Sevylor or Intex?

Romain

Recruit
Joined
Jun 19, 2012
Messages
1
Hey guys,

I'm stuck between getting a Sevylor Hunter-fisher or a Intex Seahawk 4,

I don't have thousand's to spend on a boat so im going for a inflatable one, due to the fact its cheap,
anyway, what i want to know is, what one is worth getting for actual fishing, trolling, etc?
I want to eventually put in a wooden floor, and more modifications in it.


Cheers.
 

curtis4769

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
May 6, 2012
Messages
32
Re: Sevylor or Intex?

Hey guys,
anyway, what i want to know is, what one is worth getting for actual fishing, trolling, etc?
.

I wouldn't recommend either of those rafts. If you want a good quality raft that is going to last and be comfortable to fish from, it is going to cost $.
 

CopperFox

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 13, 2012
Messages
169
Re: Sevylor or Intex?

Hey Romain. I bought my 1st Sevylor inflatable 25 years ago - a '3 person' boat. Even though it was stored for the middle 15 years, it worked like a champ, early on and in recent years. A year ago I bought their Fish Hunter HF360. Still a great quality product, for the money, but they no longer use Boston Valves for the main chambers. Those were ideal. Why the change? No idea other than, I presume, cost. The new ones have what I believe to be a serious design flaw. One failed on my new boat after 4 months. The warrantee is a sparce 3 months but I am satisfied with how the company addressed my complaint. I now have a new HF360 but am very leary of those valves. That aside, the boat is ideal for my needs and I have no concerns about durability. I fish small lakes ~100 acres, trolling and still fishing. It is always assembled and disassembled onsite. I have built a wood floor and installed raised swivel seats. These mods are detailed on this site. I'd be happy to provide more detailed information if you are interested, on both the boat and the mods, if this is the way you go.

The Intex boats look good too, based on what I look for in the Sevylor, but I have never been in one. For what it is worth, I do have an Intex 3' x 15' above ground pool (going on its 6th or 7th year), and have been very impressed with their design and the quality of materials they use.

Have fun shopping (consider Amazon) and good luck.

Dave
 

duckland23

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 23, 2012
Messages
175
Re: Sevylor or Intex?

No go with seaeagle , there boats are warranted for 3 years . You can get the smb 12 for 499.00 it can also handle a 6 hp gas motor too . Im going to buy a seaeagle or zodiak boat in the future . Im short on money now . I heard good things about the intex mariner 4 boat . it comes with a floor board and can handle 900.00 lbs .But if I were you I would buy the seaeagle smb 12 motorboat , its built better .
 

Loop_Dad

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 29, 2012
Messages
103
Re: Sevylor or Intex?

I recently got Intex, but not the model you are thinking about. I got Mariner 4. So far I am happy with the boat. I went with this one mainly because it has inflatable keel for better tracking, four chambers to feel safer and the hard floor. Also reviews online over all were pretty good.

It turned out the hard floor was series of hard pieces rolled up in plastic sheet with pockets. It was not very stable as I wanted. I am in the middle of building a custom floor.

I considered Sea Eagle as well, but I thought theirs were pricy.
 
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CopperFox

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 13, 2012
Messages
169
Re: Sevylor or Intex?

For what it's worth, based on my reviews, if I were to upgrade from my HF360, and only wanted to spend in the neighborhood of double what I paid for my current boat, I would go for a Sea Eagle, myself. In light of my uncertainty about the new HF360 valves, I have given this quite a bit of thought.
 

deadkitty

Recruit
Joined
May 14, 2012
Messages
1
Re: Sevylor or Intex?

