1987 Labelle Trawler

Thinking about buying a 87 Labelle. Can anyone give me some advise about the type of boat it is plse.

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thanks

Harry

You might could hook up with Mike Dickens of Paradise Yacht Sales and a member here under the name of MarineTrader. He has an '86 LaBelle and probobly know more about them than anyone.

http://www.paradiseyachtsales.net/index.html (new window)

As I understand it, Labelle was one of the brands that the Marine Trading company of Taiwan used back then along with Marine Trader, Heritage East and others.

I understand that Labelle stop being produced in around 1988.

I was wondering if anyone had a 40 ft labelle and can give me some pointers.

The boat for sale has twin volvos with 600 hrs on them, wondering if volvo is a good engine?

Volvo, as with other engine mfgrs., build good and not so good engines/models. Generally Volvos are good engines although parts can be pricey.
You need to know the specific model to get any more info. Also www.Boatdiesel.com would be a good source for engine info.

What usually matters more with engines of this age is how well they were looked after and how they were set up and run.

Harry,

I've been looking at a few La Le Belles and here is some info I was able to dig up.

The La Belle was built for the Marine Trader folks by the Bestway Marine yards, which, from what I can gather, was one of the better Taiwan builders.

The LaBelle*was/is a hand laid fiberglass boat constructed of polyester resin, E-glass fiberglass cloth, mat & chopped-strand fibers with coring materials of plywood and hardwoods. The hull has a solid fiberglass bottom and hull sides. The longitudinal stringers are fiberglass encapsulated wood and the transverse bulkheads are plywood which are glassed to the hull. The deck house is also a molded fiberglass laminate with plywood used to reinforce high stress areas such as the decks.

The fuel tanks were made of black iron, which were prone to rust. Some of the later models had their tanks encapsulated in fiberglass.

Water seepage around the windows was an occasional problem also.

The only Volvo engine that I am familiar with that was put in these boats was the TADM40B, at 165hp. They were/are considered a pretty reliable engine if maintained properly, but as mentioned before, parts can be pricey.*

Good luck,***** KJ

ps** not to be confused with the La Belle class Superyachts that operate out of Monaco.



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600 hrs since 1988. that is 26 hrs per year avg. No matter what kind of engines these are, that is minimal use and maintenance may be a serious issue. Get a survey of the engines by a Volvo mechanic.
I have the same engines in my boat. Mine are 1990 vintage, and I now have 3000 hrs on them. (143 hrs per yr avg.).
These are direct injection, so start immediately, even in cold weather. I have had zero issues with mine since putting them in 11 yrs ago (touch wood). If parts are expensive, I haven't noticed, as I haven't had to buy any. Also, the last time I bought oil filters, the price on the genuine Volvo filters had dropped to almost the same as the crappy generic brands. This model - TAMD41A is a far better engine than its immediate predecessor, the TMD40.

<h5>Engine</h5>
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1987 Volvo Penta TAMD 41A
<ul class="detaillist">[*]Horse Power: 200[*]Number of Engines: 2[*]Fuel Type: Diesel[*]Engine Type: Inboard[*]Engine Description: Economical Volvo 200 hp Diesels[/list]
The above noted is the engine in the 87 labelle that i am looking at, it has around 600 hours. Do you know if there is any issues with the fuel tanks and rust etc?

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Harry

Do you know if there is any issues with the fuel tanks and rust etc?

Black iron tanks last till they rust thru, usually from the OUTSIDE , so its easy to look for.

600 hours since 1987 is mighty few, so ask how the engine was pickled when out of season.

If this gets you a blank stare , be sure a mechanic take a look before purchase.

Expect "bugs" in the fuel.

