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Engine hours to miles in a car


malibanker

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When boat shopping we focus so much energy on low hours, right? I got a new Tahoe to pull our boat in Febuary, snce then I am at 4,800 miles and 149 engine hours according to the computer. My point is, are we crazy to worry about a boat with 200, 400, or 700 hours because in car terms it's really not that much usage. Asuming proper maintenance of course, shouldn't we expect a pretty long life or is the abuse of smashing through white caps and long lay-ups just that damaging? From my simple math, I just bought an 05 with 3500 miles on it.... What am I missing.

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Your not missing anything. People put way too much stock in the # of hours on their boat when it's anything under 1000 hrs.

My Chevy Avalanche has about 92k miles on it, and over 2200 hrs. Still runs great & doesn't use any oil.

I imagine there are engine issues that come up with a boat that don't come up in a truck. Boats are stored for months at a time. They have fresh water inside them. Depending on how their used, they might accelerate from a dead stop more often (although we start out a foil rider or a boarder quite a bit slower out of the hole than a slalom skier or footer).

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I look at hours as one of many tools and not the most important. A low hour boat could be a bigger problem than a well kept hi hour boat.

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Boats don't have wheels so their use is equivilent to driving a truck uphill. 100 hours on a boat is equal to about 8 to 10 thousand truck miles. :chevy::guns:

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I look at hours as one of many tools and not the most important. A low hour boat could be a bigger problem than a well kept hi hour boat.

:plus1:

I would care more about how the boat was maintained.

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Totally different scenario. Engine hours on a boat are much different. Imagine driving your car at a rate of 3 to 4 thousand rpm while pulling a trailer everywhere you went. That thing is not gonna last like a car used regularly would. Boats typically run 3 to 4000 rpm constantly and the amount of people or water drag would be close to trailer weight on car. I say all that to say this, boat engines have a much harder life. Therefore, there engine life is usually much less. The best formula I can come up with is 100hrs. = 10,000 miles. 1000hrs=100000 miles. Can a boat last over 1000 hrs.? U bet, especially if it is well taken care of. However, its like a car after 100k its just as apt to break as to keep going.

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Totally different scenario. Engine hours on a boat are much different. Imagine driving your car at a rate of 3 to 4 thousand rpm while pulling a trailer everywhere you went. That thing is not gonna last like a car used regularly would. Boats typically run 3 to 4000 rpm constantly and the amount of people or water drag would be close to trailer weight on car. I say all that to say this, boat engines have a much harder life. Therefore, there engine life is usually much less. The best formula I can come up with is 100hrs. = 10,000 miles. 1000hrs=100000 miles. Can a boat last over 1000 hrs.? U bet, especially if it is well taken care of. However, its like a car after 100k its just as apt to break as to keep going.

I don't have a wakeboard boat so I am not super loaded down. Half my hours are running 3400 RPM in a slalom course but the other half are towing my kids at 2200-2500 RPM or slower. That doesn't seem to put a big strain on the engine.

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As long as a boat engine is winterized & kept full of oil, it'll last 1000 hrs. Maintain it, actually CHANGE the oil & filter once in a while & it'll double that.

I have had several shared waterfront homes & kept my boat on the dock with dozens of other boats. It always amazed me how little time people put into their boats, some of them really nice boats. And the boats just keep pluggin along without any issues. Especially the Indmar marinized small block Chevy.

200, 400 or even 700 hrs is nothing. These engine are designed to go 2000+ hrs. when taken care of.

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As long as a boat engine is winterized & kept full of oil, it'll last 1000 hrs. Maintain it, actually CHANGE the oil & filter once in a while & it'll double that.

I have had several shared waterfront homes & kept my boat on the dock with dozens of other boats. It always amazed me how little time people put into their boats, some of them really nice boats. And the boats just keep pluggin along without any issues. Especially the Indmar marinized small block Chevy.

200, 400 or even 700 hrs is nothing. These engine are designed to go 2000+ hrs. when taken care of.

There's the key

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martinarcher

As long as a boat engine is winterized & kept full of oil, it'll last 1000 hrs. Maintain it, actually CHANGE the oil & filter once in a while & it'll double that.

I have had several shared waterfront homes & kept my boat on the dock with dozens of other boats. It always amazed me how little time people put into their boats, some of them really nice boats. And the boats just keep pluggin along without any issues. Especially the Indmar marinized small block Chevy.

200, 400 or even 700 hrs is nothing. These engine are designed to go 2000+ hrs. when taken care of.

Plus1.gif My boat will be knocking on 1000 hours next fall and the compression is still in the 138-144 range on all 8 cylinders. Rockon.gif

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Cars coast a lot. Boats coast never.

At sea level, water is 784 times more dense than air. Water is a strange substance. Surface tension, friction, density - a boat engine is orders of magnitude different than a car engine. The easiest thing to do is not compare them.

