Thinking of buying a 86 Procraft...

heathmc · December 27, 2013, 12:50:36 PM

Hey guys I'm thinking of buying a 86 ProCraft and was wondering if there were any thinks I should be concerned about or things to look for when checking this boat out? Johnson has always been a respected brand but I'm not sure about gas mileage? Here's the description so you can see the has and has not's. Asking price is 4200.

1986 Procraft 1750 Fish n Ski boat, 17.5 ft, bow mount trolling motor, 110 Johnson outboard, bimini top, full cover, 2 live wells, 2 fish finders. Have 3 props for it - 1 stainless steel - 1 for skiing - 1 for top speed. I have owned this boat since 1992 and it is just a great fishing boat that can ski well also.

I will be fishing this boat with my wife, 3 boys (my oldest is 12), and myself. Thanks for looking and the advice guys. Gonna be my first boat, grew up with them but I've never had one myself.

Mike Cork · December 27, 2013, 01:10:10 PM

If that's a recent photo, it appears to have been very well taken care of. Even the trailer looks good and free of rust.

Have the motor checked out really well by a mechanic, things like compression will be important in a motor that old. Check the hull for soft spots, spider cracking, or missing gel coat, these could be signs of impact and will need more inspection by a specialist to determine the amount of damage.

Jump in it and make sure all the switches work, the live well and bilge pumps work. Check the Navigation lights as they can sometimes be a nightmare that you'd want him to fix if there were an issue. Make sure the trolling motor works without excessive noise. Noise is okay, grinding noise is not.

Plug the spec's into www.NADA.com and see what the value is. With a boat from the 80's its honestly what a purchaser is willing to pay but it's always nice to know going in what it's worth on the general market.

If the hull is good, and a mechanic says the motor is good, it's really not a bad price. Kick the tires and find a couple scratches to talk him down a bit

heathmc · December 27, 2013, 01:24:26 PM

Yeah just called the local boat shop and he said he could go through the motor in an hour, more if he found something but if he finds anything I'd pass so 85 bucks to have it checked. But thanks, I wasnt thinking of checking the lights so that's good to know. I'm gonna hopefully go and check it out tonight and if we can agree on a deal run it in the boat shop on Monday for a once over. And I'm def. gonna look for some scratches and maybe a couple of stains on the carpet. Thanks. I'll keep you posted on how things are going.

Mike Cork · December 27, 2013, 01:28:16 PM

You might tell the seller that you'll split the cost of the diagnostic with him, then he can keep it and if you decided not to buy it he'll have it for the next guy. At least that way your not completely out of pocket on it. It's a win win for the deal.

Donald Garner · December 27, 2013, 01:39:11 PM

Looks like a nice boat. Check out the link below for some suggestions on what to look for in buying a used boat. Good luck with your purchase.

Tips on Buying Used Boat

heathmc · December 27, 2013, 03:19:23 PM

Mike thats a good idea. I was thinking of telling him that if it passes I'll pay for it, but if it doesn't he can pay for it but I think my paying for half is fair. Like you say if I back out then he has the paperwork in hand for the next guy. I cant look at it til tomorrow at noon so I'm pretty anxious to get a look at it.

Thanks Donald gonna give that link a read right now.

fishinfranklin · December 28, 2013, 07:05:33 AM

There is one thing I would bring up to beat him down on price, the boat appears to be on the wrong size trailer. looks to be on a 15ft trailer or maybe a 16ft. If it all checks out I would bring up the small trailer and offer him 3k for the boat with the cash in my hand. I say this from seeing lots of 90's models selling from 4k to 6k.

heathmc · December 28, 2013, 06:41:44 PM

All right. Got an update. Went and checked out the boat today. First I found out the pictures werent all that recent. Trailer had a little more rust than in the picture so I could tell right away the pictures were a little dated. I would have to find time to get the boat off the trailer and and then paint it. Boat shell was pretty dusty and a little oxidation was setting in so it was in need of some tlc on the outside. Pulled the cover back and overall the the inside of the boat was in pretty good shape. Carpet was in good shape and all the vinyl was in pretty good shape, still soft but was in need of a scrub brush and a heavy dose of armour all. Could tell the boat hadn't been out in awhile. Asking about the motor found out the boat had been sitting and not cranked since 2009. He also said all 3 batteries were shot. It had been dry docked but that's a while, especially with this great E10 fuel we have nowadays. Wanting to see how much wiggle room I had with the pricing he said his bottom dollar was 3,700. I was thinking 2500 to 2800. So not wanting to insult the owner, I just told him I would think about it and drove away. Boat had potential but his asking price was what the boat would be worth with all the elbow grease and parts in tact. So the search will continue.

