Starweld by Starcraft

[Casual Purchase]

I'm considering an 18' Starweld with a 115 4 stroke Merc. Starweld was Monark before Starcraft bought them. Does anybody have information about the stability and ride on this boat?

[PJM]

Casual

See if the dealer will do a test ride if possible. You are looking at a boat built by the Starcraft boat company and they build nice boats. You can look to see if the fit and finish are ok and the motor is a Mercury so that going to be dependability.

Originally Posted by Casual Purchase

I'm considering an 18' Starweld with a 115 4 stroke Merc. Starweld was Monark before Starcraft bought them. Does anybody have information about the stability and ride on this boat?

[beeman]

Never seen one in person and i doubt anyone has fished out of one. I would steer clear of dealer though. There saying no more leaks lol no rivets. Never had a leak in my rivet, only problem I had was fully weld boat lol. 4stroke you might not like it.


http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218...arch=starcraft

I got the 18 foot in may 2010 good boat went from a glass boat thought i would lose some comfort in ride but its not to bad, i got 115 merc 2 stroke 2 in the boat with it outfited is about 40 mph. no leaks bilge never runs unless i forget to turn livewell off lol got cought in 45 mph wind 8 miles from ramp did great happy i got it.

[staylor]

...and compared them to the Starcrafts- my local dealer handles both. The general layout looks decent and fit/finish seemed good also. The hulls had a pretty decent Vee- in the 17 degree deadrise range on the ones I've seen, and this indicates a smooth ride. My only complaint was that they seemed on the heavy side compared to a similar hull that was riveted. As for the welded hull- it not done properly a welded hull will start to fatigue crack near the welds, and this is a lot harder to fix than replacing a few rivets. There is a fellow over on the bassboat forum for tin boats who spent most of the year running his welded hull flat out with various set-ups and props to pull top end. I won't name the brand except to say it starts with a "T". The fellow has just discovered fatigue cracks- lots of them, along with leaks, and is trying to figure out if he's got a warranty claim that the manufacturer will honor. From what I've seen on the old Monark boats, now Starweld, they seemed to hold up well in comparison to the issues with brand "T", and I've never heard of a Monark leaking. That being said- I will continue to stay with riveted hulls because I've had such good luck with them over the years.
Doug