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Old     (Deeznutz)      Join Date: Mar 2010       08-30-2011, 6:03 PM Reply   
I am looking at approximately an 2001 Centurion. How does 400hrs for that year rank? Too many, less, or just the proper amount for years operating?
Old     (tyler97217)      Join Date: Aug 2004       08-30-2011, 6:09 PM Reply   
I would say that is low hours for a 10 year old boat. As many will tell you it does not matter as long as it was well cared for and serviced. I think most people on here average 50-100 hours a year, but there are many that are not as hard core as people on this site and they do far less. Like that boat is about 35-40 per year. You will find many others on there that put 400 hours on in a year.....
Old     (tx_foilhead)      Join Date: Apr 2009       08-30-2011, 6:23 PM Reply   
I bought my Excel with 600 hrs and now have 900 3 years later, so that's about the same per year. Mine sat for 2 or 3 years, owner passed away so I don't know any history. I've never had an issue I couldn't fix myself and it's run great the whole time. The boat before that had 900hrs and it too sat a couple of years, I had a few things to figure out the first few months that were frustrating, but after that it ran great and we put 400hrs on it with no issues. I would rather have something with use that something with low hrs, it's not being used that seems to cause more issues from what I've seen. I regularly take our work boats to the shop because they get used about 5hrs a year and it seems like there is always an issue, the outboard that pushes our barge around daily is the only one that doesn't get hauled in regularly.
Old     (Jeff)      Join Date: May 2010       08-30-2011, 6:29 PM Reply   
That's a little below average. There are a lot of people out there that buy $40k boats and use them twice a year though.

I bought a 10 year old boat last year with 277 hrs. She had bought it in 2005 (5 years old) with 5 hrs on it. The first owners were retired and bought it new, used it once then put it in the garage for 5 years.

If well maintained a marinized ford or gm smallblock will usually go 1500-2000+ hrs before a rebuild is needed.
Old     (Deeznutz)      Join Date: Mar 2010       08-30-2011, 6:38 PM Reply   
This is really good stuff to know! Thanks everyone so far...
Old     (cadunkle)      Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: NJ       08-30-2011, 6:39 PM Reply   
I'd say 50-100 hours is normal, so sounds lightly used but not lightly enough to make me worry about neglect. I wouldn't sweat it. Hours don't really mean anything to me, just like when I look at a car I miles mean nothing. I don't think I've ever asked or checked how many miles on a car before I've bought it, and when I bought my boat hours were not a concern. Known history and condition when you dig into the boat tells a lot more. Now granted, if it has 2000 hours, the motor is ready for a freshening up, but if it has 2000 hours it may have already been gone through.

FWIW my '89 has around 560 hours now, I've had it a year and put about 100 hours on it. Engine was rebuilt by previous owner in 2007 when he replaced the floor and stringers. Wound up being one of those "while I'm in here" things he did because he was doing everything else. Sometimes you never know. So for me, 400 hours wouldn't even be a consideration in buying that boat.
Old     (nitrousbird)      Join Date: Sep 2008       08-30-2011, 8:14 PM Reply   
We bought our 01 this year with 330 on it.
Old     (fman)      Join Date: Nov 2008       08-30-2011, 9:46 PM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by Deeznutz View Post
I am looking at approximately an 2001 Centurion. How does 400hrs for that year rank? Too many, less, or just the proper amount for years operating?
Typically 100 hours on a boat equates to 10,000 miles on a car..... 400 hours seems very low for that year of a boat. If maintained properly, there is plenty of life left in that engine with 400 hours... would definitely ask for receipts for oil changes and maintenance. My friend has 1960 hours on his 1997 Nautique and its still kickin... never had any issues with trans/vdrive or engine. The boat is very well maintained.
Old    SamIngram            08-30-2011, 10:03 PM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by fman View Post
Typically 100 hours on a boat equates to 10,000 miles on a car..... 400 hours seems very low for that year of a boat. If maintained properly, there is plenty of life left in that engine with 400 hours... would definitely ask for receipts for oil changes and maintenance. My friend has 1960 hours on his 1997 Nautique and its still kickin... never had any issues with trans/vdrive or engine. The boat is very well maintained.
Typically?? To who, under what pretense, under what standard, what kind of boat; a wakeboat or a troller that runs barges up he Mississippi?

NO TYPICAL CONVERSION FOR HOURS ON A BOAT TO MILES ON A CAR exists! None, nada, zilch...

Hours don't mean much and only an idiot would base their decision on hours. Do a leak-down and a compression test on the engine and that will tell you everything you need to know. It is how the boat was maintained, not much it was used. Furthermore; a boat with low hours isn't always a good thing, it could mean that the boat sat for a long time unused and sat and rotted away...

I had a buyer look at my boat and he paid $186.12 for a compression and leak-down test and an overall inspection of the boat, including the mechanical, electrical, and hull of the boat. The guy actually found a connection on my engine that was cracked and I was able to replace it before I was left stranded...

Again, no "typical" conversion exists...

