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This Old Boat article series is being provided to let new people appreciate what to take into consideration and just what one can anticipate when you begin searching for a 25-30 year old yacht. Even though these old boats are actual antiques does not always mean they don't have years of high-quality operation left. If correctly taken care of and improved, they'll last another twenty-five to thirty years. You have been on the lookout for a few weeks and have yet to encounter that "ideal" boat. It seems every aged boat you look at tends to look like just another aged worn out vessel. The 1985 Hatteras you saw the other day had aged Detroit's that seemed a little rough. The hour meters indicated the engines had 3200 hours on them. Are high hours undesirable for a diesel engine? And yet what does high hours mean? That is a good question. Most diesel experts will inform you which diesel motors will last a long time to come. I have acquaintances that run a long haul truck nationwide. They tell me that truckers can normally run in excess of 200,000 miles on the 18 wheeler every year. So at an average of approximately 60 miles-per-hour adds over 3300 hours each year on the engine. And if the 18 wheeler is 6 years old there may be about 19,000 hours on the engine. Marine diesel motors are constructed to closer specifications than are gas engines. They can often provide, if well serviced, 15,000 hours of arduous performance before needing a major refit. In principle, a well-maintained diesel engine could last your entire life. Given that the ordinary recreational boater runs only approximately one hundred hours per year at most, the fifteen thousand hour diesel would probably run approximately 150 years. That should be sufficient! So what is the reason that we vessel owners get all worked up over boat engine hours? Once again, fine question. I believe it's a boater thing. We boaters are inclined to get worked up over even the small stuff. Vessel engines are run in a different way than tractor/trailer engines in a number of ways. We probably do not idle as much yet the boat engines are always under a load while you are underway. Loading an engine puts a little demand on the engine, however if it is a diesel, that's a great thing. Diesel motors like to run under load and continuously. The longer the idle time between cruises the fewer hours they will deliver before requiring major repairs and maintenance. Although diesel marine engines can significantly add to the cost to pay for a yacht, they should be really thought about for the reason of their strength, economy of operation and safety concerns. Diesel fuel in addition has a much greater flash point than gas and does not present the same risk of fire that gasoline does. When considering buying a used vessel with diesel engines, I consistently recommend getting oil specimens. The oil lab analysis will give you a thorough understanding of the internal overall health of the engines. You will then understand what you are buying and that the previous boat owner did indeed service the boat engines correctly. On the other hand, the regular marine gasoline motor operates for fifteen hundred hours prior to requiring a major overhaul. The number of hours that a marine engine will run without issues is very dependent on the amount and quality of service over the years. The usual gasoline marine motor will run perfectly for the first 1,000 hours. It is at this moment in time the boat engine will begin to expose indications of issues. If these troubles are not resolved quickly, they can transform into big troubles quickly. Interestingly, a vehicle engine may run almost two times as long (3,000 hours) as your marine gas motor. Having said that, marine engines work under the most dreadful surroundings of salt air, wet bilges, stop and go actions, serious loads and quite often simply pure negligence. Not servicing a boat engine will certainly allow it to die early. Mike Dickens, the author, is a live aboard boat owner and owner/Broker of Paradise Yachts in Florida USA. Paradise Yachts offers used quality yachts to customers worldwide. National and international sales. We ship Used Trawlers, Motor Yachts and Cruisers worldwide. Located in Florida, USA. 904/556-9431
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used motoryacht, high engine hours, marine diesel,
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