Another "should i buy this boat" thread.. '87 Four Winns Cuddy with O/B

[irish1985]

Curious if at a glance this boat I found for sale seems like a decent deal if all checks out? The pictures look pretty good, but I still have a lot of unanswered questions before driving an hour to take a look. The guy?s wife sent me a brief email that said she?s going to have him give me a call tomorrow. She mentioned it?s been properly winterized since they?ve owned it, it needs absolutely nothing mechanically or cosmetically, comes with a cover, and that it?s still in the water if I want to try it out. Sounds good so far, but 4k seems like a lot for a 25 year old boat (and no clue what year the motor is).

If I end up going to look at it, I would bring my mechanic with me.

Any thoughts?



1987 19.5 ft Four Winns Cuddy Cabin

For sale is a 19.5 foot Cuddy cabin. Has new paint job, new sub floor with Marine plywood, new carpets, seats, lights, battery, and head gasket in motor. All interior wood has all been refinished. Has a 125 hp 2 stroke Chrysler outboard motor. Comes with E-Z load trailer which is registered for 2 years. All the work has been done! Runs great! Selling because we have very little time to use it. Asking 4000.00 OBO.

 

[Jonnybbad]

Re: Another "should i buy this boat" thread.. '87 Four Winns Cuddy with O/B

If the floor was replaced there is a strong possibility that the stringers are rotted and probably the transom also. I wouldn't waste another thought on this one. What else ya got? May I suggest something more logistically convenient? The distance you drive to look at it is proportional to the crappyness of the object in my experience. Best wishes to ya.

 

[crabby captain john]

Re: Another "should i buy this boat" thread.. '87 Four Winns Cuddy with O/B

Agree with the comment the "sub"floor has been replaced indicates it will be torn up soon to replace stringers and transom. The Chrysler motor has not been made or sold in a very long time. Parts ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ if you can find any mechanic that will even look at it.

 

[Lou C]

Re: Another "should i buy this boat" thread.. '87 Four Winns Cuddy with O/B

I went through the same thing with my '88, had to re-do the deck and stringers, a ton of work. Thank goodness the transom and engine mounts were OK. The problem here is you don't know the quality of the work that was done. I took pix all the way through and if I ever sell it at least I can show them what was done. And I've said it before and I'll say it again, I HATE carpet in open boats, that, and unsealed holes drilled in the deck, are the 2 main causes of rotted decks. The carpet looks nice covers up sloppy glass work and holds moisture on the unsealed holes which is the perfect recipe for rot. When I did mine after I replaced the deck I had it gelcoated in non skid gelcoat and sealed all the holes for mounting the seats, etc. If you want carpet then it should be snap in and all the snap holes should be sealed too.
Old Chrysler outboard, another question mark. These boats came with either an OMC OB or Mercury.
It looks pretty good but is risky at best. Keep saving your money and try to get a late model boat that has life in it and has not been sitting out in the elements.
Mine I'll probably keep indefinitely because I have so much in it now but it runs great and looks great and after the rebuild is really solid.

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: Another "should i buy this boat" thread.. '87 Four Winns Cuddy with O/B

I'm a huge fan of Four Winns and an even bigger fan of O/B powered cuddies.

I would NOT buy that boat. Too many strikes against it.

The Chrysler/Force outboard is just that last straw. While all the restoration work could have been done really well and everything structurally is good, you will never know for sure. Why risk it?

 

[Jonnybbad]

Re: Another "should i buy this boat" thread.. '87 Four Winns Cuddy with O/B

Keep saving your money and try to get a late model boat that has life in it and has not been sitting out in the elements.

Yes, you definetly want a boat that has not been sitting out fully exposed to the elements, but it is possible to find an older boat that has been treated so. Take both of my boats for example. The '86 Century was kept on a covered boat lift in a lake it's whole life. Yeah... The owner let the grandkids do the constant in and out of the boat thing by the looks of the rotted jump seats, but that seems to be the only rot it has, and everything is, without doubt, original, so no cover up job was done. The '83 Regal was kept in a slip with a mooring cover for a lot of it's life and later kept on a trailer in a barn.I cannot detect any signs of rot with the tiny exception being the driver's seat surface just slightly. Keep looking and eventually you'll find an old boat that is not lipstick on a pig.

 

[irish1985]

Re: Another "should i buy this boat" thread.. '87 Four Winns Cuddy with O/B

Thanks everyone... a lot of this hadn't even crossed my mind - glad I posted.

@Johnnybbad - I agree, looking locally is always the best... less time wasted, less gas $... that being said, I'm in central Maine, so options are generally limited if you're not willing to travel an hour. I don't like going further than that though - my rule is that I refuse to travel out of state for anything on Craigslist. Been down that road too many times, and you hit the nail on the head: "the distance you drive to look at it is proportional to the crappyness of the object"

@RotaryRacer - agreed. Love the idea of an outboard with a cuddy!

I'm going to keep looking... honestly, for this time of year though, I'm not seeing too much that's jumping out at me. Maybe that's because of my budget, but it seems mostly people are asking for way too much money and/or the typical "runs great, needs minor engine work" type ads... or with pics taken in 1992, etc. Maybe I'm wrong? If anyone is killing time at work and feels inclined to peak at the Maine listings (in the 2-4k range w/ pics) that might see a gem I've overlooked, feel free to let me know... seems like a lot of junk, but I guess that can be the nature of Craigslist sometimes. maine boats classifieds - craigslist

Thanks,

 

[irish1985]

Re: Another "should i buy this boat" thread.. '87 Four Winns Cuddy with O/B

My case and point.. one of the first ads:

Mechanically, it runs and goes great. Needs a couple things here and there.

If you're going to point out that it "needs things" - why not point out what it needs? I eliminated half of my potential options based on lazy descriptions and/or terrible pictures.