Just Bought a Marine Trader 40

Well, after 15 years as a sailor and 5 years living on a sailboat, I have finally moved to a trawler (yeah, ALL the guys in the marina have told me all the jokes......BUT I love the room and comfort )

Anyway, she needs some cosmetic work as she has been sort of neglected for a few years.

A 1978 Marine Trader 40 aft cabin.

So, what I really need is a handbook on this boat. Anyone know where/how I might get a hold of one?

Over the next few years I will go through every system and bring them up to speed (and also consider the best use of each)......and to solve some leak issues

Anyway, thank you for your help.

Tim

Congratulations! Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but there are no such handbooks. You will quickly get your head wrapped around it. I would suggest that you find a fellow trawler owner and befriend him quickly.

Congratulations on your new boat. We bought our Marine Trader 38 last April and we love it. I scoured the internet for info on these trawlers and didn't find much other than personal accounts on blogs. We liveaboard and plan to cruise full time next year. We think it's the perfect cruising boat.

Congrats on your new purchase

kokopelliTim said:

Well, after 15 years as a sailor and 5 years living on a sailboat, I have finally moved to a trawler (yeah, ALL the guys in the marina have told me all the jokes......BUT I love the room and comfort )

Anyway, she needs some cosmetic work as she has been sort of neglected for a few years.

A 1978 Marine Trader 40 aft cabin.

So, what I really need is a handbook on this boat. Anyone know where/how I might get a hold of one?

Over the next few years I will go through every system and bring them up to speed (and also consider the best use of each)......and to solve some leak issues

Anyway, thank you for your help.

Tim

Click to expand...

Congrats on your new MT. I bought my MT directly from the pirates in Tom's River and I can verify there never was an owner's manual. What they did was give me all the manuals for all the installed equipment on board (engine, stove, water heater, depth sounder). That's it. So what you really need is the manual for your engine (Ford Lehman?). The rest of the systems are Taiwanese copies that are pretty easy to understand (steering, propane, heads, fresh water, electrical). These are very simple boats that are fun, reliable and economical to run. This marks my 20th year of ownership and I still smile every time I see her. There is an owner association that has a ton of owner collected info about these boats (MTOA). You might consider joining and/or meeting up with them.

We need pictures! Any clown could come on here and claim that they had a Marine Trader. We need proof!

Well, no handbooks! Not a big surprise....but would have been nice

Attached is a photo...I may be a clown, but I am a clown with a Marine Trader!

I suppose my big issue (at this point) is down in the engine room...recall i come from a "simple" sailboat.....there seems to be SO much down there and so many hoses, connections, 6 thru-hulls, and I do not seem to be able to follow all my hoses, tubes, cords to their end points.

So, anyone have a schematic type idea of where it all connects and goes down there?

I am not going to do thiese things today....but as I look into the projects this next year......knowing what is going on in the below decks will help

thanks for the encouragment guys.

Tim

kokopelliTim said:

Well, no handbooks! Not a big surprise....but would have been nice

Attached is a photo...I may be a clown, but I am a clown with a Marine Trader!

I suppose my big issue (at this point) is down in the engine room...recall i come from a "simple" sailboat.....there seems to be SO much down there and so many hoses, connections, 6 thru-hulls, and I do not seem to be able to follow all my hoses, tubes, cords to their end points.

So, anyone have a schematic type idea of where it all connects and goes down there?

I am not going to do thiese things today....but as I look into the projects this next year......knowing what is going on in the below decks will help

thanks for the encouragment guys.

Tim

Click to expand...

Tim,

Great picture! Great looking boat!

I also came from sail but my family background was diesel mechanics so I have a leg up on engine knowledge. The first thing I would suggest is to identify all the thru hulls and check their attached hoses. Some of my hoses looked to be original and hand made in Taiwan (the other China). I replaced all the hoses as soon as I got her. I also placed a wooden tapered dowel tied to each seacock. The first winter on hard I lubed and worked all the seacocks. I also had to replace the entire waste system. Then I started on the window leaks.

