Hours On Outboards

[ecmilley]

It can.be a crap shoot seen opti with 5000 hrs without being touched and Yamaha sho with 20 hrs grenaded . Inspection is key 

[Musky Plug]

On 10/8/2018 at 12:59 PM, DanD said:

I agree here. If the seller is willing to have this inspection done; it would making the sale much easier. Spend a hundred bucks and tack it on the price of the rig. If the shop that's doing the inspection has a good rep; the potential buyer could go and speak to the company about their findings. Just like selling a car, have it certified and offer up all service documents you have; it'll sell twice as easy.

Yes, I like that idea. 

 

On 10/10/2018 at 6:06 PM, Tjames09 said:

I agree with the comments above. I think you can see a lot of things visually yourself or with a good water test. with a good visual check everything in all the compartments, everything underneath you don't initially see. Check for mold, cracks, things rescrewed together. Test all the wood by walking and seeing if there are soft spots. I mean you can tell if a boat is cared for pretty quickly with a visual inspection. When I bought my boat I looked at A LOT of boats. I could tell instantly if a boat is cared for or not. Boats show weathering pretty badly when left to the elements and not cared for, stored properly etc. 

After a good visual inspection and good long water test is a must. Test everything on the water test to. Test the live wells, test trolling motor, test the lights, test it all. Don't rush. 

 

I think those things will go a lot more than hours on a motor. 

Yes I've taken a look at a couple and the pictures were deceiving. The Interior carpets weren't in great shape and neither were the interior compartments. Yes I've been told to check everything with a fine tooth comb and make sure everything is in working order. 

Edited October 11, 2018 by Musky Plug

[Garnet]

There is buddy's story and the story the boat is telling you.

 

[Lape0019]

All advice I have read here is great but I seem to be missing some rather large pieces of information. Everything states is generally great advice but the size of the motor must be taken into considerations as well.

You have stated the motors are Honda 4 stroke and Yamaha (I assume 2 stroke because of the age). What is the HP rating of these motors? What is the HP rating and length of the boats you are looking at that these motors are attached to?

Getting the compression tested and the leak down test done will tell you a lot about the motor but it doesn't mean everything. Being these motors are 13-15 years old and are still kicking, they should be alright. Bring them to a mechanic and see if you can get an hour count by RPM range too. It may not be possible because of the age but unless you ask, you won't know. If most of the hours are closer to WOT but the compression and leak down test come back good, I wouldn't be concerned if the hours were in a range I was happy with. If they don't come back good, I would more than likely walk away or take that into the consideration of my offer.

The size of the motor would be key here too. Are we talking a 50HP or a 250HP? One is more likely to blow than the other if not treated properly as well as be more expensive to replace/repair.

For me, if a 13-15 year old boat had anywhere between 300-450hours on it and passed all of the tests, I would be happy.

I know how I use my boat and have about 20 hours on it this year so if this ends up being my average, I will be at about 350 hours in that timeframe (assuming 15 years here and my season is not over yet.

If you are able to provide any information on the boat itself as well as the HP of the motors, I may have more thoughts of what you should be looking for.

 

 

 

[grimsbylander]

2 hours ago, Lape0019 said:

The size of the motor would be key here too. Are we talking a 50HP or a 250HP? One is more likely to blow than the other if not treated properly as well as be more expensive to replace/repair.

 

My exact point earlier. To me, hours matter on a 115 and up...who every asks hours on a 9.9 lol If you can't pull the hours from the motor, don't bother asking. Whatever the motor is, just get it checked out by certified brand specific mechanic. Not by the owner, not by you, and not by a buddy of a buddy. Too much money on the line to gamble just to save $100 up front. Even a "simple" compression check is useless if it's not done correctly so why even bother doing it?? Outboards are definitely in the penny wise pound foolish category.

[Musky Plug]

22 hours ago, Lape0019 said:

All advice I have read here is great but I seem to be missing some rather large pieces of information. Everything states is generally great advice but the size of the motor must be taken into considerations as well.

You have stated the motors are Honda 4 stroke and Yamaha (I assume 2 stroke because of the age). What is the HP rating of these motors? What is the HP rating and length of the boats you are looking at that these motors are attached to?

Getting the compression tested and the leak down test done will tell you a lot about the motor but it doesn't mean everything. Being these motors are 13-15 years old and are still kicking, they should be alright. Bring them to a mechanic and see if you can get an hour count by RPM range too. It may not be possible because of the age but unless you ask, you won't know. If most of the hours are closer to WOT but the compression and leak down test come back good, I wouldn't be concerned if the hours were in a range I was happy with. If they don't come back good, I would more than likely walk away or take that into the consideration of my offer.

The size of the motor would be key here too. Are we talking a 50HP or a 250HP? One is more likely to blow than the other if not treated properly as well as be more expensive to replace/repair.

For me, if a 13-15 year old boat had anywhere between 300-450hours on it and passed all of the tests, I would be happy.

I know how I use my boat and have about 20 hours on it this year so if this ends up being my average, I will be at about 350 hours in that timeframe (assuming 15 years here and my season is not over yet.

If you are able to provide any information on the boat itself as well as the HP of the motors, I may have more thoughts of what you should be looking for.

 

 

 

Both motors are 4 stroke. The boat that has the 115hp is 17ft and rated for 125 max hp. The other with the 90hp was 16.5ft and I’m not sure about the max hp as it was already sold before I had a chance to look. I also was going to take it to a Honda marine mechanic in that area to have the appropriate test run.  

[Lape0019]

Sucks you missed out on one of them but the other should still be a viable option. The smaller outboards seem to stand the test of time better than the 150 and above category. As long as everything checks out on the remaining boat and it is what you are looking for, you should be good to go.