Stessco advice

[Bad_Bubby]

Hey guys,

I'm currenty fishing from a quintrex explorer and have thought about upgrading to a bigger rig. The explorer is perfect for protected waters but I'd like a rig that can be put to a bit more use in the bluewater. I like the idea of an open boat and the stessco SF series looked pretty good. Can anyone comment on the performance of the SF445 or offer any advice in getting a slightly more seaworthy vessel than the explorer?

cheers
-Dan

[Mtx]

Dan, have you had a look at the blue fins?

i had the 4.5 weekender and that was fantastic.
the predator is more an open boat on the blue fins. shoot bluefin59 a pm to ask him about his.

or a bar crusher centre console :)

[Mtx]

oh and apparently the haines traveller perform quite well outside.
I have no experience with them but maybe someone else on here can help

[Mindi]

suggest you do a good search on the forums to explore the quality of Stessco boats (or any other)....there are some negative views expressed here. I wouldnt have thought they were a step up for a Quintrex owner..?

[ifishcq1]

There is a fellow on this site called Bombie... pm him for an honest opinion and he will send you some pics and info that will be well worth the effort and may save you a fortune in the long run

SL

[Lancair]

Read all the reports, go look at all the boats your considering, take them for a run and then make a decision.

There seems to be a lot of negativity towards Stessco from Queenslanders, funny you bag out one of your own homegrown products but . . .

I did all the reading, looking and trialling and now am the proud owner of a Stessco Catcher 4.2m with an Etec 40. I love it. I found the Stessco was much tougher than the Quinny dory, has a deeper V bottom, is 3mm bottom and wider too, not to mention cheaper. A mate, who also has a Catcher, has recently bought a Dory (2nd hand) for his son in law. He was telling me that side by side in rougher water the Catcher is heaps drier and smoother ride and feels solid unlike the flexing and banging quinny. Ive been fishing with mates who are used to riding around in much bigger boats who comment on how relatively smooth mine is and how it really handles the rough stuff better than other tiller steer boats they've been in.

The main complaint on the Stessco was the weld quality and after looking closely at several I found nothing that was structurally unsound. Sure some welds werent as pretty as other brands but . . . . at several thousand cheaper.

Its your money and your choice.

[Bowser]

Have to agree with Lancair about the bagging of Stessco. I have a 4 Seasons, same hull different badge, 445. Bought as a dory and since converted to a centre console. This is fitted with a 40 Yammie and I fished anywhere between Wellington Point and the Cape and offshore up to 15 kms. Never ever felt any concern about the boat not getting me back. It is an extremely strong and reliable boat with greater hull thickness then comparable manufacturers. In regards to the comments about Stessco being a step down from Quintrex I have to strongly disagree. The Quintrex of old, and I am talking about the original flared bow hull of the 70's was a great boat, made strongly and a good alround fishing boat. As put to me by an aquantance in the industry, Quintrex is now advertised in the women's magazines and built to attract the female of the family. This is fair advertising practise but you must question the softening of the boats to attract this audience. Quintrex is, I believe, bought on it's past reputation for a great boat, not based on the current models and is over priced compared to a wide range of boats available on the market today. Popular and high advertising budget boat companies pay the magazines to "favourably" review their boats and react strongly to any criticism warranted or not. They are able to do this due to their strong financial position and the clout they are able to wield within what is a fairly small market by international standards. You rarely see a review of the "lessor" brands as they are generally to busy producing boats for the market to spend time and advertising monies with the magazines. If appears to me that you only get a review if you pay to advertise and when you have a backlog on your order book waiting to be filled why attract more buyers that you can't satisfy?

Mate, my advise is check out the boats, look at the stats, look at the boats themselves not the glossy magazines and make a decision based on real facts not advertising hype and frenzy!

[catfishkid]

I have to agree with Lancair as well.I have a Stessco 4.2 Catcher RV with a 40 tohatsu.It is excellent in rough water and solid to ride in.There are some welds that arent pretty but overall for the price I am happy.
Lancair what speed do you get wot?


Cheers Craig

[Mindi]

glad to see Stessco being defended..my suggestion was to read the forums as I have seen a number of criticisms of weld quality and cracking...agree about the quality of original quinnies, I had two 5.0M ones, a Cruiseabout and a Fishabout. If Stessco are strong than thats great.

