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Thread: I need advice on some first boats I've found!

  1. #16

    Re: I need advice on some first boats I've found!

    Thanks Gazza and Chimo, I appreciate your words!

    Yep I'm happy to help him not buy a lemon. The challenge is what makes it enjoyable. I would also say that for 3K a good boat can be bought for sure (when I had my boatyard I bought many around that sort of price and got good boats but there's a lot of rubbish to sift through). Very easy to get burnt.

    But getting burnt doesn't just occur at the lower end. I did a pre-purchase inspection of a 60K wakeboat in 2016 and it turned out the boat had been sunk. Wasn't obvious but digging deeper discovered the truth. A massive lemon if the buyer went ahead.

    Grant, shoot me the links to the boats and I'll have a look at the pics and give my opinion.

    Cheers


  2. #17

    Re: I need advice on some first boats I've found!

    my pick would be the easy rider with the johnson, the first one is a ski boat and the tinnie is a creek boat, the easy rider hull can handle bay chop, would be stable at rest and the engine has enough HP if you need to get home quick, A mechanic can always look at your engine, you or your friends can always help maintain your trailer, but you will need to have piece of mind in the hull, and the easy rider has a good hull , often newbie boat owners fall into the trap of buying shallow flat hulls that are for ski use rather than fishing, and or buy under powered vessels which become scary coming back into the entrance on a out going tide. The saying goes you should find the right boat after owning 6. ..............engine..reliability....hull condition....trailer condition...good luck

  3. #18

    Re: I need advice on some first boats I've found!

    As has been already mentioned, for the better half and the young blokes benefit, something in a half cab / cuddy cab would be the best pick. Kids especially get bored easily. If they have somewhere they can go and either play in safety or lie down and have a kip it can well be the difference between having a great day out or coming home early and more or less hating the experience. My PPB boating experience is limited to a few months on commercial tugs towing barges. It never ceased to amaze me over this time just how quickly it can go from pretty reasonable to absolute shite. The Easy Rider 156 is a hull I am pretty familiar with - two immaculate examples in my family and while it is certainly a safe enough boat, it is not the sort of hull I would want to get caught out in PPB in rough weather as an inexperienced boat handler. With a 115 on it I would also be concerned about the balance of the hull. My Dad's is pretty spot on and more than quick enough with a 70Hp two stroke and my Uncle has recently repowered with a 60Hp 4 stroke Yamaha and is very happy. If you can find one, I would be thinking something more along the lines of a Haines V16C or similar as a far better choice if it fits within your storage capabilities.

  4. #19

    Re: I need advice on some first boats I've found!

    Wow. What amazing insight / advice. Seriously you guys probably saved me a marriage and $$$. I'll get hold of Nic and repost here if I eventually buy something. Thanks lads!!!

  5. #20

    Re: I need advice on some first boats I've found!

    Grant also keep in mind to look a little further if u are able to plan a drive on a weekend some great deals pop up in coastal towns along the coast, I'm inland or on the west side of Sydney so usually i have to drive up or down the coast a few hours to pick up deals but in saying that i picked up a nice 4.5m 1990's SilverLine runabout boat on a trailer both registered with no rot for $1000 it has a 50hp Mariner 1987 on it but the powerhead was blown i picked up a replacement powerhead on ebay for $300 on special

    the boat works out about $1500 if i swap the powerhead or around $2000 if i get lazy and get the shop to do it

    just keep an eye out there are great deals out there the boat mentioned above was 8mins drive from me and the guy selling it had no clue about boats and said it had cost him a fortune, looking at the boat he would have paid easy $4500 and surprisingly it was on Gumtree for 5-6 weeks with no sale and no one even inspected it

  6. #21

    Re: I need advice on some first boats I've found!

    the tinnie with the yamaha has the newest of the motors, and is around 25 years old. the 115 evinrude and johnson are 1975 builds(thats 43y/o). you will need to learn how to service the engine yourself, as you will be hard pressed to anyone that will take them on. service agents and repairers are reluctant to take on engines older than 15y/o!. thats not to say they they don't run well, and aren't reliable, just do your homework!

  7. #22

    Re: I need advice on some first boats I've found!

