Searay with 350 engine/merc outdrive Hours

[horse]

Help me out<br />I am about to purchase a boat - it is a 87' searay 23' with the 350 chev and the merc outdrive<br />1 - How much is alot of hours - the seller said it had 1100 hours - that seems like alot to me though all of it (i think) has been in fresh water.<br />2 - when I tested it out when putting it in neutral from forward it took a moment (2-3 secs) for the prop to stop - did the same thing going from reverse to neutral - took a moment for the prop to stop - I felt like it should have been immediate (that is how my other boat is - though it is an outboard)<br />3 - the tilt/trim guage on the dash did not work - how spendy is that to fix (I think my wife will need it to get it trimmed just right) <br />4 - how fast should it be able to go I could only get 35mph at deer creek res in Utah (about 6000'<br /><br />thanks

 

[Trent]

Re: Searay with 350 engine/merc outdrive Hours

Its fairly high time. But it depends on how it was used and maintained. The trim gage on that unit is most likely bad wiring in the outdrive and is a pain to fix. If you paid to have it fixed it will cost around 500.00 to replace the wiring. The insulation on the wiring rots and grounds out the system.<br /><br />The speed sounds about right for a heavy boat. The prop stopping sounds normal to me. <br /><br />Best thing to do is have a survey done by a local mechanic. Cost a few hundred but could save a few thousand.