[Seahorse]

i see them getting painted every week and look pretty good to me

[scungey]

Not sure how many adverts and boat reviews are in women's mags.....:-/ WTF

If you are going to rely just on mags then F&B is the one....it's a no BS publication.

I can't comment on the Stessco. I've never been in one but you see plenty around the Goldy.

Apart from that just go for test run in both. All good dealers have on-water days! If they don't then they have something to hide.

I owned a 460 Topender for years - awseome boat and it copped some hard treatment. smooth and dry ride great stability great layout. They now do a smaller version...a 440 Topender Tiller Steer.

[nigelr]

Another happy Catcher owner here.
Tiller steer 30 hp Tohatsu, I happily cross the bar and fish inshore in mine on the right (flat surf) day, cheap as chips to operate and own.
Always feels safe underway, no probs in the chop just drive to the conditions.
Had mine for 4 years or so, she's had some fun on the bar at times, no cracked welds to be seen at this stage.
Best deep v I've seen in a "mass" produced tinnie, plus 3mm floor standard. Sure the welds aren't the prettiest, but ya don't look at the mantelpiece while your stoking the fire..........
IMHO great value for money, but as with all "mass" produced tinnies, check all the welds etc out thoroughly, and the trailer and wheels/tyres as well.
Cheers.

[whatscracken]

I'm another one with a Stessco Catcher. Its 5 years old now with a 40hp yamaha on the back and I think that it is a well designed boat and I'm more than happy with it.

A few months back I noticed quite a bit of water in the bilge and couldn't for the life of me find out how it was getting in there. Bungs were tight and it was a good day on the bay so no spray coming in the boat. As I was getting up onto the plane I felt water coming in through a split up the port side of the boat where the sides meet the hull.

The split was about 500mm long and must have slowly gotten worse until you could see it flowing in. Ended up getting it tig welded for $150 and its all good now. A very small thing to have gone wrong and its not something worth bagging the brand over. I think they are a reasonable boat for the price. If I could choose the type of tinnie to purchase again I'd buy a Sea Jay.

Lets us know how you get on mate

[Lancair]

Catfish Kid, I can get 31.5kt out of it by myself, getting into messy water at that speed can get interesting quickly. About 27-29 with a mate, but generally cruise at around 22-24kts, very, very economical and plenty fast enough. I have a lower pitchprop (13 7/8 X 15) I can use for heavier loads or more instant get up and go. Tows a skurf boarder easily, But mostly leave the 13 3/8 X 17 for better economy and top end speed, the motor seems to like the load of the 17 when solo.

I cross ballina bar in mine and have crossed southern Moreton bay in appalling conditions. Theres probably at least 4 Catchers in Ballina, all used offshore regularly.

[BOMBIE]

HI Team yep, stessco seem alright handle well perform ok look the goods BUT wait til something goes wrong, paint peels welds crack ETC ETC and then try to get somesort of outcome from the A/HOLE that runs the show wont answer phones etc 3.5 years and they recon its fixed LIKE F ...

[lifestyle]

The stessco look like a good boat fot that price range. Have a look at the brooker seaman 4.5mtr. Few good extras and also 3mm bottom and 2 mm sides. They look the goods for similar price range.

[tin can marlin]

Have a look at the ozcraft as well they are made at the same place but they have there better tradespeople on these boats as there are a little dearer than than the stessco.

[catfishkid]

Have a look at the ozcraft as well they are made at the same place but they have there better tradespeople on these boats as there are a little dearer than than the stessco.


I had a look at an ozcraft at the tinnie & tackle show and instantly recognised it as same as stessco and my opinion was welding was the same and my catcher.
But if you want to look at ozcraft I have a mate who works for the dealer.
Lancair is yours the rv or standard catcher?


Cheers Craig

[Lancair]

Catfishkid,
mine is a standard catcher with extended side decks and chequer plate foredeck so really apart from the painted hull, raised floor, seat pedestals and side rod locker its an RV version. I put my own side rails and bow sprit roller too. Ive also had forward and rear casting decks with hatches made out of 3mm plate ali.

