Please Help with a Potiential Boat Purchase Situation

[Zara Spook]

Considering buying a boat with a 2004 70TLRC 2-stroke.

The dry weight of the hull is 950 pounds, and nothing substantial has been added to it in terms of weight.

The seller tells me he gets 30 MPH at WOT. He's an older gentleman who uses the boat for pleasure cruising, and he isn't sure the RPM at WOT.

30 MPH with 70 HP and a 950-pound hull doesn't compute for me. Seems too slow.

The boat was bottom painted years ago, according to the seller because it used to be a tender for a yacht.

My concern is that the boat sat in the water and somehow got waterlogged. It has a foam core design.

I would do a sea trial and see for myself more of what's going on, but the seller is a six-hour drive away, and I'm thinking there may be some insight from some folks here that could either save me the trip, or make it worth taking.

Any thoughts about this? Obviously I'm trying to avoid buying something waterlogged. Any help would be appreciated.

[jackmanjls]

YOu didn't say where you live, if it's salt environment then concentrate on the motor.

From my experience the motor is going to be the money sink.

Start at the motor...have a leak-down test (if you can) or a compression test. The leak-down is the preferred method. This will give you a good indication of the motor state.

Have leak-down done on the lower unit. If it sat in the salt water then there could be major probs going on in the lower unit.

As far as WOT, do a sea test. Take your cell and get an app that gives speed gps.

[walleye1]

Have the seller have it weighed to see if the foam is full of water.
You need to know the wot rpm's, may be over propped.

[pstephens46]

Know a guy with a 17 ft center console. 1989 70hp Johnson. Best he can so trimmed up is 33-34.

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Brand, length and style hull would help us.. A flat bottom would be a bit faster than say a tri hull, etc...

[99yam40]

all that and what prop it is running along with RPM

not enough info to even try to make a guess

Weight is the only thing at this point to say if it is water logged

[Zara Spook]

The boat is a 2004 Key West 1520. V bow entry with a mild transom deadrise.

I assume the boat was in saltwater when it was a tender, though now it's used in freshwater.

Here is a picture of the current prop. The seller says the prop doesn't have any markings on it, so no way to know the pitch, but maybe folks can hazard a guess from the appearance.

[99yam40]

prop has to be pulled to find markings

[panasonic]

Here is where you wll find the tests carried out by manufacturer....should go quite a bit faster than you stated.


http://www.keywestboatsinc.com/boats/show/id/2

[Zara Spook]

Here is where you wll find the tests carried out by manufacturer....should go quite a bit faster than you stated.


http://www.keywestboatsinc.com/boats/show/id/2

Right, I had seen that as well. 34 MPH with 50 HP and an aluminum prop. I'd consider the boat significantly underpowered with a 50, and it still hit four MPH faster than the seller tells me it goes with a 70, via GPS. Notice it took nearly seven seconds to plane with that 50. That would drive me nuts.

[99yam40]

until you find out what prop and RPM it hits at WOT, you are just guessing and hoping

[Jason2tpa]

As you can see from the majority of responses, there are far too many unknown variables to provide you with a fair opinion of this engines performance status. Prop pitch, engine height, test conditions, etc, are all unknown. But the most crucial unknown variable needing to be known in order to garner serious interest is what 99yam states above ^^^. Finding a well maintained 2 stroke is a gem, no doubt. Worth a 12 hour roundtrip??....mmm guess that depends on your location, near coastal or inland. If coastal then just keep searching cause it's only a matter of time till a better deal becomes available.