First ~4.2m SC boat - Quintrex, Stacer, Stessco, Clark or Horizon?

Hi all

New member who has decided to take up another expensive hobby...

I am getting my RMDL licence on Saturday and am looking to buy my first boat over the next few months for fishing/running around on the Gold Coast (smooth water). I do not expect to be hooning around WOT much and a lot of my time could be at a comfortable cruise or 6 knots.

Keen to get a small side console boat about 4.2m or so and being on the Gold Coast I am spoilt for choice:

• Quintrex 420 Renegade - Tweed Marine (paired with 50hp 2 or 4 stroke Mercury ~ $19-20k), Surfcoast Marine (50hp E-tec, white hull, ~$21k)
• Stacer 429 Outlaw - Whitewater Marine (40hp E-tec, sounder, bow thruster plate ~19k)
• Clark 4.3 fishmaster - Pacific Marine (40hp Mercury 4 stroke ~$17k)
• Horizon 438 Stryker - Marine Tune (40hp Yamaha CV 2 stroke, sounder, white hull, bimini ~$18,500)
• Stessco 429 Fisherman - Marine Tune (40hp Yamaha 4 stroke, white hull, sounder ~$18,000)

Importance:

1. reliability of engine and hull - are some brands more unreliable/poorly manufactured than others?
2. annual servicing costs
3. purchase price
4. minimum 3 seat spots (ideally 4)
5. fuel/oil efficiency

Would appreciate any 'red flags' on any of the above hulls or engines. I am only starting to consider the engines now which appears to be a whole other kettle of fish...Once I narrow down the list to two I'll look to take them out for a test first - also, I assume marine dealers are like car yards and there is room for negotiation?

Cheers and I hope to see you guys on the water soon!

Edit: cut the wall of text back a bit ;)

first of all welcome to ausfish bro.. you have entered with a bang lol theres a lot to read there.. im sure the boys with the know on those boats will give you some insight into which may suit ya..enjoy..

Hi mate, The 4.2m/ 4.6m side console boats are one of the most popular rigs around with plenty of choice. All those brands you mentioned are all good boats with some offering more fruit than others. I think it boils down to what sort of a deal with the most "extras" you can extract from the dealer. There are a few more good boats you have not mentioned , Sea Jay and Brooker, I am awaiting delivery of a Brooker 4.55m side console/60hp 4st , $24000. I am buying this boat from North Coast Marine Centre at Urunga and I live on the Gold Coast. I would favour the four stroke motor and my particular favourites are Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki. It may be an idea to just buy the hull you like from a particular dealer then have the motor you prefer installed somewhere else. There's a lot to think about but do your homework and do a lot of ringing around before you make a decision. If you are not in a hurry the Tinny and Tackle Show is on in May I think, plenty to look at there. Good luck with your purchase Sifor and safe boating.

All of those boats are pretty similar, I have one of them mentioned and more than happy with mine, they will all be OK for just general boating, buy the one with the best, most respected dealer close to you., I would personally go for a 4 stroke over an old carby 2 stroke, and opt for power trim if it's not already quoted.

Thanks guys - I like the look of the Horizon, but there is very little online comments on forums (such as this one) about it - any thoughts?

definitely go 4 stroke

Be really careful when buying a small 4 stroke motor on a tinny.
While they are reliable and run great, its very easy to mismatch one and be stuck with a slug of a boat.

Stick 3 people in your tinny and all of a sudden you cant even get on the plane. The 40 yammy 4 stroke is a fairly low torque engine as its only 747cc998kg) compared to the suzukis 941cc.(104kg)

so you'll find there is a bit of difference between the above two in performance. The 30 etec for example is a better performing engine than a 40 yammy.

Another example is the etec will be a much 'punchier' engine. 40hp etec864cc (105kg) so it'll blow the Yamaha out of the water in performance.
etec also runs much larger gearbox I believe.

I don't own an etec and not engine biased at all. but to buy smart you need to look at what brand is best within your horse power range.
I haven't looked at the Honda's or mercs to see what those specs are.

