Which ~ 500 dollar boat is better?

[Neodoxa]

Hello all,

I am in the market for my first boat and found a couple around the 500 dollar mark.

1. 15' Sea Star trihull with two motors (9.5 and 75 hp, need minor work), trolling motor, fish finder, trailer, not sure if it has an open bow.



2. 16' Renken trihull with 85 hp outboard (needs starter tinkered with but still runs), bimini top, trailer, all fiberglass/no wood, open bow with fishing seat.



Oh, and it will be towed regularly with a 1997 Jeep Wrangler.

Based on this information, which is probably the better choice?

Thank you!

 

[Levinz11]

Re: Which ~ 500 dollar boat is better?

I look the looks of the blue boat. But, I really like the wood engraved hull numbers on the other.

Have you taken a test ride? Do that on that both and you will have your answer.

I have a Jeep, too. Towing capacity is 1500 lbs.

 

[Neodoxa]

Re: Which ~ 500 dollar boat is better?

I look the looks of the blue boat. But, I really like the wood engraved hull numbers on the other.

Have you taken a test ride? Do that on that both and you will have your answer.

I have a Jeep, too. Towing capacity is 1500 lbs.

Thanks for the reply. I thought the towing capacity was 2000 lbs? I'm thinking both of these are over 1500 with trailer/motor. Hmmm. I figured I was ok because they'd most likely be under 2000.

Another thing is that the 15' Sea Star may be a bit smaller, lighter, and easier to tow around with a Jeep. I don't know.

Anyone else have an opinion?

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: Which ~ 500 dollar boat is better?

What brand are the outboard?

The second one looks like it has a Mercury. Which is ok.

If the blue one has a Mercury or Evinrude/Johson, I'd say go for the blue one. Two motors is better than one.

 

[BonairII]

Re: Which ~ 500 dollar boat is better?

I would be very suspect of any/every $500 boat.

Check out the floor/transom VERY well. Those $500 boats can turn into $2000 boats in a hurry if the wood is rotten and/or foam is waterlogged.

 

[larboc]

Re: Which ~ 500 dollar boat is better?

Based on my experience doing the transom, stringers, gussets, bulkheads, and floor on my 16' invader tri-hull, I would lean towards the renken if it really doesn't have any wood in the transom, floor, stringers, or bulkheads unless you make sure the transom is SOLID on the seastar.

I think that is a cross flow merc on the renken and an omc v-4 on the sea star. If that's the case, I'd go with the merc boat. I get significantly better fuel economy with my inline 90hp merc than my friend gets with his 85hp V4 running similar trihulls.

You really should post up the engine details.

In either case, I wouldn't pay more than $300 for a tri-hull that isn't ready to jump right into.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Which ~ 500 dollar boat is better?

You might be pushing the towing ability of the Wrangler with either one. It doesn't take much to add several hundred pounds. You have to be the judge of that. Don't forget to look closely at the trailers, extra work there could de-value the deal.

Make sure the motors are solid on the transoms. Get down under the splashwells and look and poke around. Walk on the floors on the balls of your feet and bounce to feel soft spots. Look under any hatches and feel around. You aren't looking for perfection but for a safe solid boat. Soft transom or floors are deal breakers.

One more thing - Paperwork. Find out from your state what is needed to take possession & register. Every state is different and a lost title/fuzzy ownership can mean you will not get the boat on the water,.

And believe it or not - $500 water ready boats are out there, just not often. Good luck, Neo.

 

[Neodoxa]

Re: Which ~ 500 dollar boat is better?

You might be pushing the towing ability of the Wrangler with either one. It doesn't take much to add several hundred pounds. You have to be the judge of that. Don't forget to look closely at the trailers, extra work there could de-value the deal.

Make sure the motors are solid on the transoms. Get down under the splashwells and look and poke around. Walk on the floors on the balls of your feet and bounce to feel soft spots. Look under any hatches and feel around. You aren't looking for perfection but for a safe solid boat. Soft transom or floors are deal breakers.

One more thing - Paperwork. Find out from your state what is needed to take possession & register. Every state is different and a lost title/fuzzy ownership can mean you will not get the boat on the water,.

And believe it or not - $500 water ready boats are out there, just not often. Good luck, Neo.

Thanks! And thanks to everyone for the replies!

The motors are as follows:

The 16' Renken has a Mercury 850, the 15' Sea Star has Evinrudes (look to be older... not sure exactly how old).

Can anyone tell me what is involved with replacing an impeller to pump water on an outboard? The 9.5 on the SeaStar needs the impeller replaced. The 75 on the SeaStar needs some kind of coupler between a shift rod fixed. I dont know much about boat motors... my buddy does but he hasn't been around all day.

The thing thats wrong with the Mercury 850 on the Renken is the starter bushing and something with tuning the cables for throttle.

Any better insights now that the motor info is out there?

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Which ~ 500 dollar boat is better?

I don't know about Evinrude impellers, but Mercs are a piece of cake. 4 or 6 bolts depending on model and the lower unit almost falls off to access the pump/impeller. I'm guessing the Merc starter bendix is sticking and needs to be freed up. And the throttle cables could be the remote control, cables themselves or the timing advance/throttle on the distributor needs freed up. If the cable just needs adjusted and/or replaced it isn't hard.

One thing I forgot to mention earlier is to take the cowl off both the motors and make sure you can turn the flywheel - at least 2 or 3 turns. removing the plugs makes it easier. If the starter spins the motor, try to do a compression check. At the same time shift into forward, reverse and neutral to ensure the lower unit is shifting. You don't want a stuck motor.

 

[Neodoxa]

Re: Which ~ 500 dollar boat is better?

