scott09

My Feedback: (1)

Have seen the pre-reviews as betting most of us have but holding off on purchase for real user reviews - was suppose to have been available first of this month but haven't seen feedback.
Typically wouldn't go for this sort of manufacturer or boat but....anyone?

Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

But. Onboard starter, more weight and another expensive thing to go wrong. Replace it with a pul-starter and you'll save a ton of weight also.
"Dynamite" CY/Sikk engine. More HP and RPM out of the box than the Zenoah 260 PUM but it's made from cheap metal. The pawls on the flywheel wear out quickly so you'd have to replace the whole unit.
ProBoat has learned from their previous mistakes on this boat which had to have cost them a lot of money on warranty service from the nitro and gas boats that are now discontinued.
Yes, it's not a good time of the year to roll out a new boat. Those of us in the northern climes are looking at boats for next season and winter projects for the DIYer's.

scott09

My Feedback: (1)

Yes, am hoping this boat may be more of a "learned from our mistakes" sort of opportunity for Proboat.
Am a gimmick guy so electric start I don't mind despite the weight/hassle - in fact, keep toying with adding it to other boats. Anyway, I would like to try it out and this one comes with it.
Finish and nice radio box really caught my eye. Only have a few boats otherwise but been looking...
Heck, maybe I'll be an early user reviewer.
Frankly, am just still bummed about WHH selling out, Bonzi can't come close to replacing Tony's service - was saving for a Monster Magnum when they sold.

expresscraft

I do not think anyone can replace Tony on his own products,But Dan has a good following as well, What service do you think you will get from pro boat?Another BIG point is I'm sure Dan is making the boats the same way WHH made them, If that's the case you will probably not need any real service.You can count on needing service from Pro Boat,They have there place and I'm not really down on Pro boat. But I dont care to see shots fired at the few remaining American boat manufactures either,Bonzi is one of the only manufactures that offer ready to run boats using in house parts left.I believe Aeromarine is the only other one out there in the USA.It's a tall order to stock zenoha's with almost 0% mark up after considering overhead.and making parts for such a small community.We were never able to do it in 20+ years of making model boats,There has never been a stable enough supplier of parts whith any mark up for business purposses to make the same boat over and over,and to make them in house is a big deal when you are talking about a market that will not even support a magazine.(I can buy a Rat magazine if I was a pet owner) But not a gas boat magazine.Manufactures will go faster then they will appear,people beater make up there minds if they want things produced in the USA or not.My daughter just graduated high school and my boy will next year. I have no intention on having them do fiberglass work.

missnmoney

How did this go from "Proboat " (junk in my opinion) to bashing the rest of the small business hobby people ?

Yes Tony is a great guy ,salesman, hobbiest and trend setting guru, same with you Tom.
big box manufacturers like "Proboat" , Traxxas etc sell mass produced stuff, built cheep & manufactured to make a profit.
Try getting a person on the phone at these places or even finding a number to speak in person with somebody. .
Yes I have purchased offshore items, but I Never get the equal of service we have on this side of the planet.
Nothing like calling a hobbiest up to ask a question and getting years of personal experience with the answer you seek , instead of the big box service response through impersonal emails. that's IF they have an answer for you.

If they sold a finished boat like one of mine or a quality hull as Tom would sell or a decent hi mod Engine like others sell, we could never afford to do this as a hobby ... ever.

ok Rant over , I will go wipe off the verbal diarreah now...

scott09

My Feedback: (1)

All great points.
Of course I appreciate Bonzi - but...
For example, they have had "info coming soon" about their new inline engines forever, never gets updated.
Have contacted their sales department at least twice, probably three times about their Enforcer line - no response other than automated one.
Little things like that strike me as unprofessional and dismissive, not the sort of thing any retail sales needs regardless of how niche it is.
Bonzi has done nothing with the web site for their Enforcer line - it's stuck in limbo, can't even tell if M5 option is still available.
All that said, am betting if I called they would be helpful - but hey, I work during the day, shop for toys at night

Points about support/parts for proboat vs bonzi is well taken. Indeed, I would make or source out (like from Bonzi!) any proboat parts needed.
I just dug the Rockstar hull, graphics and radio box is all.

SS RC Boats

For what its costing you and what you will spend to upgrade parts your better of purchasing a quality boat from someone else. You can always get a hull to look very,very similar and a vinyl wrap to look the same(if not better) and you will be more satisfied in the long run. Tom at Expresscraft has a nice Thunderbolt cat or Rick at Central RC Marine has a few nice cats with scale looks. I would try one of them first and they can both build it ready to run. Bonzi i would personally not even bother with them...if you need any parts Gizmomotors would be your better option.

rcguy1411

Think about this the proboat would be in evey hobby shop that carries there line its now mid July and no boat tells me there is a problem somewhere eather with reliabilty of starter or engine bolth our boating season is too short bet this will be out just in time for x mas for all the good little boys and girls

expresscraft

Hey scott09 its all good, I really have no idea on what Dan is doing or not doing with enforcer and the WHH line. I guess I see the cheap things coming out of china as having a very high price that we will all be paying one day.

scott09

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks for input everyone. Prob keep saving to put together a Monster Magnum or something similar - starts with a reasonably priced opposite firing port/starboard inline, go from there. Live on large choppy lake so deep v hull is best anyway.
True to say been disappointed with nearly every china toy, still love my Enforcers.

expresscraft

I do not think anyone will disagree but if a inline is what you are after the rcmk k-660 or 520 is the way to go.they are less money and a much much better power plant. the rcmk has one fly wheel and a purpose built crank, the monster motor from WHH is two zenhoa's coupled together (always a long term problem) and two fly wheels (way more rotating weight) this is probably why you are not seeing any updates on it, It's simply out dated and over priced compared to the RCMK at around 700.00 with the difference you can get a great set if expansion chambers as well.We have a 54" c-54 that has seen 79 MPH with a inline mod k-600. we had a lot of set up issue's with it, as the standard 1 1/2 oz mat backed up by 5.8 oz carbon twill still allowed the hull to flex. most boats including WHH use 1 1/2oz mat backed by 6oz cloth under the engine rails.so standard lay up vs standard lay up we have a stronger hull. with a inline application we double up the mat for a 3oz mat backed by 5.8 oz carbon twill. with 11-13 HP this extra weight does not hurt anything. Remember 79 MPH with a mono is screaming fast.