Internal fit and finish depends on which family in Taiwan built your boat. Internal systems too. Each boat is different and it's up to you to make it yours. You'll find you're most important tools are a pair of knee protectors and a powerful flashlight. Yoga is good too. You will be crawling into spots you never thought possible. Just hope you can find your way out. The next morning is always bad. Bring aspirin. After a while you never come out of the engine room. Welcome to trawlers.

Al

Greetings,
Mr. kT. Welcome aboard and congrats. As far as I know, no schematics either. Even if there were diagrams etc. it doesn't necessarily follow that they would correspond to YOUR boat. I expect you'll be spending some time, and it's QUALITY time I might add, familiarizing yourself with your new mistress. Trust me, it's all good.

Welcome to the madness. I recommend starting a couple of systems drawings. I'm too cheap to use expensive software to make drawings and my brain is too old to remember stuff that seems blindingly obvious today. So I make simple schematics using something called "dia" and occasionally remember to update them as I make changes. And I put in notes like "if I ever add solar, connect it here" so that my brain doesn't have to figure it out again down the road. For the boat I have a fuel system diagram as well as AC & DC electrical drawings. I also have a port and stbd profile with all the thru-hulls marked on it. Whenever we are leaving the boat for any length of time I print one of those and mark off the thru-hulls as I close them. Then I leave it lying on the table as a reminder as I open them up when we return.

kokopelliTim said:

Well, no handbooks! Not a big surprise....but would have been nice

Attached is a photo...I may be a clown, but I am a clown with a Marine Trader!

I suppose my big issue (at this point) is down in the engine room...recall i come from a "simple" sailboat.....there seems to be SO much down there and so many hoses, connections, 6 thru-hulls, and I do not seem to be able to follow all my hoses, tubes, cords to their end points.

So, anyone have a schematic type idea of where it all connects and goes down there?

I am not going to do thiese things today....but as I look into the projects this next year......knowing what is going on in the below decks will help

thanks for the encouragment guys.

Tim

Click to expand...

I want one.....but no teak.

beachbum29 said:

I want one.....but no teak.

Click to expand...

While we were moored at the importer's dock in Toms River, they had a brand new MT just of the boat from China. It had absolutely no teak outside - anywhere.

It looked like a bloated Clorox bottle. These are surprisingly unattractive boats without their teak. You would be better off with an American boat like a Willard or a Hatteras.

alormaria said:

While we were moored at the importer's dock in Toms River, they had a brand new MT just of the boat from China. It had absolutely no teak outside - anywhere.

It looked like a bloated Clorox bottle. These are surprisingly unattractive boats without their teak. You would be better off with an American boat like a Willard or a Hatteras.

Click to expand...

I saw a Hyatt listed, it had no teak & I really liked that mono-clean look

kokopelliTim said:

Well, no handbooks! Not a big surprise....but would have been nice

Attached is a photo...I may be a clown, but I am a clown with a Marine Trader!

I suppose my big issue (at this point) is down in the engine room...recall i come from a "simple" sailboat.....there seems to be SO much down there and so many hoses, connections, 6 thru-hulls, and I do not seem to be able to follow all my hoses, tubes, cords to their end points.

So, anyone have a schematic type idea of where it all connects and goes down there?

I am not going to do thiese things today....but as I look into the projects this next year......knowing what is going on in the below decks will help

thanks for the encouragment guys.

Tim

Click to expand...

Tim, Anyone can walk down the dock and take a picture of someone's MT. We need interior pictures! Lots of them!!

If you post some engine room shots,or better yet...videos... maybe we can play the "Guess What This Is" game. You're sure to be entertained and informed by the masses.

beachbum29 said:

I saw a Hyatt listed, it had no teak & I really liked that mono-clean look

Click to expand...

I did see that and I liked it!