I agree with other posts though - gas engines can go 10,000 hours. But in average use, by an average person, on an average boat - I'd guess that 1800 - 2200 hours is about the life of a motor.

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Cars coast a lot. Boats coast never.

At sea level, water is 784 times more dense than air. Water is a strange substance. Surface tension, friction, density - a boat engine is orders of magnitude different than a car engine. The easiest thing to do is not compare them.

I agree with other posts though - gas engines can go 10,000 hours. But in average use, by an average person, on an average boat - I'd guess that 1800 - 2200 hours is about the life of a motor.

There have been numerous posts on other forums concerning ski school boats i.e. going 3000 - 4000 hours without major problems. And these are boats that get USED. Good maintainance and regular oil changes are the key IMO. As posted earlier, I'd be much more concerned with how the boat has been kept/maintained than how many hours it has on it.

Ed

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Cars coast a lot. Boats coast never.

At sea level, water is 784 times more dense than air. Water is a strange substance. Surface tension, friction, density - a boat engine is orders of magnitude different than a car engine. The easiest thing to do is not compare them.

I agree with other posts though - gas engines can go 10,000 hours. But in average use, by an average person, on an average boat - I'd guess that 1800 - 2200 hours is about the life of a motor.

There have been numerous posts on other forums concerning ski school boats i.e. going 3000 - 4000 hours without major problems. And these are boats that get USED. Good maintainance and regular oil changes are the key IMO. As posted earlier, I'd be much more concerned with how the boat has been kept/maintained than how many hours it has on it.

Ed

I see both points of view and can agree with each.

Key factor in both cases, as stated, is maintenance. When I was looking at boats (and I still do) I saw some with 1200 hours that looked great. The ones that concerned me were the 400 hours BUT ONLY 150 ON THE NEW MOTOR! What do you have to do to a motor other than freeze damage to break it in 250 hours? No maintenance. At all. Ever.

I have seen and used the 100 hours = 10,000 mile guideline in the past, but general maintenance is much more important IMO.

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I would not worry about the hours on a GM V8. I work for a construction company and our trucks get used hard. The last one we sold had 10,000 hours on it and ran like a top. That made me a firm believer in Shell Rotella oil, that is what I run in my Malibu. As long as the engine has had regular oil changes and no freeze damage you should be fine.

In answer to your original question, the average MPH of the "normal" trucks I have sampled is 25 mph. So 100,000 miles = about 4,000 hours.

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Our show ski boat has 1000hrs currently on a 6.0l pulling 7 barfooters, 5 jumpers, and a 13 girl ballet line and has done this for 5 years, with no oil consumption, one starter and oil changes every 50hrs including transmission oil.

We keep a record log on all repairs , maintenace and fuel consumption , which averages 4.5gph.

The boat pulling 7 barefooters turns 5400rpm for aprox. one minute at 42mph, 5 jumpers at 32mph for 5 to 10 mins.

There has been no signs of weakness thus far.

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Its amazing how gentle people are with their boats. After having seen many of pro's (sponsored & schools = daily use, tons of weight, constant double ups, etc.) boats and the beatings these things can actually take I have a MUCH different view towards my boat. Ever seen a boat sunk to the rub rail...then fired right back up? What about a boat that continually dips the nose up to the windshield (and the bilge is running non-stop) because its so heavy? What about a boat with over 1700hrs and 3k ballast use that has spider cracks all over the gel and tower feet? Honestly if people actually realized how tough these boats actually are they might rethink their perceptions. I find it ironic how focused people are on keeping their boat completely "pristine" like its an investment...I bet you 9 times out of 10 you will lose money. Even if you compare a hard used boat with one that's totally pristine the hours associated with the waxing and washing is likely less than minimum wage in the resale difference.

Drive them hard, stay on top of the fluids... and spend your free time on the water...not with your hand in the wax bottle.

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I second that, LiquidMX. Every bit of it.

Theres some guys on Sammamish with an old Nautique that had 2700 hrs on it when I left town 5 yrs ago. I swapped email with one of the brothers a few weeks ago & they still use & abuse that boat every summer, and it's on it's original engine. :rockon:

My wife used to date a guy who had a Prostar 190 on Sammamish. I knew him as "that guy". He was that guy who never did a damn thing with his boat other than sit & drink on it. In the 5 yrs I lived on the lake I put over 600 hrs on my old 205. He still had 155 hrs on his in a similar time frame...... and he was proud of it!

Oh, and Jake's old PS 190 made the Catalina Ski race a couple of summers ago.... in the PACIFIC OCEAN?! Wonder how many inboard owners would "treat" their boat to a run like that..... salt water or not!

