Shopping for 280's.. Saltwater pitfalls??

[dpvandy01]

I'm shopping 280/290's. 2001 to 2004 (modest firefighter's salary leans more to the 2001 side of the financial equation) and I don't want to rule out all of the beautiful boats from the coast. I am a fresh water (Ohio River "fresh" anyway) and I need some honest answers about the effects of saltwater on outdrive and engines. I'd hate to pass up a good boat because of the miss-information I may be getting from my eaqually uninformed marina mates. Your input and experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a bunch and I hope to hear from you all soon

 

[comsnark]

Bottom line on salt water boats: Exhaust/manifolds wear out every 3-5 years. The engines are done after 10-15. A freshwater engine should give you 1000-1500 hours or more (as opposed to corroding out at 10-15 years, prior to logging the 1000-1500 hours)

Just factor these "premature replacement" costs relative to a fresh water boat, and you have your answers.

Note if the boat has closed cooling, the engine replacement issues should be mitigated but in most cases the exhaust system issues are not mitigated.

 

[First Born]

Moved this to General Discussion instead of having three postings on it.

 

[Asureyez]

Salt Water and Boats

I'm not experiecne din the model's you're considering. But I'll offer this on a FWIW basis.

Salt water is the perfect solvent. It will disolve eveything in time. Boats are prime targets. Does that mean a salt water boat isn't a good buy, heck no.

Since we are looking at boats 6-7 years in service, IF the engines are fresh water coolant cooled by heat exchangers and those heat exchangers have been well maintained there should be no particular loss of of internal integrity other than is brougt in by combustion air past air filters. There is some risk but not woth discounting an otherwise viable candidate.

As for out drives, these threads are constantly discussing out drive issues in both salt and FW. the I/O power plants are simply more problematic it seems and will require a little more maintenance and periodic semi major overhauls. These outdrive units are cast aluminium which is very reactive with sea water and other metals, thus the sellers maintenance of zincs is important and very easily witnessed upon survey.

That brings up the final issue. Make sure you hire a separate surveyor for the engines. The engine surveyor should be a factory certified TECH on the engines in question. Most hull surveys do not include anything adequete with respect to engine condition and serviceability. The surveys add to the cost of the purchase, but will sav eyou oddle sin the long run!

Salt water duty adds to cost, but a well maintained boat from salt could be a good buy when going to fresh.

 

[Four Suns]

I'm no expert in this but wouldn't aluminum give up electrons before or about the same as zinc? It would seem that aluminum would be the sacrificial anode... but I'm not expert on I/O units... never owned one.

 

[fwebster]

Gary is correct. That is why engine makers also offer sacrificial annodes made from magnesium.

 

[Turtlesboat]

I wouldn't hesitate buying a saltwater boat again. My surveyor really helped me in picking a type of boat and power package for the area we were in and the type of boating and experience I had (which was very little). He gave me a few brands to stay away from and a few to look at as guidlines. He gave me power packages to look for based on my needs and problems he's encountered. The dialog with my surveyor helped me a great deal in looking for boats and spotting problems.

I feel you are doing the right thing by starting a dialog before you pick the boat and not after. there are some VERY knowledgable people of this forum that helped me during the process. If you are ready to buy a boat, then I would find a surveyor you would like to use and start a dialog with him too.

 

[Nehalennia]

dpvandy01

We are in the same scenario. I live in a mainly saltwater arena. We are looking for a nice 260DA but may consider a twin 280DA if the budget fits. I am either going to buy a freshwater boat (which may require me to go for a road trip to retreive it) or a boat which I know was trailered and flush out everytime it was run in saltwater. I don't want a 2-4 year old boat that is 1-2 years away from a $3000.00 repair bill. :smt021
I have resigned myself to seriously looking to Eastern Washington or down to Sacremento for the right boat. ~ good excuse for a guys road trip too.
Best of luck.

 

[jhild]

You live in Ohio! Seems to me you'd have to go out of your way to find a saltwater boat in your neck of the woods. That being said, I wouldn't avoid looking at a boat just because it's from the coast. As mentioned above, get a good survey done and factor potential (if not likely) repair/maintenance costs into the asking price. Something else to keep in mind: A boat from up north has probably only spent 3-4 months per year in the drink. A boat from a warmer climate may have 3 times the wear & tear.

 

[Nehalennia II]

You live in Ohio! Seems to me you'd have to go out of your way to find a saltwater boat in your neck of the woods. That being said, I wouldn't avoid looking at a boat just because it's from the coast. As mentioned above, get a good survey done and factor potential (if not likely) repair/maintenance costs into the asking price. Something else to keep in mind: A boat from up north has probably only spent 3-4 months per year in the drink. A boat from a warmer climate may have 3 times the wear & tear.

I figured that because dpvandy01 is from Ohio, he would have an easier time finding a quality boat also. John my worry for a midwest boat obviously is not the salt but the maintenance or lack thereof. The Cold weather would be my worry making sure there are no freezing issues.

 

[jhild]

Hi Todd,

I realize you're in a different situation there in the PNW with respect to freshwater inventory. Might be significantly more difficult to find a nice ex-lake boat in WA.

I would think a good engine survey would reveal any freeze-related damage. Assuming a boat is winterized properly, I wouldn't worry about it too much. (Easy for me to say. It's not my potential headache!)