First boat.. Advice?

[hertel11]

I am brand new to boating. I am a fisherman and just want a small boat to get around. I recently came across a 14ft jon boat with trailor, trolling motor and 9.9 hp Force motor (plus extra 9.9 force motor for parts only) for sale for $1000. I want to buy this setup badly I just want to make sure I'm doing it right and not getting ripped off. I'm told the motor runs but I guess my biggest question is how do I make sure of this before buying? I don't think Ill be able to take the boat to water, is it possible to just fire it up without water quickly or do I need to have a trash can or something filled with water?

 

[bonz_d]

Welcome to the forum hertel11, Trash can full of water. For that kind of money they had better agree to run it for you or I'd run away and not look back. That outboard has been out of production for many years already and some parts may get hard to find. Also pop the cover on it and look it over closely around the spark plugs for any discoloration of the paint. That is an indication that it has been overheated.

 

[southkogs]

I agree with bonz - if ya' can't make sure it runs, and things don't look pretty clean and well maintained I'd move on. I can pick up a 14' open boat with an outboard pretty inexpensively where I live.

Welcome aboard.

 

[bonz_d]

Just also remember that running it in a barrel of water is no guarantee as there is no way to put a full load on the prop or to assure that the gears are working properly.

 

[hertel11]

Motor started fine even after not being ran for over a year and with old gas. Some concerns I had, the water stream exiting motor was pretty weak and there was a lot of smoke. My biggest concern was that the recoil for the pull chord did not work, I had to start it manually wrapping a rope around the flywheel. I offered her $800 because the trailer and boat itself are in good shape but she said no. I'm still wondering if I did the right thing and how hard the spring for recoil would have been to fix...?

 

[Sea Rider]

For that bargain price compared to new I would go after that boat, engine, trolling engine and trailer as a first starter. Recoil start must need a new spring and internal maintenance, water pump, a new impeller and probably engine a new cylinder head gasket along decarbon and water paths clean up. Not a costly job and spares are cheap enough.

You can always sell the "repaired" engine along 9.9 spare parts and buy a larger HP engine, say 15-18 HP of your brand prefference to move your boat much better than with a 9.9 HP. Don't let that fish go away..

Happy Boating

 

[bonz_d]

I'm not a good negotiator either but I usually have a fairly good idea of value before I even go look at something. So now you will need to determine if that rig is worth $1000 to you knowing you will either have to make repairs to the engine or maybe replace it. I do know that here in SE Wis. you wouldn't get a whole lot for that Force outboard. Even with the spare parts motor.