Hour Meters

[Big Pete]

Are these Hour Meters for real ?

Do people just buy these boats to park up and sit on or what ?

I am in the process of buying a SeaRay200 cuddy has genuine Mercruiser 4.3 engine with apparent genuine 158 hours on the clock ..

Now the Boat is 1990 so its 20 years old , So in 20 years that engine has only ran for 158 hours .. it could be genuine as i have seen a few newer Boats like 5 years old with 50 Hours on ?

Now using some simple sums .

158 hours divided by 20 years equates to , 7.9 hours a year !!!!

say 8 hours A Year Now this boat which ok has always been pulled out and winterised under cover for 3 months of the year , has also been moored where my mooring berth is which is $ 4,000 a year in fees , then we add the costs to get it in and out the water and the winter storage fees and you can bet we are at $ 5,000 for the year ..

So now we have ,
8 hours running per year .. divided by $ 5,000 and we get ...$ 625 an hour to have used the thing ..

Thats one hell of a expensive days boating right ?

To my reckoning that boat wants to be out minimum every week or why bother ..

 

[seabob4]

Re: Hour Meters

There is always the possibility that the hourmeter was added much later in it's life...

That being said, some boaters have more money than brains!

 

[seabob4]

Re: Hour Meters

Man, Mallorca...got any pics?

 

[Big Pete]

Re: Hour Meters

There is always the possibility that the hourmeter was added much later in it's life...

That being said, some boaters have more money than brains!

Apparently its all original spec , so i assume they mean the hourmeter also .

true some of these bigger boats were just a passing novelty for the rich like you say , more money than brains

Man, Mallorca...got any pics?

yep loads will find one of the Marina where i have my boat ..

 

[Big Pete]

Re: Hour Meters

Marina at Porto Cristo

Leaving the Marina

these were taken last December ..

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Hour Meters

I've seen some incredibly low hours come by. I think few people use their boats as much as they think they will, even in places where you have a long boating season. This is why the boat clubs, or owning a boat with someone else, makes good sense.

Unlike cars, boats with low "mileage" are not necessarily better. Motors, especially outboards, need to be run or they deteriorate. And much of the "aging" of the boat occurs sitting still.

(We've debated owning a boat with someone else before; there are strong opinions but the bottom line is that in the right circumstances it will work; there is also a lot of potential for problems. The strongest negative opinions came from those you wouldn't want to share with, anyway. Let's not go there.)

 

[seabob4]

Re: Hour Meters

My English friend, that is just beautiful! Especially the bottom pic heading out into the Mediterranean...

What do you do on the Island?

 

[Big Pete]

Re: Hour Meters

My English friend, that is just beautiful! Especially the bottom pic heading out into the Mediterranean...

What do you do on the Island?

I do as little as i can get away with ,do a bit of website building and still dabble in a UK business , but plan is to be semi retired ..

I have a theory you do not know when your time is up, so taking it more easy now and in early semi retirement mode , spend it before the kids get it

 

[Big Pete]

Re: Hour Meters

I've seen some incredibly low hours come by. I think few people use their boats as much as they think they will, even in places where you have a long boating season. This is why the boat clubs, or owning a boat with someone else, makes good sense.

Unlike cars, boats with low "mileage" are not necessarily better. Motors, especially outboards, need to be run or they deteriorate. And much of the "aging" of the boat occurs sitting still.

(We've debated owning a boat with someone else before; there are strong opinions but the bottom line is that in the right circumstances it will work; there is also a lot of potential for problems. The strongest negative opinions came from those you wouldn't want to share with, anyway. Let's not go there.)

I agree on all the points you say..

There is boats in my Marina that have not moved an inch in 3 years !!
What a waste and seeing how they are ageing is sad .. and these are not cheap boats we are talking 100k sort of stuff , just sit there day in day out

 

[seabob4]

Re: Hour Meters

I agree on all the points you say..

There is boats in my Marina that have not moved an inch in 3 years !!
What a waste and seeing how they are ageing is sad .. and these are not cheap boats we are talking 100k sort of stuff , just sit there day in day out

...and year in, year out...

 

[642mx]

Re: Hour Meters

Low hours doesn't mean they didn't use them. From the ramp I use on the river, one of the most popular beaches is about a 15 minute trip. Many folks launch, run 15 minutes, hangout all day and make the 15 minute trip home.... not many hours of run time, but they sure spend a lot of time on the river.

 

[dockwrecker]

Re: Hour Meters

Or it could be the reverse that my former boat partner religiously left the key on and the nav lights anytime he used it. Meter running, motor not. My boat says 850 hours, it's more like 600 an it's a 1990. I think hour meters that are on the low side are a flag in a sense, I question the care given to a "trailer queen" and it's supposedly wonderful care. There's no excuse for a proper compression test as far as motors go, and it seems prudent that boats left on the water should be checked for additional corrosion. But, in general, I give little credibility to hour meters as being indicative of a boat's actual condition. I give better credit to a well maintained, exercised boat maybe with a few hours on it than something that the owner can't remember the last time he maintained it. As an old airplane saying goes, it didn't get this far by accident. I think you get what you pay for in a boat and they're always worth what they really are maintenance wise. A well loved and used boat has value to me, unfortunately they're hard to find. Hour meters are useless, it's all about care.

 

[Fishing56]

Re: Hour Meters

I bought my new 1996 Mariah which did not come with an hour meter. Installed one immediately for the purpose of when to change the oil and filter. It now has around 400 hours on it if that helps. Live on small lake but use boat reguarly, just not at long hauls.

But as a side note, hour meters can be replaced very simply, not like auto odometers.

Fishing56

 

[URDADDY]

Re: Hour Meters

Yeah, the hour meters dont mean a thing if you are buying. I can change one out in 15 minutes and sell this old boat with no hours on it to you. I use mine to know when certain maintenance needs to be done.

 

[JZammetti]

Re: Hour Meters

There is always the possibility that the hourmeter was added much later in it's life...

This is true, if you go by my hour meter my 2005 Bayliner 3.0L Merc has 3.6 hours on it. I had the meter installed 2 weeks ago. I did learn that Mercs have a way to see how many hours on the engine, this is depending on the year of the motor. I've scheduled my boat motor hours to be read this weekend.