    Quote Originally Posted by gazza2006au View Post
    Grant also keep in mind to look a little further if u are able to plan a drive on a weekend some great deals pop up in coastal towns along the coast, I'm inland or on the west side of Sydney so usually i have to drive up or down the coast a few hours to pick up deals but in saying that i picked up a nice 4.5m 1990's SilverLine runabout boat on a trailer both registered with no rot for $1000 it has a 50hp Mariner 1987 on it but the powerhead was blown i picked up a replacement powerhead on ebay for $300 on special

    the boat works out about $1500 if i swap the powerhead or around $2000 if i get lazy and get the shop to do it

    just keep an eye out there are great deals out there the boat mentioned above was 8mins drive from me and the guy selling it had no clue about boats and said it had cost him a fortune, looking at the boat he would have paid easy $4500 and surprisingly it was on Gumtree for 5-6 weeks with no sale and no one even inspected it
    Yes, but Gazza, you know what your doing. Thats the difference and thats why the questions.

  8. #23

    Re: I need advice on some first boats I've found!

    Quote Originally Posted by Andy56 View Post
    Yes, but Gazza, you know what your doing. Thats the difference and thats why the questions.
    In the beginning i had no one to look at boats for me the internet was just kicking off there were no forums or anything like it to ask questions i learnt from being burnt on purchases that were about to snap in half this is why i have owned alloy boats for the past 10 years

    the internet is a wealth of knowledge now all u need to do is research everything is at your finger tips every question has been answered somewhere on the WWW its just a matter of looking

    when i bought my first boat i never thought i would be under taking the job i am now

  9. #24
    Ausfish Silver Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    brisbane

    Re: I need advice on some first boats I've found!

    i have not read all replies and am not sure if this has been said but.... i have never been able to afford new boat new trailer new motor, but a rule of thumb for me was always cheaper second hand trailer cheaper second hand boat, and invest in and spend more money on a new or near new low hour good condition motor as thats the bit that mostly gets you home....
    ill be somewhere up the creek, happy trails..

  10. #25

    Re: I need advice on some first boats I've found!

    Quote Originally Posted by Chimo View Post

    Some protection from the elements would not go astray either as neither your boy or wife will want to be in the sun or rain if there is a cuddy cab or canopy to get under.

    Cheers
    Chimo
    .....


    Yes re sun rain wind,
    Windscreen (which you are doing), Bimini &/or Cab good idea for missus & 6 yr old.

    Also check Trailer specs, over half the combinations I looked at had trailer issues eg
    manufacturer tag said 10" wheel but had been changed to 13",
    no brakes but BMT would have been over 750kgs ... that sort of thing.
    Transire vinus forticulus

  11. #26

    Re: I need advice on some first boats I've found!

    Hi Grant. When it comes to boat shopping, do what I have done in the past. Set yourself a budget then go out and spend twice that much! As stated above, your budget is very low and you will get what you pay for which is someone elses problem. If you are going to take you son out then it is the perfect opportunity to say to the missus "we have to be safe out there. If we break down I can't get out and walk home!!'. If 10 grand is too much, I'd choose to be patient, save some coin and in the mean time try and go out with some friends (or a charter) to learn a bit about the bay and boating in general. (The best boat is often someone elses boat). If you can stretch to 10 grand here is a couple I found on boatsales.com.au that look OK. Some older hulls but with newer motors.

    https://www.boatsales.com.au/boats/d...30&pss=Premium

    https://www.boatsales.com.au/boats/d...=0&pss=Premium

    https://www.boatsales.com.au/boats/d...=0&pss=Premium

  12. #27

    Re: I need advice on some first boats I've found!

    Lots of good advice....just looking at it a different way.....when my family was young..I bought a haines V16C ... they could ski ,fish safely...all the things mentioned above about shelter etc are on the money..the hull is well known and I just waited until a good value proposition came along...Again because its a well known hull...it was easy to sell when the time came and apart from the running costs ..got back what I paid for it.There are some good mags like websters that give you lots of info on older hulls ...and their weaknesses and strengths.The other thing is that once you have looked at a few you get to know what to look out for.The other interesting thing was to look at the house , garden and car of the owners...gives you a fair idea of how they look after things!

  13. #28

    Re: I need advice on some first boats I've found!

    Pretty good value for money there, regarding the three boats under 10 k, and all three hulls are good reputation. id have any one of those in coastal offshore.

  14. #29

    Re: I need advice on some first boats I've found!

    Quote Originally Posted by catshark View Post
    Pretty good value for money there, regarding the three boats under 10 k, and all three hulls are good reputation. id have any one of those in coastal offshore.
    Seriously, at those prices, i wouldnt go anywhere near water lol.

  15. #30

    Re: I need advice on some first boats I've found!

    although the motors have low hours, they appear to be underpowered, by about 20-30 hp. IMO

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