Contingency Question

[zhandfull]

It almost summer.

So for those of you that have shopped or bought used boats 15+ years old. What is your contingency amount for the unexpected? Is it a percentage or a lump some amount.

Seen some beautiful boats that are 20+ years old. While I’m sure they all have had pampered lives in climate controlled storage and never ran full throttle. They are still F’ing 20+ years old! lol.

If you drop 50k on a 2004 Hallet or any other old boat for that matter. How much contingency should you be prepared to have?

 

[Runs2rch]

They want that 50k for a boat that needs 5-7k sometimes more. Usually more haha

 

[Xtrmwakeboarder]

How much is a new motor? Ask @OldSchoolBoats what the contingency should be.

 

[OldSchoolBoats]

$8k-$10k for drive rebuild
$7k - $10k for motor
$2k for trailer, electronics, etc.

 

[rrrr]

The repair and rebuild costs spent on the restoration of my Howard were about 150% of the $8,000 purchase price. Most of this was spent on the engine. The cost of machine work for the 427 FE was crazy. The Carb Shop rebuild of the two OE Holleys was very spendy too. Having worked on and tuned too many Mallory dual point distributors as a teenager, I replaced the ignition system with a billet MSD electronic replacement and an MSD 6M box.

While I performed almost all of the labor myself, the hours of my shop staff removing and reinstalling the engine and a few other processes contributed about another $2K. I broke down the engine and reassembled it after the machine work was done.

The original Throughbred v-drive was replaced with a Casale. The dogs and gearset were damaged, and I couldn't find the correct replacements. There was much assistance provided for this work by @beaverfab. We did the work at JJ's shop. The education and guidance he provided for the install and critical alignment of the driveline was essential to a trouble free and smooth running result. Thanks, JJ. You're a treasure.

I did all of the color sanding and polishing of the hull after hours without any help. This required taking it off the trailer, placing it on old tires and flipping it upside down and back upright. Having two forklifts made the work fairly easy. The repair process entailed using four different grades of sandpaper, a medium and light cutting compound then polishing with the three step 3M Perfect It system, and two final wax coats.

The project took nine months from beginning to completion. I worked on the boat two and sometimes three nights a week, also on many Saturdays, so I'd say total time spent was about 350 hours. This includes the labor spent stripping down the trailer, painting, rewiring, installing new bearings and races, and replacing the original Phillipine mahogany horizontal cross supports and bunks with the same material.

It was a fun and educational process, and I enjoyed it immensely.

 

[2Driver]

Traditionally, you are supposed to buy the boat on emotion and figure this stuff out later.

 

[zhandfull]

The repair and rebuild costs spent on the restoration of my Howard were about 150% of the $8,000 purchase price. Most of this was spent on the engine. The cost of machine work for the 427 FE was crazy. The Carb Shop rebuild of the two OE Holleys was very spendy too. Having worked on and tuned too many Mallory dual point distributors as a teenager, I replaced the ignition system with a billet MSD electronic replacement and an MSD 6M box.

While I performed almost all of the labor myself, the hours of my shop staff removing and reinstalling the engine and a few other processes contributed about another $2K. I broke down the engine and reassembled it after the machine work was done.

The original Throughbred v-drive was replaced with a Casale. The dogs and gearset were damaged, and I couldn't find the correct replacements. There was much assistance provided for this work by @beaverfab. We did the work at JJ's shop. The education and guidance he provided for the install and critical alignment of the driveline was essential to a trouble free and smooth running result. Thanks, JJ. You're a treasure.

I did all of the color sanding and polishing of the hull after hours without any help. This required taking it off the trailer, placing it on old tires and flipping it upside down and back upright. Having two forklifts made the work fairly easy. The repair process entailed using four different grades of sandpaper, a medium and light cutting compound then polishing with the three step 3M Perfect It system, and two final wax coats.

The project took nine months from beginning to completion. I worked on the boat two and sometimes three nights a week, also on many Saturdays, so I'd say total time spent was about 350 hours. This includes the labor spent stripping down the trailer, painting, rewiring, installing new bearings and races, and replacing the original Phillipine mahogany horizontal cross supports and bunks with the same material.

It was a fun and educational process, and I enjoyed it immensely.

Been following your post for years. It was just recently I seen a picture that you posted of boat. It is absolutely stunning.

 

[wzuber]

It almost summer.

So for those of you that have shopped or bought used boats 15+ years old. What is your contingency amount for the unexpected? Is it a percentage or a lump some amount.