Also are you a heavy or light boat user?
if you only go boating 6 times a year then old school 2 stroke is actually a great option. cheap to service and run. Or etec second as there aren't 6-12monthly oil changes.
If your a heavy user a 4 stroke is definitely a better option I think.

As to tinny. Have a look at each one and check their quality of welds. Its astounding how crap some are now compared to others

I haven't owned any of those specific boats however, I've owned a 4m Sea Jay and currently own a 4.2m Clark in open tinnies - both were really good boats, with the build quality on both being exceptional.

If you're able to wait for a boat show you'll be able to view each boat within a few minutes of each other. You'll be amazed the differences in the build quality, welding etc. between some boat brands.

I currently have a 40hp Merc 2 stroke and know someone with a 40p Merc 4 stroke and neither have had any issues.

I personally wouldn't buy an etec in that size. They are only 2 cylinders and given they are the same price as a 4 stroke, I would lean towards one of them. Thinking about resale, a four stroke will always be easier.

One other thing to think about is that very rarely, will you be able to fit aftermarket accessories to your boat as well as the manufacturer could have done at the time of the build.

So if you are considering live bait tanks, bait boards, bow mount brackets, kill tank, underfloor fuel tanks etc ask the dealers if they are available from the manufacturer, and if they are custom built out of aluminium for your boat of if they are off the shelf products which the dealer fits for you.

If they are custom built products ask how much they charge as my experience has told me that it is worth spending the extra at the time of purchase and getting these things done by the manufacturer.

If the dealer says it's off the shelf products then save your money, you can do it yourself.

I look around all the tinnies in that size a while back and bought the 4.29 stessco catcher, I wanted a stable boat with lots of room for casting ect and the Stessco has heaps and is well made, before that I owned a Horizon, good boat and high side and a deep v bow but it was not near as stable or have the room of the catcher, and the 30hp Yamaha 2 stroke I have has been a work horse for 11 years now and runs like new still...

Thanks everyone for the really good advice - much appreciated.

I will look to try and visit a few of the dealerships and inspect the boats, check the welding etc.

To confirm - are boat dealers open to negotiation like car yards? I would think boats are generally harder to sell, and given the competition on the Gold Coast they would be more open to larger discounts?

Cheers!

I have the outlaw 429 had a 40hp 4 stroke only good with 2 blokes anymore It was a bit ordinary would go minimum of a 50 as they are a heavy boat. Had mine three years and now have a 60 and can't fault the boat two blokes standing on one side and you still feel safe and they ride really nice.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sifor10

To confirm - are boat dealers open to negotiation like car yards? I would think boats are generally harder to sell, and given the competition on the Gold Coast they would be more open to larger discounts?

Cheers!

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They will all tell you there is no fat in the price, but push hard enough n its funny how they seem to find some or plenty!
I saved around 6K on my boat from the quoted price when I first enquired, Plus I got a few extras on top for nix!
Something else for you to consider, if you weren't confused already, is resale. You say this is your first boat. There is EVERY possibility that in a few short years you may find that the boat you choose has some short comings in regard to future pursuits. Some brands and configurations have better resale than others. A point worth remembering.
Good luck with your investigations.

As a first boat I would go second hand. If you decide you want to up grade in a couple of years your will probably half the price of a new rig. Why not get one with the depreciation done for you? Plenty of good 2-3 year boats on the market at very good prices. Getting a brand new boat doesnt increase your chance of reliability over a second hand one either. Even new motors can have issues. At least with 2nd hand you can put the motor on the software and instantly see if it has had issues.

2c

Get a good second hand tinny like Camhawk suggests

You get more boat for your buck. I got a 2year old Stacer outlaw with a 50hp 4 banger on the back and iPilot, Lowrance 7 with chirp, batteries safety gear etc etc etc all kitted out for $16,500.

Plenty of them come on to Gumtree etc

I would personally go for a 4 stroke over an old carby 2 stroke, and opt for power trim if it's not already quoted.[/QUOTE]

Noelm,you make it subtely sound like an ETEc is a carby job. Maybe not what you intended, but thats what happens when you cry chicken little too much, hahahaha