I just might buy a boat

[Rick W]

A hole in the water you throw money in to. I’ve done my penance. Here’s a few other thoughts:

Change that stripe from gold to silver and it'll match your truck better.

Even better: flip that cap over & put some flex seal around the back glass/door and throw them all in the water with the Ranger’s windows closed, and see which one floats the longest!

Of course in North Dakota they probably all float pretty well late October thru March.

the 2 best days of a boat owners life are, the day he buys it & the day he sells it.

Boats are like the three black cars in my life. I drool for 6 months, jump in a fit of passion, and then spend the next 9-1/2 years washing and drying it trying to figure out what I was thinking...

If they respect you, the Chinese say “May your life be interesting.” The real translation is “I can’t stand you, go buy a boat!“

But good luck, I won’t say they’re fun, but they are an adventure! The lessons we learn hard are the lessons we learn well!

And one last thought. I bet you can rent a boat for less than $230, and at the end of the day it’s not sitting in your yard! (Did you get the For Sale sign when you got the boat?)

Good luck!!!

 

[cbxer55]

I have multiple friends that own boats. One of them refers to boat as Bust Out Another Thousand.

I've often thought about getting one, there are many nice lakes in my area. But I know it will end up sitting in some boat storage area that I have to pay for every month. Nah, I'll pass.

 

[sgtsandman]

put it up for the winter, found some golf cart tires real cheap ($5/tire) so now it has tires that stay up. not sure if they will blow up for highway use, I wouldnt think so with what little load is on the tires, its less than a golf cart. My flatbed has the same tires but the higher load rating (and much higher price)
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I would take the tires off the flat bed and take them with you for the first run or two until you’re sure. It think, but I’m not sure, that weight is only one factor for highway rating. They might hold up or there might be a spectacular failure.

EDIT: With as much as I had modified my utility trailer, I had taken small steps to prove the thing was still road worthy. Both loaded and unloaded at incrementally higher speeds before I became comfortable with it being safe. Granted, the tires are M rated, so that wasn’t the concern. But the main trailer body had been so heavily modified from what was originally specified and intended, I was in experimental territory. I still will be when I upgrade the suspension from what it came with. So, I’ll be back to square one when that happens.

Take your time and test it in steps before you call it all ok. Out on the road, you are putting others at risk and not just yourself.

 

[racsan]

I may take 2-3 ft out of that toungue, between coupler and jack, the trailer is crazy long. I was impressed that the wheel bearings were good, I dont know how many times when I worked at a boat dealership when you’d go to put it up for the winter and jack up each side to spin the tires youd hear the growl of rusty bearings. I may just buy the right tires for when it hits the road, these are good for moving it around the yard- and dont need the air tank every time it needs moved. The ones that came with it are dry-rotted bad, I tanked the one that went down every 2 days and it leaks around the bead on both sides.

 

[scotts90ranger]

If the tires weren't dry rotted and leaked around the bead I'd say air them up and whack them on the sidewall with a 3lb deadblow hammer all the way around both sides. I've had very good success with this method on tires that have sat flat for some time... my wheelbarrow went from staying aired up for a couple days to a couple months with that method...

 

[racsan]

the original back tires from the wheel horse are dry-rotted so bad that they leak through the sidewalls, Id never seen that before. The right side was worse because I think it sat a long time with a flat tire. One of the original boat trailer tires still has the little spikes (or whatever you call them) from the mold process. And just as dry-rotted as can be everywhere, between the treads, sidewalls both sides. Cheap china rubber.
The goodyear terra tires (ag tread) that I found at a swap meet for the wheel horse are at least 20 years old and look fine.

 

[racsan]

SOLD-SOLD-SOLD!
Yep. sold it, fixed the transom, put in the right transom drain, cleaned it it up then posted it. less than 24 hrs later, down the road it went. Couldnt find a used outboard worth buying for under $1500. Sure there were 1950’s ones for 300 but I was wanting a 9.9 around 1985 or newer. And new ones are 3 grand & up (plus anything after 97 I think is 4-cycle) I figured no more than Id really use it I would be putting more money in it than Id ever be able to get back out of it, plus the hassle of another trailer to maintain, licence for both boat & trailer, having to move it every time I mow and she thought it was too little for the both of us. I did make a little money off it, Would of made more but I included some extras that I would have no use for now like the front & rear clamp on navigation lights, some life jackets and the swivel seats that came with it when I bought it but I removed them so I could store boat upside down. No regrets, I think I am just as happy today as the day I bought it! The transom turned out excellent, Ive no doubt it would hold up better than the original.

 

[dvdswan]

Congrats on the sale. And now you won't have to "bust out another thousand"

 

[racsan]

And it looks like Im spending what I got for the boat on some 3-point implements for the ford tractor. A plow, a boom pole and cultivator. Found a better 3-point disc than the one I had & sold last year, need a rear blade also, that little one I got for the allis is too small for the ford, I know I would break it.

 

[JohnnyO]

this statement came from a friend that liked fishing & owned a few boats over the years....
the 2 best days of a boat owners life are, the day he buys it & the day he sells it.

he also told me after selling the last boat he had he would NEVER buy one again & tells everyone who is thinking of buying a boat....DONT !!!

A boat is a hole in the water that you throw money into.

 

[Dirtman]

A boat is a hole in the water that you throw money into.

That sentence makes about as much sense as me posting this.

 

[JohnnyO]

That sentence makes about as much sense as me posting this.

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I take it you've never owned a boat then.

 

[Snoranger]

I take it you've never owned a boat then.

He owns a boat, but it just sits on a trailer and doesn’t go in the water.

 

[JohnnyO]

He owns a boat, but it just sits on a trailer and doesn’t go in the water.

So it doesn't make a hole in the water then.

 

[Dirtman]

He owns a boat, but it just sits on a trailer and doesn’t go in the water.

It goes in the water almost every other year!!! Do you know how much slip fee's are!? Plus what it takes to keep two 250HP Evinrude 2 strokes working! Or what it costs to fill 250 gallons of fuel!!!! Boats are expensive!

Oh wait.... I see what happened here...