THE BASS COLLEGE

A question many of us may have had to ask ourselves over the years.  Whether or not to upgrade the main motor on our boats.  One I have been considering for probably three years now. 

With the economy the way it is and the price of a new boat, not to mention the cost of a new motor, what do you do?  Well, if you have maintained your boat and all is well with it, is it reasonable to say that you can hang a new motor on it and all is good?  OR do you just buy a new boat.

For example purposes.  Lets say you have a 19 to 21 foot boat, its 5 to 10 year old boat and you have a 200-250 motor and lets say it was $35,000 to 45,000 new.  To replace it today with all the new bells and whistels and a like motor your looking at $55,000 to $75,000 out the door.  WOW, unless of course you have a free ride!  LOL

New motor?  Maybe the best bet, if your current blat is still servicable for another 5 years or more.  But the kicker is it won't add much to the resale  or trade-in price if you do decide afterwards to get a new boat.

Well, there is another option. Again, if you have maintained your boat well and maybe all that it needs is a little refreshing, like having the motor refreshed.  Now, without it already having some sort of major issues, your looking a maybe spending $3,000 to $5,000 to give that old tired motor some new life agian.

And if you have some $ left over, now you have some $ for a new trolling motor or maybe a new Gen 2 HDS, or maybe even both.  And you don't have a new 10 to 20 year boat payment!

A new boat with all the new toys to me is always the way to go if your wallet has the room.  But if, your old rig is still in good shape, it floats, (major requirement!!!) and your current motor is not about to take its last breath, Refresh her is the only way to go!

What do you think?  Have any of you done this?  Comments?

Thanks,

Fred

This is exactly what I was thinking last night. I was saying this to somebody else and thats EXACTLY what I would do. I was even thinking that you would be better off getting a boat from somebody that did not fish tournaments and kept it in a garage etc and just replace the motor etc.. I think thats the way to go unless you are fishing a major trail and looking for those bonus dollars that you only get with 2 year old boats and trucks, etc so thats what i would do.

Its a tough decision.  Buying a mildly used boat is another option but buying one here in AZ where you can fish all year means more use on the boat most times and buying what may seem to be a good deal from out of state has a whole new set of issues to deal with.

For me, I want a new boat.  Reason tells me fixing mine, even if it still is a carbed motor ( i know...old school...but easier to fix!)  is money better spent. 

Make my head hurt!

refreshing a outboard to me is a lot of trust do you trust your mechanics/what if that crank bolt was just a little 2 tight. thats a lot of ifffffs for your investment.but a new rig is a lot of money.so a new outboard  i think fits the bill.yea sure i will let my mechanic clean the carbs,new stater/powerpack.but NOT A REFRESH/REBUILD. and that outboard is a $18000 investment. as long as the boat hull and trailer is in good shape. 

pigstufers at January 17, 2012 at 10:08 AM

refreshing a outboard to me is a lot of trust do you trust your mechanics/what if that crank bolt was just a little 2 tight. thats a lot of ifffffs for your investment.but a new rig is a lot of money.so a new outboard  i think fits the bill.yea sure i will let my mechanic clean the carbs,new stater/powerpack.but NOT A REFRESH/REBUILD. and that outboard is a $18000 investment. as long as the boat hull and trailer is in good shape. 

Good point.  In my case my Marine Wrench is an elite dealer and service shop.  Been a family business for over 50 years.  Plus, my particular OEM motor is his speciality.  WIN-WIN!  But yes there is always some degree of risk.  The risk of a new motor through on an old boat is....if and when you sell you will most always never recover the money for the new motor. 

And one very important consideration....  My current motor weight 327lb dry.  Not bad for a 200hp.  An new motor is over 500lb.  I will lose most of any WOT speed gain just through having to push a heavier motor which will also cut into any of the gain in fuel mileage I might gain.

I wrote this becasue I know I'm not the first guy who has been down this road before and was hoping to get some dialog started to not only help me.  Maybe there is something I have not considered, etc. and to maybe help the next guy make the right decision.

