# 2000 Wellcraft 22' W/A Questions



## MSUICEMAN (Jan 9, 2002)

Sorry for the postings as of late, but I am used boat shopping and don't know about some of these brands. Are Wellcrafts decent? I know I can't afford the ferrari of boats but am looking at one of these online and am wondering if:

1)there are known issues with this brand/model

2)if someone has one (or has fished on one a lot) and can give a good review

and

3) would I be SOL trailering this thing with a 1/2 ton dodge ram. it says 3650 dry, plus trailer, fluids, etc I wonder what that would bump it up to.

Anyways, thanks for the help on here!

Steve


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## WALLEYE MIKE (Jan 7, 2001)

From what I heard, wellcrafts are fine boats. Your pickup should be fine.


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## shametamer (Jul 22, 2001)

newer ram 150's have towing capacity of 9100 lbs...fully decked the package would be well over 6000 lbs, but well within guidelines for safe towing http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=149245


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## UNREEL (Jun 8, 2007)

Unless its next to free I would not get a Wellcraft.

Nasty ride, always wood rot.

In the W/A market, Pursuit or Grady if $$$ allows. Theres a few deals out there, just keep your options open.

I would be in a Trophy over a Welly, and theres LOTS of cheap Trophys out there. 

FWIW theres a 21' Trophy in Port Austin, all rigged, for 8k. Sees the water once a year for the last 10.


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## MSUICEMAN (Jan 9, 2002)

if you have info on the trophy, please PM me it.

i probably have enough for a used grady, but right now i'm leaning towards being budget-minded because of several factors.

thanks,
steve


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## tinmarine (Nov 19, 2007)

The only thing that sucks about being budget minded when it comes to boats, is that you'll get some time in on the boat and want to get rid of it to buy another boat. With a Grady you'll want to hang on to it and it holds it value. Trust me, you ride in a Grady, you won't be looking at that Trophy for long. I loved mine.
But, with this economy and needing to stash away money just in case, I definately understand why someone would go with something more economical or get out of boating altogether. Another good boat that is priced decently are Seaswirl Stripers.


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## UNREEL (Jun 8, 2007)

MSUICEMAN said:


> if you have info on the trophy, please PM me it.
> 
> i probably have enough for a used grady, but right now i'm leaning towards being budget-minded because of several factors.
> 
> ...


pm sent


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## wruebs (Nov 18, 2003)

I'll give a couple of kudos for wellcraft. I had a V-20 and it was a great boat, my favorite boat so far. Also have a buddy who has a newer one (sportsman I think) and he likes his.


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## SalmonBum (Feb 28, 2001)

As unreel says, Wellcrafts are on my DO NOT RIDE IN list......

Baha Cruisers, Wellcraft, sportcraft........ all nice looking boats, but you need to look how a boat is built. These above are "showroom" boats, made to look good and get your sale.




tinmarine said:


> Another good boat that is priced decently are Seaswirl Stripers.


Better, but have a cored hull. If the plan is to have it for a long term, cored hulls are not best choice.


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## OakLane (Feb 19, 2004)

I am more than little surprised that anyone would pick a Bayliner Trophy over a Wellcraft,any Wellcraft.

If it says Bayliner on it,guarantee it to lose 75% of it's value the minute it is driven off the lot.And let's not forget the incredible combination of Trophy boats and Force outboards. :tdo12:

The double kiss of death.If you could take a turd, and make it an even bigger turd with less value, hanging a Force on the back is a sure way to accomplish that.


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## SalmonBum (Feb 28, 2001)

OakLane said:


> I am more than little surprised that anyone would pick a Bayliner Trophy over a Wellcraft,any Wellcraft.
> 
> If it says Bayliner on it,guarantee it to lose 75% of it's value the minute it is driven off the lot.And let's not forget the incredible combination of Trophy boats and Force outboards. :tdo12:
> 
> The double kiss of death.If you could take a turd, and make it an even bigger turd with less value, hanging a Force on the back is a sure way to accomplish that.


