Unusual for a boat to have no Hobbs meters ?

[Kawini]

I am looking at a twin - engine boat that has had 3 or 4 owners. I am told that the current owner does not know how many hours these engines have. The broker tells me that there are no Hobbs meters on the boat, so that it is simply impossible to tell how many hours have been logged. The broker says that this is not at all unusual.

True?

Thanks.

 

[Marin]

(Kawini-- Sent you a PM)

 

[Peter B]

Marin, that counts as a post....

 

[psneeld]

yes...many boats have had broken hour meters that were never replaced in a timely manner or run ahead to be accurate or properly logged.

 

[bligh]

Out of curiosity are they gas or diesel?
I own a gas runabout with an inboard v8 that had no hour meter when I bought it.. The meter was one of the first (of very few) things I installed upon ownership.

 

[BruceK]

My previous boat had no hour meter. No idea of the work that T6354 had done, except for floor cuts indicating the engine had been in and out, and how it ran.
I was pleased at survey with the hours shown on the genset of my current boat. The meter has never moved since. For how long before?
I`m not sure how good/accurate a guide they are. Can they be "wound back", like autos with pre electronic speedometers?

 

[Baggiolini]

My first boat, a go fast Maxum 30 footer had no stock hour meters. Have see. A lot of trawlers with broken hour meters but never with none installed.

 

[CPseudonym]

No hour meter on my Owens and no desire to install one either.

 

[Baggiolini]

Craig, how do you handle maintenance, oil changes etc? Do you log trips or do you just do it by calendar or by gut? Since hours are such an important topic here and at purchase, I would be wary about buying a boat with no way to document usage.

 

[CPseudonym]

Calendar for maintenance, which seems the norm for everyone here except the cruisers anyway. I had dated receipts for the refit so knew the age and condition of the motor and all mechanicals going into this boat. Guesstimate my hours run a tad high to be safe. If I ever change engines or rebuild this one I'll stick one on.

Idk, tend to be a little anal about boat maintenance anyway and have hour meters on dozens of pieces of equipment at work. Professionally I use hour meters more for diagnostic purposes than as a method of clocking maintenance intervals. Works for me, YMMV.