Current Caldwell Checkmate production

[karzrus]

That is a terrible opinion piece especially about the bow rider comment. Um Checkmate would be dead long ago if they did not do bowriders.

As would every other performance brand, they all do fast O/B fishing boats now. Try telling them to all go back to making only close bow performance boats.

 

[xsv spd]

That is a terrible opinion piece especially about the bow rider comment. Um Checkmate would be dead long ago if they did not do bowriders.

Having owned both a 2100 Pulsare, and my current 2000 BR Pulsare, I concur 100%. I loved the 2100 but the 2000 BR is WAY more functional. Keep making bow riders Pete!!!! I'm 20 + years into owning Checkmates and EVERYBODY loves my boats and think they are the some of the coolest looking boats. And that is MY personal strong opinion from based on actual ownership of the brand.

 

[miller]

Agreed!!! I'm not sure how much stock I would place on his opinion. I get compliments on my " ancient and ugly" Convincor pretty near every time take it out.

 

[SCT]

I agree Miller, the Convincor line is definitely an old school design compared to current offerings from other manufacturers……but still stands the test of time! Plus, i don’t believe the current CM owner even has the old 25’ and 300 Convincor molds…..so it’s a mute point.

The author’s point about bow riders does not make sense, either. Why can’t a manufacturer have a LD deck and a BR deck molds for the same hull? I believe CM produced more LDs in the 70/80s but more BRs in the 90s/00.

 

[Glenn Kornett]

When I picked up my 2400 Pulsare LD in late 2019, Dean told me that the sold 3 - 4 times as many BRX 2400's as LD.

 

[Hayabusa]

Jared is a good guy, very knowledgeable in many areas. I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to him a couple of times when I put my Tuff in his Boat on Blocks section and I respect his opinion, most things I agree with some I don’t. If he’s hard core offshore like running hard wave to wave then yes I’d agree a long deck is the way to go.…. or make sure you don’t have anybody in the bow of your BRX cause for sure they’d be ejected or at the least they’d come back with back aches and I think that’s one of the reasons he doesn't like bow riders. I’ve had many pleasure/sport boats and I must say that my 24 BRX is an all around one of the good boats I’ve had so far, granted, my Tuff 28 was an awesome boat but I could only fit 3 people comfortably with a small cooler and it was only good to go fast or sit pretty at the sand bar getting a sun burn cause if you’d put up an Taylor anchor shade you’d definitely be bumping into it all the time, very uncomfortable boat to move around in. Now my 24 BRX a contraire I can seat 6 super comfortable and do 50mph with the Bimini top up without buckling it or do 65mph all day long offshore as long as it’s not greater than a 1 to 2 foot chop with out ejecting someone out of the bow 2 to 4 foot waves or tight swells I can throttle well to get a nice ride but will only do up to 45mph in my comfort level and I won’t have anybody in the bow. My BRX has so much room and storage area that I’ll store snorkeling gear for 6, spearguns, ticklers and lobster snares/nets, towels, tools, booze cooler, food and other stuff the wife brings, all neatly stored and out of the way, couldn’t store much safely in the Tuff, I even have a 10 gallon fresh water wash down/shower in the BRX, best of all I can stand on my boarding platforms and take the cowl off my 400R or change the prop with ease, or cast a fishing line. Pete would be wise to make some nice functional boarding platforms the original BRX one that came with mine was useless.

 

[DukeOfDayton]

I have had an order through Tinus Marine in Wisconsin since all the legal drama started. I never got out of line for the boat. I just had a call with Tim Tinus and he confirmed they are back in business with Caldwell and actively making boats.

He said Checkmate made the executive decision to get caught up on all their backordered 24 ft boat sales first. When those are done, they will start on the 21 ft backorders. After that, the new orders will begin.

 

[karzrus]

As good a place to start as any, I wonder how many of the back orders remain in place? It's been long enough that some customers may have moved on.

 

[DukeOfDayton]

As good a place to start as any, I wonder how many of the back orders remain in place? It's been long enough that some customers may have moved on.

From what I understand, people did step out of line for the waiting list. Whether it was from being tired of waiting or frustration due to lack of communication. I have a few jet skis to hold me over, so I wasn’t in a big rush to step out of line lol.

I was told they are predicting to have the 2400s done in about 8 months or so. I have no clue how they got that time frame, but that’s what I was told. So however many boats that is..

 

[Madtown]

From what I understand, people did step out of line for the waiting list. Whether it was from being tired of waiting or frustration due to lack of communication. I have a few jet skis to hold me over, so I wasn’t in a big rush to step out of line lol.

I was told they are predicting to have the 2400s done in about 8 months or so. I have no clue how they got that time frame, but that’s what I was told. So however many boats that is..

I live close to Tinus & wonder how many boats total they have on order beside yours DukeOfDayton? What do you have on order btw, 2100 Pulsare?

 

[DukeOfDayton]

I live close to Tinus & wonder how many boats total they have on order beside yours DukeOfDayton? What do you have on order btw, 2100 Pulsare?

I ordered a 2100.

I'm not certain how many backorders there are presently. I do know however that Caldwell is seriously thinking of making the new boats 22 feet and 26 feet. (2100s would be 2200s and the 2400s would be 2500s). This is something we may have to deal with even as a backorder customer of the 2100 model.

