Thread: Boat (tinny) size etc?

If I had the option--
I would ALWAYS put the MAX HP motor on.




(although most times the difference is just a carby change)

Years ago I had a 5M Quintrex Fishfinder centre console with a 90hp Merc on it.The hull was manufacturer rated to 85hp and it was a good combination. Not overpowered but you had power in reserve if you needed it. Rarely did i need full power. I am of the opinion that it is better to overpower (within reason) or at least the max recommended than go for the minimum. It is scary to be in a following sea with big swells and not have enough power to push yourself over the crests..........Brian

Originally Posted by isuzurover

This seems to be at odds with most boats on the market and even manufacturer's specs...

e.g. a Quintrex 500 Fishseeker (5m long) has a motor spec of Max 60 Hp, Reccommended 40 Hp.

Same goes for their Dory and Coastrunner models...

Manufacturers maximum is caveated by the stupidity of the litigating members of the public.

Personally I'd be going with 5m min for offshore. And if there are 5m boats out there rated to 60hp max, keep walking. I say this because this usually means that they are only structuraly sound for a motor weight and hp of that size, hovever in saying that some boat manufactures will uprate the hp size for a nominal fee. No structral mods, just a change of numbers on paper.
A 5m boat should really be able to have a max weight to handle a 100hp, and a custom plate should be able to handle a max of at LEAST 115.
I've seen them with 140 Suzuki's hanging off the back They move!

I'd personally be looking for a good secondhand 5m glass boat, and streaching your budget for a good 4stroke. I like the ride of a glass boat though.

This has kinda gone off topic though, I don't really have anything to do with tinnies. I deal with plate boats starting @ 4.6m.

Food for thought more than helping you out, sorry

Cheers

Thanks Larns, food for thought!

The problem is, we want a boat that is JUST large enough to go offshore occasionally, but is also small enough to manhandle across a beach if necessary (i.e. - we were recently in tassie at a NP where the lobsters were almost jumping into the boat, but there was no ramp and no 4x4 access to the beach. - you needed to take the boat over a 3' drop then drag it 10m to the beach!!!).

We also have plans to tow the boat all the way to the kimberley mid year...

So I suppose my question is - IS there a compromise that can do all of the above, and what would that be!

Since we are buying 2nd hand, most boats 4-5m seem to have a max of 40-50HP. We would need to buy a hull and motor seperately.

Not likely to pick up a boat and seperate motor on 2nd hand market, most likely is a boat and motor package. I know of one bloke that got a boat that struggled to get up and plane so he got a bigger motor. That was back through the dealer, the dealer would then be able to move the motor with few hours onto a buyer happy to get a discount on a little used current model outboard.

Compromise, compromise!

4.5m I used to go out in had a max rating of 60hp but we had a 75hp on it not really that much more (25%). That boat was good for lakes, estuaries and ocean. You had to keep an eye on the weather and would never go out if it was rough early in the morning. Got out onto the edge of the Continental shelf out southern NSW chasing big fins. Much more comfortable if it cut up in a plate boat at about 5.25m and with 135hp.

I would not be dragging anything bigger than a 12 foot tinnie anywhere I could not get the trailer to. Anything over about 15hp I don't see getting pulled on an off the transom. Outboards get heavy and a boat and outboard is even heavier. I might be a blouse and people might drag bigger boats around across sand and rocks without a trailer but I would not do it unless I had half a football team to help. If you want to be able to lift a boat in and out of the water manually you are looking at a rooftop tinnie. You will never drag a 5m and a 60hp out of the water and across a beach unless you have a a few friends and lots of crayfish to go around.

We met a bloke up at Kalumbaroo who had 14 footer he was dragging around the place on a trailer. That was ok, he took two of us out for a bit of petrol money.