Most Hours On a Boat?

SupremeWake · Soul Rider Joined: 14 Feb 2003 Posts: 322

What is the highest number of hours anyone here has on their boat?

Do you think # of hours necessarily implies a boat's remaining life?

Mike · Addict Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 536 City: Orlando

I dont know about the highest number, but I'm sure the number has an effect of the remaining life of the engine. Nothing lasts forever.

jvanick · Posted: Mar 09, 2003 6:44 am Post subject:

# of hours is more about the remaining time before a major engine overhaul.

I currently have a 99 Sunsetter VLX with 600 hours on it.. The engine is still super strong and runs great (it's been taken care of real well tho... the oil still comes out looking nearly new when I change it at the 40-50 hour mark)

My first boat tho was a 73 SeaRay... it was on it's second engine rebuild with just over 5000 hours on it.... the engine still ran pretty good, not great, but with a little TLC every once and a while, it was still strong. (The people that bought the boat from me are still running it 4 years later).

So, I don't think engine hours have anything to do with a boat's life... just the engine life... You can buy a new engine for a boat for much cheaper than you can buy or repair the hull... and most times if it really is that bad all you need is a overhaul for a 1000 or 2000 or so.

However... If somebody didn't take care of a boat engine, they probably didn't take care of the boat either...

-J

hyperlite-proair man · Outlaw Joined: 04 Mar 2003 Posts: 193 City: columbus in.

i think that boat hours really don't have alot to do with time remaining in the life of a boat. most boats age out before wearing out. mean time takes its toll before you wear them out, and of course it bepends how you take care of your boat. i mean if don't do all the preventive maitance on it, it will not run forever. i'm really woundering after hearing of all the weight that people run in there boats, how's that going to effect the wear on eng. , trannys, and such. i have a 1999 proair just turned 650 hours on it this last summer, still running very strong. and no i'm not worryied about it at all.

SupremeWake · Soul Rider Joined: 14 Feb 2003 Posts: 322

Yeah, I guess I didn't ask that question the way I intended. I just hear about people complaining that 400 hours is alot, but my boat has nearly 750 and runs like a dream. I do put alot of work into it each winter, but for the most part the engine is in great shape.

MrBlean · Posted: Mar 09, 2003 10:25 am Post subject:

Engine hours were explained to me this way: If you ran your car at 3000 rpm for an hour in top gear, how far would you travel? 100 miles? So, 1000 miles for an engine in a car is 10 hours for an engine in a boat. With good maintenance, modern car engines are good for 200k miles+ so 2000 hours in a boat shouldn't be a problem. However, how much harder the engine has to work in a boat versus a car is difficult to say. Regardless of anything else, changing the oil and filter regularly is one of the best ways of prolonging engine life.

SupremeWake · Soul Rider Joined: 14 Feb 2003 Posts: 322

That explanation makes sense...except for one thing: Who runs their boat at 3000 rpm for an hour??? In a direct drive, 1:1 tranny boat, 3000 rpm would be about 30 mph right? I don't know anyone who skis or boards at 30 mph for an hour. When pulling, my tach runs between 1600 - 2200. However, each pull lasts maybe 20 minutes absolute maximum before the engine is at idle again for several minutes.

This makes for a slightly more complex formula for equating auto & boat miles/hours. It would be interesting for several people to actually record the #minutes their boats are running at various rpms this summer and come up with some sort of equation....yeah, I'm a nerd I guess.

MrBlean · Posted: Mar 09, 2003 3:11 pm Post subject:

The choice of 3000 rpm was simply that my car (an Audi diesel) does 100mph at 3000 rpm so I chose this rpm to make the maths easy for conversion of boat engine hours to car mileage.

I board at 1900-2100 rpm and ski at 3500 and spend as much time doing both so 3000 rpm also seemed a reasonable average rpm for the time the motor is “working” i.e. pulling. Sure, when it’s idling it’s not working so hard but the engine is still running and hence wearing.

Our club rule is to shut off motors when a skier/boarding is getting in/out of boat so we tend to cut the engine as soon as the boat is in position to collect a skier/boarder and let the next rider get ready. Hence, in any one 3 hour session, I would guess that people are riding for 2 hours, the engine is idling (but still clocking) for 30 mins and is shut off for 30 mins, i.e. 80% of the clocked hours are at towing rpm.

I know people who start their boats, rev the engines hard from cold and then let them idle to warm up. Both of these are bad karma. Engines shouldn’t be revved hard until the oil gets around properly and they reach normal operating temperature. Warm-up is best achieved by running at “normal speed” almost immediately from starting. A motor treated badly with only a few hundred hours on it will be much worse off than a motor treated well with a couple of thousand hours.

As a previous commentator said, the exterior condition of the boat and the condition of the engine are often related. If the upholstery and hull are abused, the motor’s normally abused too. That may not be true of a club boat where the upholstery gets abused thro’ lots of use but the engine is always warm. The relevance of this is that 90% of engine wear happens in the first 2 minutes of starting from cold. A lot of hours in a short period is likely to be a lot better for an engine than a few hours (with lots of starts from cold) over a long period.

So, lots of variables to consider and no two boats will be the same. Also, what about weighted boats? This will put a lot more strain on the engine as it’s working so much harder. That extra wake doesn’t come for free!

Partyb · Posted: Mar 09, 2003 3:22 pm Post subject:

Yea, I think that the number of hours on a boat is just one factor to consider when gauging the remaining life/condition of a boat. It is more important to have the boat maintained properly; change oil, etc. I have a 1997 MC 205d and had to replace the engine at around 640 hours. The previous owner did not take very good care of the boat obviously and the dealer was an a**hole. My fault for not checking the boat out better.

By the way, 1600-2200 seems like low on the rpm range to me, I would check with manufacturer to see where the "power band" is on your motor. this is the rpm where your engine is working the smoothest. My boat runs around 2800 with three sacs at boarding speed. Or maybe my boat is running too many rpms.

MrBlean · Posted: Mar 10, 2003 12:51 am Post subject:

Reviewing the mssgs on this topic, needing a new engine after only 400-600 hrs suggests it was either VERY badly treated/maintained, fitted with a "Friday" motor or the hours were clocked up over half a century. Alternatively, the owner could be just unlucky. There are lots of boats around with 1500-2000 hours on them that run fine.

2 years ago I bought a used 94 M/C with less than 200 hours on it. The motor itself is fine but I have had several problems with ancilliaries such as the impeller pump, water circulation pump and temp sensors. Age plays a part as well as hours. Things do corrode and deteriorate when not used, even in fresh water only.

SupremeWake · Soul Rider Joined: 14 Feb 2003 Posts: 322

Parytyb, 1600-2000 rpm is 16-22mph in a 1:1 trans. boat, which is boarding speed for most people (learners to interemediate). Your 2800 seems way to high, unless you have a ton of weight in there I guess. Or unless you like to ride that fast.

bigcut · Newbie Joined: 26 Feb 2003 Posts: 7 City: s.centexas

My 87 2001 has 1380 hrs runs fine.I have a friend who had over 5000hrs on his 85 mc before a head cracked. We change our oil every 20hrs a hardly ever let the boat sit for more than 2 to 3 wks with out being ran I would say that letting a boat sit for long periods would worry me as much or more than lots of hours on the boat

aussie_stu · Posted: Mar 10, 2003 7:34 pm Post subject:

partyb, ours runs at 2800 rpm at boarding speed, we run about 850kg in ours though, without wieght it runs at about 2300 rpm