Purchasing a boat w/o a lake to run it on first

[Silk]

Living in Minnesota, our local lakes are not yet ice free, even in southern MN.

I am looking at a couple older (mid to early 90's) boats, one which we are going for a second look tomorrow.

We can put it on a large deeper pond nearby that we can move around on, but cannot get up to speed on.

We hooked it up to the hose on our first trip and it started right up (last ran in August)

If I wait until ice out, we will be waiting for another 2-3 weeks..

Does anyone buy boats without a lake to run on? If so, advise? We have a marine mechanic that is going to take a look at it as well.

Should we just wait for ice out and look for a boat then? We will encounter a lot more buyers and it will become a sellers market at that point is my only concern.

The boat we are looking at is very clean, in good shape with service records dating back to original purchase in 1993.

The one we are most interested in is a 1993 Forester 166 sport, w/a 120 outboard in appears to be in very good shape physically.

The other one is a 1990 Forester 166 phantom, i/o 4.3 chevy also in extremely good shape

 

[ezimmerm]

Re: Purchasing a boat w/o a lake to run it on first

I would wait until you have a lake to run it on period...lots of boats start in the driveway and never leave the dock.

If you can have your mech take a look at it and he gives it a clean bill of health without water testing I'd feel better about that then nothing though.

I'm a fellow MN'er....waiting for spring (and the river to stop flooding) can get to be a long wait

 

[calvinator]

Re: Purchasing a boat w/o a lake to run it on first

I've been in that spot..... I would water test it. Not only motor, but you'll get a sense of time to plane, WOT speed, how it steers, how it handles some water...

 

[444]

Re: Purchasing a boat w/o a lake to run it on first

I bought mine without doing a water test. I would not do that again. I lucked out and there were no real surprises but I really took a chance.

 

[Silk]

Re: Purchasing a boat w/o a lake to run it on first

we have a local lake that only has ice in the middle, leaving quite a bit open (200 yards ice free around the permimeter), but no docks have been put in yet, is it safe to hit this open water, or do we have to worry about submerged ice chunks this time of year?

I don't want to pull a titanic if I can help it..we are so darn close to ice out, but not quite there, ugh! :facepalm:

 

[Mi duckdown]

Re: Purchasing a boat w/o a lake to run it on first

So wait til the ice is gone.

 

[jayhanig]

Re: Purchasing a boat w/o a lake to run it on first

I bought mine without putting it in the water. When I finally did, the transom was rotten. I pulled up not only my boat, but a fair share of the Atlantic Ocean as well. Looking good isn't nearly as good as being good. How would you know?

 

[roscoe]

Re: Purchasing a boat w/o a lake to run it on first

I bought one today.
Although there was some open water on the river, the weather and time restrictions prevented a test drive.

Ran the main motor on muffs, checked compression and spark on both motors. Handed the man the cash.

 

['78 Crusader]

Re: Purchasing a boat w/o a lake to run it on first

Bought both my boats without water testing them. But....I had trusted sources inspect them before I went and saw the boats.

I don't recommend anyone buying a boat without test running it first. However if you have someone who knows boats inspect it first, then it's not as big a risk by buying the boat.

 

[gimmieaclue]

Re: Purchasing a boat w/o a lake to run it on first

Bought my first boat without running it on the water and was TOTALLY disappointed when I did take it out. Very hard to start, couldn't get much more than planing speed out of it among several other things that would have been very apparent had I drove it first.

Obviously my fault for jumping into the purchase and really, I should have had somebody with me that knew about boats. Sold that one (at a loss) and couldn't be more happy with the one I have now after a little research and a test drive. ...Whats a few weeks...

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Purchasing a boat w/o a lake to run it on first

For performance, it all depends on how much you already know about that type of boat. I bought my most recent without a test, but I knew enough about the hull type, motor, etc. to know what it would do.
For mechanical on the motor (OB) if it starts, pumps and compression is good, no need to test; anything else can be fixed. Can't speak to I/O's.

of course if it's a basic jon there's no need for a test, unless you know nothing about boats. Then it's not a test; it's a training lesson.

