looking to buy a boat and I need some advice!

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pelletouse
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looking to buy a boat and I need some advice!

Post by pelletouse »

Good afternoon
I have been here for a while and I have been fishing from land based mostly. I have been thinking of buying a boat for quite a while.

So what I want to know is if I'm looking to buy a boat what should I look at first? Engine brand What are the most reliable and easy to find second part or get fixed? 2 or 4 strokes? HP? Safety gear? Trailer registered or not? Sounder, GPS?
I'm a newbie into boat fishing and any help will be appreciate.
Thanks in advance.


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theodosius
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Re: looking to buy a boat and I need some advice!

Post by theodosius »

What's your budget and what kind of fishing are you planning on doing?
pelletouse
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Re: looking to buy a boat and I need some advice!

Post by pelletouse »

5K more or less and i'm planning to do reef, pelagic fishing but if I can go in some billagong or river sometimes it will be great.
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Re: looking to buy a boat and I need some advice!

Post by jeffish »

Hi , please don't take this the wrong way but 5k is going to limit you a fair bit , sure there are boats around but most would have alot of hard hours on them .
You might start checking Ebay ,gumtree and Boatsales .com just to see whats out there .

So you are looking for an allrounder , well for me I'd want a 41/2 to 5 mt with a 80 to 100hp 4st as a minimum .
As for service and spare parts it's hard to go past Yamaha and Quintex topender's

This sort of question comes up on here a bit and just tooooo many variables to give you a positive answer .
Hope you find a rig that want .

cheers
pelletouse
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Re: looking to buy a boat and I need some advice!

Post by pelletouse »

thanks Jeffish for your good advice, i'll definitely take that in board. I now that 5k can be a bit short for a nice boat but I still need to do some saving. I'm not in a rush to buy a boat so i'd rather wait and buy something decent.
And as I said i'm a newbie in boat fishing, I'll need to find people willing to teach me how to use a boat and how to reverse with a trailer.

thanks for the list of website i'll keep an eye on.
And What are the top brand for a good engine?
thanks
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fff1964
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Re: looking to buy a boat and I need some advice!

Post by fff1964 »

Lot to go through there mate and lots of personal choices.

Like jeffish said would start above 4 mtrs motors well Honda suzuki yamaha and so on are all good motors if they are looked after mecrury evinrude tohastu they all have good and bad feed back.
same as hulls just gotta get a good one no matter what you buy there will be some compromise.


Take some one with you when you look
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theodosius
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Re: looking to buy a boat and I need some advice!

Post by theodosius »

There's a fibreglass 5.4m boat at $7500 on gumtree that probably matches your needs. Remember though that boat stands for
Bring
Out
Another
Thousand

Repairs can be expensive and unexpected, and skipping maintenance is a false economy.
NT Wombat
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Re: looking to buy a boat and I need some advice!

Post by NT Wombat »

If it's your first boat keep things cheap and simple - you never know you might try it and decide boats aren't your thing. A 4.2 meter V Hull tinny with a 40-50hp Japanese outboard, a carpeted timber floor, a decent fish finder, and bimini top will be enough boat to get you out in the harbor, billabongs and the barra rivers and you'd be able to skip out to Lee Point, Bynoe or off Dundee on a good day as well.

Being your first boat you'll be a lot better off learning to handle a smaller rig before tackling something bigger. Just about everyone starts out in a 3.8-4.2 meter tinny, finds their feet and then upgrades once they know how to handle a boat a bit better and reach the limit of what they can catch of out a smaller boat.
NT Wombat
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Re: looking to buy a boat and I need some advice!

Post by NT Wombat »

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/berrima ... 1189979534

Have a look at this one, a bit flasher than what a lot of blokes start out with but a good simple set up, decent price and ready to go.
JJLure
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Re: looking to buy a boat and I need some advice!

Post by JJLure »

As for engines just avoid Mercury & Evinrude ETEC. Mercury are prone to corrosion and an outboard mechanic mate of mine calls them Aspros, as in Asprin - because they dissolve in water. And ETEC have a long sad history of CPU computer issues that can never be fixed.
Rig
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Re: looking to buy a boat and I need some advice!

Post by Rig »

Have a look around at what's for sale
In your price range and go for a run in them
Most people selling a boat will take you for a spin
Just watch what they do and compare the
Different boats you go in.
I remember a bloke selling a boat up
Here that wasn't a very popular boat
But he was a good fisherman
the guy that bought his boat had not much experience he
Made a deal with him that if he would teach him a
Few things he would buy the boat maybe you can do a deal
With the person trying to sell
Rig
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Re: looking to buy a boat and I need some advice!

Post by Rig »

Have a look around at what's for sale
In your price range and go for a run in them
Most people selling a boat will take you for a spin
Just watch what they do and compare the
Different boats you go in.
I remember a bloke selling a boat up
Here that wasn't a very popular boat
But he was a good fisherman
the guy that bought his boat had not much experience he
Made a deal with him that if he would teach him a
Few things he would buy the boat maybe you can do a deal
With the person trying to sell
pelletouse
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Re: looking to buy a boat and I need some advice!

Post by pelletouse »

thank you very much guys for your very helpful advice, that will help me a lot to decide what to do.
I think I will stick with some of you guys ideas and go for an affordable boat at 1st without spending too much and see how it goes.
As NT Wombat said I might not like it, so what's the point spending 10K and waste it all, even if I can sell it later. I might just loose few thousands but at the moment I can't afford. Of course cheap means to spend few hundreds here and there, that's why they are cheap. At least I will make my own experience. As I always say we learn from our mistakes.
I have a mate who is going to sell his boat for a really affordable price under 4K with a second hand Mercury 30HP 2 strokes from Boatland Winnellie with 2 months warranty left 4.3m or something long. Do you think its worth it?
And what about the maintenance? How often should I service the outboard? how much does it cost roughly? And what else should I service too?
Thanks in advance guys.
You all have been giving me precious advice.
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Re: looking to buy a boat and I need some advice!

Post by Quinntreximon »

Hey mate I have a boat for sale atm. Havent advertised yet but yo ucan have first look if your interested. Ive been here 31 years fishing. Its a wide body Quintrex Dory 4.2mtr, 30 HP Yamaha 2 stroke 3 cylinder in excellent condition. No rust on the trailer. Boat has a floor and 2 comfy seats at the back. Give me a txt and ill send you some pics. Asking $5300 ono 0434544585. Cheers. Good boat for reef, sea, river, crabbing etc, good allrounder.
pelletouse
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Re: looking to buy a boat and I need some advice!

Post by pelletouse »

Quinntreximon wrote:Hey mate I have a boat for sale atm. Havent advertised yet but yo ucan have first look if your interested. Ive been here 31 years fishing. Its a wide body Quintrex Dory 4.2mtr, 30 HP Yamaha 2 stroke 3 cylinder in excellent condition. No rust on the trailer. Boat has a floor and 2 comfy seats at the back. Give me a txt and ill send you some pics. Asking $5300 ono 0434544585. Cheers. Good boat for reef, sea, river, crabbing etc, good allrounder.
That's sound good! any future expenses? how often does the outboard has been serviced? how old is the outboard?
And I said from the beginning i'm total newbie with boat so if I come to see your boat you'll have to tell everything about, how to operate etc... And as few people advice in here would you mind to take me out for a test?
thanks
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