crackedglass
Petty Officer 1st Class
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2009
- Messages
- 203
I had to post this here. I bought a boat today to get it's motor and trailer and other various goodies. I pretty much knew the hull was junk but had no idea how bad it was till I got it home, or at least once I got it on the road.
The thing just felt heavy, I was right. It's an early 70's Glastron trihull, 17' long. It was advertised as a turn key boat on CL, one good look at it took care of that idea. The motor however is good, and the trailer is only a few years old. The first thing I noticed was the twin above deck fuel tanks enclosed in the left and right seat boxes made of 2x lumber. Two 36 gallon tanks under each seat. The next thing I noticed was the all too common suspicious step in the carpet where the floor goes under the splashwell, only this time, there's 5 steps. Peeling back the carpet revealed 5 layers of 3/4" plywood, plus the original floor. Then there's the matter of the 5 group 27 batteries, two for the motor, on a battery switch, one wired to the radio, alone and separate, then one for the fish finder, again, wired alone, and another wired to the nav lights. All 5 are group 27 size batteries to boot.
Then theres the near steady stream of water dripping/running from the drain plug, all the way home, and for 10 hours now, still going strong. The thing has to have a good 300 to 400 gallons of water weight. I had to know what it weighed so I ran it over to the truck stop for a weight. I was shocked to see the boat and trailer weigh in at over 5400lbs. I figure the hull should be no more than about 1000 - 1200 lbs, then the motor at about 325 lbs or so, but this thing is over weight by a ton or more. The huge fuel cap. plus water weight, plus all that wet plywood and you get the picture. The bad part was the last owner was using the boat just this weekend.
The good part is I bought the whole thing for NADA value on the motor. It gives me a really nice trailer, and a really clean motor for less than $400. The boat however is a good example of what not to do or what to expect from a used boat. I at no point ever considered the boat salvagable, but had to know what it weighed after it felt so heavy towing it home with my truck.
The seller did say it was a really heavy boat, but he thought that was a good thing. I don't thing he had any idea how bad the situation was in that boat on the water. Especially since I know he took it in the ocean at times. I thoroughly understand now why the last owner tried to extend the splashwell edge by 6" with an old tire, it no doubt was at the water line or below. It also has 6 bilge pumps, all wired to one switch, plus one massive bilge pump with a 2" outlet hose running right over the transom. He did say it took on a bit of water and to keep the bilge pump on at all times. The bigger bilge pump has a motor on it about 5" in diameter. I also haven't figured out the fish finder transducer location yet, it's mounted just below the rub rail on the transom. Maybe that was the water line while in the water? The near new looking tachometer is nice too, surface mounted on top of the dash with silicone sealer, the fish finder mount is broke, but silicone is holding that to the windshield and dash just fine. There's also a wooden dip stick hand marked to check the fuel in each 36 gallon tank. It felt like I had a 25' cabin cruiser in tow coming home. I won't get to see if it floats, there's a few huge silicone RTV patches on the hull, below the water line, so I don't care to test their seaworthness. The piece of railroad tie and all thread holding the motor on also don't exude confidence either.
The worst part is that someone thought this thing was worthy of a fresh motor and a new trailer just last year.
The thing just felt heavy, I was right. It's an early 70's Glastron trihull, 17' long. It was advertised as a turn key boat on CL, one good look at it took care of that idea. The motor however is good, and the trailer is only a few years old. The first thing I noticed was the twin above deck fuel tanks enclosed in the left and right seat boxes made of 2x lumber. Two 36 gallon tanks under each seat. The next thing I noticed was the all too common suspicious step in the carpet where the floor goes under the splashwell, only this time, there's 5 steps. Peeling back the carpet revealed 5 layers of 3/4" plywood, plus the original floor. Then there's the matter of the 5 group 27 batteries, two for the motor, on a battery switch, one wired to the radio, alone and separate, then one for the fish finder, again, wired alone, and another wired to the nav lights. All 5 are group 27 size batteries to boot.
Then theres the near steady stream of water dripping/running from the drain plug, all the way home, and for 10 hours now, still going strong. The thing has to have a good 300 to 400 gallons of water weight. I had to know what it weighed so I ran it over to the truck stop for a weight. I was shocked to see the boat and trailer weigh in at over 5400lbs. I figure the hull should be no more than about 1000 - 1200 lbs, then the motor at about 325 lbs or so, but this thing is over weight by a ton or more. The huge fuel cap. plus water weight, plus all that wet plywood and you get the picture. The bad part was the last owner was using the boat just this weekend.
The good part is I bought the whole thing for NADA value on the motor. It gives me a really nice trailer, and a really clean motor for less than $400. The boat however is a good example of what not to do or what to expect from a used boat. I at no point ever considered the boat salvagable, but had to know what it weighed after it felt so heavy towing it home with my truck.
The seller did say it was a really heavy boat, but he thought that was a good thing. I don't thing he had any idea how bad the situation was in that boat on the water. Especially since I know he took it in the ocean at times. I thoroughly understand now why the last owner tried to extend the splashwell edge by 6" with an old tire, it no doubt was at the water line or below. It also has 6 bilge pumps, all wired to one switch, plus one massive bilge pump with a 2" outlet hose running right over the transom. He did say it took on a bit of water and to keep the bilge pump on at all times. The bigger bilge pump has a motor on it about 5" in diameter. I also haven't figured out the fish finder transducer location yet, it's mounted just below the rub rail on the transom. Maybe that was the water line while in the water? The near new looking tachometer is nice too, surface mounted on top of the dash with silicone sealer, the fish finder mount is broke, but silicone is holding that to the windshield and dash just fine. There's also a wooden dip stick hand marked to check the fuel in each 36 gallon tank. It felt like I had a 25' cabin cruiser in tow coming home. I won't get to see if it floats, there's a few huge silicone RTV patches on the hull, below the water line, so I don't care to test their seaworthness. The piece of railroad tie and all thread holding the motor on also don't exude confidence either.
The worst part is that someone thought this thing was worthy of a fresh motor and a new trailer just last year.
