boat hours

[robert12]

my new truck has a hr meter and at 6000 miles it says the truck has 150 hrs so a boat with 450 hrs only has 18000 miles on it is this rite????? so my boat should last 2400 hrs at least???

[electricjohn]

Only if you are driving your truck in no higher than 2nd gear.

[robert12]

Only if you are driving your truck in no higher than 2nd gear.

i dont get it

[Rip6@36]

You have to consider that a boat opertes at a higher RPM at "normal" speeds than an automobile. As an example, my Response spends most if its time running 34 and 36 miles per hour at about 3,400 rpm and above. Today's vehicles with overdrive will run at less than 2,000 RPM at 70 MPH.

All that said, I believe you can get 2,000 hours on a boat if you take care of it, but that does not equate to 1 to 1 when compared to vehicle miles driven. Also, I don't consider 100,000 miles as the end of a vehicles useful life anymore. With two kids and a wife that all drive, we have three vehicles with over 100,000 miles on them and they are still running strong.

[RTS]

It's not so much the high RPM, it's the constant load the engine is under. When you are cruising down the highway in your car, you really don't need a whole lot of horsepower (relatively speaking) to maintain the speed...take a moment to notice your throttle position at a 70 MPH, it's not too much.

A more fair comparison would be a small airplane engine. They also operate under constant load, and 70-75% throttle position. For the most part, they are required to be rebuilt at about 2000 hours, and that is to maintain airworthiness. Our standards are not so high because if our boat engine fails, it generally is not an emergency situation, except for our wallets.

I'd say you can easily count on 2000 hours in a properly maintained boat engine before you'd have to worry about anything.

Edited October 13, 2007 by rts

[electricjohn]

Only if you are driving your truck in no higher than 2nd gear.

i dont get it

By driving your truck in no higher than second gear, it would keep your rpm's in the 3000-5000 range. Kind of where your boat usually operates. The boat is also always under load, no downhills or coasting like your truck gets to do. To put your boat motor and truck motor on the same playing field, you would have to constanly tow your boat uphill at 50 mph in second gear.

[Hman442]

It's not so much the high RPM, it's the constant load the engine is under. When you are cruising down the highway in your car, you really don't need a whole lot of horsepower (relatively speaking) to maintain the speed...take a moment to notice your throttle position at a 70 MPH, it's not too much.

A more fair comparison would be a small airplane engine. They also operate under constant load, and 70-75% throttle position. For the most part, they are required to be rebuilt at about 2000 hours, and that is to maintain airworthiness. Our standards are not so high because if our boat engine fails, it generally is not an emergency situation, except for our wallets.

I'd say you can easily count on 2000 hours in a properly maintained boat engine before you'd have to worry about anything.

The airplance analagy is good - thanks. But in theory, our boat engines should last a lot longer than a typical small plane engine, as they were typically designed 60 - 70 years ago, without too many real changes, are air cooled so they are too hot on the ground & often get shock cooled when losing altitude, while our boat engines are quite a bit more advanced in design & have a nice cooling system for a constant temperature.

Basically, I don't think we could EVER wear out a fuel injected Indmar engine with proper maintanance. It would take waaay too long.

P.S. This is only my opinion, however, it is correct.

[SCOTTDOMINE]

my new truck has a hr meter and at 6000 miles it says the truck has 150 hrs so a boat with 450 hrs only has 18000 miles on it is this rite????? so my boat should last 2400 hrs at least???

I once had that same thought, however it is true that boat engines are constantly under load, so therefore they are not comparable to a truck engine. However, 2000 hours should not be a problem for a well taken care of boat either. Good thing about a boat engine is that the constant flow of cool water keeps the temps on these engines very low compared to a truck engine (160 vs about 200-210). I would like to think that the lower the heat, the less wear and tear on internal engine components I know that I have 900 hours on my Bu and everything is just fine. Just change the oil and don't "hot rod" and you shouldn't have a problem for a llloooonnnnggg time

[IceMelted]

I know that I sold our 97 RLX Monsoon with over 1300 hours on it and it was still as stong and tight as the first day we took it out. It was on a regular / routine maintenance schedule though.

Kinda like a 90 Chevy I had with a 3.1 V6, sold it with 267K miles on it 8 years ago, and I know it's still on the road today.

[robert12]

we hydrofoil at very slow speeds 15mph and then we just cruise the lake at idel so this should last me the rest of my life

[chathamsolutions]

...

P.S. This is only my opinion, however, it is correct.

BWAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

[99response]

I think expecting your 9 year old boat with 450 hours to last until 2000 hours at your current usage rate is crazy. I've seen boats with 1000, 2000 hours but they are ski club and camp boats that run every day. These guys don't have problems because they are running fresh fuel and maintain the boats properly. I've seen boats with problems at much lower hours that are only used 50-100 hours a year.

So, yeah hope for 2000 hours, but I really believe age is just as important as hours in the end.

-Chris

[Bill_AirJunky]

we hydrofoil at very slow speeds 15mph and then we just cruise the lake at idel so this should last me the rest of my life

Only if you never get any better at riding that hydrofoil, Robert. Chances are you are getting better all the time. Soon enough it'll be time to speed up. Most of us ride between 23 & 27 mph depending on weight & ability.

[electricjohn]

I doubt any of us will truely wear out our engines.

[Sixball]

I think the valve springs might be the weakest link. I can't say I have heard of any failing. Has anyone ever looked at seat and open pressure of a set of springs with 500 hrs or more? Could be a significant H.P. drop.