When I was in my 20's my dad bought a boat and we both test drove it--it was new; we were interested in the performance. Seemed fine and we liked the lay-out, features, etc. What the test drive didn't reveal was that its low freeboard and relatively flat bottom meant that it wasn't very satisfactory in chop--it would handle it but it was too wet for a lot of family use.

 

[DBreskin]

Re: Purchasing a boat w/o a lake to run it on first

Would you buy a used car if you could only test it in your driveway, and you couldn't take it out on the road? If the answer is yes, go ahead and buy the boat.

I wouldn't.

 

[scoutabout]

Re: Purchasing a boat w/o a lake to run it on first

I will pile on the "don't buy it if you can't drive it" club. Both from a handling and compatibility point of view as well as a mechanical one. You've seen examples of both kinds of disappointments. Taking a couple of laps around the perimeter of a thawing lake also sounds like a recipe for disaster.

I know waiting is really difficult, no matter what the purchase, but I'd try to do just that if you possibly can.

 

[TestEngr]

Re: Purchasing a boat w/o a lake to run it on first

I just test drove my boat yesterday from the seller in northern Indiana. We finalized the deal back in February, when all the lakes were iced over, but we put on the contract that the deal was pending due to a successful test drive once the ice melted. It was a long wait, but she ran great on the water. Brought her home yesterday.

 

[Captain Caveman]

Re: Purchasing a boat w/o a lake to run it on first

Run it on the river. They are all open but some sellers may be adverse to running on a river where logs and other debris are flowing freely in the high waters.

Otherwise the bucket test is the only way to go.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Purchasing a boat w/o a lake to run it on first

Ironically, i bought my last two boats in eastern MN when there was still snow on the ground. (early spring, right before there was any open water.)

Typical boat buying rules apply. inspect, inspect, inspect! I was able to run both of them out of the water long enough to make sure the engine was at least sound. One thing to keep in mind, the better the engine was winterized, the harder it is going to be to start. Fogging oil doesn't burn.

 

[Silk]

Re: Purchasing a boat w/o a lake to run it on first

Excellent advise and some rather scarey tales

Well the Almighty must have been listening to me whine, we ended up with a very nice 24hrs of warm weather with daytime high close to 80.

There is a lake to the south of us, just on the Iowa boarder that is ice out, so we'll be going there tomorrow evening for some boating, yay!!

I thought of the rivers, but since I'm not familiar with the rivers nearest me (Minnesota and Mississippi) I wouldn't feel comfortable trying to navigating them, esp with spring run off.

Oh the joys of living in the lower 48's version of Siberia

 

[Silverbullet555]

Re: Purchasing a boat w/o a lake to run it on first

Both boats I have purchased have had trials and both required plane trips for the test drive. Do what it takes to try it on the water before you finalize the deal.

 

[TheBlizzard]

Re: Purchasing a boat w/o a lake to run it on first

I feel your pain dude, I am a fellow Minnesotan, I bought a 1989 Celebrity 21' cuddy with 5.0 I/O this last December without testing anything. The deal was too good to pass up so I just went for it; the boat was already winterized and I didn't want to start it dry for obvious reasons. But I knew the peopel I bought it from and they were very forthcoming about it running. Furthermore I had someone look it over before buying it for signs of obvious issues.

I just started the boat for the first time last week, turns out it had a bad gimble bearing, not a huge deal for me because I have the cheap resources to get it fixed. But for someone else it could be a 500 dollars mistake at a Marina garage. If a deal was insanely good I would wait or make sure to test the boat first before buying it. These boats have so many potential issues that are 'under the surface' to not test drive.

 

[Silk]

Re: Purchasing a boat w/o a lake to run it on first

What is really painful and frustrating Bliz, is the plethora of beautiful lakes around here and not being able to get on them (unless you drive your car or sled) from mid November to Mid April!