Engine Hours

[JSLAW]

I think most generally say around 50 hours per year, though not sure where that ever came from. More important is how the engine was cared for during those hours. Was mainenance completed on schedule, do you have diagnostic printout of how the hours were ran on the engine, was it broken in properly, alot of little things make a difference in the mind of a prospective buyer. Records of maintenance performed, as well as a detailed printout of the engine hours help with buyers making a choice. Though 50 hours per year still is about the general average for the weekend tournament angler, thoug southern boats are generally gonna have a few more hours on them then their northern counerparts. A good example is I put 67.2 hours on my puma from sep 2010 till june 2011 living in south alabama, since moving to New Jersey in july of 2011 I have only added 26.4 more hours.

As for how many hours they are good for? Thats easy…. either 1 hour or 3000 hours, anything mechanical can and will break at some time, some will last 3000 hours, some will blow during their inital break in. Run them as they are designed, maintain them as the manual calls for and most will see a long life from their motor.

[Guest]

I got this from Phil Addison when I asked a similar question.

<30 for those that fish 1 weekend per month or less
<50 for those that fish a weekend or so every other month or so
<100 for that that fish 2+ weekends a month
>100 for those that fish every weekend and sometimes during the week

avg number of hours are going up due to the electronics that are now on the market. more and more hours are being chalked up due to idling. avg hours are also greater on larger lakes. hours on an engine should not be used to base the condition of the boat or engine. engines have 1000’s of hours of lifetime and some would never see that if they ran the same boat same engine all their life!

[Bass Cat Boats]

Good question!

JSLAW is very close. The mid level angler puts on about 55 to 105 hours annually now. The lower use, local and small reservoir angler will go from 75 down to 40, with casual anglers using even less. The upper levels of a touring pro will use from 275 down to 125 we find. we haved seen over 2000 hours in engines, though we get edgy over 1500 hours ourselves. We have seen engines with over 2400 hours and no major ordeals, and over 800 something usually has gone awry. Boat speeds seem to average around 45-50.

Tournament level BCB product has had hour meter capability in most engines since 1993 model year. We should have a better grasp on this than anyone. We just saw (2012) a late 1996 model year MH area angler rig, one owner with 362 hours on the engine. We know this angler well, he fishes a lot and once did that hard, just less running since 2000.

Fifteen years ago, before CY 2000 these numbers were:
Causal – 55 up
Local – 85 up
Regional – 125 up
National – 165 up

Today:
Casual – 20 up
Local – 40 up
Regional -55 up
National – 125 up

Obviously the price of fuel impacted this even with more efficient engines.

[Author]

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