"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...

Would you consider 400 hours a lot for that Yamaha 4-stroke?



A lot in terms of what, typical lifespan in hours? Depends. If they were
careful "Harry" hours, no. If they were 400 hours on the firewall, well,
yes, that would be a lot.

I'm not your typical outboarder, though. I watch the tach and the fuel
flow meter, not the speedometer.

JohnH,

Why would anyone buy a boat from anyone but Harry? Since only Harry's boats
have "Harry" hours on it. With the cost of fuel, I doubt if many people run
an outboard at WOT. If I was buying a used boat, I would ask for a test
run, and ask the current owner to helm the boat. You can quickly see how he
uses his boat. If his natural instinct is to keep the boat WOT, I would
walk away. If you see the owner brings the boat up to plane and then easily
adjusts the throttle to run at a comfortable cruise, it is reasonable to
expect that is the way he used his boat.

I still maintain that a boat that is used infrequently can have more
problems that a boat that is used on a regular basis, is well maintained
and the owner follows the manufacturers maintenance schedule. People fog
the engine so the internal engine does not have problems with rust. If the
boat is not used frequently during the season, that can be just as
detrimental as a boat that is not fogged during the off season.

This discussion does bring up a great on topic discussion. If you were
buying a used boat and the owner was being coy or secretive about his
engine hours would you consider buying this boat? I would be concerned
that either the engine has more than the average hours, and the cost of the
boat/engine is overpriced for the hours used or the boat has sat idle for
extended periods, which for me would be a major concern.