Seen some beautiful boats that are 20+ years old. While I’m sure they all have had pampered lives in climate controlled storage and never ran full throttle. They are still F’ing 20+ years old! lol.

If you drop 50k on a 2004 Hallet or any other old boat for that matter. How much contingency should you be prepared to have?

I would say it comensurate on how thurough of an inspection you do or have done? If extremely thurough then likely less % (10?) of negotiated PP. Not very thurough then easly 50%+ . The upside of over budgeting is you have $$ on hand to do "wants" and not "needs" or just go enjoy it.

 

[Paradox]

Everyone of the last 6 older (“pampered”) boats I’ve purchased ran into 5 figures getting them to where they needed to be..

 

[zhandfull]

The reason I ask, bought an old pontoon last summer. Was hoping to get a couple years out of the old Force outboard. But as luck would have it. I got two days on the water before I found out it needed a new motor.

Pretty sure I could drop it off at a shop and have a new underpowered 4 stroke put on for about what I paid for the boat.

That would be to easy and expensive. So I’m going to be doing it the hard way. found an old 2 stoke Merc XR 2 150 that I’m going to try and make run reliable for a few more years. If you see me cruising the channel I’ll be the pontoon with a trail of smoke following.

Time to start working on this bitch.

 

[2Driver]

Honestly, we've owned 14 boats over the years and only 1 was new. The most I ever did was rebuild a carb and a few of the boats we owned for 8 years+.

 

[WYRD]

B.O.A.T.T.

Post covid the new acronym is break out another t e n thousand

 

[Mcob25rg]

This is the part you don’t talk/think about. What if you tell someone, and they know your wife? Plus, you’ll need MANY different props

 

[rivermobster]

Traditionally, you are supposed to buy the boat on emotion and figure this stuff out later.

This ^^^

 

[ChrisV]

Boats are like race cars. Tends to blow up on the next owner.

“Just serviced”

 

[C_J_J_C]

I'll add to to the contingency fear......
How much is a lost season cost?
The best contingency plan is a back-up boat.

 

[OldSchoolBoats]

The best boat I ever owned was my Howard. Just a yearly service with impeller and it never let me down. It would vapor lock every once and awhile but once we figured out how to circumvent that, was never an issue.

400R Shockwave, lost steering at my first lower river run with it and we had some other issues that Shockwave addressed, but put us down for almost the entire summer of 2021. All and all, it was a cool boat but got all the money for it so had to walk.

Hallett 255......low hours, well taken care of. We put some decent hours on it and got a full season before having to rebuild the drive and motor. Hopefully this season we are back in business with no issues.

 

[Cooter01]

I am in the same situation, looking at older 20-25' sea rays and such to cruise the lake and fish. They seem to be around 15-25k, new ones are 60-100k for the same style. I figure as long as the hull, interior, and everything else is good take the gamble.

 

[bilz]

In a poor man's world it is not a contingency, it's simply called oh fuk. Then you just make it happen.
Both peter and paul have been robbed a time or two.

 

[wzuber]

I am in the same situation, looking at older 20-25' sea rays and such to cruise the lake and fish. They seem to be around 15-25k, new ones are 60-100k for the same style. I figure as long as the hull, interior, and everything else is good take the gamble.

Do a compression and leak down test on the engine and if possible pull an oil sample and send to blackstone labs or any other oil analysis lab and you should have a pretty good idea what cond. the engine is in.

 

[rrrr]

Traditionally, you are supposed to buy the boat on emotion and figure this stuff out later.

I saw the Howard on eBay a few hours before the auction ended around midnight. I told my wife "I'm thinking about buying a v-drive," which I then had to explain what that was. She went to bed.

The next morning she walked into the kitchen, and I informed her "We own another boat!"

 

[Cooter01]

Do a compression and leak down test on the engine and if possible pull an oil sample and send to blackstone labs or any other oil analysis lab and you should have a pretty good idea what cond. the engine is in.

Thank you! I will add that to my list of items to check. So far I want a 2000 or newer boat with the V8 and mercury running gear.

 

[Orange Juice]

In the past, I planned $2000 a year in maintenance over the life of the boat.

If it’s 15 years old, I’d plan $30k.

If it’s 20 years old, I’d plan $40k.

That includes trailer tires, etc…..

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Damn i still haven’t had to spend a dollar on mine since i bought in 2020, yet somehow I’ve still spent over 40k on it lol.