mine from Bribie Boats, they were the the most competative when I bought mine, but that was awile ago.
They are a good boat IMHO.
Cheers
Dazza

[Silver_RX]

Reel Hard, the address on their website indicates they are at Kallangur which is really not that far from Narangba.

[Big_Kev]

Dazza ,
I have read before about people welding in a 4mm plate bottom to thier tinny but I am a litle confused as to how this is done .
I would have thought that to have to cut the old sheets out and then cut shape and weld in new sheets would be a daunting task , and not one for the faint hearted .
I have visions of little aluminium slivers going everywhere and getting stuck in your cloths etc .
Can you please explain the process of doing this job as I am interested .
Some piccy's of the job in process would also be great .
Thanks Reel Hard .

[Lachie1]

Just flicking through the last QFM and noticed a "heavy duty" (3mm bottom) 4.20 catcher with a low carpet floor and a 25 yamaha CV for $6195 and the same boat with a 30 CV casting platform, floor (carpeted), removable seats etc for $7995.
Just thought this could be of some use. Oh yeah the add was for wynum marine to.

Cheers, Lachie

[dazza]

Reel Hard,
It is not too bad (I hope). The old bottom is cut off. If you look under the hull you will see where the alloy is weleded. If you cut it there you end up with about a 5 mm lip to lay the new plate on. Use the old bottom for a rough template. Then it is a matter of tack and trim along the hull. Cutting it is easy. Alloy cuts like butter. 4 inch anglegrinder and a tungsten cutting blade does the trick.
The big thing is preparation. If the metal is well prepared and clean it is much easier to weld. I will take a few pics and try and post them.
Cheers
Dazza

[scott_b]

Hey dazza , just out off interest can you buy sheets of aluminium long enough to do the full length of the boat or do you have to join them.
I am buying a new boat early next year in the 3.8 to 4 meter rage, I've got brochures of just about every boat company and I'm more confused than when I started looking.I like the look of the stessco (4 Seasons)3.8 Seatrout with 1750 beam and 2mm floor. If anyone has any feed back on this boat please send a post .
Can anyone help with advise on v nose punt or standard v bottom boats, which is best or you prefer.
thanks wamjam.

[Big_Kev]

Wamjam allooy sheeting as with any sheeting can be ordered in just about any length that you want .
Boat builders of course will have a good supply in their stocks to build boats of differing lengths with a minimal waist to cut down production costs .
And as a recomendation when you get your tinny , if you get one built around the 4 meter range , pay the extra bucks and go for the heavier bottom sheets that the builder will do the boat in . Especially if you want to keep the boat and do some serious traveling in some far off places as it will probably save some heart ache one day and for the extra few hundred will be well worth it .
But if you want to sell it will probably not add to much vallue but be a selling point to make your boat more appealing .
Cheers Reel Hard .

[dazza]

Wamjam
as Kev said, sheeting comes in all different sizes. Some shops will cut it for you others aren't interested.
1x 4m x 1.83 x 4mm cost me $647
The 4 mm is a bit of an overkill, but with my navigation skills :( :( :(
We got the bottom off of it yesterday and now preparing the edged ready to weld.
The camera was playing up so hopefully will have some pics soon
Will get some good shots of the ribbing under the Stessco
Cheers
Dazza