Thanks for all your time with answers guys and I will keep you updated as they come.

fishinfranklin · December 29, 2013, 07:33:01 AM

Think you made the right choice on that one. 3 would have been my max if it checked out perfect.
What part of the country are you in heathmc?? I seen a 96 fish&ski for 4500 on Orlando's craigslist
yesterday. Now is the time to buy a boat around here about the end of Feb. you will see the prices go up drastically.

heathmc · December 29, 2013, 11:07:31 AM

Quote from: fishinfranklin on December 29, 2013, 07:33:01 AM
Think you made the right choice on that one. 3 would have been my max if it checked out perfect.
What part of the country are you in heathmc?? I seen a 96 fish&ski for 4500 on Orlando's craigslist
yesterday. Now is the time to buy a boat around here about the end of Feb. you will see the prices go up drastically.

I really wish I down in your area. I'm up in Boise, Idaho. I would have to check that one out. I'm a little early on the draw I know, still really the dead of winter up here. Trying to buy before the prices head back up but there's not really an inventory right now. Just trying to to get a good deal and be patient. Dont want to break the bank on this one, got 8, 10, and 12 year old boys I want to teach to fish. Thats also the reason I need a deep hull, while I would like to have a bass boat I'm scared they would do more accidental swimming than fishing. I was dead set on a aluminum deep hull when I started, but I'm really starting to like the fiberglass fish and ski's.

fishinfranklin · December 29, 2013, 12:25:55 PM

Went to Twin Falls back in 05 to buy a 68 rs/ss Camaro with 21 options from the factory. One good thing about up there is most store their boats inside and out of the weather. I would look all over, I have went across the country to get the right deal many of times.

heathmc · January 10, 2014, 04:43:23 PM

All right guys got an update. Found a boat on craigslist that was nicer than I thought but got a good deal. I feel bad that someone else was going thru some trouble but worked out for my part. Got a 95 Astro with a 200 Mercury on it. Boat is in awsome condition. Was washed after each use and always stored inside. Motor looks brand new and I'm super excited to get EFI. Paint looks great except for where he a mishap on the front and scratched it up a little. You could tell the guy was sad to see it go. Watched til I drove out of sight.

heathmc · January 10, 2014, 04:51:17 PM

fishinfranklin · January 10, 2014, 05:23:06 PM

SWEET!!!! That boat looks really good in the pictures!!!! Looks to have all of the factory interior in it and been well taken care of. And that's one clean Mercury!!! Don't even look to have any paint worn off the skeg And you got a tandem axel trailer also. Looked close and cant see the scratches but a bet a little 1500 sandpaper and a buffing would take them right off. Glad you found a nice boat for you and the boys!! Amazed at how clean that Mercury is !!!! She will give yall years of memories. I bet that boat has under 50 hours on it.

heathmc · January 10, 2014, 05:36:36 PM

Thanks Franklin. I'm super excited. I didnt dream I'd find anything this nice in the price range I had set for myself. And that motor is super clean. Pulled the shell off and it looks brand new. It's got 2 live wells, a cooler, 5 locking storage compartments, brand new batteries and a extra prop. Everything works. You could just tell while talking to the gentleman that owned this boat that he took great pride in it. I hate going to look at a boat and the owner just stands there and offers no information. He climbed right up in his boat and started pointing out all the features, showing me any blemishes. It's got a couple of scrathes here and there but thats a good thing because I wont have to shed a tear when it gets it's first beauty mark.

Any suggestions on 2 stoke oil? The owner did tell me not to use Pennzoil with a Merc. Said they strongly recommend against it. He has been running Havoline so as of now I'm gonna stick with that.

fishinfranklin · January 10, 2014, 10:09:35 PM

If he had been using that oil and your happy with it continue using it. I use the Quicksilver premium Plus. Again super nice looking boat.