Fir me, new is out.  Unles of course I win the Loto, then it's a no brainer.  Used is an option, but is means being boatless for a bit....and maybe longer than I am comfortable with....tournaments, sponsorships and all considered.  A new motor is out and refresh is the best of all evils at this point.........maybe.  LOL

I'm sticking with what i have!  With this economy forget a new boat.  Mine still run's look's good and i take care of it.  It need's minor work once in awhile, but i can deal with that.  Since i haven't fished major tournament's in quite some time, even better.  I hope in 2013 to fish some regional tourny's again!  I may upgrade some electronic's and trolling motor if needed.  For right now my choice is to continue to take care of what i have.  That's just my situation right now, considering i lost my job!!  I hope thing's get better in this economy, but i don't see it ever going back to the way it was!  Those new boat's look great, but there price's keep going up!!  If you have the wallet for one, go for it!!  lol

The real deal would have been to get the boat from Toms friend that was here for 25,000 to members, that was a 43,000 boat and it was brand new. That was the deal to get!! I would have gotten it so fast that you guys would not have been able to even respond before I had paid, if I had already sold the house here and cars etc If it had been next year or the year after, I would have it right now!

Delawarebass at January 17, 2012 at 10:56 AM

The real deal would have been to get the boat from Toms friend that was here for 25,000 to members, that was a 43,000 boat and it was brand new. That was the deal to get!! I would have gotten it so fast that you guys would not have been able to even respond before I had paid, if I had already sold the house here and cars etc If it had been next year or the year after, I would have it right now!

Those deal's only happen once in a while.  Your right, i don't know if he sold it, but someone would have had a great boat!  But once again with the economy people are fixing what they have.  My mechanic is a OMC dealer and is busy as heck with repair's.  His new sale's have dropped real low in the past 3 year's!

yep my outboard still dont have spark to all 3 waiting on taxis to fix it and i never got to winter it so my carbs will need cleand and i just did thim last spring   o boy

its a 1995 and it still has 123#1,123#2,124#3 psi on all hools thats like new

pigstufers at January 17, 2012 at 11:18 AM

yep my outboard still dont have spark to all 3 waiting on taxis to fix it and i never got to winter it so my carbs will need cleand and i just did thim last spring   o boy

I would run engine tuner first before you pay someone to do it after you get it running.  That stuff is amazing!  It will clean out every bit of carbon and junk out!

I've got a 19ft boat with a 150 on it. Having no trouble with the motor so will just keep going with it. The Trolling motor is another thing. Still going strong but I believe that is the next thing to buy.

Tom's friends boat would have worked for me very well if I had mine sold and it wasn't across the US.  I'd probably would have snatched it up.

I bought my 2006 Startos 2 years ago. The engine had 76 hours on it and the boat was mint. Paid 17,800 for a boat that listed at 33k new.

I basically stole my Ranger so Im a bad example but I know the boat and the situation extremely well since I fish out of the boat all the time. The good with a new motor is exactly that, its new! Bad is that you wont ever see the money out of it if decide to sell it. Having the mechanic fix it is a risk too since its an older motor but will run close to new, since that mechanic is a genius with those motors. Other option is to sell it since the boat seriously looks showroom condition. Its ridiculously clean and can get the right money out of it since everything is working perfect and only reason wanting to have motor done is to gain lost speed from motor being used and not new. If you sell it theres still a boat to fish out of but may not be a boat owner for a while so its a tough choice. Theres a ton of factors is all personal preference.

Your a lot of help!  LOL

Every boat owner needs a FACTORY shop manual unless your rich or have a sponser.The manual has pics,diagrams and text that can help you to catch little problem before it becomes a big problem.A simple link an sync can wake up a lazy engine.Recirluation check valves stick,the hoses get cracks from age,electrical connection get corroded.The list goes on an on.Alot of it is not rocket science if you have a manual and besides thats more money for TW.lol....JMHO

LOL good one Ronnie!

Well, the decision has been set in stone. My decison was to sell the my boat rather than buy a new motor which was not really a good investment in the long run. All I was really attemptnig to do was to give it freah life and save a few bucks on fuel costs n the long run.

But the boat was sold today to a really nice guy buying his first bass boat. I had already worked out a Pro Staff deal with Legend Boats. We had talk before and the opprotunity finally came so I am now very happy to say I am with Legend Boats.