New Member with questions after sea trial

[oldboat1]

just some thoughts.

Think it’s easy to get deep into the weeds on the front end of a deal, which sometimes isn’t helpful. The owner’s hesitancy to run it balls to the wall might just mean he’s cautious — or (as is suggested) that he’s trying to cover up issues. Thing is, you have to read him along with the info you gather, and make a decision. I would probably step back and decide if it’s overall the boat I wanted (size, location, intended uses). Location is important with a big boat, for example, and will save you megabucks if you can motor over to your location. It sounds like the overall mechanical condition is pretty good. Get some maintenance records — last tune ups, exhaust manifold service, raw water pump service. Any compression testing? If you bought the boat as is, what’s the first maintenance you would do? Going to run it for a while to decide what it needed (a decent approach)?. Is it likely to be good to go for the rest of the season? On the test run, was there good oil pressure, temp normal and holding, leaks (e.g., that leak you noticed). If the price is decent for condition and you have some money to put into it for maintenance, you probably are somewhere close to a decision point. Got to be some fun in it too.

[Troy-Sodus Point]

Thanks everyone for the input. I look forward for the verification on the trannies prowlers fish. I did not use trim tabs as one of them had a leaking hydraulic line. I also wonder if the tachs are accurate.

[todd brinkerhoff]

I did not use trim tabs as one of them had a leaking hydraulic line.

I think your trim tabs being inoperable will be a big impact on your ability to get on plane.

[oldboat1]

+2 on the trim tabs. Big difference in operation. Easy to check and refill the reservoir (just ATF, as I recall). I had a slight leak in one of the connections, but was able to simply tighten it up.

[aaronbocknek]

if these are velvet drives, then there is a small ID plate on the top that has the reduction and rotation and the serial number. i'd also check to see if the tabs work. like others have said, that makes a huge difference in performance.

[prowlersfish]

Thanks everyone for the input. I look forward for the verification on the trannies prowlers fish. I did not use trim tabs as one of them had a leaking hydraulic line. I also wonder if the tachs are accurate.

Sorry but the numbers are not coming up on what info I have . Any other numbers ? A photo on the trans would let see if its a 1 to 1 or not

[Troy-Sodus Point]

Post by prowlersfish » Tue Jul 21, 2015 9:25 pm

Troy-Sodus Point wrote:
Thanks everyone for the input. I look forward for the verification on the trannies prowlers fish. I did not use trim tabs as one of them had a leaking hydraulic line. I also wonder if the tachs are accurate.



Sorry but the numbers are not coming up on what info I have . Any other numbers ? A photo on the trans would let see if its a 1 to 1 or not


Thanks Prowlersfish. I did ask the owner if he could snap a pic and send it to me. He replied that he was going to have a mechanic verify. He also said he would have the tachs looked at if possible. At this point I feel that I should request another sea trial after the drive ratio is confirmed and the trim tabs are fixed, or walk away. The bright side of all this, is that my "boat budget account" continues to grow. My financial process for this was to meet a monthly budget, and when I had twice the amount of what boats were selling for, I would start the purchase process. I could expand my search.

[K4282]

i took a gamble on the exact same boat last fall, I actually bought two F32s last year a 74 and a 79 and already owned a 73, I sold two keeping thr 74. The 74 sat on the hard for 3 years or more. Ive made a little bit of a hobby out of fixing old boats. The 74 I use weekly now, I have yet to go to WOT, my first few runs were in my head re-breaking the motors in and watching everything. ive gone up to about 3/4 maybe 3/5 throttle and reached speeds of 26 to 28 mph recorded with a phone app, ive used the trim tabs once or twice to level the boat but not to plane. I cruise at 2900 /2800 and 18/19 mph ish. My last few runs ive been doing the one motor thing as ive been getting more and more steam from my port motor. A simple inspection and replacement out of maintence of the raw water rump impellars and belts which were in great shape did not help. A laser temp gun on the manifolds shows theirs some blockage, I ordered new manifolds, risors and angled dumps today, $1,868.94 something to keep in mind, if you dont go fast you'll never know the blockage in them. My motors never overheat, one just runs warm and the gauge only reflects where the sending unit is on the intake. Im headed out this weekend (Aquapalooza) using my starboard motor to get to the destination and back and only the port for docking purposes, I dont weant to pop a head gasket or hydrolock the motor, sure saves fuel running on one motor though, ill swap the exhaust next week

[DAVIDLOFLAND]

For what it's worth, my F32 is not fully on step (planed) under about 16 knots.

[k9th]

I am not sure what the concerns are about running WOT. Every engine is designed to be able to run at WOT under load (which for boats are the props) for extended periods of time or you would never have the capability to do that with the expense of warranties being what it is to the manufacturer.

Airplane engines routinely run at WOT for hours and hours on end with no adverse effects. I am a pilot and have flown countless singles and twins and they all run at WOT from takeoff to descent into the destination airport. The load of the prop limits the max RPM at WOT to about 2,700 unless you're dealing with a variable pitch prop. Airplane engines go through an annual inspection to be sure, but the engine check is just usually a cylinder compression test and a check of the total hours. The manufacturer recommends a maximum TBO (time between overhaul) but that only has to be followed if the engine is being used in a commercial application. For personal use you can run it till it shows symptoms of needing rebuilt such as low compression on a cylinder.

If you run at WOT and encounter a problem then you need to have it fixed. That was the first thing I did on the sea trial of buying SeaDog was open it up to WOT and let it run there for about 15 minutes. The previous owner welcomed that without hesitation.

In my opinion any owner who is selling a boat and concerned about running at WOT either is covering a known problem or doesn't fully understand engines.

Just my 2c

[prowlersfish]

Personally I would not let a buyer run mine WOT for 15 mins . Only because I don't do it myself . But I have no issue doing it for a miinite or two . In fact I do it often as a check on how the bottom is and how the engines are running .

[prowlersfish]

Personally I would not let a buyer run mine WOT for 15 mins . Only because I don't do it myself . But I have no issue doing it for a miinite or two . In fact I do it often as a check on how the bottom is and how the engines are running .

[oldboat1]

+2. (+4 if said twice....)

[mikeandanne]

Personally I would not let a buyer run mine WOT for 15 mins . Only because I don't do it myself . But I have no issue doing it for a miinite or two . In fact I do it often as a check on how the bottom is and how the engines are running .

+3

Me too.....in reality if we are talking about a 5 to 15 k boat that is 41 years old, it is a fixer and you buy ,use ,have some fun and if it lasts for 5 years you can send it to the scrap heap and not worry....that is how I see this.....over the years the only time I have destroyed an automotive style engine, it was always when you were beating on it......3000 to 3500 rpm is one thing but over 4000 is looking for trouble with old gas engine with old valve springs etc.......Just my opinion, hope the original guy lets us know what is up....Mike

[Troy-Sodus Point]

The owner is having the trim tabs repaired, and has agreed to another sea trial. I will take a laser tachometer and see if the tachs on the boat are off. Also see if I can't read the transmission ID plate Aaron referenced as well as snap a pic. I did have compression tests done on the engines and all cylinders were 145-150.

Troy