Congrats on the new used MT, Tim, and welcome. We hope to hear more of it as things progress. I was also a sailboat guy (for 17 years) and lived on it (with my wife, cruising) for 5 years, so know where you are coming from. I just sold the sailboat in late 2012 and bought a used Gulfstar 36, which I absolutely love. Like you, I also found a lot more complexity than I had had on the sailboat (Allied Mistress), but am slowly beginning to work my way through it. One thing you will find with a boat that old is that most likely there have been a lot of "enhancements" by previous owners, and so a user manual would not necessarily be all that useful anyway. You will find that red wires are not always hot, black wires are sometimes hot, and many wires go nowhere at all and do nothing at all. Ditto with hoses. But it is fun getting to know the boat, and the basics have not changed. There are still seacocks, bilge pumps, hose clamps, and wiring, so you just have to get them all located.

John

Also ex sailboater, lived aboard for six years and cruised about half of that time. Bought our current boat, 1986 Present 38, last May and have been making improvements ever since.

I think Taiwan feet must be a lot smaller than ours. The steps down into the salon and into the galley are very small. Been working on making the steps bigger to match our large western feet. Just one of many details.

Just recently crawled out from under the console on the flybridge with enough spare wire and cable to rewire our previous sailboat. Seems none of the POs ever removed any wire or cable when installing or replacing something.

Bob

BobH wrote:

"Just recently crawled out from under the console on the flybridge with enough spare wire and cable to rewire our previous sailboat. Seems none of the POs ever removed any wire or cable when installing or replacing something."

Yeah, I have found that also. Kind of frustrating. When I bought the boat from the previous owner (Doug Cole, also on this forum) he remarked that a project he never got around to was removing all the dead wires!

John

That was a gift from Doug! With copper prices so high, that old wire returns a king's ransom at the recycling centers.

FlyWright said:

That was a gift from Doug! With copper prices so high, that old wire returns a king's ransom at the recycling centers.

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Right Al,

Better hope all those metal thieves that are stealing live wires out of businesses, schools, churches and bronze plaques don't discover the goldmine of bronze on your boat....

Or shorepower cords...

alormaria said:

I did see that and I liked it!

Click to expand...

Do you have any pics of that new marine trader?

Also Just Bought a MT-40

I bought a Marine Trader 40' in January - needs lots of wood work. I found this thread because I had the same question - and see from everyone's posts that there is no owners manual. So, I propose that we collaboratively create one on Google Docs over the next few months - anyone in?

Welcome, FlyNavy. Tell us more about your boat and where you are near Annapolis. Annapolis is one of the great cruising towns, and of course the Bay is some of the best cruising. You are in for a great time.

kokopelliTim said:

I suppose my big issue (at this point) is down in the engine room...recall i come from a "simple" sailboat.....there seems to be SO much down there and so many hoses, connections, 6 thru-hulls, and I do not seem to be able to follow all my hoses, tubes, cords to their end points.

Click to expand...

Tim - where in New Bern is that? It doesn't look like the NB Grand, is it Bridgeton?

We hired a captain when we first bought our boat, and he spent easily an hour pointing out stuff in the engine room. Then we spent a few hours doodling around the river learning how to operate the boat. Maybe you don't need a capt, but a local marine mechanic will probaby do the same.

Or walk down the dock and start asking questions! Boaters really are the friendliest people!

Congrats! I always felt the 40 was one of MT's better hull designs. One tip is as your figuring out the hoses mark them with permanent markers including flow direction. Same for wiring.

FlyNavy said:

I bought a Marine Trader 40' in January - needs lots of wood work. I found this thread because I had the same question - and see from everyone's posts that there is no owners manual. So, I propose that we collaboratively create one on Google Docs over the next few months - anyone in?

Click to expand...

We're happy to help in any way, but like others have said on this thread, MT aren't all the same.

We bought a 38 Marine Trader Double Cabin last April and haven't seen another one like it. Many MT's we've seen are galley up floor design and have single or twin Lehmans. We're galley down and have twin Cummins. Like others have said, we spent a lot of time tracking down all the thru hulls, tying a wooden plug to each (and we sure do have a lot of thru hulls!!!), checking hoses, and the crazy electrical.

We've just completed refinishing the exterior wood (not the decks as they were already removed) and are now in leak prevention mode (rebedding stansions,etc) as I guess MT's are known for leak issues.

Again, congrats on your new boat!

