spring boat tune-up

[bgreen82]

a friend of mine bought a boat from a neighbor this past weekend and got a pretty good deal on it but it will definitely need a tune up. the guy said he didnt really winterize it at all and it had a few problems starting the end of the season. what can a guy expect to pay for a full tune up of a motor and/or the full boat, motor, trailer, and what are some recomendations for places to take it? thanks

or if there is any handy men here who are apt to do it, what would you charge? it will be located in east metro for now

[serahann]

yeah,i have been wondering the same thing about my husbands boat. any help would be great.

[fish2live]

most marine mechanics rates are between 75-85 an hour so i would say if it just needs tuned up. carb clean maybe a rebuild kit and spark plugs i would say 1-2 hours plus parts

[NCLaker]

Hopefully this is an outboard engine (I/O need the water drained before winter and anti freeze run through it, or else the water can freeze and crack the engine.

When I bought mine, I had a mechanic check out it out before buying. It can get expensive in a hurry if there are more serious porblems. Definitly make sure they replace/check lower unit gear lube in addition to checking the other normal stuff (e.g. compression, water pump, etc)

Don't have any mechanic recommenation in the Cottage Grove area, my freind brought his to Nelson Marine in WBL, said they would get his rebuild done (low compression in one of the cylinders) in a few weeks - he did not get it back for 3 months! Ended up boatless for the openers, Memorial Day, Fathers Day & 4th of July.

Good Luck!

[BigWadeS]

bgreen,

you might want to contact hwy 61 sport or Erickson Marine they do spring tune ups and I know last year Erickson charged about $125-150 and that included a full motor tune and the boat was 100% water ready...

[serahann]

knowing my husband none of that happened. i have a bad feeling about what is going to happen this spring. what can i expect to have him pay if something went wrong over the winter?

[PerchJerker]

I don't have any mechanic recommendations for that area, but whereever you take your boats to get ready for spring, you better go SOON. Before long the dealerships will be setting up the boats they sold this spring, and getting their customers' boats out of storage and ready for spring, and most places give their existing customers priority over tune-ups like you're asking about. So you should get it taken care of right away or you may be without your boats for quite a while. Good luck.

[GoFish4]

You should be able to contact any dealer and they should have a general cost. Each boat and its condition is different so yours maybe higher or lower depending. Lower unit, 4 stroke oil change, carb adjustment, Ect. should all be included. Make sure you know who you are dealing with by asking around. I have found some "old fixer types" are not at intune with the new 4 carb-4 stroke design. So if you have a newer motor a registered mechanic is the only one that will keep it under warranty. Just and FYI

[bgreen82]

mine is a 99 merc 15 hp, so i would think that would be on the more low end of the pricing game.