How much does it cost?
 

Hi Boating Friends,

We've only owned a boat for a few years.
I'm trying to get an idea about what specific services should cost.

We have a 23 foot pontoon boat.

Our boat is serviced at Meredith Marina. Here are their charges for specific services.

- Winterize/Flush and Antifreeze Engine $0.
- Fuel Filter Yamaha $20.
- Oil Filter Sierra $12.
- Gear Lube $30.
- 10W-30 $36.
- Ethanol Treatment $10.
- Non Toxic Antifreeze $14.
- Yamaha Oil Change $119.
- Lower Unit Oil Change $95.
- Bottom wash $198.
- Environmental Fee $12.
- Battery Terminal Protection $0.
- TOTAL COST = $546


Is anyone willing to share what they've been charged and what Marina they use?
I'm trying to get an idea of what is a reasonable/usual charge for these services.

Thank you.

Elizabeth

Bottom wash
 

I was getting the bottom washed once or twice a year on my 22ft crownline and then I was told about slimy grimy. It is a dry mix that you put in a garden sprayer with warm water, spray the bottom of your boat and in a few minutes, all of the grime and yellowing is gone. It's not like on/off that harms your trailer, I do this over grass and the only thing it does is clean the boat bottom. I know i sound like an ad for it, but its the best boat product I have found that does exactly what it says it will.

A 1lb tub gets me 3 washings and is so easy to do, no scrubbing. So much cheaper than marina washing.

Parafunalia in Gilford carries it and you can get it online but it is hard to find at times.

Here is the link to the video. It really works.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqK1x6BSB1c

I do all my own work, but nothing in that list looks excessive except the $119 for the oil change. Seems like a lot of money just for labor (the oil and filter are listed as separate expenses). Draining the old oil (or drawing it out the dipstick tube) does not take all that long, nor does changing the filter or adding fresh oil. I can draw the oil out of the 7.4 liter engine my boat in about 5 minutes if the oil is warm, and I have a manual pump. A shop would likely have a better system than I have. The filter spins off and on in mere seconds and is very easy to get to. Adding fresh oil is a matter of pouring it into a funnel; maybe 5 minutes tops. That said, the $0 charges for other items might be absorbed into the "oil change" charge.

Looks Good!
 

Elizabeth;

Those prices all sound very reasonable to me! I think you are being treated very fairly.

Dan

Fiberglass - yes, doesn't work so well on Aluminum Pontoon's.

Another product (if your careful) is "On-Off" for fiberglass. This beats Slimy Grimy BUT is acid based !! Use gloves/eyewear and it helps to have a breezy day (fumes). There is a version for aluminum as well.


Elizabeth - I think you will find that the NET billing for Services by all of the local Marina's will run about the same .... it's basic survival. The separator is how well they "service you".



.

Except for the oil change.
 

Other marinas include the oil filter in that price.

There is usually a 200 to 300% markup over the distributor's price. So they are all in line. If this is what they charge you for winter layup with a written guarantee against winter damage to the boat/engine than its a fair price.

It's all in the quality of the work. If the work was not done properly and the marina does not give you lip service if something went wrong then its a great deal!

As others have stated all the costs seem appropriate realizing that it is all in the accounting and some of the things the associate as 0$ are absorbed into other services... At 548$ for you year end winterization service look about right, for a 23' boat

It is really about convenience. If Meredith Marine is convenient for you to use I would stick with it. I know several people that use their service and are happy with it.

I personally have started to use a Mobile Marine service that comes right to my home. Because they don't have the overhead of a Marina, their rates are some what lower. However at times, the do have to charge me a travel time fee, which ends up offsetting the savings... However because I am generally flexible, they also at times wave the travel fee and tend to my needs when they are already in the area.

As for Slimy Grimy I believe this is the best product for the average home owner to use. In fact it is what my mobile marine service company uses... Like all things it might not work the same on Aluminum Pontoons, as it does on fiberglass, but that wouldn't stop me from trying, and as long as the results are satisfactory you are in business. On the other hand my boat lives in the water all summer long, so I just grab a face cloth once or twice a season and find that the wet scum comes off the boat with little effort. No chemicals just a little elbow grease.