We have a 83 Bestway Labelle 42 feet with twin Volvo TAMD40As with 2800 hours on them, always start up, run great. As for parts, Volvo Penta parts are expensive BUT there are a lot of replacement options that are not. Example, we had to replace an oil cooler, volvos price $2800, generic part $280. There was some leakage around the windows which we fixed, other than that it is solid trawler, lots of teak in the earlier models which we restored and plenty of room in the salon, the aft master bedroom and we love the stern space. BUT get an engine surveryor as well as a boat surveyor, you can save thousands. Low hours don't always mean good, we looked at a boat that had only 300 hours in 10 years, talk about replacing gaskets, hoses etc. Good Luck

Same old, same old .... All TT's (Taiwan Tubs) are pretty much the same regardless of the name on the placard, the issues you find on one, you will find on all. Leaking windows, rotten plywood core in the decks (those with teak decks are even worse), scary propane systems, some curiosities in the electrical systems and the infamous steel fuel tanks which never seem to last. Hulls and stringers are generally pretty good but I have seen some serious hydrolysis in bottom laminate.

Greetings,
In response to post #11. Hmmm...how do I put this politely?...

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
In response to post #11. Hmmm...how do I put this politely?...

Click to expand...

TT owner ?

Nope. Generalize much?

RT Firefly said:

Nope. Generalize much?

Click to expand...

I did use the qualifier "pretty much"
3152 surveys gives me a unique perspective.

Just got here, but this forum has potential! (just kidding, I like it civilized)

Lack of use is almost as bad as 1000's of hours. Survey, survey, survey

oscar said:

I like it civilized)

Click to expand...

There are those who will disagree with you and offer opposing view points and those who will attack while offering no useful info...... all part of the deal.

Greetings,
Mr. bp "...and those who will attack while offering no useful info..." Don't be so hard on yourself. We all know you mean well.
I think Mr. dd summed it up with " Survey, survey, survey" which is true for ANY vessel of whatever make or model.
Mr. hB. IF a sundeck model is the style you're interested in, by all means take a look or inquire of the broker for further information. Do NOT worry too much about specific brands as some have an undeserved "reputation". The individual vessel is what matters.

and sometimes when the attacker is shown up they resort to juvenile comebacks that they think are very witty but in truth are a little sad. Enjoy the show

We owned a 87 Label and owned it for about 4 years. It had TAMD 60 and was a great boat, well built. At this point of age I would be very careful with the BI fuel tanks. Otherwise I would just watch for the usual used boat issues. The engines were very good, parts are just expensive. It would cost me over $100 just to replace zinks. It was a very tight well performing engine. I put about 1000 hours on them with out any major work.
I would own another one if I was looking for a coastal cruiser. It had a lot if room.
Good luck


Sent from my iPad using Trawler Forum
Capt. Don

Most of the The Taiwanese Tubs do suffer from all or many these issues. The reality is that you can replace the soft decks, replace the fuel tanks, replace the poor wiring, grind the blisters out, reset the windows, replace some poor stainless steel and you will still have saved some money from what you would have spent on the BMW's and Lexus's of the cruising world.

A key would be to find one of these so called TT's that has had most of these issues already addressed, get a good engine survey as well, and you will have a great boat with thrice the room of a sailboat hull.

So why the kerfuffle over a 4 year old thread?

Slow readers????? rofl

Ted

Ted said:

Slow readers????? rofl
Ted

Click to expand...

Hehehe...could be a long winter.

Forgive us newbies who are going through old threads. The discussions are all new to us. Says alot about boating. Same issues keep coming up. People keep buying LaBelles, etc.

Alaskan and Texan were comparing state size. Texan bragged that in Texas it took a train two days to cross the state. 'How about that?' the Texan asked.
Alaskan responded, 'Slow train?'

Al-Ketchikan,Alaska

Al said:

Alaskan and Texan were comparing state size. Texan bragged that in Texas it took a train two days to cross the state. 'How about that?' the Texan asked.
Alaskan responded, 'Slow train?'

Al-Ketchikan,Alaska

Click to expand...

I thought it was because they had keep stopping the train to ask for directions. &#55357;&#56838;

Al said:

Alaskan and Texan were comparing state size. Texan bragged that in Texas it took a train two days to cross the state. 'How about that?' the Texan asked.
Alaskan responded, 'Slow train?'

Al-Ketchikan,Alaska

Click to expand...

Didja hear about the guy that moved from Texas to Oklahoma and raised the IQ of both states?