BTW, I use my boat every Saturday. On average it gets 8 hours of run time on a Saturday and we are on the lake for 12-14 hours at a time (sunrise to sunset). I have a little over 1,100 hours on my 2006.
Old    SamIngram            08-30-2011, 10:10 PM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by cadunkle View Post
Now granted, if it has 2000 hours, the motor is ready for a freshening up, but if it has 2000 hours it may have already been gone through.
2000 hours based on what? If the compression is good and the leak-down test is good then why on earth would it need freshened up?

The local marina club wakeboat has over 8,000 hours on it and it is still going strong... hours don't mean squat, maintenance means almost everything... some people are religious about and others don't care. I buy oil filters by the case and oil by the 45 gallon drum...
Old     (wake_upppp)      Join Date: Nov 2003       08-30-2011, 11:05 PM Reply   
That is low hours for the age. But you would be much better off as far as a wakeboat with some other choices. That hull is not great.
Old     (superair502)      Join Date: Mar 2010       08-30-2011, 11:11 PM Reply   
Sam is 100% correct. It's been my experience that looking in and around the boat and a decent inspection will tell you ten times more than hours. I have seen ragged out boats with 100 hours and well performing boats with over 1300 hours depends on maintenance and neglect.
Old     (kirk)      Join Date: May 2003       08-31-2011, 7:37 AM Reply   
Personally, I would rather buy a boat with higher hours from someone who took excellent care of it than buy a boat with low hours that just sat in a garage collecting dust. In my experience, boats that sit just seem to have more problems than a boat that gets used often but was well taken care of. My boat is a 1999 with 2000+ hours, but is in probably better condition and runs stronger than boats with just a fraction of the hours.
Old     (iliketowakealot)      Join Date: May 2011       08-31-2011, 8:29 AM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by SamIngram View Post

The local marina club wakeboat has over 8,000 hours on it and it is still going strong... hours don't mean squat, maintenance means almost everything... some people are religious about and others don't care. I buy oil filters by the case and oil by the 45 gallon drum...
Amen. I'm approaching 1000 hours and run about 200/year. Change the oil/filter every 50, change spark plugs/rotor/cap every 100. Maybe too much but she keeps on running fine.
Old     (cadunkle)      Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: NJ       08-31-2011, 11:45 AM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by SamIngram View Post
2000 hours based on what? If the compression is good and the leak-down test is good then why on earth would it need freshened up?

The local marina club wakeboat has over 8,000 hours on it and it is still going strong... hours don't mean squat, maintenance means almost everything... some people are religious about and others don't care. I buy oil filters by the case and oil by the 45 gallon drum...
Based on what I typically see in engines I rebuild. Granted it has been mostly automotive engines and only a couple marine engines, but after so much use typically taper will be bad. If compression is still high adn consistent with minimal leakdown and good oil pressure, then no worries... But know that a freshening up is inevitable.

8000 hours on the original engine? Impressive. I don't really believe it, but it's certainly possible. What I've seen over the years in marine engines is they will more often fail from freeze damage and be replaced, or suffer oil leaks or other problems (boat rotting away) that warrant pulling the engine and they are pulled or freshened up for other reasons or during other projects simply because it's cheap to do and convenient at the time.
Old    mojo            08-31-2011, 1:11 PM Reply   
most engine manufacturers suggest a rebuild around 2500 hours, depending on the manufacturer, and overall condition.
Old     (irishrider92)      Join Date: Jun 2009       08-31-2011, 2:08 PM Reply   
Kinda low. We'd do about 100 in a season
Old    SamIngram            08-31-2011, 3:54 PM Reply   
A marine engine sees entirely different stresses than a car/truck engine does. For one, it rarely if ever overheats or sees the high temperature fluctuations that a car engine can see. They also see entirely different loadings than a car engine does. Car engines often break due to a high stress event, while boat motors will rarely see one of these high stress events. A high stress event can be a sudden stop caused by the stoppage of the driveline in a car. This stoppage rarely, if ever, occurs in boat engine. The prop can slip in the water, versus a car's driveline that can not. The only even similar event to this would be the prop hitting a rock, and even then the transmission will slip to a large degree. However you look at it, the loadings are entirely different there are no meaningful comparisons.

One of my work trucks has an 8.1L with 32,800+ hours on it with 216K miles on it and runs like a top...
Old     (cadunkle)      Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: NJ       08-31-2011, 4:15 PM Reply   
A marine engine also runs at a much lower temperature, typically 140*-160*. This significantly accelerates cylinder wall wear compared to an automotive engine running at 180*-200*. A marine engine will typically run at a higher steady RPM, compounding this problem.

One graph of one such study. There are others and further technical reading out there if this interests you.


Also, most cars in America have slushboxes, which will not transmit any sudden shock load to the engine. Beyond that, I do not believe any such sudden stops are a big deal for most low RPM automotive engines.

Beyond that your work truck likely spent much of that time idling. Idling with no load does not put a terribly huge amount of wear on an engine and is not the typical usage one would expect of a marine engine in a tow boat so really isn't a very good comparison.
Old    SamIngram            08-31-2011, 4:58 PM Reply   
I disagree with everything that you said...

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