I would definitely not get the seahawk 4, however if you want something comparable to the fh; i would get either the seahawk II (not 2) or the mariner. I personally just got the seahawk II a couple months ago and it works great for one person,decent for 2. I put a wood floor and two raised seats. I run with a 36# trolling motor mainly on lakes and ponds. I went with the seahawk II mainly because it has firm tubes vs the fh. It is extremely stable my daughter and i were both sitting on the back tube by the heavy battery and trolling motor and thr boat seemed unaffected, level as can be, nowhere near taking on water like my 8' livingston would be. Since its light its easy to load up and carry around by myself. I use my boat mainly for fishing and its been great, more economical than most small craft solutions and extremely comfortable fishing platform for 2 people. I shopped for a long time and compared every inflatable craft that would fit in my car under $600, for slow moving water i honestly could not find a reason to spend the extra money on all these "real" boats some of the snobs on this site recommend. If you are on a tight budget the seahawk II or mariner are both great alternatives to a "real" boat. As far as durability, on water Ive run over sharp rocks, gravel, sharp reeds, run into pointy stumps, i was nervous at first, but as long as you dont overinflate these boats are tough. As for longevity, you could buy five ($112 for the seahawk II on amazon)of these for the price of a (they sure are proud of em) seaeagle.

The only reason i would pay more is if you want to run a bigger motor, the waters you want to run have a bit of danger (fast rivers, ocean), or you want more than a couple people in the boat.
Anyway, that's my 2 cents.
 

JOHNMACMEN

Recruit
Joined
Jan 27, 2013
Messages
3
Re: Sevylor or Intex?

i would definitely recommend to buy intex mariner 4, it is really a great boat...
but with the custom floor as many have made, i have a question , will it not affect or give more strain on the welded joint?,,just a doubt...

any ways the mariner 4 is very good boat,even the inflaatable seats are made of very good and strong material.
i am also designing a canopy with a custom made floor.will soon update the pics..
has any one designed the same..???? please advice if so..

Good luck with Mariner 4
 

CopperFox

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 13, 2012
Messages
169
Re: Sevylor or Intex?

As you can see, I have weighed in here before, so consider this to be an update.

After complete failure of a major valve in a 4 month old Sevylor HF360 I replaced it with another brand new HF360. Now after 12 months of use in the new replacement, I had complete failure of another of the 2 major valves. Though the quality of the rest of the boat is quite high for this price range, these valves are totally unreliable.

After the 1st valve failed, I was aware the warrantee was only 3 months. When the 2nd valve failed I emailed Sevylor to let them know their top-of-the-line boat just wouldn't last a year, because of their new valves (these are not the Boston Valves that they used to use). The company's response? 'Thanks for the info. Sorry for the inconvenience. Bye.'

I was a strong supporter of Sevylor Boats for many, many years and have made a number of mods, as outlined on this site. On the water, these have prompted much attention and resulted in me directing a number of people to this product. No more.

After much review, I am now in the Intex Mariner camp and intend purchase one within the next month.

Happy boating!
 

Loop_Dad

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 29, 2012
Messages
103
Re: Sevylor or Intex?

Sorry to hear about your trouble CopperFox. After almost a year, I'm happy to report that my Intex Mariner 4 is still going strong. (Knocking on the wood.)
 

CopperFox

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 13, 2012
Messages
169
Re: Sevylor or Intex?

Thanks Loop_Dad. I'm going to be starting all over but that's ok. I see that though the Marineer is shorter, I'll actually get more than a foot extra in inside length because the 'tubes' are smaller! Effectively, I'm getting a bigger boat! Right now, the person in the front seat pretty much has to face forward because foot & storage space between the two is limited. I'm thinking I might build a small work surface between the two, in the Marineer.

So back to basics ... did you add your floor on top of the slat floor or is it just your floor on the bottom of the boat?
 

Loop_Dad

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 29, 2012
Messages
103
Re: Sevylor or Intex?

CopperFox, I replace the slat floor with plywood floor. The wood is about 1/2 inch thick. It is very strong and heavy. Mine is the 4 piece design. I used extra pieces of wood to connect all four floor pieces. I hate dealing with screws and now I only disconnect between 2nd piece and 3rd piece. They still fit in my car (barley). So I have 24 screws all together, but I only have to do 4. This cut good chunk of time. If I were to do it again, I would consider using hinges of some sort and/or some kind of quick fasteners to do without screws because I have a hunch that as long as tubes are all inflated, those boards don't have to be connected tight to each other.
 

