Looking for some advice here. I have never owned a boat before and so
do not know what to look for in buying one. I am interested in a boat
that will pull waterskiier/tubers (maybe 70 hp or so.) What are the
things to look for ie size of boat (am thinking about 16 ft)
fiberglass
vs aluminum; open bow vs closed; what to look for in a used motor and
how old is too old for a motor AND what to avoid.... Any advice is
welcomed. Also, is
there a good website that gives a good rundown on buying a used boat?

Thanks
Dave

It's been my experience that you need to break the "100hp barrier" in order
to be able to pull real people in the real world on a "family sized" boat.
With a 90hp being bare bones minimum if the boat is light enough and your
towee is light enough.

A 16-18 foot fiberglass bowrider is indeed about right for a "small" boat to
take the family (and a friend or 2) out tubing. They will seat six with
relative comfort. You have that part knocked.

As for motors I am clearly biased. Above all make sure any outboard (yes, I
prefer outboards for many reasons) you buy has good compression in *all*
cylinders and the lower unit shifts smoothly and correctly in forward and
reverse. If that's the case and it doesn't knock or rap - all else can be
fixed with "relative" ease. The older you go - the more a fresh water motor
becomes important, salt takes a toll.

Now for my bias: In the 100 to 150 hp range one outboard stands out far
above the pack in terms of total years of service to boaters.

Mercury made an inline 6 outboard (in various configurations) from 1957 to
1988. Now , from 1982 to 1988 they made a "propshaft rated hp" 115 inline 6
that just plain "rocks" in terms of torque for pulling and forgiveness to
accidental over-rev. These motors use the still current, non-distributor,
ADI Electronic ignition and are simple carbeurated 2 stroke motors. From
1985 to 1988 they fitted over to the "new style" power trim, while older
models used the "twin-ram" system with the pump in the boat.

So.... were you to find a good 1985 - 1988 115hp Mercury inline 6 and have
it tuned up properly by a professional, and then maintain it properly, you
would be set for years. After 30 years of use, all the bugs were long worked
out of the design.

Nothing against the V6 Mercs of that same Era, but they are heaver and you
need at least 150hp to get the same "yanking" performance - and they are
more expensive being still current production. Having gone "extinct" in
1988 - the inline 6 can often be had at a real bargain - all the parts are
still available from Mercury too.

As for how old is too old? I'd say that unless you plan to do your own work
you wanna stick with a motor out of at least the 80's as a lot of the shops
are refusing to work on 70's (distributor) stuff as of late.

-W














--

PLEASE NOTE: Email address change from to

"Dave" wrote in message
om...
Looking for some advice here. I have never owned a boat before and so
do not know what to look for in buying one. I am interested in a boat
that will pull waterskiier/tubers (maybe 70 hp or so.) What are the
things to look for ie size of boat (am thinking about 16 ft)
fiberglass
vs aluminum; open bow vs closed; what to look for in a used motor and
how old is too old for a motor AND what to avoid.... Any advice is
welcomed. Also, is
there a good website that gives a good rundown on buying a used boat?

Thanks
Dave