Decision time...advice please

Red Fox · 06 December 2002, 21:06

I have a 3 yr old Zodiac 3.8 and a 30 hp Mariner. I have been offered £2200 against a new Zodiac PRO3 with a 50hp Mariner ELPTO 4stroke, boat with tach. and tilt dials. I want to knee board off it with two up, fish, tour inshore all for £7600 inc trailer 'n VAT. Am I looking at a good deal in your valued opinion.

matiboy · 07 December 2002, 16:22

no experience of pricing for this model

but I would have thought that a 50 hp would easily be able to pull a wakeboard up, would suggest posting length & all in weight of this model to see other peoples opinions on power to weight for wakeboarding

you will probably have to have one prop pitch specifically for pulling as you can wakeboard at a very slow speed & another prop for cruising around

price alone of a mariner 50 hp 4 stroke is considerable, will be a nice economical unit, their down sides are they are quite heavy compared to a 50 hp johnson such as mine

Make sure this weight is ok for this model of boat

Come on chaps help this guy out with some advice

Red Fox · 07 December 2002, 18:11

Just phoned around and a dealer has offered £3000 against the same Pro3. So I got back to the 1st dealer and he wants to talk more and says he will mee the recent offer...!...so ringing around has improved my deal. The Zodiac is 4.7m long and weighs 165kg. I think the engine choice is either Mariner 50ELPTO or Suzuki DF50TL. Any views on this combo?

Richard B · 07 December 2002, 18:19

That's more like it! I've seen a rig like yours on sale (dealer) at £3500 s/h (but that was in Salcombe!)

Scotty · 07 December 2002, 22:58

Redfox,
I just bought a zodiac pro 550 with a 115 hp two stroke with only 20 hours on it for 10,500 sterling. My boat is only 13 months old so the boat you are looking at may appear a little pricey. By the way the guy that sold me the boat had fitted every possible zodiac extra....so keep looking around.

crazyhorse · 16 December 2002, 22:02

Do you want to go offshore in the boat?

If you do in the long term go for a Cat B C.E marked RIB.

You may not need it now but you may grow into it.

There are deals to be had and now is a great time for a discount.

If your happy staying inshore then buy a Cat C, C.E marked Rib maybe a demonstrator from the Ribex show.

Fourstroke teck has cought on and I believe in the small end that Suzuki do a good 60hp four.

What you want to be carefull of is getting sold old emmision tecknology cheap,as the trade cant get ride of it quicker enough.

You could find that you have an outdated engine not able to use it in the lakedistrict in the next few yrs.

I would go hull this yr with a good deal on P.X your boat and save the up for a deacent outboard,next yr ,then you are going to be ok for some time to come.

All the best Crazyhorse.

And Mateboy is right we should all help somebody starting up as we all have been there.

dgpw · 17 December 2002, 16:29

I Believe, please correct me if wrong that the mariner 50 is the same engine as the merc 50 but for tax reasons is sold cheaper. Because companies are only allowed to sell a certain no of large engines in relation to the no of small engines they sell. Like BMW likes to sell the new mini as it means they can sell larger engeined cars. If this is the case the mer / mariner 50 is a great engine. don't know much about the new suzzuki's

Alan Priddy · 17 December 2002, 16:47

Both engines are in fact Yamaha. It is a little known fact that most of the "main stream" engine manufactors only buy the units from Yamaha. Of course the Honda admits to using the Mercury leg but who makes that? Alan P

seafariskye · 18 December 2002, 00:00

I think the makers of the Mercury leg is Play Dough..........
(only Joking)

Pete

Garygee · 18 December 2002, 13:29

Hi folks

Dont worry about the lake district in a few years, once the 10MPH speed limits comes in (2005 I think) who will want to take a RIB there anyway.

We loved Windermere and this was a major reason why we didnt mind to much moving away from a trailable RIB

Still there is still quite a bit of the sea to explore.
Maybe I can drop Alan a few ideas on places he could visit (if there are any he hasnt already

)

Regards Gary

DJL · 18 December 2002, 21:16

All parts of current 30/40/50/60 HP Mercury Fourstrokes are American design. They no longer have any common parts with Yamaha.

You only need to look at the engines to confirm this

Red Fox · 20 December 2002, 16:54

Thanks for your thoughts guys. I am taking them all on board! They are much appreciated. All the best for Christmas and the New Year.