17 foot 3.0 vs 18 foot 4.3?

[pbc]

Looking to buy my first boat for the cottage. Plan to use it mainly for fishing, tubing, and potentially water skiing. I'm about 5'11" and 185lbs, most of my family is much smaller. Have a 4 year old son.

Looking at buying a 2005 Four Winns Horizon 170 with a Volvo 3.0 vs a 1997 or 1999 Four Winns with Volvo 4.3's. They'd all be around the same price (within $1.5k).

The 170 seems to be the best equipped, with a trolling motor, fish finder, etc., and is considerably "newer".

But I'm concerned about the engine being 3.0? Chances are if we do any waterskiing, there won't be more then 2 to 3 people on the actual boat.

Thoughts on this!? Somewhat anxious given I haven't bought a boat before. I'm thinking the 17 footer, and as my son gets older if needed we could always opt for a larger boat?

Thanks!

 

[tschmidty]

Re: 17 foot 3.0 vs 18 foot 4.3?

Age old argument. The 4.3 is obviously going to be faster but the 3.0 will do everything you need to.

 

[bnicov]

Re: 17 foot 3.0 vs 18 foot 4.3?

I'd go 4.3. It's more power and you don't have to thrash it too hard when it comes to skiing and tubing. You can find 18-19 foot fish n ski boats. I've got a 19ft Larson fish n ski and we love it. Keep on looking, you'll find something.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 17 foot 3.0 vs 18 foot 4.3?

My uncle has a '95 SeaRay 175 with the 3.0 and it has been used for nothing but watersports since new. You'll be fine. Won't want to bring 4 friends and try to get an adult up on slalom but otherwise fine.

 

[CaptOchs]

Re: 17 foot 3.0 vs 18 foot 4.3?

What tow vehicle do you expect to use? The 4.3 is going to be a little heavier. Probably not going to be an issue, but you never know. You can check the boat's weight at http://www.iboats.com/b/. I tow my 17ft'er with my Expedition and sometimes my '10 Dodge Charger. My 17ft has a 3.0L has plenty of power. You won't be disappointed. I would go with the newer Four Winns with the 3.0L.

BTW: Where are you buying a 2005 Four Winns with a 3.0L for $1500? That price doesn't sound right. If you don't buy let me know where the heck you found that. I'll buy it and flip it for an easy $1500-$2500.

 

[pbc]

Re: 17 foot 3.0 vs 18 foot 4.3?

Towing won't be an issue as it will sit at the cottage 99% of the time unless it needs servicing. Have a Ford Edge V6 AWD and my father-in-law has a Yukon.

Sorry, the $1500 was the difference. I.e., the 2005 boat with the 3.0 can be had for $1500 more than the 4.6 1996/1999 boats. The nice thing about the 2005 is that it comes equipped with the trolling motor and fish finder (and obviously considerably newer).

Unfortunately none of these boats have hour meters, and of course all are "very low hours hardly ever used!" . Also, and unfortunatey, used boats in Toronto are considerably more expensive than the same darn boats south of the border, by a factor of 50% or more it seems!

Going to try and see the '05 tonight.

 

[pbc]

Re: 17 foot 3.0 vs 18 foot 4.3?

My uncle has a '95 SeaRay 175 with the 3.0 and it has been used for nothing but watersports since new. You'll be fine. Won't want to bring 4 friends and try to get an adult up on slalom but otherwise fine.

Thanks, this would not be the case. Chances are it will be used 95% of the time for tubing youngsters with 2 or 3 people in the boat (of which I'd be the only one north of 5'6" and 150lbs!).

 

[ryanr623]

Re: 17 foot 3.0 vs 18 foot 4.3?

More info please:

What size are the four winns with the 4.3's?
What shape are all of the boats in?
How many hours on the boats?

From experience.... when in doubt, go larger.. both in engine and in size. Although, i cant believe theres only a $1500 difference in boats six years apart.

Post links if you can.

 

[pbc]

Re: 17 foot 3.0 vs 18 foot 4.3?

More info please:

What size are the four winns with the 4.3's?
What shape are all of the boats in?
How many hours on the boats?

