Stessco

Good river boat – I purchased my 429 bass tracker 3 years ago now - fitted with 40 hp mercury 4 stroke - main use is murray river trips with other mates and their… Read more

tinnies over 7 to 10 days camping as we go. Its now fine tuned with motor height and prop pitch for my style of boating and well pleased with its preformance. I rate the boat as its tough, ive bumped snags hard with no damage, , no frills so can be customised to suit individual needs for their type of use. Good room, (you can sleep onboard if bank muddy) & ,stability at both cruise and rest is excellent. I personally Wouldnt go less than 40 hp as heavy "tinnie" and loaded up for camping it struggles to plane. The cutaway transom is my only design criticism, water can lap over into boat when reversing and hitting another boats wash. I have infilled mine with alloy which has helped.

Stessco 485 outsider – I tested this boat in moreton bay in 30 knot s/e wind and it coped well with the 1.5 to 2m white capped bay chop although I found I needed to stay… Read more

cleanly on the plane to avoid water over the outboard cowling when going up the steep tide affected bay chop. This little boat is like a little barge it can take a lot of weight and still plane with not a lot of hp. Speed is also good I use a Yamaha 40hp and took 4 adults and 5 children from camp to a swimming spot and it did 38 km/h with a 12 inch prop. I have tested the boat on my own with full fuel, esky and fishing gear and got 52.9 km/h on the gps with a 13 inch prop. Simple no fuss boat that can be used and abused.built in gunnels standard not cheap folded top edge like other tinnies. Low cost to run and maintain. Flexibility to use up a small creek or out on the reef on the good days. The Large volume and no frills allow the owner plenty of options to customize to his liking. No frills on base boat just 2 bench seats a floor and that's it but this is a plus in my opinion. Low cutout in transom is a worry in rough water although I have not had water come in but have fitted a 2000 gph bilge pump just in case.