mcleaves
Chief Petty Officer
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2003
- Messages
- 521
Re: Is this too many hours on a boat to consider buying?
I think you missed my point. it has nothing to do with whether he took care of the boat. I am sure it was put through all scheduled maint and was polished with a diaper. But if something is not USED it goes to hell, and in some cases quick.
That said, you are probably fine with a boat this new, but don't get lulled into a false sense of security on a low hour boat that has been "maintained". Many things can only be "maintained by USING them. If not, gremlins will move in and they will show their head in short order. While not necessarily expensive to fix, it makes for a miserable boating experience when something stops working every other time you go out. It's just an issue that needs real consideration when convincing yourself a low hour boat is better.
Take a car that sits for a long time. Maybe the oil was changed every 2500 miles or 3 months rain or shine. But if if doesn't move and get USED you will be looking at new brakes from frozen calipers and pads wearing against the rusted rotors/drums. And if it stay on a lawn for a year you'll have worse under body damage from constant moisture than if you drove it everyday in snow and salt for 3 years. The bushings on the body mounts dry out and creak. The list goes on.
An engine that sits for a few months goes dry and unless you get oil primed into the cylinders before you fire it off you are killing the rings. Personally I think this is the source of MANY new (used) boat owners engine troubles after the first few outings. After a baot sat for 3 years you get "It ran beautiful for 3 weeks and then started smoking". The damage done from sitting without use happened the first time it was started. An no amount of scheduled maint is going to deal with this.
Ask me if I would buy a 10 hour boat that is 3 years old or a 100 hours boat that is the same age, I'd personally be more interested in the 100 hour boat, assuming the hours are spread out.
So scheduled maintenance isn't going to do anything for all the other stuff on a boat that goes to hell with lack of use. And I'd assert someone who doesn't have time to USE a boat surely doesn't have time to take care of it by running everything regularly.
You'll probably be fine just based on the age of the boat but if you use that reasoning on something much older you'll be replacing everything else. A boat consists of much more than an engine and drive, which is all the maint schedule is going to address
Anyone beside me ever seen a boat that sat on a trailer too long? Does pretty nasty stuff to the hull sometimes..
M
I think you missed my point. it has nothing to do with whether he took care of the boat. I am sure it was put through all scheduled maint and was polished with a diaper. But if something is not USED it goes to hell, and in some cases quick.
That said, you are probably fine with a boat this new, but don't get lulled into a false sense of security on a low hour boat that has been "maintained". Many things can only be "maintained by USING them. If not, gremlins will move in and they will show their head in short order. While not necessarily expensive to fix, it makes for a miserable boating experience when something stops working every other time you go out. It's just an issue that needs real consideration when convincing yourself a low hour boat is better.
Take a car that sits for a long time. Maybe the oil was changed every 2500 miles or 3 months rain or shine. But if if doesn't move and get USED you will be looking at new brakes from frozen calipers and pads wearing against the rusted rotors/drums. And if it stay on a lawn for a year you'll have worse under body damage from constant moisture than if you drove it everyday in snow and salt for 3 years. The bushings on the body mounts dry out and creak. The list goes on.
An engine that sits for a few months goes dry and unless you get oil primed into the cylinders before you fire it off you are killing the rings. Personally I think this is the source of MANY new (used) boat owners engine troubles after the first few outings. After a baot sat for 3 years you get "It ran beautiful for 3 weeks and then started smoking". The damage done from sitting without use happened the first time it was started. An no amount of scheduled maint is going to deal with this.
Ask me if I would buy a 10 hour boat that is 3 years old or a 100 hours boat that is the same age, I'd personally be more interested in the 100 hour boat, assuming the hours are spread out.
So scheduled maintenance isn't going to do anything for all the other stuff on a boat that goes to hell with lack of use. And I'd assert someone who doesn't have time to USE a boat surely doesn't have time to take care of it by running everything regularly.
You'll probably be fine just based on the age of the boat but if you use that reasoning on something much older you'll be replacing everything else. A boat consists of much more than an engine and drive, which is all the maint schedule is going to address
Anyone beside me ever seen a boat that sat on a trailer too long? Does pretty nasty stuff to the hull sometimes..
M
. Now .....engage..... Pics of the new vessel would be nice.