If the price you are being charged is with Yamaha/Yamalube products the parts prices are really pretty cheap. For references purposes, I do my own service and the Yamaha oil is $8 a quart for regular oil and $13 a quart for synthetic oil and you will probably need between 5 and 6 quarts. The Yamaha oil filters are $19 a piece (although I see a reference to Sierra oil filter). Yamaha gear case oil is $11 a quart and you will probably need between 1 and 2 quarts. It doesn't take very long to change the oil or the gear case oil so the labor prices may be a tad inflated but the overall price seems pretty reasonable to me anyway.

Definition of a boat.. " A hole in the water, into which one pours money" :rolleye1:

Or...
 

B O A T : Break out another thousand. :D

If you have a boat trailer, and do all these services yourself, it ends up costing much, much, much less .... all around. You can get outboard motor oil filters and oil and gear lube at the Gilford Wal-Mart....and store the boat in your driveway, or someplace other than a marina.

Doing a lower unit, gear lube replacement, costs about 4-dollars for a quart of 90-weight lube, plus you need a re-usable $10 lube pump that screws onto the top of the quart bottle. For an oil change, figure maybe $25 for five quarts of 4-stroke oil. Plus, you get familiar with the motor and do other maintenance needs along the way ...... something to do on a warm and sunny day. Gilford Wal-Mart has a big boat and boat oil section for so-it-yourselfers.

Some repair services like replacing a trim & tilt pump could require more expertise than a do-it-themselfer has .... but one can find marina boat techs who moonlight doing jobs like this on their own time at maybe half the cost of a marina repair. Just post a 'help wanted' ad in the classified ads looking for a marina boat tech to do a side-job ..... and it always catches some local talent looking for some extra money.

By doing your own repairs and services.....you start to become one with the boat ........aaaaaaaoooooooommmmmmmm......namaste! .....plus it gives you something to do! .... as opposed to raking leaves ... :rolleye2:

Personally I would do it all myself on my own boat and knock 300+ off that bill.

Subtract gas, the time to acquire parts, and the time to do the job--assuming everything goes perfectly, the weather is right, and you didn't forget anything--and I'd say you're SAVING around... a hundred headaches! Enjoying my boat means showing up, getting on, boating happy time, getting off, and walking away. My philosophy, YMMV.

Not to mention that these days it's just not good enough to be a good mechanic (which I am not) you also have to have a degree in electronics !:confused:


.

I am an ASE master tech. I work on both gas and diesel. That being said I won't even consider doing my own work. The boat is my enjoyment, the last thing I want to be doing is working on it. I have actually been very happy with Meredith marina and have found their prices to be very fair. Also have used Miles marine and have found them to be great as well.

Well said Glastron guy.... While I am not a ASE master tech, I have worked on cars and boats all my life. Through various life changes, commitments and situations, I had to stop doing my own work as I realized it was eating up to much of my precious relaxation time. With kids now being older, and not requiring so much attention, I hope to slowly get back to doing things myself. But I will always weigh my decisions based on how much of my precious relaxation time it will require.

lake time is valuable time!
 

Agree with both of you and LIforrelaxin... plus living on an island means my boat is a necessity to be running well and there when I need it...

Over the years I have had exceptional service from Y-Landing and Dave Hamblet his team there. The Eastern is always ready to go, and if I ever have any issues they jump on them and fix it.

Could I pull my boat in November and wash it, change the fluids, cover it up for the winter, and then tune it up in the spring? yep... but would it run and look as good and be in the water right after ice-out? probably not! For my peace of mind and convenience... Y-Landing earns every penny!

Speaking of ice-out... melt, melt, melt!! -PIG

My two boys (men, I guess...both in their 20's) would describe themselves as gearheads. They think it is a perfectly good use of a day off to spend it under their trucks, adding features, fixing things, "doing stuff".

They don't understand why I'm willing to pay someone $$ to do a simple thing like a brake job. They also don't understand been-there-done-that, or the perspective you get later in life that your free time should be spent doing things you love. In the latter case, they are...so am I.

It all depends on where you are in life and what is important to you.

Me, I'm happy to pay someone to prep my boat. Though I'm also lucky at this point to be paying one of my sons ;-)

Well you can look at it a couple of ways I guess. What is your time worth and do you fully trust the person doing the work to do it right?

