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  • Average Hours on Used Boat?

    Age old question, What is the average hours for a ski boat per year?
    How do you compare hours compared to miles on a car ( 100hrs = 1500miles)
    What would be viewed as a lot of hours on a 5-6 year old 210/ 800-1000 hrs?

    My boat only has 410 hrs but we have not ski much the last two seasons?

  • #2
    I believe the average boat gets 30 hours a year.

    If you drive a car at 60 MPH, for a thousand hours, you get 60,000 miles on the car. But it is generally considered that a boat engine works harder than the engine in your car.

    The biggest issue I believe is low hours. If the engine sits for long periods of time between startups, oil slowly runs off the internal parts, and when you start the engine, it has a lot of wear in that time, until the oil gets to all the internal surfaces. Because of this, it is possible for an engine with very low hours to have more internal wear than an engine that has seen regular use

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    • #3
      The national average is 60 hours per year, but naturally that takes the northern and southern states into account. When looking at a used boat, I'd question the service intervals and what the boat was used for. If a boat is pulling Parrish, it's been worked harder than one pulling someone's kids tubing. With that said, these engines are designed and engineered to work hard, and can easily get 2-2,500 hours before a rebuild. Long story short, don't be afraid of hours.
      '08 196LE (previous)
      '07 196LE (previous)
      2 - '06 196SE's (previous)

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      • #4
        I would suggest that if a ski boat has been pulling Parrish, and other world class tournament skiers all its life, it will be in better shape than one pulling tubes. Pulling tournament skiers, about 17 seconds of a pull, then drop to an idle, shorten the rope, and another 17 seconds. Every time you close the throttle on an engine, it pulls a little oil up into the cylinder walls. Constantly changing loads, and RPMS is a lot better than a constant steady pull. The tournament boat probably will have higher hours, but it probably will be taken much better care of.

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        • #5
          At service school we were told for every hour of run time was equivalent to 80 miles. But on the average I see between 30 to 40 hours on customers boats when they bring them back for winter service.

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          • #6
            I just mean I would prefer a used boat that had some balance in its life, not one that was either in idle or pulling 36mph course runs. I'll make a few course runs then pull my 75lb niece on 20mph tube ride, which is pretty gentle on my engine. Don't get wrong though, I would definitely consider a promo boat, as I know those owners take care of them.
            '08 196LE (previous)
            '07 196LE (previous)
            2 - '06 196SE's (previous)

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            • #7
              Originally posted by DanielC View Post
              I would suggest that if a ski boat has been pulling Parrish, and other world class tournament skiers all its life, it will be in better shape than one pulling tubes. Pulling tournament skiers, about 17 seconds of a pull, then drop to an idle, shorten the rope, and another 17 seconds. Every time you close the throttle on an engine, it pulls a little oil up into the cylinder walls. Constantly changing loads, and RPMS is a lot better than a constant steady pull. The tournament boat probably will have higher hours, but it probably will be taken much better care of.
              agreed!
              2007 SV211 SE
              Tow Vehicle 2019 Tundra
              Dealer: www.Whitelake.com

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              • #8
                The 95 I picked up has 600hrs, divide by 15 and thats 40hrs a year. I have friends who average 100 hrs though and their boats run like champs, its all in the maintence in my opinion.

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                • #9
                  I purchased our 2007 ski nautique 206 with a advertised 700 hours on it from a couple of ski school gangsters in England we managed to do 40 hours on 2008 and about 70 in 2009 the clock never worked when i got the boat back to Germany. We have just purchesed our own Techmate scan tool and the motor has clocked a massive 1344 hours ,this boat had clocked 500 hours more than I was told
                  Andy

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                  • #10
                    Andy, it is a bummer that the hours on the boat were not as advertised. What condition was the boat in?

                    I have over 2295 hours on my boat, and it is still running very good. A lot of hours is not really an issue, much more important is how well the boat was taken care of.

                    Like I said before, a boat that has a lot of hours only on a tournament ski lake has pretty much had an easy life.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by wineguy View Post
                      Age old question, What is the average hours for a ski boat per year?
                      How do you compare hours compared to miles on a car ( 100hrs = 1500miles)
                      What would be viewed as a lot of hours on a 5-6 year old 210/ 800-1000 hrs?

                      My boat only has 410 hrs but we have not ski much the last two seasons?
                      Best answer is you don't compare to hours in a car. It's apples to oranges and not relevant. You don't compare car engines on a racetrack to car engines in passenger use. They just arent' the same.

                      Maintenance is key. Manufacturer says boat engine should go 2500 hours before a rebuild. Many have run into 4000 hours.

                      Also, people get hung up on how much the boat was used before you bought it. If a 2 year old boat has
                      500 hours on it, but your will only use it for 30 hours per year for the next five year, then it will only have 650 hours on it after 7 and will be right back in the ballpark. You save a lot of money for high hours, on something you won't use much anyway. If you are going to put 200 hours a year on it, then you'll be driving down the resale value anyway. Again, why not save some money at initial purchase.

                      Average boats get used 50-70 hours per year. If you're going to use it about the same, then perhaps look for aboat in that range or lower. Otherwise, I say look carefully at the maintenance, and save a few buck up front.

                      My $.02.

                      BKH
                      2001 Super Air

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by DanielC View Post
                        Andy, it is a bummer that the hours on the boat were not as advertised. What condition was the boat in?

                        I have over 2295 hours on my boat, and it is still running very good. A lot of hours is not really an issue, much more important is how well the boat was taken care of.

                        Like I said before, a boat that has a lot of hours only on a tournament ski lake has pretty much had an easy life.
                        THe boat is in good condition and we have had two great seasons with this boat,it is just so upsetting what people will do for money and to get a sale,even a premier PCM service guy told me he had serviced the boat from new but never mentioned the hours, and he was there when I made the purchase!!!!
                        Andy

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                        • #13
                          When I used to test drive boats for trades, I was much more interested in how tight each component was. If the throttle and steering are sloppy, there's excessive vibration and rattes, low hours are irrelevant. I'd just recommend putting a prospective boat through the paces, and if it happens to have high hours, that's just extra leverage in the negotiation arena.
                          '08 196LE (previous)
                          '07 196LE (previous)
                          2 - '06 196SE's (previous)

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                          • #14
                            I bought my 230 in the end of May with 13 hours and I've got 130 now. It's seems weird to me that the average hours per year is so low even in parts of the country that get too cold to ride in the winter.

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                            • #15
                              We got our 2011 200 on August 16th. Yesterday, 7 weeks later, it had 51.5 hours.
                              Shane Hill
                              2014 Team 200OB
                              67 '13 Prophecy

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