Congratulations Tim,
I recently bought a 44' trawler, not a MT but I was faced with a lot of the same issues that you will be. when replacing the hoses on the thru hulls for the engine intake, salt water washdown, air conditioning, and aft head I put 90 degree elbows on the thru hulls to eliminate excessive kinking in the hoses. You might also check to see if the thru hulls are grounded to the engine, or some common ground plane (mine were not) and I ended up running grounding wires to each of them. Check the filters, My AC pump filter was full of barnacles the bottom of the filter basket completely detached when I pulled it out, and I had to use a diluted muratic acid solution to get the barnacles out of the casing. after that I filled a 5 gallon bucket with CLR and pumped it through the ac coils to flush them out.
Good luck with the MT and be prepared for everything you do to cost more and, take longer, and reveal new issues that need attention.

Hi I am a new member here and own a 1984 43' Marine Trader LaBelle. Like you it was my first trawler but have owned for three years now. The best way to learn about your boat is to explore it. I started in the engine room. I have Volvo TAMD40B's. You can get free online service manual if you search. I started by cleaning the bilges, first the engine room, then wherever else I had access. There were years of accumulated tie wraps, hose clamps, and other debris. I then manually tested each bilge pump (3) location. Replaced several and cut and recrimped wiring so all functioned perfectly. Checked all hoses and belts and hose clamps on the engines and on any thru hull fittings. Opened and closed all thru hull valves to make sure they functioned properly. Two were frozen open, badly corroded and were replaced. My boat has two large stainless steel fresh water tanks. Each has a good sized access port. Open and inspect yours! You will be surprised what might be growing in there. I drained both of mine, manually scrubbed them with detergent and bleach combo (there was greenish brown slime floating in both). I then refilled the tanks with fresh water and added bleach to sanitize the tanks and all lines. Engines had low hours and started/ran fine. I change oil, filter and air filter every season. The boat came with Racors with sight bowls and fuel looked clean, some dark particles, probably algea, but not too bad. Added algaecide and fuel conditioner and ran down old fuel before refilling tanks. Changed Racor filters at end of first season and they have stayed clean since. Your fresh water lines are likely to be the old grey colored plastic that are no longer readily available. Save any lengths you remove (and also any fittings) to reuse for repairs to other sections. I replaced my water heater with a ten gallon residential style at a fraction of the cost of a marine grade water heater. It will probably last as long as I will (I'm 70). The previous owner had installed an ElectroSan direct discharge head in the master bath (lucky me) but the foreward head was a rusted mess so I tore it out an replaced it with a porta potty that so far has never been used. I had numerous small water leaks around widows, portholes, and hatches. New seals and caulking took care of that. I have had three very enjoyable seasons with no major problems until Mrs Captain was at the helm and snagged a large very heavy lobster trap and bent the port shaft. This opened Pandora's box. All the Cutlass bearings were worn, the shafts were worn and the drive saver couplers were in bad shape. So my first expensive repair is now under way. We live aboard for weeks at a time, mostly in a full service marina so we have a full size 110v Refig/freezer combo in the galley. I tore out a shabby looking propane stove/oven and removed the propane tank too. I don't like propane on a boat. We use the microwave, electric skillet, crock pot and barbeque grill for cooking. So thats it for starters. I have emptied and cleaned every compartment, nook and cranny. We have a walk around queen bed in MBR and I use a small humidifier to eliminate condensation and mildew. The boat rides very smoothly. A fine entry, and hard chines combine for a smooth ride and very little roll. The electrical system has not been a problem so far but I have spent a lot of time tripping switches and breakers to be sure of what they turn on and off. If you haven't already bought insurance, you will likely have to get an insurance survey, and it will point out things that need attention. My list was rather long but easily handled myself. Good luck and feel free to ask any questions.

Hi Bill, you need to visit me since you're so handy...

Congrats on the new ride, Tim. Hopefully, you'll reach the pinnacle of "overwhelm" just in time to crest the hill and cruise easily into "hopelessness". Seriously though, we've got boats and we've got all the bennies and all the liabilities of our choices. Whatever you do, find the time to enjoy your new baby.