What is your qualification to say a Trophy is worse than Wellcraft??? Have you owned either or are you just another "I heard Bayliners stink" Hear-Say guy?

Here is my experience:
My 1st boat I put money down was a Wellcraft Coastal with only 200 hrs. I had a surveyor come out and it took him less than 15 min to find wet stringers and a transom that needed work. At the same time my buddy bought a 19 ft Wellcract CC WITHOUT a Survey. Once he got it home he went to install a Kicker Brkt. Guess what??? Transom was shot . My 2nd boat I bought was a '88 24 Trophy. Survey was on it 5 hrs and didn't find a thing wrong. I fished that boat hard for 5 yrs and sold it for more than I paid. I then also had a 1993 23' Trophy for a few yrs that I just sold this fall. The 24 sold to the 1st guy that came out, the 23 to the 2nd.

The reason I bought a Trophy for my 1st Boat? The surveyor told me that they are the best bang for your buck. He very rarely saw a structural problem with them, but Wellcrafts were prone to wet stringers and separated transoms. Yeah, i had to carry a screwdriver to tighten down something from time to time, but I didn't have to drop $5000 + on glasswork.

I have had 2 and many of my fiends have them. Bottom line, they are a great boat for the money that HOLD their value better than most in that price range.


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## OakLane (Feb 19, 2004)

Yeah,I am just one of those dumb rubes who fell off the turnip wagon.Know nothing about boats, and just like to interject my over-bearing opinions onto other people because I read something on the Internet once about what they are talking about. 

Not a guy who has owned 20 boats in his life, re-built a half dozen or so from the stringers up,or ever had a smart or original thought in his head. 

So you had a good Bayliner??That makes them all good?Makes you uniquely qualified to say that they are better than a Wellcraft how??Probably no more than I am qualified. If plywood stringers and souls are your thing and no resale value, then by all means buy a Force powered Bayliner with a rinky-dink trailer under it and become a master yachtsman. 

NADA and other resale journals apparently are not in the know as they rank Bayliner depreciation as pretty damn steep. And I am sure a bank would be thrilled to lend more money than NADA says a boat is worth in these times. :lol:

The new Trophy is a better boat than anything Bayliner could dream of producing 20 years ago,or even 10 for that matter. It is a shame they will never shake the reputation they so rightfully earned for being throw away boats.


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## SalmonBum (Feb 28, 2001)

OakLane said:


> Yeah,I am just one of those dumb rubes who fell off the turnip wagon.Know nothing about boats, and just like to interject my over-bearing opinions onto other people because I read something on the Internet once about what they are talking about.
> 
> Not a guy who has owned 20 boats in his life, re-built a half dozen or so from the stringers up,or ever had a smart or original thought in his head.
> 
> ...


Actually, I've had two. If you count 5 of my fishing buddies, which are boats I fish on, that would be near 8 Trophy's. I will say it again, I would buy a Trophy over any Wellcraft, any day of the week.


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## ahasiec (Jul 20, 2002)

I cant speak for Wellcrafts or Trophy's....but we have a Sporty that has been great, other than a stupid mistake I made not doing some small maintenance....solid as a rock....I think you will hear horror stories from any manufacturer....the product is only as good as how the workers felt that day...


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## tinmarine (Nov 19, 2007)

SalmonBum said:


> If the plan is to have it for a long term, cored hulls are not best choice.


 
Not to sound like a nudge or anything, but exactly why won't cored hulls hold up for the long haul? 
For the record, I know a couple people that are happy with the build quality of their Trophy's. The Trophy line seems to have always been better built than their Bayliner counterparts.
If you don't want to get a boat that will last and hold value........ Tiara, Pursuit, Grady White, Carolina Classic, Albemarle, or Shamrock.


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## UNREEL (Jun 8, 2007)

Any Tiara horror stories?

None that Ive heard. Bottom line, with anything, you get what you pay for.

