New Sea Ray owner-little 180

[Colorado Contractor]

Hello all!

I went out and bought a Sea Ray 180, year 2000 with a 3.0 to take the teens skiing. ( and maybe myself if I can still get pulled up lol) Seems like a good boat, bought it on a whim, motor runs good and it stays dry.

Does this boat have any wood in it underneath that I need to look for rotting? What kind of gas does it like? 87? 91? Ethanol free, or does it really matter? The only boat experience I have is my father's old fishing boat with a 75 horse outboard, but it would pull me up on one ski back in the day!

Any other tips, tricks or advice are greatly appreciated! I love this boat! The kids and I spent a few hours on it after I bought it last week and I was very impressed.

Thank you all

 

[Golfman25]

Yes it most likely has wood. Watch the transom closely as that would be a catastrophic failure point. Bellows is important as well. The more you use it the less you’ll need to worry about gas. But if you have non ethanol, go with that.

 

[rustybronco]

Boat should not have structural wood in it. My 1995 175BR does not.

There is wood in the construction of the rear seat platform and the rear seat back is entirely made out of wood. I haven't examined the front seat platform but suspect it has wood in it's construction as well. Ski locker has plywood doors. Some strategic wood blocks are bonded to the upper hull in order to mount things like speakers under the gunnels. Yours should be similar.

 

[Colorado Contractor]

Thanks for the info, I've learned that the wood behind the seats is a little spongy but I definitely appreciate that there is no structural wood in the boat. I'll have a fun little winter project to replace the wood behind the seats.

 

[Scott215]

That's great