Quality issues in various brands

[Rich Stern]

I ranted for a number of years at the lack of quality I saw at BPS when looking at Nitro and Tracker boats on the floor. There has been a marked improvement in the last year or two. The attention to detail has improved. Kudos to Tracker.



I went to a small boat show last weekend, and while poking around some of the "other" brands, I was very surprised to see some quality shortcuts. I looked at a couple of Rangers, which, while still excellent overall, had some minor but noticable quality glitches. Nothing earth shattering, just loose molding or slightly "off" fitting of details. A Triton I looked at surprised me with a different style compartment hatch (non-locking/latching) on a rear compartment, looking totally out of place. It was cheap looking and feeling. New Stratos boats, in my opinion, have come a long way down in finish detail and materials.



I'm not out to disparage these brands. They have well deserved reputations.



I was simply surprised to see some changes.

 

[Texas Transplant]

Thanks Rich for the analysis. Nice to know.



Tex

 

[Pat Goff]

Rich,

Your observations are interesting.



There has been a lot of changes in the boat business the past few years, some good, some not so good. Some market driven, some government driven.



We have a very large fiberglass repair facility, largest in Tennesse, so we get opportunity to see just about everything there is.



Some of the newer materials, like klegecell, have certainly proven to be very reliable. The problem that offsets the structural materials is the EPA/OSHA conforming resins and gelcoats that just aren't as good as the old styrene materials.



There are a few superior resins, like the new poly materials on the market, but they are very cost prohibitive, like 4X your standard layup resin. Few boat builders have made the change.



So, bottom line, when you are inspecting a new boat for a decision, it really helps to understand how a boat is built, and to be able to ask intelligent questions.



What is the hull laminate consist of? Why?

What resin is used? Why?

How is the stringer built? Why?

How is the stringer attached to the hull? Why?

What is the transom consist of? Why?

How does the floors and decks attach to the hull/stringer?



Let's talk to a few owners, see how their experience has been with their boats and especially with your dealership.



You'll seperate the players from the pretenders quick with those questions.

 

[mike chip]

i think stratos has come along way since yamaha took over.

mike

 

[Pat Goff]

Yamaha does not own stratos.



Stratos is a Genmar company.

So is:

Ranger

Champion

Larson

Glastron

Four Winns

And a zillion others.

 

[Kenneth Brown]

Pat, Question for ya'





Have you ever seen gelcoat "coldlap" ( It's a welding term) for lack of a better explanation.

It looks like a crack but it's not uniform in width... i can almost see glass in it..

Does that make any sense???



Thanks, KB

 

[Pat Goff]

Sure,

Most likely it's a patch attempt that wasn't quite finished correctly.

 

[Rich Stern]

Thanks Rich for the analysis. Nice to know.

Don't get me ahead of myself, Tex. Just casual observations based on a very tiny sample.

 

[Pat Goff]

AquaSport