Low Cost Dinghy

Quint4 said:
yeah, might not want to get "some total crap" like some of the rest of us. Good luck with whatever you decide Mike.
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I don't think what you have is crap, looks pretty cool to me!!
I did find that the boss(es) want a motor as they are not into rowing, thus my interest in something that can hold a small motor. I'm leaning towards a very small 4 stroke instaed of the electric.

Wow this project is getting expensive, just like everything associated with boating!!

Mike
 
good luck with it my friend.
 
They just ran a sale @ WM and they have a 8.5' that will hold up to a 4hp. motor(zodiac makes them for WM). The dink cost me $699 and I went with a merc. 4 hp. motor. You could probably get away with a 2.5 or 3 hp. motor but since I'm on a river I opted for the max hp. the dink could handle.

P.S. I believe that Turtle Tone has the Quicksilver 6.5' dink you spoke of earlier. I think he pushes it with a 2.5 hp. You may want to drop him a PM to see how well it works for him.
 
mawyatt said:
Alex,
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mawyatt said:
Thanks. Do you have a motor, and how do you store your dinghy on board (inflated or deflated). I was thinking of the 7'5", what size are going to move too?

Mike
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Mike,
At this point I had no need for the motor, just to get to the beach from the boat I'm ok using oars and my daughter loves it too. I do have small electrical motor (something I had from other boat) but I didn't feel it's worth of a hassle to get good battery to run it on this dinghy.
I always stored it inflated (didn't like extra hassle to deflate/inflate). On my 240DA I had two ways to store it. 1-was on the sundeck (bow) and 2- was on the swimming platform on a side. Both in both spots I've used the one or two lines to secure it. Worked just fine. On my 320DA the only very nice thing is that it fits perfectly on the swimming platform flat. Since we have extra step or extension at the bottom by the stern locker this provides nice walkthrough and dinghy is not on the way. Since it fits flat on it's bottom it looks like Harley setup that's not even needed. Don't forget that this dinghy has flat bottom, so this why it's fine.

As for a new one, I saw very nice unit at MM showroom. If I recall correctly it was Mercury 290 with hard bottom. I think it more like 8’6”. It had 9ph attached to it. Looked as very slick setup. My basic idea of a new dinghy is to have enough room for 3-4 adults. This way if we’re out on a cruise and anchored somewhere I could take it to explore beaches or go to shore for sightseeing or restaurants.

I can say that I’d like a bit better quality with new one. The backing metal plate where the motor goes, is loosing paint. The boat leaks air, but very little though. One thing I don’t really like is the flat bottom where it meets the backing plate. This spot wares off and scratches more than anything when the dinghy is moved on sand. The hard bottom shouldn’t have this problem.

But, like I’d mentioned before, for $400 it’s very nice dinghy. However, moving up to a serious size, I would go with more reputable brand. The biggest dilemma here is that we don’t get to use it so much to justify a big expense (~$1K for dinghy and $1K for motor). So far I had only real two occasions this season where I was lacking the motor and bigger dingy. So, I’ll be keeping this one until I find the need to change it.

Alex.
 
RiverRat said:
They just ran a sale @ WM and they have a 8.5' that will hold up to a 4hp. motor(zodiac makes them for WM). The dink cost me $699 and I went with a merc. 4 hp. motor. You could probably get away with a 2.5 or 3 hp. motor but since I'm on a river I opted for the max hp. the dink could handle.

P.S. I believe that Turtle Tone has the Quicksilver 6.5' dink you spoke of earlier. I think he pushes it with a 2.5 hp. You may want to drop him a PM to see how well it works for him.
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Fred,
I think this sounds about right. My 6.5' Baltic is rated for 2.5hp as well.
 
