What price tinnie?

[knuckles]

i'm in the market for a used tinnie and need some advice.
I'll mostly use it around Pine river DWB and will carry up to 3 passengers, two of them being my 2 boys of 9 and 11.

My questions are:

What is a good size without getting to difficult for me to handle by myself?

What size motor/boat to not need a license as I'm confused between maximum HP and maximum speed?

Is there anything I need to look out for when I go see the boat? welds, joints, transom.

If the motor starts does it mean its good? What do I need to check? I have heard mention of things like pumping water well

What does a service on say a 5HP motor cost and how often do I need to have it done?

Any advice will be helpfull, thanks in advance.



Douw.

[Blackened]

G'day
You'd get away with a 12' tinny and a 6hp outboard.

Big enough for 3 people and will not need a lisence to operate.

Do a search on here regarding outboard and purchasing of one, there is heaps of good information. A service on a 6hp would be about $120 every 12mths or 100hrs, i'm talking 2 stroke here aswell.

A tinny is pretty straight forward, look for any crack welds, particuarly the ribs and keel line, and major dents and any previous repairs.
You will get lots more advice

Dave

[Poseidon]

I am no expert.....but would suggest a tinnie around 4metres with a 25hp motor on the back. Not too big for by yourself yet big enough for the 3 of you.
Get yourself a boat license so you don't need to worry about the HP size etc. It will also teach you markers, buoys, rules etc. You will only go up in size and HP so you may as well get your license sooner rather than later.

Buy your tinnie from the 'For Sale' section on this site and you should get some honest advice about the boat and reliability of the motor, a bit of piece of mind.

Jump in, get your boat and license and give it a go. There are enough helpful people here to see you clear of too many problems.

From this boat you can learn about the type of fishing that you and the kids enjoy and from there plan for the next boat, then the next, then the next.

Others will shed more light but hope this helps a little.

Regards Cameron.

[Fish Guts]

agree with what you said cameron. i think you need a good 25 or so hp so you can fish more spots with the kids. even take them out in the bay. a 6 is just too slow. it wont even get on the plane with you and ur kids.
go for it mate get out there !!

cheers

[scungey]

I suggest a 385 Explorer with a 25hp. Very stable platform for the young úns on board. Go 2nd hand or around $8k for a newbie.

[Fish Guts]

maybe a second hand tinnie and trailer and a new outboard

[blaze]

a tip on second hand motors, before a test with the motor running, take the cowl off and feel the temp of the engine. If it is warm I would start to be suss and it means its only just been started before you arrived. The motor wants to be cold so you can see what it starts loke first up and also when warm.
cheers
blaze

[finga]

With 2 boys and yourself the little "unlicensed size" motor will not cut the mustard after a while. Just too slow.

I'd be getting my license for reasons mentioned above and get a little 3.7-3.8m tinny and bung a 9.9 or 15hp motor on the back for starters.

These boats are still cheap as chips to buy. The 15hp motors even cheaper and easier to find then the tiny ones probably due to popularity of no rego or license for the canals.
That size tinny is easy to handle, can fit everybody on board and a lot of fun can be had.
A good grounding can be established to see if you want/need a bigger boat or not as well.

A reasonable starter rig like that can vary in price but if your in no hurry you can pick a reasonable boat, motor, trailer for around the $2,000 and go up.
Whick ever way you go do the things people have mentioned above as what to look for and always take the boat for a water test with all the people you intend to take fishing. Just to see how it will go.

I don't know your mechanical abilities but checking the cold start is important, the water pumping is important and no water in the gearbox oil is important.
The first two are easy to check by feeling the motor temp as Blaze suggests, the water flow is easy to check my eyeballing the telltale and the gearbox oil is easy to check by taking out the oild drain screw on the bottom of the gearbox (usually says oil) and see if it's not white. If the oils white there's troubles a-brewin'. No usualy terminal, but never-the-less, trouble.

Your boys may need a few good experiences to re-enforce to 'fun factor' of fishing. Putting about in displacement mode instead of planing mode may put them off a bit. Another reason to go a tad bigger in motor size.

What-ever you do it's going to be good. It's all good in the end

[gutzy]

I have a 4m tinnie with a 25 and it flies!!!!!!!!!!!!! 15hp would be plenty to cruise around the waterways with three people. If you can get out on a boat like what you want .

[knuckles]

Thanks for all the advice guys, I can now start looking for a 12' tinnie with a 25 HP motor. :-)

Should I be worried about getting either a 2 stroke or a 4 stroke and which one is better?
As far as boat licenses goes, do I just go to any of the ones listed on the Qld Gov website or can someone recommend a good training provider?