Use it.... or lose it. :rofl:

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
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Its amazing how gentle people are with their boats. After having seen many of pro's (sponsored & schools = daily use, tons of weight, constant double ups, etc.) boats and the beatings these things can actually take I have a MUCH different view towards my boat. Ever seen a boat sunk to the rub rail...then fired right back up? What about a boat that continually dips the nose up to the windshield (and the bilge is running non-stop) because its so heavy? What about a boat with over 1700hrs and 3k ballast use that has spider cracks all over the gel and tower feet? Honestly if people actually realized how tough these boats actually are they might rethink their perceptions. I find it ironic how focused people are on keeping their boat completely "pristine" like its an investment...I bet you 9 times out of 10 you will lose money. Even if you compare a hard used boat with one that's totally pristine the hours associated with the waxing and washing is likely less than minimum wage in the resale difference.

Drive them hard, stay on top of the fluids... and spend your free time on the water...not with your hand in the wax bottle.

:lol: :lol: I can only think of what is going to happen when you try and sell yours here! :lol: :lol: j/k

Really though I have said it before, it is a machine, not the space shuttle. I will agree you.....I keep mine up because I want it to look good fully knowing I will loose a lot of cash when it comes time to sell.

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As is true in everything on the planet.

To each his or her own.

What makes one happy makes another crazy. Just thought I'd chime in with that.

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This has been an informative thread. I’m now realizing that my 11 year-old boat with 550 hours and me in my 50’s there a pretty good chance the boat will outlast me. Thanks for the encouragement everyone. :(

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Cars coast a lot. Boats coast never.

At sea level, water is 784 times more dense than air. Water is a strange substance. Surface tension, friction, density - a boat engine is orders of magnitude different than a car engine. The easiest thing to do is not compare them.

I agree with other posts though - gas engines can go 10,000 hours. But in average use, by an average person, on an average boat - I'd guess that 1800 - 2200 hours is about the life of a motor.

not that I'm "proud" of it, but I'd say our boat rests at idle af least 15- 25% of the time. Depending on who's driving and responsible for turning it off/on between stops or just general lounging with the stereo on, our engine spends a good amount of time at idle. Would like to improve that ratio but sometimes it's easier to just chill and let the good times roll. Not to mention the time when the engine is off but the key is left in the "on" position with the clock running ... Now that bothers me.

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not that I'm "proud" of it, but I'd say our boat rests at idle af least 15- 25% of the time. Depending on who's driving and responsible for turning it off/on between stops or just general lounging with the stereo on, our engine spends a good amount of time at idle. Would like to improve that ratio but sometimes it's easier to just chill and let the good times roll. Not to mention the time when the engine is off but the key is left in the "on" position with the clock running ... Now that bothers me.

Same here, I would bet that 1/4 of the time at least that I have on my boat is driving in and out of the marinia to and from the houseboat. Malibu should come out with a hybred boat that has an electric motor that would run the prop (sort of a trolling motor)when you are just riding in the no wake/5 MPH zone, that would save a lot of gas.

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I don't think any of us will wear our motors out. Lack of use is our biggest problem. Comparing a car (truck) to a boat...Tow your boat up a 5% grade at 60 miles per hour in second gear.

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Its amazing how gentle people are with their boats. After having seen many of pro's (sponsored & schools = daily use, tons of weight, constant double ups, etc.) boats and the beatings these things can actually take I have a MUCH different view towards my boat. Ever seen a boat sunk to the rub rail...then fired right back up? What about a boat that continually dips the nose up to the windshield (and the bilge is running non-stop) because its so heavy? What about a boat with over 1700hrs and 3k ballast use that has spider cracks all over the gel and tower feet? Honestly if people actually realized how tough these boats actually are they might rethink their perceptions. I find it ironic how focused people are on keeping their boat completely "pristine" like its an investment...I bet you 9 times out of 10 you will lose money. Even if you compare a hard used boat with one that's totally pristine the hours associated with the waxing and washing is likely less than minimum wage in the resale difference.

Drive them hard, stay on top of the fluids... and spend your free time on the water...not with your hand in the wax bottle.

Seriously? Try selling your beat up obviously not cared for beast against a market full of "pristine", well maintained boats. Especially in this market. Generally if the appearance has been taken care of that's an indicator of how well the other maintainance (that you can't see) has been done. Whether fair or not, most boat buyers are going to go for the more attractive well cared for boat and pay more for it than an old worn out beater, just like cars. Anyone with an ounce of sense knows that a boat is a poor "investment"; I didn't buy my boat as an investment, I bought it as a tool. But there is such a thing as pride of ownership and I take pride in the appearance of my boat, my vehicles, my home, etc because I'm proud of them. If you're not proud enough of the $40K plus "investment" you made in your boat to spend a little time cleaning her up that's your issue. But if you think it doesn't make a difference in resale, you my friend are sadly mistake.

Ed

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While it is true that there are boats out there with 2500+ hours that is the exception not the norm I would think. Its comparible to a car going 300,000+miles.

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