Alex F said:
Mike,
At this point I had no need for the motor, just to get to the beach from the boat I'm ok using oars and my daughter loves it too. I do have small electrical motor (something I had from other boat) but I didn't feel it's worth of a hassle to get good battery to run it on this dinghy.
I always stored it inflated (didn't like extra hassle to deflate/inflate). On my 240DA I had two ways to store it. 1-was on the sundeck (bow) and 2- was on the swimming platform on a side. Both in both spots I've used the one or two lines to secure it. Worked just fine. On my 320DA the only very nice thing is that it fits perfectly on the swimming platform flat. Since we have extra step or extension at the bottom by the stern locker this provides nice walkthrough and dinghy is not on the way. Since it fits flat on it's bottom it looks like Harley setup that's not even needed. Don't forget that this dinghy has flat bottom, so this why it's fine.

As for a new one, I saw very nice unit at MM showroom. If I recall correctly it was Mercury 290 with hard bottom. I think it more like 8’6”. It had 9ph attached to it. Looked as very slick setup. My basic idea of a new dinghy is to have enough room for 3-4 adults. This way if we’re out on a cruise and anchored somewhere I could take it to explore beaches or go to shore for sightseeing or restaurants.

I can say that I’d like a bit better quality with new one. The backing metal plate where the motor goes, is loosing paint. The boat leaks air, but very little though. One thing I don’t really like is the flat bottom where it meets the backing plate. This spot wares off and scratches more than anything when the dinghy is moved on sand. The hard bottom shouldn’t have this problem.

But, like I’d mentioned before, for $400 it’s very nice dinghy. However, moving up to a serious size, I would go with more reputable brand. The biggest dilemma here is that we don’t get to use it so much to justify a big expense (~$1K for dinghy and $1K for motor). So far I had only real two occasions this season where I was lacking the motor and bigger dingy. So, I’ll be keeping this one until I find the need to change it.

Alex.
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Alex,

Thanks. How much do you think the 8'6" hard bottow weighs? Can the hard bottow be deflated and packed away easily?

Mike
 
Mike,
In my opinion, a dinghy like what I was describing is a very different category comparing to the one I have now. It's like comparing 240DA and 320DA hypothetically. A dinghy like that with hard bottom would not be something you can put in a bag and carry in the aft cabin. I would plan on installing professional setup for swimming platform to keep the dinghy on it’s bottom. I would keep it always inflated and put the cover on it when not in use preventing rain and other stuff from getting inside. My guess is that dinghy of this type might weight anywhere around 200lbs or more.

Hope this helps.
Alex
 
I came to the party late, sorry.

I have the quicksilver 6.5' running with the mercury 2.5hp. I spent $1,400 for the whole package.

I went back and forth between super junk and super great for almost a whole season.

Here's what I found, the super junk isn't worth it. I wish I went up in size but unfortunately my 280 won't take a bigger dink on the swim platform. 2 people and a dog can fit on a 6.5' dink and get from a/b relatively dry if the weather is good. If you go to shore, you want something that will take the rocks and shells. So far mine has held up good. 2.5hp 4 stroke will run about 4 hours on 3 cups of gas. It pushes it through nicely in just about any conditions. The 280 has a nice swim platform and I just pull the dink up and strap it down with 4 ratchet straps from home depot. I leave the motor on and put a cover over everything.

The dink is GREAT!!! we use is all of the time. probably 4-5 times a day. We like to anchor and dink to towns and explore. the better the experience, the more you'll use it IMO. The cost has paid for itself at least twice over by being able to anchor out and dinghy to where you want to go. In bad weather, we are still able to get to where we want to go but it's a wet ride.

here's a pic of my dinghy on a 280

web.jpg


and here's a pic of two adults in the dinghy

web.jpg
 
TT, can you run with the dink strapped on like that?

I have been taking my motor off and leaning mine across the back of the transom. If your able to run like that I may have to try it with mine and see how it works. Wresling the motor on to the dink is kind of a pain but very doable although I'd like to come up with a better way.

P.S. The 8.5' WM dink fits perfectly across the rear of the boat. It doesn't stick out past the sides of the boat on either side. But this is when there is no motor attached.
 
TurtleTone,

Thanks, that looks great. I really like your setup!! We have a 38DA which has the transome door in the middle and opens aft. I hear you a larger size, but would this still be able to pack up and store often..and attached to the stern as you have? I must deal with the mid transome door as well.