I don't know about Evinrude impellers, but Mercs are a piece of cake. 4 or 6 bolts depending on model and the lower unit almost falls off to access the pump/impeller. I'm guessing the Merc starter bendix is sticking and needs to be freed up. And the throttle cables could be the remote control, cables themselves or the timing advance/throttle on the distributor needs freed up. If the cable just needs adjusted and/or replaced it isn't hard.

One thing I forgot to mention earlier is to take the cowl off both the motors and make sure you can turn the flywheel - at least 2 or 3 turns. removing the plugs makes it easier. If the starter spins the motor, try to do a compression check. At the same time shift into forward, reverse and neutral to ensure the lower unit is shifting. You don't want a stuck motor.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[Solittle]

Re: Which ~ 500 dollar boat is better?

Hard to tell with the information you have provided but I'd go with the Evinrude power no matter the age - especially if the Merc has seen salt water.

 

[larboc]

Re: Which ~ 500 dollar boat is better?

Starter bushings are somewhat common on the older mercs. I welded mine, worked great. You'll see what's wrong when you get in there.

One more thing, be suspicious of seemingly solid floors. It's common to see someone put a new sheet of plywood over a soft floor and think they fixed the problem.
By the time the floors get soft, the stringers and usually transom are already gone.
For the transom, have a buddy hold a straightedge alone the transom while you jump on the motor with it trimmed up. A solid transom won't flex AT ALL with a 200 lb dude jumping on it. That's how my Invader tri-hull's transom is after I put the new one in it.

 

[Neodoxa]

Re: Which ~ 500 dollar boat is better?

Starter bushings are somewhat common on the older mercs. I welded mine, worked great. You'll see what's wrong when you get in there.

One more thing, be suspicious of seemingly solid floors. It's common to see someone put a new sheet of plywood over a soft floor and think they fixed the problem.
By the time the floors get soft, the stringers and usually transom are already gone.
For the transom, have a buddy hold a straightedge alone the transom while you jump on the motor with it trimmed up. A solid transom won't flex AT ALL with a 200 lb dude jumping on it. That's how my Invader tri-hull's transom is after I put the new one in it.

Thanks for the tip! I'm going to check out a couple of boats in the morning... Hopefully by tomorrow afternoon I'll be posting in a new thread with pictures of my first boat!

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Which ~ 500 dollar boat is better?

Good luck, Neo.

 

[444]

Re: Which ~ 500 dollar boat is better?

I would lean towards the renkin if the issue is just the starter needing attention. That's easy enough. Find out what the throttle cable issue is. Are the controls not actuating the throttle cables properly? Are the throttle cables not operating the carb and ignition levers on the outboard properly. One guy moving the throttle up and down on the controls and one guy looking at the motor should be able to see if that's a real problem or just BS by the seller to cover a crappy running motor.

I would be leery of any seller who says an impeller needs to be replaced. If he says that, there's a good chance the old impeller fell apart from being 30 years old and the engine ran with no cooling and overheated. There's a separate cable that shifts the transmission on the boat. Again, with one guy moving the controls and your buddy who knows about outboards, he should be able to tell you if the shift cable is a problem or if that's BS from the seller to cover a shot transmission.

 

[BonairII]

Re: Which ~ 500 dollar boat is better?

I would be leery of any seller who says an impeller needs to be replaced. If he says that, there's a good chance the old impeller fell apart from being 30 years old and the engine ran with no cooling and overheated.

I agree.

That's why a compression test is a must before buying.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Which ~ 500 dollar boat is better?

Hello all,


2. , all fiberglass/no wood,
!

There's wood under that there fiberglass and I'll bet you it is mostly rotten on both of those boats. It's nothing that can't be fixed, but it will cost you time and money.

Impellers are a pretty easy fix, lots of youtube vids on how to do it.

 

[Rumley]

Re: Which ~ 500 dollar boat is better?

I would say from experience that both boats are going to be too heavy to tow with your jeep. I had a 2004 tj with the 4L. It was lifted with 33s and I towed my skidoo trailer with 2 atvs, 1 probably 350 lbs and the other around 500 lbs. I could not hit 100km/hr (60mph) in 5th gear on a long stretch of highway. When I was going up a hill on the highway I came to the top of the hill in 2nd gear doing less then 50km/hr.
Just talking from experience, so I would recommend going for a ride with some hills while pulling the boat before purchasing. Oh and I got about 10mpg while pulling that trailer :S

 

[Neodoxa]

Re: Which ~ 500 dollar boat is better?

I would say from experience that both boats are going to be too heavy to tow with your jeep. I had a 2004 tj with the 4L. It was lifted with 33s and I towed my skidoo trailer with 2 atvs, 1 probably 350 lbs and the other around 500 lbs. I could not hit 100km/hr (60mph) in 5th gear on a long stretch of highway. When I was going up a hill on the highway I came to the top of the hill in 2nd gear doing less then 50km/hr.
Just talking from experience, so I would recommend going for a ride with some hills while pulling the boat before purchasing. Oh and I got about 10mpg while pulling that trailer :S

Well, I bought a boat today... I'm super excited.

I talked to one of my friends. He was pulling a 19' Bayliner with his 4.0 Wrangler... Said it wasn't bad at all. Based on that first hand / good friend analysis... I think I'll be ok with a 15' boat that I could lift at the transom by myself.

After all, I towed it back to my place 60 miles away without any major hiccups. In fact, this was my first time towing anything of significance with any vehicle... and I towed the 15' fiberglass boat VERY easily at freeway speed with my Wrangler (with 3.07 gears no less!). Starting to think that people worry too much about towing with Wranglers.

 

[BonairII]

Re: Which ~ 500 dollar boat is better?

Well, I bought a boat today... I'm super excited.

What boat did you buy?


Pics or it didn't happen!