For the sake of argument, let's assume that the Maule I am interested in buying doesn't work out...

What 4 place experimental options are out there under $60,000? Probably can't touch a Bearhawk, but what else is out there? Came across Bushmaster which appears to be basically a stretched Pacer with a big engine/shrunk Maule with a small engine. Any other options? I'm a tinkerer and have built basically everything but a plane so the experimental side is somewhat appealing.

Not experimental, or under $60k, but close to both:

http://alaskaslist.com/1/posts/10_Trans ... Plane.html

I know where you can pickup a Bearhawk for 60k. It could use some "tinkering." Shoot me a pm if interested.

CamTom12 wrote:Not experimental, or under $60k, but close to both:

http://alaskaslist.com/1/posts/10_Trans ... Plane.html

Pretty neat plane, to me though, that's a $40k plane. You never get back what you put into it. For that kind of money you can buy a pretty nice M5.

Christavia MK4 is a four sitter. Not as good as a Maule but not bad.
BushCaddy has several. (slim chance of flying one @ 60K)
Jim Bede BD-4
Tapanee Levitation 4
Zenith 801 (same note as Bush Caddy)

Any of these could fall in the price tag range if sold functional by a builder looking to move on to something else.

TxAgfisher wrote:For the sake of argument, let's assume that the Maule I am interested in buying doesn't work out...

What 4 place experimental options are out there under $60,000? Probably can't touch a Bearhawk, but what else is out there? Came across Bushmaster which appears to be basically a stretched Pacer with a big engine/shrunk Maule with a small engine. Any other options? I'm a tinkerer and have built basically everything but a plane so the experimental side is somewhat appealing.

Assuming you are interested in building, rather than buying a flying EXP....

There is the Canadian Cyclone, which is close to a carbon copy of a C-185 but you build it yourself. Probably not for the faint of heart.

Murphy Moose, which I believe is a bit bigger than the Maule.

Truth is, you can get a wrecked Maule and build it back up as an EXP, and be able to do things you cannot otherwise do with a Maule.

EZFlap wrote:

TxAgfisher wrote:For the sake of argument, let's assume that the Maule I am interested in buying doesn't work out...

What 4 place experimental options are out there under $60,000? Probably can't touch a Bearhawk, but what else is out there? Came across Bushmaster which appears to be basically a stretched Pacer with a big engine/shrunk Maule with a small engine. Any other options? I'm a tinkerer and have built basically everything but a plane so the experimental side is somewhat appealing.

There is the Canadian Cyclone, which is close to a carbon copy of a C-185 but you build it yourself. Probably not for the faint of heart.

Murphy Moose, which I believe is a bit bigger than the Maule.

Both are more like 6 seaters, and would be perhaps 3-5 times more expensive than the $60,000 upper limit the OP specified.
Great aircraft both, nonetheless.

"Just get a skywagon"

"What 4 place experimental options are out there under $60,000? Probably can't touch a Bearhawk, but what else is out there? Came across Bushmaster which appears to be basically a stretched Pacer with a big engine/shrunk Maule with a small engine. Any other options? I'm a tinkerer and have built basically everything but a plane so the experimental side is somewhat appealing."

Are you looking to just buy a flying experimental or build? If it's a flying one, you'll find the buy in will be less with a certified plane - lots of good ones out there for under $60K. If you're looking to build, the plans built Bearhawk is the best way to go IMO. You can buy as many pre-made parts as you want from various sources and you'll find the performance and overall usefulness tough to beat. I would check with Bob Barrows about utilizing a Riblett airfoil and putting airfoil shapes in place of the flat tail surfaces - Bob did both of these in his later two place versions.