Hours on motor

[brivabeach]

I see a lot of boats for sale and they list the hours on the motor.  What is considered good hours as I see some tournament guys that put 200+ a year on theirs but I am lucky if I put 20 on mine last year.  I have a 50 so no meter to tell exactly but I can guess pretty close.  So all that made me wonder, what is considered high hours?  Kind of like a car with the 12K to 15K miles a year standard, what is the standard on a boat?

[Mike Cork]

There is so much that goes into how many hours you have on your motor. Obviously tournament anglers put more hours on, for two reasons really. One prefishing and two tournament launch locations. A weekend angler can launch where he wants (usually closer to his fishing location) and doesn't fish during the week.

A weekend angler that fish here in NW Louisiana can put his boat on the water and literally not put 20 minutes on it. Each spot he goes to fish may only be 2-5 minute drive. 3-4 spots a day and he's only up to twenty minutes at the max. Fishing 4 days a month runs his total up to 80 minutes and if that angler can fish four days a month all year his up to 960 minutes which is only 16 hours a year.

I can easily put 200 hours a year on a boat. I put more than that in the past and less than that on my last one. One thing that the computers can tell you now is the WOT time as well. Keep in mind that WOT is not exactly bad as the engine is max oiling at the time. At idle it's barely oiling, that's not to say idle is bad either, just food for thought.

I have been told that an average of 60 hours a year is about right 

[brivabeach]

Thanks Mike, you pretty much described my routine with the "weekend" angler description.  Where I fish here locally if I drive more than 5 minutes it is rare.  I think I have more time warming my motor up after I first launch than actually driving most the times I go fishing.  Then here in Virginia Beach, half the lakes are trolling motor (or 9.9 and under) only so there are times I go fishing and the motor is never even started.

I was really asking because I am starting to work on the wife letting me get a bigger boat (which is why I asked about the Legend Navy Tactical) and looking at what I can buy used vs. new that is a big question that I have.  Of course, you can find a boat (like yours) that is taken care of and maintained correctly with high hours that is better than a low hour boat that isn't taken care of.  But, I was really asking with the "all things being equal" in mind.  Again, thanks for the answer it does help a lot.

[Mike Cork]

Glad it helped, was thinking I got long winded.

When it comes to used motors, hours can help determine the quality of the motor. Meaning if its low hours and fuel lines are deteriorating or you see oil in the cowling pan, then you can assume that additives were not used. Same goes if a mechanic says there is carbon build up. But a high hour motor where all things are good shows that it was taken care of and should last with continued maintenance.

The biggest piece of advice I give to someone looking to buy used is to find a mechanic you trust and pay him to go through the motor. Finding that mechanic starts now with research and then let him run a diagnostic on your motor and see what he says. You know your motor and you can bounce that off of what he says. This will tell you whether or not you can trust him. Plus if you sell your current rig you have a fresh check up you can show potential buyers.

[jonboy]

200 hrs @ 60MPH devided by 4 MPG X 3.50 for fuel =$10,500.00
Holy cow now that will hurt your feelings

[Mike Cork]

200 hrs @ 60MPH devided by 4 MPG X 3.50 for fuel =$10,500.00
Holy cow now that will hurt your feelings

Yes sir it will, thankfully I don't do 200 hours at high speeds. I spend a lot of time at idle or less than 40 MPH. Only in tournaments to I wrap it out. My last boat only had just over 10 hours there were above 4500 RMP

Interesting note: at 200 hours at 60 mph equals 12000 miles? bottom end of the average annual car milage I'll have to set my electronics up this time to see how many miles I cover in a given year? That would be interesting.

[merc1997]

a lot of time can be spent at idle looking for bass and fishing spots.  back in the old days, i fished 5 days a week.  most of the time i would put less than one hour on the motor per trip.  so, even at that, there would be less than 250 hours for the year.  back when we had good gas, the old 200hp carb. mercs, would run forever if you serviced them, put in a set of reeds when needed, and kept the carbs up.  we used to run them for hours at 6400rpm.  does not seem that there has been too much advancement in engine longevity.  seems more like the newer ones have a very short life.  of course, it would help if we had better fuel.  especially fuel without ethanol.

bo