I get satisfaction knowing that I can do all my own work and that I know it's done right, if not overly done because that is the way I am. I have worked as a technician before I see the kind of work some guys will do keep in mind you're paying them a handsome sum of money to do it. Plus I like to know it how my stuff works and keep a close eye on everything so I am aware ahead of time what may need to be addressed.

Do save a ton of money, sure! It costs me about $200 bucks in parts\supplies to winterize my two boats and clean them. That would probably be close to or north of 1K to let somebody do it.

Speaking of brake jobs, I just did all four corners of my car, cost me about ~500 bucks, to have it done 1400.

That adds up... Can't beat free labor!

My girlfriend's sister thought she would save a lot of money by having her brother in law change the disc brake pads on her vehical.

This is not a particularly difficult job, I've done it myself, as well as I'm sure a bunch of other gear heads here have done also.

Well, she thought she was saving a lot of money until a very short time later her car started making all sorts of noises when braking.

Somehow she decided to have a shop look at her car (probably so she could drive home from work). What did they find?

Her disc brake pads were installed backwards. Yes, metal towards the discs instead of brake pad towards the discs!! Hard to believe! But the shop says that's how they found them (and knowing how the brother in law tries to do things as quickly and cheaply as possible, I wouldn't doubt it)!

Her brother in law says 'no way, I didn't do that'. So now there is a war going on, did he do a poor job, or was the 'shop' trying to scam the woman out of some money?

We'll never know, but it cost her a lot more money than it should to finally get her brakes in good working order, and I think she will never ask her brother in law to save her any money in the future?

So... do you want to have others work on your boat or not? It's up to you!

I do a lot of my own work. I enjoy it and often find it relaxing as I normally sit at a computer to earn a liviing. But then again, for some types of work, I let the marine pro's do their job!

We actually agree. In my case it is woodworking, DYI, and gardening. All things I could pay someone else to do. But they wouldn't do it the way I want it done, and I totally enjoy the time doing it.

The point I was trying to make is that it is always a tradeoff. Time, cost, desire. Without the latter, and lacking the first, I'll pay someone else to do the job (within reason and quality)

I've never seen a brake pad that could be installed backwards because of the clips or tabs to hold them in position.

Not sure if this is on topic...
 

Question about Merc 4.3L MPI tune up. Is it normal to have the distributor and the plug wires changed as part of the process that is recommended every other year? Seems excessive. I figured all the smart people on this thread would know.

Thanks,
Mike

plugs and wires
 

Plugs every 100 hrs, platinum plugs every 300 hrs.

Wires every 300, unless you have the expensive lifetime wires from ACCEL.

As for distributor wires???? Never replaced them.

Plug wires, Distributer Cap
 

In my experience, it does seem excessive every other year. I've seen some distributer caps that are original, and over 15 years old. As part of a normal tune up, every three years in the spring, and it's typically the cap and plugs, but not wires. Salt water environment might cause more corrosion on the cap, but in fresh water every three years is typical.

I would question this practice for sure..... Plug wires should last several years, as long as they are good quality... For instance, my wires are in the range of 7 to 10 years old......As for the distributor cap, well that is a judgement call, however once again I don't think every other year is called for... The Points and the Rotor on the other hand are a different story...

What the heck do you drive for a car??? 500 dollars for parts is way over excessive even for 4 corners... Unless I suppose you drive a BMW or Lexus or such... As for 1400$ to have all 4 brakes done, where the heck are you having your work done the dealer????

I just priced out pads and rotors for my Tow vehicle getting top of the line parts from AutoZone, it only came to 325$ dollars.....As for labor I have never seen a brake job all 4 corners take anymore the 2-3 hours, and even at 100 dollars an hour, that is only 300$ bring the total to 625$....

Now grant you I drive American Made vehicles....But come on 1400$ for brakes, I don't think you go to a very honorable garage for price estimates, or you did / where looking to have more done then just pads and rotors.

You don't know her brother in law! LOL (just sayin)

Another thing to keep in mind, most of us are lake bound, or at least we are when boating on the lake.

If you have a problem, you're not going to be miles from shore, or from help. Unless you are in the deepest part of the broads and you have a problem, drop an anchor and call/wait for help.

If you were on the open ocean, the need for absolute reliablity is a bit higher IMHO.