CopperFox

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 13, 2012
Messages
169
Re: Sevylor or Intex?

Loop: On Saturday, I experienced another valve failure and so Saturday night, I ordered my Mariner 4. It arrives Wednesday. I think I'll take your advice and use 1/2" plywood instead of the 7/16" I used for the flooring before. Also, I'm going to try using a hinge or two and only have the floor in 2 pieces. I hope to put a hand hole through the same spot on both pieces to make it more portable.

Thanks for the info. Look out! In a little while, your fully modded boat will have competition!
 

Loop_Dad

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 29, 2012
Messages
103
Re: Sevylor or Intex?

CopperFox,

I think you will like Mariner 4.

For the thickness of the wood, 1/2" was actually not a recommendation, but I just merely stated that's what I used. It is nice and hard, but it is heavy.

To be honest, I'm tired of carrying stuff in and out of the car, setting things up and down each time. While the boat works great with the customization, I am thinking about try using as original the next time, to see the extra work is really worth the benefit of hard floor. I have only used the boat as original once before the modification and I do not remember how it was very well. I am finding myself not fishing standing up as much as I thought I would. That was one of the main motivation for me. I am thinking now just putting extra thin piece on top of the slate floor in the back harlf section might do the job. This will reduce the extra work every time. If I leave the slate in place and simply roll the boat around them, it will be a lot quicker to set things up and down

I recommend you take time to weigh the pro's and con's of type of floor you will have.

Have fun!
 

mrdrh99

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Feb 1, 2013
Messages
756
Re: Sevylor or Intex?

I'm thinking of getting this boat, how well do you think 3 sticks of 3/4" pvc under the slated floor would do? I put 1" under a 1/2" ply floor on an excursion and it works great
 

CopperFox

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 13, 2012
Messages
169
Re: Sevylor or Intex?

Loop: I'm glad you came back at me with that. Only after posting did I catch that 1. you actually said it was "about 1/2 inch thick" and 2. it was a statement, not a recommendation. I will admit, envisioning you bolting the sections together each time was something I did not want to do myself. In my previous boat, the 2 boards actually had a half inch gap between them and weren't connected in any way.

My intent for the floor is/was not to stand for much more than entry & exit and to provide a base for the raised, backed, swivel seats.

You may want to pass on leaving the slatted bottom in on a regular basis because, as I understand it, their combined weight is about 80 lbs, and the whole thing will be much less mobile that way. Assuming that the original floor is more rigid than the Sevylor's semi-rigid inflated floor, if you can fit a small layer on top of it, that should be the ideal solution, at least for me, because I'll still need a base for my seats (I've come to really appreciate the seat backs and the swivel ability!). As much as I've wanted to go out and purchase the plywood before the boat arrived, I have held off to have a good look at it first.

Let me know how your 'original form' experiment works out. With the boat arriving today and tomorrow's weather forcast to be particularly nice, I plan on taking a vacation day to try it out in its original form. I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts. Thanks again for sharing.

MrDrH99: As of today, I can't offer any advice in that regard. Tomorrow, however, may be a different story! I'm wondering if anything under 1/2" ply would be necessary, but under the slated floor ... interesting!
 

mrdrh99

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Feb 1, 2013
Messages
756
Re: Sevylor or Intex?

Cool, i was just thinking that may work as well if not better than using something less than 1/2" ply, much lighter and with some couplings much more transportable!
 

beachblue

Cadet
Joined
Mar 24, 2013
Messages
12
Re: Sevylor or Intex?

Hi guys

Just picked up on this thread and welcome to Mariner 4 ownership Copperfox. I bought my first ever boat earlier this month (Mariner 4 2013 model) and intend to use it on an rv trip next month so at the moment I have been restricted to inflating it in the garage a couple of times. Read with interest the mods on these forums and still working out what to do about the floor, but until I am able to test drive the boat I think I will wait to see how the included floor works but will be interested to hear your comments copperfox after your first time on the water. I also bought the motor mount and a Minntoka 40lb trolling motor, battery box and a Walmart deep cycle battery. So I have everything to get going except for time and a lake !!