From experience.... when in doubt, go larger.. both in engine and in size. Although, i cant believe theres only a $1500 difference in boats six years apart.

Post links if you can.

The 2005 is a 17 footer Horizon 170 Fish and Ski, with 3.0 Volvo Penta. Looks to be in really good condition. No clue on the hours and the person hasn't responded yet to some questions.

The 1997 and '99 are 18 footers, the 97 is a Horizon RX and looks to be in fabulous condition (sounds like the guy has really taken care of it and wetsanded it and refinished it recently, as well as changing the alternator/battery/pump every two years - odd if he has "low hours" unless this is typical)? The 99 is a 180LS with pretty much no information otherwise (have asked some questions). The 97 nad 99 have the 4.6 Volvo's.

The 2005 is asking the most, then the 97, then the 99. Difference is about $1500 each jump.

 

[pbc]

Re: 17 foot 3.0 vs 18 foot 4.3?

Another pic of the 2005... (first pic above is the 2005 interior)..

 

[ryanr623]

Re: 17 foot 3.0 vs 18 foot 4.3?

The interior of the 17 footer will be VERY cramped seeings as it has a sun deck. If these are the only options, what I would do is take the '99 or '96 for a test drive, if everything is OK, show them the price of the 2005 and try and get him down a lot more. You will be happy with the extra space and power. Bigger, will jump on plane better, tow better, and of course go faster.

You can always keep looking and posting on here! We are always happy to help!

Also, i should note... as stupid as it sounds, the 1996 owner lives in a nice neighborhood. People with money are far less likeyl to neglect boats than someone who can't afford the repairs/maintenance.

But then again, the other boats are newer and might have less hours.... tough call!

 

[Silly Seville]

Re: 17 foot 3.0 vs 18 foot 4.3?

3.0! Much easier to service/maintain, better fuel economy, less expensive to repair and will pull a skier/tuber no problem! If you discover after a couple of years that it no longer suits your purposes, sell it!

 

[CaptOchs]

Re: 17 foot 3.0 vs 18 foot 4.3?

3.0! Much easier to service/maintain, better fuel economy, less expensive to repair and will pull a skier/tuber no problem! If you discover after a couple of years that it no longer suits your purposes, sell it!

I'd have to agree. Unless he's towing Jabba the Hut, the 3.0 will be fine. He won't see any noticeable difference in towing a few kids.

PBC, you mentioned a cottage on a lake. Do you know the size of this lake? The 17fter would be fine for most lakes. However, if this cottage were on Lake Ontario then I'd go as big as I can afford. My 17 ft (3.0) is fine for most days on Ontario, but it is a bumpy ride. A larger hull would smooth it out a bit.

 

[pbc]

Re: 17 foot 3.0 vs 18 foot 4.3?

It's a fairly small man made lake (Scugog). Wouldn't have issues with the 17 footer in that regard as it only gets choppy during pretty windy weather.

Nice thing about the 2005 is that the owner lives some 20 minutes from my place, whereas the other two are a good 2 hour drive away.

 

[CaptOchs]

Re: 17 foot 3.0 vs 18 foot 4.3?

If I've got the right dimensions from Wiki, that's roughly a 16,800 acre lake. That's decently sized.

Check the 2005 out. If you have enough room for your family, I'd take that. If you're going to take the plunge, I highly recommend you have a mechanic look it over. There are plenty of horror stories of people buying as-is boats out there with cracked blocks for full price.

 

[ryanr623]

Re: 17 foot 3.0 vs 18 foot 4.3?

It's a fairly small man made lake (Scugog). Wouldn't have issues with the 17 footer in that regard as it only gets choppy during pretty windy weather.

Nice thing about the 2005 is that the owner lives some 20 minutes from my place, whereas the other two are a good 2 hour drive away.

Ouch, 2 hours? No other boats closer? Im telling you with a 17ft boat that has a sun deck its gonna be cramped. Make sure you dont settle just because it's close.

Also, have you ever hear of the 1-2 rule when buying a boat? Whatever boat you think you'd be happy with (engine/length),......buy one thats (1) engine size up, and (2) foot longer.

It'll wind up costing you less money in the long run, expecially after the "as my son gets older we could get a bigger boat" comment.

