Brooker or stessco?

[Member101]

hi all!

Just wanting to know if anyone has an opinion on this. All replies appreciated.

Im looking for a tinny (around 4.1m) and have 2 options at the moment.

Definitely want side console.

2003 4.1m Brooker
30HP yamaha
Bow mount electric motor
Deep cycle batteries
bimini
full boat cover
safety gear
nav lights
plus more
$10 000

Im not sure on this price though. Was thinking of offering $8000 / $8500?
Is that too much or an insult? Not sure on brooker prices.

2008 Stessco Catcher
40Hp Yamaha
·Stessco 4.2 Trailer with 13” Wheels
·Battery and Box
·Navigation Lights
·FF90 Sounder/Fishfinder
·2 x Rod Holders
·cast Decks
·Side Pockets
$12000

im only really interested in estuaries. Camping, crabbing, fishing. Not chasing speed, just a good buy.

Cheers for any help.

STEVE

[Leighton]

is that a 4 stroke price for the Catcher?

[Member101]

both 2 strokes . to keep prices down. only really got around 10G.

[BOMBIE]

member,do yourself a favour .check out stressco blogs ,then forget them !!!!

[Bladeca]

Just wondering why you want a side console in a 4.1m boat? Do you bait fish or platics/hbs mainly. Just curious as I'm looking around for a boat soon and to me a side console in a tinnie that size seems to take up more room than worth and adds alot of $$ where you can get a tiller steer tinnie new for about $8000.

So just want to see if there are benifits that I haven't thought of other than to mount the sounder on and the wheel to hang onto while on the move.

[baitwaster]

FYI - I bought my 4.1 brooker just over 12 months ago for 10K brand new. Came with a 40hp suzuki 2 stroke, tall bimini, casting decks etc.

[Member101]

thanks guys. Bladeca, For some reason i have never liked tiller steer. It may well come down to me being too unco-ordinated. LOL I do mostly bait fishing i guess. I like camping at station point and pancake creek etc. They are a fair drive in a boat.

Anways, provided that the console is situated far enough toward the back, there is still plenty of room. And you get to have movable swivel seats.

Last boat was centre console but they just become a pain in the arse! Would love a 4.55 Poly side console! Check out there layout! OOOH YEAH!!

BOMBIE, i take it Stessco = No good?

cheers
Steve

[RAT-KING]

Hey Steve
I own a brooker 4.1 fisherman.
I have 2 say im not a big fan it is my first real boat and i didn't know wat to look 4 when buying a second hand boat, it had been re-welded 3 times because of splits in the hull, and i jst had it repaired again a 200mm split down each side.
I've neveroowned a stessco, but im not impressed with the brooker!
Cheers Simon

[dreemon]

I've got the 4.1 fisherman, bought it new in 06 and have never had a repair done on it and have givin it a hard time through bars, heavy chop, broken trailer, etc,

sorry about yours rat king, but this is the first time I've heard anythimg bad about the brooker,

but like bommie says have a search for stessco, brooker too, and go ahead and give a lower offer, everyone expects it . cheers

[robersl]

Hi Member
A lot of people knock the steesco boats only because on the older models the welds were a bit ugly however i brought a 4.2 steesco at last years boat show with a 40 hp 2 stroke yamaha hi-draulic ass 3 cylander ,battery ,plus charger nav lights and bilge ,full floor with forward casting deck and storage under with 13 inch allow wheels for $8,900 , i have since added a watersnake new they can be got for $600, deep cycle batt$200, quick release plate,$110.and a basic hummingbird fishfinder $140
and to be honest i have found this to be the driest boat of the 5 or 6 boats i have owned, including 4.1 topender, 4.5 bluefin, 4.75 quintrex caprice quarter cab,and a 4.35 forward steer quintrex angler

this boat has 3 mill bottom 1.8 topside and 3ml side gunnels
all boats have good and bad traits i have looked at the brookers and i think the sides are a bit shallow compared to the steesco same boat at the tackle and tinnie show with a 30hp was $7700 roughly

$12,000 is very overpriced i think

shane

[Scott Ashe]

Hi Mate,

I would personally go for option 2, but I'd check if the 40hp comes with electric start and power trim and tilt. A 40hp is a fair lump of an engine to be manually tilting all the time.

Being a 2008, it should still have factory warranty too.

In '07' I bought an Allycraft Rhino with 25 Yamaha 4 stroke electric everything for $10250, because I was like you just wanted a well set up boat not a speed machine. I get 42km/h from my rig at flat out (which I very rarely use anyway).

Option 2 sounds like it's well set up too.

Cheers
Scott

[catfishkid]

I sold my stessco catcer rv last year for $8500,it had a 40hp tohatsu 2st,bow mount electric,2 deep cycle batteries,lights,livewell, lowrance colour sounder
plus more goodies I cant remember,it had only done about 40 hrs and I only sold it to upgrade to my cruisecraft.
I have heard bad stories about stessco boats but mate I loved mine and had no problems at all.I would own anotherone again no problems.
I think 12k is a bit steep.Here is a link to what mine looked like for that sort of money.
http://www.fishntales.com/forum/index.php?topic=5878.0

Cheers Craig

[Barry Ehsman]

Mate i bought a Brooker 4.5 Adventurer with a 30 hp yamaha, side console steer, bimini top & heaps of flat floor casting area for $8,000 2 years ago & it is the best boat i have ever owned.

Cheers Baz.

[dazza]

hi all,
i think if you look enough you will get bad reports on all small alloy boats.
i have had a stessco 4.1 rv catcher for almost 10 years now, i have replaced the bottom with 4mm plate as i cracked it in 2 places,
at the rear was from poor trailer setup, 40hp 4st hanging off the back and towing it around on cape york- not really what it was designed for

second place it cracked was up the front, that was from loading it with far too much gear and bashing into 3-4 hours of short chop down the west coast of the cape, again not really what it was designed for

i love my stessco, it has done a hell of alot of work, deck is still in good nick, welds all seem ok, i would have no hesitation in buying another, would get the factory to leave the bottom off and weld my own plate one in though

you should be able to pick one up for well under 10k
cheers
dazza

[BOMBIE]

Steve ,well yeah ,cracks/welds/poor set up etc,etc all good (and should not happen),BUT if is under "warranty" means F,, , A.. re: very little UNTIL you have there problem THEN see how THEY PERFORM . the manager WILL blame you $$35.000 AND after 7 days first fault hull dent & peeling paint so now it's 3 YEARS OLD still dont want to know/honour anything . they should NOT warp/crack/dent/split/peel/electrolisis ,etc with 300 hrs on board from local fishing & family boating PPLEAASEE dont touch THEM !!!!!