One thing I have started to make is a launching trolley out of 1 1/4" pvc pipe and that is 75% ready just need to spend a little more time with that before it will be ready to use. Cost of that is running a little higher than I thought at first probably going to max out about $75 but think it will be real handy for transporting a fully laden boat from the rv to the shore or boat ramp. I will post pics and video once all is complete.

Thanks mrdrh99 for your videos and input, some real good mods there, how does the seat perform without being bolted to the floor ? How did you extend the battery cable, splices, cable size etc as I definitely think putting the battery up front is the way to go. I see that you asked about putting pvc pipe under the mariner floor, thing is the mariner 4 is not like you excursion as it does not have an inflatable floor with ridges so you actually don't need the pipes as the floor sits directly on the flat floor of the boat.

Will post more when I have been able to devote more time to this project. Happy boating guys.
 

mrdrh99

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Feb 1, 2013
Messages
756
Re: Sevylor or Intex?

Thanks for that input beachblue. As far as my seat goes i can't tell a difference as is vs when i did have it bolted to the floor, that's a 2x2' piece of the same wood from the floor. As far as the battery/motor cables...first i contacted minn kota to ensure splicing the cable wouldn't void the warranty...i was assured it would not (i have the email saved just in case). I went to Lowe's and got 12' of 10 gauge wire and the same splicing kit use to wire deep well pumps w/heat shrink tubing. That wire runs through one of the 1" pvc support pipes under the hard floor. All you need is a good pair of pliers and a hair dryer! Thanks for the feedback!
 

CopperFox

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 13, 2012
Messages
169
Re: Sevylor or Intex?

Well, yesterday, with my brand new, out-of-the-box Intex Mariner 4, was a great day on the water! (though the fish could have been a little more cooperative - 3 rainbows, 13-16").

Virtually everything that looked solid and well designed when I assembled it at home, right after it was delivered, held true on the water. A couple very minors: 1. the battery bag is too flimsy for an object that weighs that much and will likely not last; and 2. the gear pouch was in the way, with those inflatable seats, though it should be perfect, with raised seats.

The seats, while comfortable on 'the bottom' for hours, are just too low, requiring folded or contorted legs, and much repositioning, if a seat in front is used and I did install the center seat in order to have a working surface on which to place the fish finder and a few small fishing items. One caviat: I am over 50, so this may be less of an issue if you're in your 20s.

So a raised swivel seat, with a back, is a must for me. I will also be re-making a work surface, though I have a couple of formats in mind.

The slat floor is quite stable, allowing an adult to stand to move around, but it is slats which is somewhat akin to walking over a slat suspension walking bridge: front-to-back wobble as your foot pressure shifts, but it does keep side-to-side boat stability very well. Previous experience has taught me that raised seats must be attached to the floor. I had debated whether a whole new floor was needed or if a thin one could be placed on top of the slat floor. Given that a thin floor would essentially concentrate my weight on only 2-3 slats, I think I will opt for removing the slats and putting in a whole floor. I made the one on my HF-360 out of 7/16" plywood, but that boat has a rigid air suspension floor already in it. Once the slats are removed from the Mariner 4, there isn't much floor support, so I think a thicker one is justified. I'll re-read what other Mariner 4 owners have used.

One extra, well thought out design item: the Mariner 4 inflatable keel. The HF-360 has 2 such long tubes, one on each bottom edge, increasing stability, while assisting with tracking. But the inflation valves were on the outside bottom of the boat! This not only sometimes resulted in them being pulled open as the boat was slid a couple feet on the ground into the water, but being at the back, more than once I had a hooked fish dart under the boat, and have the line wrap around a valve cover! The Mariner 4 design has this valve inside the boat. And what of the slat floor? There is a spot for the valve through this so it can be inflated with the slat floor in place. Again, well designed.

More than ever, I am convinved that the Mariner 4 is the choice I should have made right at the beginning!
 
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