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Which boat to get in 4 - 4.5m range


Oztogs

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Hi All,

I am looking to get a new boat for Pumistone Passage (Sunshine Coast) as well as some off shore work on calm days and the great sandy straight. I have been looking at: 4 Seasons 4.2 Sea Way, Ally Craft 4.25 Fish Mate / Reel Mate as well as the Sea Jay Magnum 4.4 XPack or Magnum 4.55. I want to put either a Honda 4 stroke 40 or Yamaha 4 stroke 40 on the boat. Do any of you have any suggestions or comments? This will be my first boat. I opted for the four stroke for fuel efficiency.

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gday mate

the wife and i were looking at boats in that range also and after looking at many we opted for the Aquamaster4.2 Abalone and we think it is great value for money. i think they only make 4.4m ones now but when i measure mine it comes up at 4.4. these are a plate boat made of if i remember correctly 3mm plate on the sides and bottom. we have only had ours in around Jumpinpin but the guys at Australian Marine centre said we would have no troubles taking it offshore on a calm day. we fish 2 adults and 1 child most of the time but have fished 3 adults in it with no problems. ours is fitted with a 40hp ETEC on ours and goes great and is excellent on fuel.

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I was in the same position last year. My criteria were simple, alloy plate boat, teeler steer, paired with an etec for fuel efficiency/weight/service frequency/reliability, big anough for 4 adults on some days and small enough to launch & retrieve by myself on most days.

Within a few weeks, I finally found a perfect boat. A Blue Fin 4.5 plate boat, 50hp etec, bimini, minn kota electric motor and electrics. I was comparing the Blue Fins with Formosa and Quintrex. After talking to some owners, the blue fin trumps on all build quality, its chalk and cheese ;)

As far as ride quality and comfort, it handles really well on choppy days and I've taken it to the 30's on calm days. Its a heavy boat for its size, the only downside to this is it can be a bit tricky launching the boat on your own on windy days.

Good luck

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I see all your boat choices are open tinnies. What sort of dollars are you spending and do you have to have brand new?

I can check and see if this massive tank of a tinnie is still for sale up the road. Its called 'Big Ass Tinnie' as its huge. From memory I think it has about a 60hp on it and was about $20K

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Hi wittyfishin

Thanks for your reply and advise. I will get intouch with a dealer down here to see what package they recommend and at what price. Fuel efficiency is a big consideration for me as well as ongoing service cost. the boat looks very appealing on there website.

Cheers

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Oztogs wrote:

Hi wittyfishin

Thanks for your reply and advise. I will get intouch with a dealer down here to see what package they recommend and at what price. Fuel efficiency is a big consideration for me as well as ongoing service cost. the boat looks very appealing on there website.

Cheers

where about are you i may be able to point you in the right direction.

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can vouch for the sea jay's. they are tonka tough, had a 4.6 tinnie, buy they, scm, wouldn't put a 70 tiller on it for me, and had to contend with a 50, still went ok, but just ok. as you always add weight to a boat and the power needed is something to really consider, more is always better. ALWAYS!

ROBBO

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The packages that you get for around $12K are appealing, but what worries me is that the saftey gear, tie downs, bimini and more importantly engine that go with it are of a lesser "quality". I realise that dealer servicing is such an important factor to consider. If I had to upgrade the motor from the packaged new 2 stroke to a new 4 stroke, most of the times I need to add about $5K. Is this justifyable?

Thanks for your replies and advise

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Oztogs wrote:

Hi Martinies.

Thanks for your reply. I will also look in to the blue finn range. why did you opt for an etec over say a honda?

Cheers

No probs, happy to help out.

I was leaning towards the etec back then and will so on my next boat mainly because of the service intervals 3 years/300 hours vs 50 or 100 hours, oil consumption 400:1/500:1 vs 50:1, noise & weight.

Some might say the 3 years or 300 hours is too long but these are just the recommended service intervals, similar to those on any other outboards which are 50 or 100 hours. I'm not sure about you but I dont live next to the workshop and 50 or 100 hours is a tad too often.

I also like the idea of not using too much oil, the evinrude xd100 is fully synthetic and it only uses 400:1 or 500:1. It costs around 60 bucks for a gallon, its more expensive than the standard oil from bcf and etc but it uses less of it.

Cheers

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i have an etec and im more than happy with it.

However pushing it out to 300 Hrs is Crazy.

300 Hrs is about 3 years in average boat use terms.

Get it serviced at least 1ce a year.

Also remember that if its not being used plastic or rubber impellers dry out they need servicing more frequently.

The 4 seasons as far as im aware is a Stessco with a rebadge. Looks at the stessco website. 4.2 Catcher.

Richard

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Have to back Shorties figures there. I have had my boat since Aug 05 and its just rolled 320hrs.

Service manual has 6 monthly services in it, but mechanic said aslong as you Inox under the hood and flush it well, the average user (me) only needs to part with $400 for the yearly service.

That is on a 2 stroke 40hp Mercury though.

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If I remember correctly the 300hr service interval applied to freshwater use only. Have tried to find the terms of their warranty but it seems BRP only make that available to Etec owners. Not saying they aren't a good motor just need to check the terms of the warranty before purchasing.

From my experience a 40hp 4stroke will be about $3000 more then a 2stroke. As far as hulls go Ally Craft or Sea Jay would be my pick, mostly because they are most likely to be still trading for the term of the warranty. I had :( a Ally Craft and it served me very well.

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