Cant say that I really liked the old Predators much @ all know a few peeps who have them & personally think they were pretty Fugly things
The one in the pic below is a mate of mines, not just the Fuglyness off it there are alot of things I just didn't like about it

His & mine @ the ramp next to each other



Think if you're going to spend the $$'s being asked for these days for boats you should get what you want & happy with.

The Predators are a different boat all together from the older ones & have to admit I much prefer talking to someone like Rod the new owner of Predator than some idiot clueless salesman out to get a sale throwing you a big line of Bullshite.

I generally get turned off by idiot salesmen & walk away & it was good talking to another tradesman who could answer any Q's I threw @ him.



Yep Yep !

The whole Idea is to just get a new hull & swap over all the running gear, cause I've gotten back into the gamefishing scene I'd like to add a 2nd control station up on the hardtop which will be collapsable of course.

You get to see that much more when up high w2hen trolling

Hey Jumpus ... That 6.1 looks great

This new boat thing has got the juices running for you again, hasn't it?

$45k unpainted is just plain wrong... I'm not saying they are robbing the customer though. I understand the overheads in running a business.

Jumpy, if they were pushing 10 of them out every month, they'd be 10k cheaper. Just the way it is..

Re- building from scratch; We can work out the cost on materials only next week.. But I'm going out on a limb here and having a guess on how much for metals only

$9200 The rest is going to be your blood, sweat and tears And there will be tears

P.S. that quote was exclusive of gst

Been retired for 7 years now Bees so a bit out of touch but did throw some figures around in my head & couldn't see the Alloy being under $10 k then there's tubing etc etc

Add to that gases mig wire etc etc the list goes on & on

I've rebuilt enough boats to know how costs escalate not to mention time it takes they could knock up a boat in the factory in a month whereas it would take me 3 - 4 times as long doing a one off.

To save 5 or 10 k is not worth it in my books & I'd rather just order one.

Beats the hell out of me how that guy I spoke of earlier with the Mako got his for $ 18 k

My figures are a pure speculator... See how it pans out

this is just something to think about, if you intend to sell the old hull the best way to do it is with the motors still on the boat and being 4strokes they should bring a better price as for replacement motors the best place to get them is in the u.s. here is a pair of yammys at a very good price for new motors

http://www.boattrader.com/listing/-Yamaha-...150TXR-92154979

They're not far off the mark Jed

Poly I have no intentions of getting rid of my motors & definately not interested in buying new ones from the US
P{rob with to many peeps is that they only see the $$ signs & never pay attention to the other costs involved including freight tax's etc that will be incurred.

Also bear in mind that if something goes wrong with imported motors Yamaha here in oz have no obligation to honour any warranty & to me thats like driving a car with no insurance.

Ill give it to ya JG... Ya dont Fark around.. I can see a great build up story and some good adventures coming up..

up in sydney today... wasnt really a planned trip, kinda a rush job to catch kkw and help nan out with a few jobs..

sounds good jg .... keep us posted


yeah u are right ... keep the motors .... there like new anyway no point in buying new ones ...


when it is time too sell your old one ... what do you think it would sell for ???

i doubt very much that J.G. will be looking for a big price for the old hull as i can not see him selling it without giving a fair descriptions of the problem, and the age of the boat.

the trailer will you keep it or sell it ???????????????

$2.15 per Kilo atm.. And they will pick up!!

Not wrong Bees boat is worth over $ 3 k just in scrap metal




All I'm doing is getting a new Hull everything else stays



If I get something in my head very rare I back down

Wow, I wouldn't have thought it weighed that much.. I'm impressed.. No wonder it's like Driving Miss Daisy when your towing it. I thought we'd never make it last time




I'm not saying dont build a new boat . I think it would be a great adventure.. I'd love to help wherever i can.

But if you can build a new boat, you can fix the current one. Either way you will be down a boat for a while. (Once you start stripping the Penguin)

This post has been edited by Bees Knees: Aug 23 2008, 12:20 AM

The boat tows very well, it's just the way I drive, to many idiots on the road & it may seem like I'm crawling along @ times + I'm never in a hurry




You any good @ making Latte's ???




Every has a use by date

Here you go WATTO !

Those pics you were asking about

"AAAAHHhhhh i see!" said the blind man

Very easy!! I'm confident even you can pull it off now (boat bulding, i mean)

Have you got a close up of the bow?? Very interesting

Maybe something of interest for you Jumpy...

http://www.platealloy.com/index.htm Sell pans, kits ect

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/archive/i...hp/t-65540.html Thread of someone who has built a 7.4..

http://www.bruceroberts.com.au/books/bbwal.htm And you can buy a book on it as well ( cant be too careful)

And these blokes will sell you plans for $395.00 http://www.bruceroberts.com.au/books/bbwal.htm

Happy Hunting pal..

P.S. When you pop out to the wild west... Ill make you that Latte

This post has been edited by Bees Knees: Aug 23 2008, 02:06 AM

Well the way I figure it is simple

They let me loose to work on Aircraft all by myself without supervision

Building a goat will be a walk in the park

ps] here's the bow you asked for

You're kidding!!!. When I popped in to see you, you pulled a used teabag out of a tin of used tea bags and made me a cuppa with the muddy dam water. Told me it coloured the tea, because the bags have been used a couple of times.

JG gets a Latte - I am coming with him next time.

Bees, your right on the money mate!!

I thought thats just the way he drives with the boat on the back.

NO NO BLOODY NO!!!

We went for a drive last Tuesday (with no boat on the back), and i kid you not, if we were going any slower we'd be going backwards!!!

To make it worse he never even gets out of the right lane, even in the M5 motorway, where he still wouldnt go over 50 km/h

I was slumped down in the passenger seat rather embarrassed!

Bet you are that guy in the TV add who hogged the tea bag kk

The sign said you were only allowed to dunk 3 times