Ok convince me

Looking at a Mainship 400 , 2008 with twin 240 yanmars. BUT it has nearly 2500 hrs on the engines ... the good side it's a fresh water boat. The 2500 hours scares me... Convince me that 2500 hours is ok ..... or not

thanks

What was the boat doing during those 2500 hours? Going slow at hull speed or pushing it near the pins. If the former, those engines should last for many, many more thousands of hours. If pushed hard, then not so much.

Also were they maintained properly and propped right.

Operating conditions, maintenance and set up are more important than hours.

David

djmarchand said:

What was the boat doing during those 2500 hours? Going slow at hull speed or pushing it near the pins. If the former, those engines should last for many, many more thousands of hours. If pushed hard, then not so much.

Also were they maintained properly and propped right.

Operating conditions, maintenance and set up are more important than hours.

David

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Good points, I need to get answers to those questions. with so many hours I'm sure the boat has seen it's fair share of salt water too. I'm also thinking resale value adding to the hours i'm going to put on it too.

In most cases the fresh water use outweighs the 2500 hours. I like engines that are used often but not abused over units that sit unused. I also tend to think a boat that is used may have a more knowledgeable owner with better maintenance. Have a motor survey by a person very familiar with the engine. With proper maintenance and use those motors can go 10,000+ hours. The issues of salt water age don't apply to the fresh water boat.

Personally I could care less about fresh Vs salt water. A boat meant for salt water, properly designed and constructed can live its entire life in salt water with no ill affects.

What I care about is how hard the 2500 hours were (as was posted above). I would look at the log book for the engines and take not of how many gallons of fuel were consumed. That would give you a good idea of how much life is potentially left in the engines.

What I like about the hours is that the boat was actually used. That probably means it was maintained as well, but that is not a given...again the log books tell the story.

2,500 hours on a well maintained engine is nothing. My Cat 3116s are approaching 5,000 hours with not a hiccup ever. Have the engines surveyed and be good to go if you like the boat.

Make sure that the turbos are not eating water. I've seen a couple of Mainships with not enough riser hight that ruined the Yanmar turbos. Not sure about your specific boat model.

Tigs said:

Looking at a Mainship 400 , 2008 with twin 240 yanmars. BUT it has nearly 2500 hrs on the engines ... the good side it's a fresh water boat. The 2500 hours scares me... Convince me that 2500 hours is ok ..... or not

thanks

Click to expand...

No one can convince you one way or another unless they've run and surveyed the engines. That's your protection.

BandB said:

No one can convince you one way or another unless they've run and surveyed the engines. That's your protection.

Click to expand...

I agree, its not our job or responsibility to convince you of anything - just give you some advice for you to ultimately make the decision on. Probably the best bit of advice so far - get a mechanical inspection from someone who knows the engine model.

Not every boat owner keeps a ships log but many do track fuel consumption. If this owner has done either check to see how many gallons of fuel has been burned in those 2,500 hours. Total lifetime fuel consumed is a better indicator of diesel engine life than just looking at a Hobbs meter.

2,500 could be near rebuild time but is far more likely just getting broken in. A lot of good advice in this thread especially regarding checking exhaust riser and turbo charger condition.

thanks for all the advice guys

Did the prior owner keep regular oil analysis reports? What does a current oil sample show?