Bought my '85 270 Sportcraft Fisherman 4yrs ago for 7k, with 40hrs on rebuilt 350. Dumped another 6k in stringers, bulkhead and transom. Then it needed electronics, but I put on the brakes before I got over my head in JUNK.

Bought my '84 2700 Open 3 yrs ago for 42k. Needed nothing. Still doesn't. 2900hrs and has never missed a beat. I'm the 5th owner, and I personally know the previous 4. Solid as a rock, says the DNR survey, which makes a marine survey look like a third grade math test. You get what you pay for.

If they ever drop in value, I may be able to afford a 33. But they never will.

Boats are not cheap. If your in the market for a used boat in the 21-23' range, ready to fish, and less than 10yrs old it better have a starting price of 15k, anything decent will most likely be closer to 20.

Not 8.

How many Mako's, Grady's, Pursuits, or Whalers do you see that fit the above criteria for 6-8 grand? None.


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## tinmarine (Nov 19, 2007)

UNREEL said:


> Any Tiara horror stories?


Ah, what do you know????? Tiara's suck. One step above a balsa canoe if you ask me.


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## SalmonBum (Feb 28, 2001)

tinmarine said:


> Not to sound like a nudge or anything, but exactly why won't cored hulls hold up for the long haul?


Example:
If you have a cored hull boat and put a thru hull Xducer in, you can't just drill a hole and stick in the Xducer. You need to remove 2" of inside fiberglass and CORING around where the hull will go. Basically everything except for the outside layer of glass. You then need to fill the void in with expoy to seal the coring from the water. Cored hulls are not of matter of IF but WHEN they will get wet. Yrs of pounding waves and abuse will loosen up thru hull and whatnot, letting water seep in, eventually turning a hulls' inside into dust. Here is a quote I found by a famous surveyor on the subject:

"The reason is that once water gets into a core, a phenomenon called hydraulic erosion takes place. Due to the slamming and pounding of the hull bottom on the sea surface, water contained within a laminate or core will be compressed by the flexing laminate structure. Thus, the bottom literally becomes a diaphragm pump"


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## tinmarine (Nov 19, 2007)

SalmonBum said:


> Example:
> If you have a cored hull boat and put a thru hull Xducer in, you can't just drill a hole and stick in the Xducer. You need to remove 2" of inside fiberglass and CORING around where the hull will go. Basically everything except for the outside layer of glass. You then need to fill the void in with expoy to seal the coring from the water. Cored hulls are not of matter of IF but WHEN they will get wet. Yrs of pounding waves and abuse will loosen up thru hull and whatnot, letting water seep in, eventually turning a hulls' inside into dust. Here is a quote I found by a famous surveyor on the subject:
> 
> "The reason is that once water gets into a core, a phenomenon called hydraulic erosion takes place. Due to the slamming and pounding of the hull bottom on the sea surface, water contained within a laminate or core will be compressed by the flexing laminate structure. Thus, the bottom literally becomes a diaphragm pump"


 
Interesting.
BUT, if a person opens up their hull and doesn't put a penetrating epoxy and properly prep the hull in the event of a leak, then they don't have any business owning a boat. As with anything else, proper steps need to be followed to do a job right and protect your investment. The same things can be said about wood quite honestly and water intrusion. 
It also depends on what the core material is the builder used. I remember reading about someone who had water leaking out of his transom. New boat. Bottom line, it wasn't sealed properly but the material used was a hollow rigid core that doesn't rot. He had to send the boat back to the manufacturer, and even if had happened years down the road, it wouldn't have affected the integrity of the boat. 
Alot of people are buying boats for the fact that no wood is used in it's construction. Their belief is, no wood, no rot. Is this true? Who knows. We shall see. Me? I like my Shamrock with wood. A boat that has proven itself over the years. So much so that the majority of the boats made are still on the water and going strong. Just a shame they have fallen victim to the economy and folded in the past 6 months.


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