- Oct 3, 2006
- 4,404
- Boat Info
- 280 Sundancer, Westerbeke MPV generator
- Engines
- twin 5.0's w/BIII drives
Does maintenance really have to be so expensive? I changed my own oil last week and saved about $600 in a couple hours. That's a savings of $300/hour...tax free. Tranny's took another 2 hours. Not sure how much I saved there. My point...I think 10-20 % is a little much to budget for. Give the oil change a try and you'll never pay for another one.
K-
I’m going step by step and doing more of my own maintenance but I don’t do everything nor do I know how to nor do I have the proper equipment to do it all.
Changing the anodes on the drives or touching up the paint, sure. Changing the oil is not difficult. I don’t know why your place charged so much for that.
Removing the very heavy Bravo III drives and doing the appropriate service with out owning a drive stand? No way. I don’t have the alignment tool. I don’t have a stand. I did see the photos of the drive stand Dennis made but so far I’m leaving that up to the mechanic.
10%-20% of the boats value when new for annual maintenance seems high. I’d say more like 1.5% for routine items and 2% for the unexpected.
I’m waffling on changing the impellers myself. I know I can’t do it alone because I will not fit. Should I do this relatively easy maintenance items with my 13 years old or wife as my bilge monkey? I’m not sure yet.
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