Andrew

[Bad_Bubby]

Thanks for the input everyone, I noticed the quality of the welds on the catcher and wasn't real impressed. However it is well priced and the layout is pretty good. I think I will keep looking until I am sure!

[BOMBIE]

HHI BB I realize i keep on flogging these blokes BUT you must understand that 30...+K $ & 3 years of heartacre and being totally dismissed is NO fun .we are not talking about 4.00mtr tinny but 5+mtr (OFFSHORE ) boat so i hope we just get rid of these sorts of put togeathers Thanks BOMBIE

[moater]

I don't want to knock anyone's boat but after reading about the poor welds and cracking,I'm glad that I've kept my Sea Jay!;D

BLOODY HELL!!..where does a company get the cheek to sell such rough workmanship..even in an ad from a dealership I could see just how rough the welding was.Saw what appeared to be patch up spots on welding -- no not normal tacking that you do when assembling but spots on TOP of the weld run & not welded over as in a good run.Looked like patching of slag holes or burn-through.I've done a good bit of welding in my life so I've got a bit of an idea...NO excuse for crap and there should be plenty of good welders out there that would like to work on boats?

Is a life worth the thousand or so dollars saved???::) >:(


Just my observations/opinion.

Darren

[Lancair]

Darren,
I did have the welds in my boat looked at by a welder whilst he was doing other work for me (casting decks). His comment was, "Some rough welds in spots, some that looked like theyd been patched up, but nothing thats is going to break or be unsafe." There were some weld "blow out" or burn through spots he found, under the side decks in the thin, like 1mm, ali they use as an angle brace. His comment re these was, "the welder is just lazy, didnt turn down the heat to weld the thinner stuff, ugly if you can see it but not dangerous under there."
When I told this guy how much I paid for the boat, new, he said at that price they (Stessco) cant be too fussy and have to re-do or remake too many, if any boats. And he agreed with me, its only cosmetic and after all its a #$%^ing fishing boat ! It does the job.

Cheers

Andrew

[Hodad3230]

I wouldn't know a rough weld from a smooth one, frankly, but the only boat I've ever had is my stessco hurricane 445. I only have open water access (Bass Strait), so that's where I fish. I have a mate with a 429 seahorse, that boat definitely handles the chop better, but mine is much more stable to fish from. Everything is a compromise. I'd buy my boat again, so I spose that sums up my view. With an old suzi two stroke 50, it pushes along ok too.

[bushbeachboy]

Have a look at the Polycraft range mate. They have a couple of new models that could be ok for your needs. If you like, go and have a look at www.polyboatowners.com (http://www.polyboatowners.com) and have a talk to some owners. Regardless of your final choice, go for a ride or if possible a day's fishing in some different boats to give you a better idea. Don't take the word of a salesman at a boat yard about anything. They are worse than car dealers.:P

Best of luck with your choice.
Cheers
BBB

[BOMBIE]

Let me say just that stessco do preform well its just they dont stay in one piece for too long .the one that I have got & those i have seen are put togeatheron the sunny coast and leave ALOT to be desired !!! ps BBB go the poly

[BOMBIE]

fellas these blokes are trying to upmarket there image" where quality" counts trust me they woudnt know what that means BOMBIE

[MarkDiver]

Bombie, you have made your case. We get the drift.
Nobody likes to say they own a heap of crap so it's hard not to get unbiased opinions. I read reports here on ausfish before buying my 4seasons 5.4m Windchaser (Stessco rebadged) and I thoroughly inspected the welds before buying. I got a welding QC to give me a second opinion as a visual was fine to me. All in all I personally think it's good value for money and I am more than happy with my boat. A bit of fishing, a bit of diving & spearing, a bit of fun.
Some people drop their transoms on the ramp and ride into rocks and stuff, this doesn't help the welding issue. Also, if you want to go out in 15+ knots then get a fibreglass hull.
I have never used my bilge to date.
Good luck BB, it's not easy!

[BOMBIE]

Markdiver thats exactly the same boat ,never used my bilge pump either ,and thats what they reconed i did with it ,logs, turtles etc but not a mark on it !wish you best of luck Markdiver

[upstart]

I have a Stessco 375 open tinny and I'm happy with it. It is the biggest 375 tinny out there.