[C320-list] engine hours

[Dave Anderer]

I've learned from my aircraft mechanic to prefer mechanical devices that
have been used and well-maintained rather than ones that have sat ignored.

>From my perspective, 1680 hours with decent maintenance is no drawback.
Heck - it tells me the boat was used - a good thing.



On Tue, Jan 26, 2010 at 11:14 AM, james_delong
<james_delong at bellsouth.net>wrote:

> Guys,
>
> My Catalina 320, hull number 453, is 'softly' on the market.  By softly I
> mean it is not a full fledged marketing campaign.  It is listed only on the
> 320 web page and on Sailboat Listings.
>
> Since October I have only received 6 calls and one visit scheduled for this
> Thursday.
>
> A couple of other potentials have fallen through because the they thought
> the engine hours were too high.  Folks seem to be looking for a 13 year old
> boat with less than 500 hours!
>
> This is a Yanmar 3GM30 Japanese version engine with 1680 hours.
>
> I've read you should run these often and hard. In fact this months Sail
> Magazine recommends at least 4 hours at full operating temperature at hull
> speed every month. Just doing that I would have accumulated over 600 hours.
>
> The question is:  What argument can be made for high vs. low hours?  Is low
> always better, or do low hours present a different set of problems vs. high
> hours in an engine that has been well maintained?
>
> How much 'value' is lost do the high hours or is this just a perception
> issue?
>
> Thanks!  Jim #453
>