hmedic

Greetings

Ok guys - we live in a no wake zone of a nicesmaller lake in Ohio, my son wants a boat for Christmas. He is 13 and is mechanical as am I.... I am going to buy both of us a boat to play with.

My first buy - Pro-Boat Shockwave 36 - nitro, condition is rtr, but needs some cosmetics.......... this boat was for him officialy cause it was $185 and is with in the Christmas budget given he already has stuff.

Boat two (both nitro) - either a :

Thunder Tiger Falcon 3.5 - on here in the market - $225.00 shipped

ProBoat Black Jack 26SS - also on here - $185.00 plus shipping

we first looked at a traxxas blast, but were greatly dissappointed at the small nature of the boat, thus the SHockwave purchase (it looked closest to the Spartan) was the result, also my concern with giving him the Black jack - but we have never seen one in person either- this will be his "big gift" if you will, so we wanted something with some "pop" but not $500 "pop"!

Any thoughs on either boat - both of the ones on here appear to be in nice shape and say they are ready to go and both have radios, but I dont know alot about them....

amax

well the shockwave is gonna be the faster of the 3 boats you have listed, and it will take much more adverse weather conditions (wind, waves, ect..) the BJ is about 1/2 the size of the SW36.The BJ also has the .18 engine compared to the .32 of the SW36. The BJ can run in a smaller tighter area due to it's smaller size if your pond is small, But the BJ being a Catamaran isn't well know for it's high speed turning capability. Search YouTube and i'm sure you can find LOTs of vids of the boats your looking at.

Personally I would say go with a pair of SW36's if you have the room to run em.

hmedic

wow interesting thoughts- I never looked at the motor - seems like they have all been .15 or .18 so yes .32 seems huge in retrospect.  Room i dont think should be an issue, the cove we are in that is no wake is about two football fields wide and probably 6 long, plus the neighbor is never out at his place (his summer home) and he has a boat lift with deck over so we will be a good 14' off the ground or over the water.  I assumed the boats would NOT reach that far.  thanks for the advice, I may shy away from both then and see if there is something else out there!

Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

The Falcon OB tunnel boat is not a good choice. The engine isn't that good and the hull has Band-Aid fixes on it to help compensate for its ill handling.
You might also want ot think of what accessories that you're going to need. The OB tunnel would need a battery and starter, the others have pull-starters.

hmedic

Alright, so neither of the boats listed seems to hold up to the Shockwave 36.... is their other boats besides these that would be a good choice with our spending $500 on the Spartan I saw at the hobby shop?  Also- my wife asked what happens if the boat is ran out of range? do they stop? or turn off? no just keep going I hope!  

Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

Usually radio range is around 1/4 mile, a lot further than you'd normally go as you'd lose sight of it. Living on a lake I'd hope that you've got a way to retrieve it in case something does happen.

hmedic

Peddle boat! I will keep looking and see if there are other boats in about the same class as the Shockwave 36...and go from there- there is another 51" vee hull on here in Ohio also, but ir\t is a bit rich for our blood!

Motoman25

My Feedback: (1)

I have a shockwave 36 for sale for 300 shipped if you are interested. Comes with FM transmitter setup too as the AM stuff was wrecked. Tons of spare parts, i.e. prop shafts, and props.

hmedic

thanks for the offer - I just bought another one on ebay set up and ready for $205.00.  i hope they are nice boats..everyone seems to rave about them.

amax

The SW36 is a good "Starter Boat" the Dyn .32 is a fairly easy to tune and maintain engine as far as Nitro Engines go. As far as the V hull\Mono goes in "This Price Range" and RTR there hard to beat. BUT Keep in mind,, This is NOT a High speed race boat, it's a High Production Low Cost boat,, It's Not Perfect, and neither are Any of the other RTR's out there. There are a Lot of posts on the SW36 and Upgrades\Fixes for it just do a search here in RCU.
Always Flush the fuel out of the system and engine at the end of the day and use Plenty of ARO, Keep the drive shaft Well Greased, electronics Dry, Prop Sharp and Balanced, Extra Glow Plugs and batteries for the igniter, etc....

What Happens when you Go Out of range,,,,, with the Stock Radio system,, It Keeps On Going the Same Direction and Throttle it was at when you lost signal until Something Stops It,,[:@] or if your lucky it runs out of fuel[:-]
There are Add-On Fail safes you can purchase to add to your system or Upgrade to a Radio system that has one built in ( I use SPEKTRUM Radio Systems) .
IF Set up Properly when you loose signal or go To Far the Fail Safe kicks in and the Steering and Throttle go to the Position "You" Preset when setting the system up.
I set Mine turning Right and about 1\3 throttle, SO when IT happens the boat drops Off plane and turns back around and comes Back into range.