What is considered low hours on a boat motor

There are a few things to consider when looking at boat hours. At 1000 hours it will start to exhibit the small problems that often start occurring from old age.

500hrs on a motor that has not been well maintained might be a lot.

What is considered low hours on a boat motor. What is considered low hours on a boat. Less than 50 hours per year or less than 200 hours total low hours. How many hours on a boat motor is bad.

The average marine gasoline engine runs for 1500 hours before needing a major overhaul. The average marine diesel engine will run for more than three times that long and log an average 5000 hours under the same conditions. What is considered low hours on a boat.

In a vehicle 12k miles year seems the accepted mileage and anything much below that is typically considered low miles. Whats the equivelant for boats. I see some 10 year old boats that have 40 hours 70.

Sure a boat less than 3 years old with low hours generally will be a good sign. But lets take a look at a 10-15 year old boat with 200-300 hours. Older Low Hour Boats.

Weve all seen the online ad that says low hours or hardly used. Hours on a boat is. In all reality unless you are looking at a high hour boat 2000 hours there are not a lot of drawbacks to the number of hours a boat has especially as boats with constant use average 50-100 hours per year will usually run better than boats with low hours.

Lack of use can create many problems 240 hours on a 11 year old boat is only 22 hours a year. I would think anything under 500 hours would be considered low hours for a 1999. The biggest issue from lack of use is the condensation that can build.

If a boat is four years old then about 200 hours would be about normal. If its five years old 250 is about right and so forth. Rindas TechMate diagnostic tool can help with determining engine hours on a used boat with electronic fuel injection.

But there are exceptions to the rule. Most marine engine manufacturers recommend an oil change every 50 engine hours. Our 1000 hour boat serviced every 50 hours would have had the same 20 oil changes.

Similar levels of wear can be assumed in this example. Some newer vehicles have an engine hour meter. Here is a picture of the hour meter on one of our shop trucks.

Take a boat that has sat idle for most of its life with low hours and a boat that has been used three times as much lovingly maintained and serviced and used regularly and the boat with low hours can often be more problematic corrosion impellers taking shape fuel degradation sun exposure etc. Generally Id say anything considered a low hour motor assuming its more than 1-2 years old 500 hours on a 1 yo boat is going to get a negative reaction from some. When you get into the 750-1000 range on any outboard some people will react negatively when looking at that boat on the used market unless its an older boat say 8 years where those hours could be reasonably.

Aqua Power Morse Controls did a study also and came up with about the same as Merc. Just over 50 hours per year average on recreational boats in the 48 states. Most people think that is low until they realize that on a typical 8 hour fishing trip the motor is only run perhaps 2 to 3 hours.

The use of the engine and the location. For boats that live in Florida and get used regularly we would say that the average number of hours for a boat will be around 2000 hours. That is just the average number of hours that are going to be on a 5-10-year-old engine that has been used regularly throughout the years.

When calculating boating hours to miles you need to take into account the range of boat speeds. Going slow for many hours may not be many miles but it is a strain on the engine. If you consider the average boating season yields 50 hours on your motor then you would be adding the equivalent of 500 to 1500 miles onto your engine.

Gasoline outboard motors usually can serve for a solid 1500 hours when taken care of on average. Its said that the first 1000 hours will be peachy-keen with no problems whatsoever. At 1000 hours it will start to exhibit the small problems that often start occurring from old age.

Outboard Motors and HOURS. I have herd of some four strokes clocking up many thousands of hours with good maintenance. IMO it comes down to your needsbudget and expectations.

If I was looking I would want an engine under 500 hours and I would expect to keep any engine I had till at least 1000. Typically 100 hours on a boat equates to 10000 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. Hours are kind of a joke.

Im worried more about 1000 hours on the interior and electronics than on the motor. Further a low hour boat can also spell trouble. You can have a 300 hour boat that spent a couple years of heavy use than sat for a number of years.

I personally would have a bit more concern for anything that averaged over 100 hours a year. The genny manual calls out two hours per month under half load or 24 hours per year. If it sits 3 or 4 months without running the fuel used now can gunk up the carb.

Mine is ten years old and I have about 400 hours on it - about 3 hours per month average - although when sitting I only run it about 12 hour per month. 500hrs on a motor that has not been well maintained might be a lot. I found it very interesting how many people asked about the hours on my motor but no one asked how I took care of it.

Would rather have a few more hours on a well maintained motor than low hours on one that sat. The average marine gasoline engine runs for 1500 hours before needing a major overhaul. The average marine diesel engine will run for more than three times that long and log an average 5000 hours under the same conditions.

The number of hours that a marine engine runs is very dependent on the amount and quality of maintenance over the years. One year we went to the river every other week end from June- Oct. We put 90 hrs running time on the boat that year with the 780 HP 565 engine.

That was a great year we used 1 or 2 ten pound bottles of Nitrous every trip with the 300 HP system. Engine made about a. There are a few things to consider when looking at boat hours.

Unless you are looking at a really high hour boat 2000 hours there are typically very few drawbacks to the number of hours a boat has. In fact a boat with normal hours 50-75 per year will often time run better than a. Most people say average engine life of a 350 57 class engine in a tow boat is between 2000-2500 hours.

700 hours on a 10-15 year old boat that is well kept is no big deal. I just bought a 1998 with 900 hours on it. I found out something about engine hours last week that I suspect that many people here know but - tho Ive had three boats - I never realized.

Most hour meters are driven off the ignitionstart key not the motor itself and supposedly a good number of people a number of good people disconnect their meters soon after they get their boats and wire them back in before they sell them.