The problem is that crazy people like me are putting those big 250 or 300 Merc Pro XS motors on the back of the boats and they need a little more length to compensate for weight and power. People buy those 6 inch or 1 ft setback plates on the motors to extend them a little more, but Checkmate is wanting to just make the boats a little bit longer.

I'm good either way. Just wondering what they are going to do.

 

[Madtown]

I was curious on the weight difference say with my 250 XS Racing VS a 300R. They actually are within a few pound of each other.

 

[Hayabusa]

The problem with Mercury is that know seems to know how they weigh their motors, I’m guessing empty of fluids, no steering ram, no cowls. My 400R is stamped at 695 lbs and in reality it weighs 730lbs and I’ve heard of other 400R‘s stamped at 680lbs. The 300R, internet says 512lbs dry, so that would mean no oil, no gear oil, no cowls maybe? If you where to weigh it wet and ready to start I’m sure it would be in the 570lb range

 

[Instigator]

The problem with Mercury is that know seems to know how they weigh their motors, I’m guessing empty of fluids, no steering ram, no cowls. My 400R is stamped at 695 lbs and in reality it weighs 730lbs and I’ve heard of other 400R‘s stamped at 680lbs. The 300R, internet says 512lbs dry, so that would mean no oil, no gear oil, no cowls maybe? If you where to weigh it wet and ready to start I’m sure it would be in the 570lb range

Merc has always listed weights at bellow actual.

John Tiger actually did story on it yrs back, in Bass n Walleye Boats mag.

They weighed them themselves for the story.
Everyone’s, not just Mercs but theirs were off the most and always way heavier than advertised!

And being a hot rod OMC guy, fighting to drop every lb off my motors that I could, I found it especially comical!

Hell, I was closer than I thought!

 

[Instigator]

It is still sad to me to see Checkmate gone from Bucyrus, which is only 45 mins from me.

While I was working on my Convincor this weekend I was thinking of all they had accomplished, and how long they were in business, and how many boats they built, and how much adapting they did to the market changes through that history.

I remember when I sold them at the dealership in ‘89 I still belonged to the APBA from my kneel down racing days and kept one of their rule books which listed all the speed records.

It was an old one from the ‘70s and I used it as a sales aid because of all of the marathon records set in the single outboard V bottoms classes that Checkmate held.

Most of them set by Tom Stickle (I think is correct name) who was our sales rep for Checkmate!

He used to bring us samples of the boats from the cut outs for the IOs on the transom and decks for the bow hatches.

I remember one time I had a cut out from the bow hatch opening and was showing it to prospective customer and I whacked it on a steel shelf as hard as I could and it scared the P out to everybody in the show room!

 

[Glenn Kornett]

The problem with Mercury is that know seems to know how they weigh their motors, I’m guessing empty of fluids, no steering ram, no cowls. My 400R is stamped at 695 lbs and in reality it weighs 730lbs and I’ve heard of other 400R‘s stamped at 680lbs. The 300R, internet says 512lbs dry, so that would mean no oil, no gear oil, no cowls maybe? If you where to weigh it wet and ready to start I’m sure it would be in the 570lb range

I believe you are very close on the 300R weight. If I recall correctly, Randy Corson weighed one with fluids, prop, cowl, steering, ready to go before he hung it on a Liberator and it was very close to what you stated.

 

[Skialot2]

The problem with Mercury is that know seems to know how they weigh their motors, I’m guessing empty of fluids, no steering ram, no cowls. My 400R is stamped at 695 lbs and in reality it weighs 730lbs and I’ve heard of other 400R‘s stamped at 680lbs. The 300R, internet says 512lbs dry, so that would mean no oil, no gear oil, no cowls maybe? If you where to weigh it wet and ready to start I’m sure it would be in the 570lb range

Mercury weighs their motors without any fluids at all. They only weigh the lightest available model with the shortest shaft available with no accessories or options at all. Plus, these are sand cast motors. There is going to be some variance in the thickness of the castings. Then they are only machined on the surfaces that are needed. The rest is left ruff. This could easily add up to 20, 30 or even 40 pounds or more over the whole motor.

 

[Hayabusa]

What??? So my 400R L weighs the same as the 400R XXXL? And that it’s weighed right out of the sand cast mold? And then they guess how much aluminum is shaved off and stamp the guessed weight on the ID tab? One for all? Sorry I think I blew a neuron cause I’m not following.

 

[jjg]

Mercury weighs their motors without any fluids at all. They only weigh the lightest available model with the shortest shaft available with no accessories or options at all. Plus, these are sand cast motors. There is going to be some variance in the thickness of the castings. Then they are only machined on the surfaces that are needed. The rest is left ruff. This could easily add up to 20, 30 or even 40 pounds or more over the whole motor.

The blocks are not sand cast, they are high pressure die cast. Mercury has some of the highest pressure die cast machines you can buy.

 

[Skialot2]

What??? So my 400R L weighs the same as the 400R XXXL? And that it’s weighed right out of the sand cast mold? And then they guess how much aluminum is shaved off and stamp the guessed weight on the ID tab? One for all? Sorry I think I blew a neuron cause I’m not following.

No. I am saying they only weigh the lightest model, The 400R L, fully assembled with no fluids or options. They weigh that motor, that weight is used on all other 400Rs no matter what shaft length or options.