But then again, some don't want to take a chance, and change things before a problem occurs. Others prefer to get the most use out of parts and prefer to wait until a problem occurs. Which one are you? ;)

One could always keep an extra set of those parts on board and run it till you have issues.

$1400? I just had 4 rotors, pads and calipers replace on my MB for a hair under 1,000 in ManchVegas.

Is it a Jagyouare or a Rover?

I drive a Lexus and yes the parts are expensive and yes I stick with OEM only, no aftermarket stuff, yes there is a BIG difference. That was new rotors and pads in all four corners. I'd never pay that kind of money to get the job done, someone that I work with has the same car and had theirs done at the stealership and that was the bill. Of course you do get for ahem "free" a loaner car, and your car gets returned washed and vacuumed out which is a nice gesture but still that's nuts.

The other thing to remember is that labor rates are charged by the estimated book time, not based on how long it actually takes, otherwise known as flat rate.

I have a 4.3L in my bowrider. I'd replace the plugs when they start to show signs they need it. I pull them every fall and look them over. I replaced mine at 250 hours and arguably they were fine but at the time the boat was 7 years old and I figured for the cost of new plugs I'd throw new ones (NGK's) in. I still have the original distributor and plug wires in mine, my boat is now 12 years old.

I did however have to replace the distributor pickup coil (inside the distributor body), bad design on Merc's part the circuit board was not in sealed package and over time the moisture got to it and I started to have ignition problems. The replacement part was all sealed up in resin. This is a known problem and I'm not sure when that part was redesigned.

The interesting thing about that is that it doesn't work out the way you think all the time. While at times the work is done quicker, and thus it is better for the garage... The are also time where the work takes longer and doesn't work out so well for the garage.....

I work at a marina on Winnipesaukee.

I just recently worked on a "new to the owner" boat. Came from saltwater environment. The owner asked to tune it up. Mercruiser 7.4 with bravo one. The spark plugs were severely rusted into the cylinder head. One actually broke the threads off. Was able to extract the broken piece without damage to engine or dissassembly. The spark plug wires were very old actually arching out in numerous places. Distributor cap & rotor were green & fuzzy. Wires, cap, & rotor were replaced with genuine quicksilver parts & spark plugs are factory recommended ACDelco. Before installing spark plugs threads had antisieze applied to them to aide in removal next time. Fuel filters were replaced aswell (inlet on four barrel carburetor & fuel water seperator). As ice is not out yet the engine will be run when it is time to be put in water & timing will be checked aswell. Ask for a tune-up everything is looked at, replaced if needed or asked to be, & engine runability/timing checked.

Pricing varies per application (Mercruiser, Volvo Penta, OMC, outboards, etc).

Make sure the job is done right the first time so the lake can be enjoyed in a boat instead of being looked at from shore.

Any questions about anything feel free to ask via Private Message. Many years experience in the marine industry around the Lakes Region.

Come on ice out. :-)

I suppose so but there is lots of slush built into those labor hours so they hardly end up on the loosing side of things. Plus don't forget the very healthy markup on parts that are used too. The techs are paid flat rate too so it's to their advantage to get things done fast and "bill out" more hours than they are working.

When I used to do that kind of work I would typically bill out 10-15 hours over 40 even though I was was only working 40. A lot depended on the jobs I was getting. Things like oil changes, brakes, exhausts, typical service interval "services" such as 30,60,90K, timing belts, tuneups, etc.. these are the holy grail very easy to blast out in short time, require no troubleshooting, and pay very good hours, that's the stuff which everyone loves to do as there is big money in it and it doesn't require a significant amount of mechanical know how to do.

Am I the only one that enjoys taking care of a boat as much as using it?

No you're not
 

Mrs ToW and myself do the cleaning of the boat at the end of the season. We enjoy the time together talking about the years fishing and what we want to do next year.

Then the next day my son comes over and we do all the mechanical work. Engine maintenance, boat up-grades that had to wait for the boat to be dry. And then winterize the engines and boat. Of course there is some Libation to be had ,once the engine work is done, and A LOT of A_Busting.

It a pleasure for us to put the work into the boat and have the time together.

ToW

Nope
 

I enjoy working on the boat. I have restored Challengers in the past so I am mechanically inclined. A closer bond to the craft is good karma

Namaste!