 

[jkust]

Re: 17 foot 3.0 vs 18 foot 4.3?

Maybe I'm myopic but my thought process is if i'm going so far as to make a big purchase like a boat, I'm getting the v6. Contrary to the above, a v6 will net you better or similar mileage as the 4 cylinder. Take a look at boattest.com and you'll see what I mean. Especially when the cost difference between the same boat but just the v6 vs 4 cylinder is so close generally speaking. There are far fewer v6's but they aren't terribly expensive compared to the upcharge when new.
The fact is someone is buying the 3.0 because they are a dime a dozen around me in MN. The deals on these nearly new 3.0's are better this season than I've ever seen prior. I can see why it is tempting to buy one of these boats when they look so nice. It is a bummer that you are in a high cost area and I say that coming from a very high cost area in the states where vehicles are concerned.

 

[45Auto]

Re: 17 foot 3.0 vs 18 foot 4.3?

What jkust said ^^^^^

Do a little research and you'll find that engine size in a boat is not a good indicator of fuel mileage.

For example, in this data from the Stingray website performance data of the Four Winns models sorted by best economy, you can see that the four Winns 190 with the 225HP 4.3 gets better economy than the FW180 with the 3.0. The 280HP 5.7L in the FW200 is just behind the 3.0L and ahead of many of the smaller 4.3l and 5.0L motors. Fact is you're going to get 4.5 - 5.0 MPG no matter which boat you go with, but the bigger motor will make your boating much more enjoyable.

You'll find that a foot or 2 of length makes a HUGE difference in the usable room inside the boat. I had an 18' for 7 years, went to a 22' about 3 years ago. In hindsight, I would have bought the 22' from the start. Test drive as many as you can before you buy so you get a feel for the performance differences. I had a 2.5L (120HP) in a 16' boat and was not impressed at all by it's performance.

 

[CaptOchs]

Re: 17 foot 3.0 vs 18 foot 4.3?

Maybe I'm myopic but my thought process is if i'm going so far as to make a big purchase like a boat, I'm getting the v6. Contrary to the above, a v6 will net you better or similar mileage as the 4 cylinder. Take a look at boattest.com and you'll see what I mean. Especially when the cost difference between the same boat but just the v6 vs 4 cylinder is so close generally speaking. There are far fewer v6's but they aren't terribly expensive compared to the upcharge when new.
The fact is someone is buying the 3.0 because they are a dime a dozen around me in MN. The deals on these nearly new 3.0's are better this season than I've ever seen prior. I can see why it is tempting to buy one of these boats when they look so nice. It is a bummer that you are in a high cost area and I say that coming from a very high cost area in the states where vehicles are concerned.

You just contradicted yourself. If there are more 3.0L's around, wouldn't your choose that motor instead? Let's say worse case he blows up the motor in 5 years. It would be easier to find a 3.0L in a boat junk yard than a 4.3 or 4.6. Wouldn't it?

 

[pbc]

Re: 17 foot 3.0 vs 18 foot 4.3?

Ouch, 2 hours? No other boats closer? Im telling you with a 17ft boat that has a sun deck its gonna be cramped. Make sure you dont settle just because it's close.

Also, have you ever hear of the 1-2 rule when buying a boat? Whatever boat you think you'd be happy with (engine/length),......buy one thats (1) engine size up, and (2) foot longer.

It'll wind up costing you less money in the long run, expecially after the "as my son gets older we could get a bigger boat" comment.

I am really liking the '97 actually, and from the email replies it's clear that the guy really babies that boat (or is a really, really good salesman), and he came out and said "feel free to take it to a mechanic" right off the bat.

Issue is how far each of these are, so I may just wait to see what else comes up on the market. The '05 just came up today and given the year it was enticing. But a few of you are probably right, I'm likely someone who will buy the 3.0 then wonder "what if".

Yeah, the cost of even used boats up here is atrocious. Some guy recently posted a '99 Regal 180 with the Merc 4.6. Went to see it (was by my cottage) and it was in brutal shape. Seats were faded/ripped, boat hadn't been cleaned in ages and had crap caked on to it. He recently had the block rebuilt, and wanted $11k for it??