You also got a great price (where?). The 2.5hp 4 stroke Merc, T..something or Nissan (all the same) are what I have been considering.

My daughter is going to love this!!!!

Mike
 
RiverRat said:
They just ran a sale @ WM and they have a 8.5' that will hold up to a 4hp. motor(zodiac makes them for WM). The dink cost me $699 and I went with a merc. 4 hp. motor. You could probably get away with a 2.5 or 3 hp. motor but since I'm on a river I opted for the max hp. the dink could handle.

P.S. I believe that Turtle Tone has the Quicksilver 6.5' dink you spoke of earlier. I think he pushes it with a 2.5 hp. You may want to drop him a PM to see how well it works for him.
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That's a good price. Was that special at your local WM? They don't show anything on the WM website.

I just went to AquaMax http://aquamaxdirect.com/ and they seem to have a good lineup, anyone know about them? They also have cone vs. rounded end of tube versions, what's the reason for this?

Mike

Mike
 
Mike, your right, they don't show anything any more on the website. I could have mistyped my previous post I think I did pay 799 vs 699 (sorry) I'll check my receipt when I get home. (It's still well worth the money)it has the slatted floor so it rolls up nice, plenty sturdy for what I use it for (taking the dog to the beach and making ice runs)and it scoots pretty well with the 4 hp. merc. Heres a link to the WM web page: http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/producte/10001/-1/10001/278736/377%20710/0/RU%20260/Secondary%20Search/mode%20matchallpartial/0/0?N=377%20710&Ne=0&Ntt=RU%20260&Ntk=Secondary%20Search&Ntx=mode%20matchallpartial&Nao=0&Ns=0&keyword=RU%20260&isLTokenURL=true&storeNum=5005&subdeptNum=10&classNum=10801

Again, sorry for posting the wrong price earlier...Just another dumbassattack!!!
 
Yeah, it's not a problem running with it strapped down. There are two straps on the front, and two on the back attached to the transom of the dinghy. At a slow cruise, the water will bounce the nose of the dinghy a little, but on plane it's all good. A cover is a must as the dinghy will fill up with water on a long cruise. Leaving the engine attached doesn't seem to be a problem and the transom of the dinghy seems to be plenty strong enough. The weight of the outboard is still on the platform and with it raised up, it's more centered.

You just have to be careful when docking on my port side as the propeller blade is there. It's not sticking out past the side of the boat, but if you come in or out butt first, you'll hit it.

the 2.5hp is not a speed monster. full speed is like 5mph or something like that. just enough torque to get the nose up with two people on board. but we mostly use it in bays where there is no-wake speed anyways. If there is chop, you will get wet.

We also keep a huge sponge in there, makes it easy to get the water out on wet rides.
 
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Oh I forgot to mention, I bought a suction cup navigation light at boaters world that sticks right on the top of the outboard for those late night returns from a restaurant or bar. Also works as a great general light to see what you are doing.
 
I can't remember the name of where I bought it, Butches something or other in brooklyn. A rat hole place. If I hadn't already paid for it, I probably would have thought twice about buying it there after I saw it. but it was the best price I could find and they threw the cover in for free because I had to drive to what looked like an abandoned warehouse where this greasy guy walked out and handed me the outboard. Now I see used ones for sale all over long island that look to be in great shape, for a lot less money. Hind sight is always 20/20.
 
Sorry for all of the posts.

Oh, and i'm not that fat. My skinny legs just make me look that way.
 
TurtleTone said:
Sorry for all of the posts.

Oh, and i'm not that fat. My skinny legs just make me look that way.
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Thats all fine... I couldn't get past the hat :wow: Did you steal that from a kid on the beach or what???:smt043


Also, does your GF know your toting blondes around? Didn't know dinks were chick magnets?!?!
 
That's not a pic of me hahahaha. That's my dad. I got his taste in hats.
 
In about 15 minutes, I'm going to West Marine to pick up the 260 and a 3.5 Merc. It's the best deal I've found out there, at $1400 for the package after a 20% discount.

Kevin
 
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