Four Winns Fling 1995, Good Boat?

[AggieAsh]

Just wondering if a 95 fling with a 115 hp Evinrude is a good boat. Or would i be much better off waiting for a Sea-Doo with single or duel rotax engines

Thanks for your imput!

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: Four Winns Fling 1995, Good Boat?

Four Winns makes a good boat. In general they are top notch. The problem with the Fling is the OMC Jet. These jet drives were made by mounting a typical 2-stroke outboard powerhead to a jet pump. The powerhead is exactly like the one on a 115 HP outboard. The jet pump is a bit problematic as they weren't all that great to begin with. Now the OMC is out of business getting service and parts for the pump could be a problem.

In addition to that it seems that since the pump is not very efficient many of the boats are operated at or near full throttle for a majority of their life. This causes the powerheads to get a lot more wear and tear than a normal outboard witha prop.

Whether or not an older SeaDoo with a 2-stroke rotax is any better is debatable.

 

[AggieAsh]

Re: Four Winns Fling 1995, Good Boat?

Thanks your your opinion. i certianily dont want to get something i might not be able to fix. I have never owned a boat before but with owning other toys its just a matter of time before you will need parts. I am leaning twords a mid 90s challenger or a speedster. The challenger having a 800 cc and the speedster having twin 85 hp engines. I am wondering if the challenger would pull a skier? and is having just one engine besides being better on gas more pratical for repair costs.

 

[AggieAsh]

Re: Four Winns Fling 1995, Good Boat?

Forgot to say i am also looking at possibly a sea rayder, single engine 120 hp. any opinion on those?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Four Winns Fling 1995, Good Boat?

I think some of the jet boats have Force powerheads in them. I'd avoid those for the same reason as the OMCs, parts support.

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: Four Winns Fling 1995, Good Boat?

Thanks your your opinion. i certianily dont want to get something i might not be able to fix. I have never owned a boat before but with owning other toys its just a matter of time before you will need parts. I am leaning twords a mid 90s challenger or a speedster. The challenger having a 800 cc and the speedster having twin 85 hp engines. I am wondering if the challenger would pull a skier? and is having just one engine besides being better on gas more pratical for repair costs.

My experience with 2-stroke sub 800cc Sea Doo motors is that they are pretty durable, suck down the gas and require a pretty religious maintenance schedule.

The motor codes, discplacment and horse power are as follows. This is from memory and I haven't played with one of this for a few years, so take it for what its worth.

The motor code 787 (781cc) is 110 hp.

The motor code 717 (718cc) is 85HP.

The motor code 657 (650cc) is 80hp.

From my experience and research all of these motors are pretty good. I wouldn't touch a 930-947 series motor, however, I don't think they were used in the boats.

There are Challengers out there that have a single 717 (85hp) so make sure you know what you are looking at. They perform marginally at best.

For pulling power and skinging you will likely want to get a Speedster.

No matter what make sure you understand that these boats use a lot of gas....I mean a lot. My primary experience is with a regular SeaDoo a 1997 GS with the 717 motor. That thing would suck down 10 gals of gas in an hour or so of heavy riding.

 

[AggieAsh]

Re: Four Winns Fling 1995, Good Boat?

WOW! that's a lot of gas! All i want to do is be able to pull a tube, ski, and fish with something that has room for 5 people and wont cost an arm and a leg. Maybe i am looking at the wrong boats in general. comparatively what would a speed boat get gas wise?


PS i love Grand Rapids, im from the Jackson area.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Four Winns Fling 1995, Good Boat?

Outboards generally (and this is a big generally) use their rated HP/10 per hour at WOT. So my 90 would use 9 gallons per hour at WOT. However that number drops significantly when you back off the throttle. Problem, as I understand, with the jet boats is they are typically run closer to WOT more often than prop boats. The jets are very inefficient. I doubt I've ever used more than 10-12 gallons in a day doing what I do.

 

[scout66]

Re: Four Winns Fling 1995, Good Boat?

I am new to this and cant figure out where to post questions. i am also looking at buying a 1995 fling with the 115 OMC it has no issues and was owned by a very old married couple who use it very little. price is $2500 sorry if i posted this wrong and in the wrong place but my frustration and lack of computer savy is getting the better of me!! i need to know if this is a good boat.

Old Scout.