I had mentioned a few months ago that I was considering the purchase of a boat for fishing and family time. I’ve been watching Craigslist and Facebook for boats between $1000 and $3500. My max budget for the project is $3500, so I was trying to find a decent boat for about $2500. Decent meaning the engine ran, the trolling motor ran, and the upholstery didn’t have a lot of tears. Other than that, I just wanted it to float and not leak. I was willing to drive up to 200 miles for the right boat.
Of other concern was the trailer the boat sat on, especially if the lights worked and if the tires were recent. I really didn’t want the bad day of having a flat on the road as I was bringing home my new prize. Likewise getting pulled over for broken lights on the trailer. Most things I can fix at home, but getting it there was a worry.
Well, a boat showed up on one of my searches for the low end of my price range. It was a fish and ski type boat, which means it is a bass fishing boat, with additional seats behind the console and usually two sitting areas in front. With a boat like this, you lose some floor space that you would normally stand on while fishing, but gain some room to lounge and enjoy being on the water. It is a compromise and one I was good with.
The boat was listed on Craigslist one morning for $1800, which as I mentioned, is on the lower end. The target price being about $2500 for a good boat. What struck me was that it had a very nice interior and carpet, which is a definite plus. The engine was a Mercury 115HP, which is a decent outboard engine and not prone to issues. For the price, I called the guy and set up a time that afternoon to look at it.
There is always a bit of uncertainty when dealing with somebody over Craigslist or other personal ad. Is the item stolen? Does it have an issue that nobody has mentioned? Is the person going to hurt me and take my money (yeah, it happens too often)? I drove over and bucked up and knocked on the door.
The guy came out and asked if I was here to look at the boat. I said, “Yes, what can you tell me about it?” He spoke about how he and his son had got the boat about 4 years ago from a friend and how they did several outings the first 2 years. The last two years they only took it out a couple of times, because his kid was in a traveling league for some sports. That meant that the weekends were too busy to be on the water and the boat was just going to sit. He said he’d rather have that part of his driveway back.
There is a negotiating technique that I’d heard about that the first person to mention the price was the person who was most invested in the transaction. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I asked him how low he would go on it. He told me $1650, which was $150 off what he was asking. I figured he was looking to get $1600 for it, but instead of just asking him about it, I instead asked him about some other things.
How old are the tires? He replaced one last year, as it had popped in the driveway. Mental note: it will need at least another tire.
This engine is oil injected, do you use the injector, or premix? He said premix, at 8:1 ratio. Hmm, that seems a bit off, as most engines like 40:1 or 50:1. Too much oil won’t damage the engine, but it won’t run right and will foul the spark plugs pretty easily. Mental note, check the plugs.
Does everything work? Well, no. he put in a new radio last year, and some 12 volt power ports (cigarette lighter connector), but they didn’t work. A loose wire someplace. Mental note: have to rewire the radio and power ports.
Ok, would you take $1600 for it? He paused, looked up like he was thinking about it, and said “Yes”. Could I have pushed him further? Perhaps. I may have gotten $1500, but I think $1600 was a really good price on it.
So, what did I get? 1989 Winner ZZ 880 Mach II, with a 1988 Mercury 155HP inline 6 cylinder. The engine is know as “The Tower of Power” by the Mercury fans.
I’ve started the engine and it runs. There is a thing called a motor flusher that looks like some ear muffs you place over the cooling water intake on the engine. This prevents the engine for overheating due to a lack of water. It didn’t want to start right away, but that was mainly due to me flooding it with the choke and perhaps the previous owner having the engine “fogged” with storage oil when it was winterized.
The trolling motor didn’t work. Not a bit of spin. I checked the battery and it was new in November 2017, so not too old. I put my meter on it and it was dead. No volts dead. That’s generally considered time to replace as the battery is usually shot at that point. I pulled the battery and hooked my battery charger to it on a 2 amp trickle charge. 12 hours later and it was holding at 11 volts, which is better but it is a 12 volt battery. I gave it another 24 hours and it was holding 12 volts. A fully charged 12 volt battery should be close to 13 volts, so I charged it for another day. This time it was holding at 12.75 volts. I let it rest a day and gave it another trickle charge for 24 hours. It has been a week and it is holding about 12.7 volts.
I found some wires that had a missing end on them. I assume this was used for the radio and power ports. It was very thin wire with a large insulating jacket on it. My guess is that it was for something else. I’m going to have to run some new wires for it. I’ll need to decide if it is going to get connected to the main power switch, directly to the start battery, or directly to the trolling battery.
When I picked up the boat, the tires had 30 psi in them. I asked the guy if that’s were he kept them, and he said yes. Well, those tires are supposed to be at 50 psi, and it showed. I can see that one of the tires has some wear on the edges. This is indicative of low tire pressure. No wonder the tire had popped! The tire on the other hub is sun damaged and has check marks all through the sidewall. It’s toast and overdue for replacement. The spare is….well it is technically a tire. It is the wrong size and is a car tire. It is also not holding air. I’ve bought 3 new tires for the boat at Amazon. Who knew they sold tires and at $50 each for some nice radials? Yeah, I had to get them. My local Wal-Mart will gladly install them for $15 each.
I’ve discovered other issues.
The winch has issues. It doesn’t “click” as you crank it, so you have to manually move the stop into position. The strap is also showing some age on it. It is hard and faded.
I’ve purchased a new one.
The back hold down straps are in sorry shape. One of them appears to have broken, and a previous owner had tied the strapping to the hook. That’s no good to me. I bought some Boat Buckles to replace them. These are permanently mounted to the trailer and have a retractable ratchet to make tying the boat down to the trailer easier.
I’ve bought some other things as well. Most of them safety related.
Boat hook for moving the boat when near the dock and for picking up rope from the water.
Flares as a required Coast Guard safety device. Used for signaling in day or night.
Air horn as a required Coast Guard safety device.