Engines Servicing

[Andrewcook]

I would like to know do Private People  Services their Engines more often then Hiring Fleets do? How often do Private Cruisers have their Engine Serviced as to the Hiring Fleet do they do the same? Do the Private Boats have Breakdown Service just like we do for our Cars such as A A or the RAC as to Hiring Fleets do there own Breakdown Service them self's    How much does this costs Per Year to Maintain theses Private Boats Engines as to the Hiring Fleet?

Andrew Cook

[Hockham Admiral]

Our Nanni 50 (similar to many hire boats) was serviced yearly, latterly by Peachments, the Nanni Main Dealer, every year. As we usually did 2-300 hours that was far in excess of what a hire boat gets. Costs between £100 to £150 per year.

We used Boulters breakdown and propeller services at  about £140/year.

[Andrewcook]

Hi HockHam Admiral thank you for your reply . That does cost a lot for Private Boat Owners to keep there Engine running nice and Sweet and having Boulters for Breakdown and Propeller Service that's very good Firm to deal with as I've have herd about them. So the Hiring Fleet do less Servicing  or should I say Once a Year or when there is a problem with the Engine?

[Guest]

I do it all myself , its s BMC 1.5 so nothing complicated , do lots of hrs though around 7- 800 a year so 2x oil and filter changes and 1 x fuel filter changes , water +  oil level and weed filter check daily + monthly fuel prefilter check for water etc .

[TheQ]

I was doing the same as Ricardo (same engine but less hours) so only one oil change a year, however as mine became very unreliable I've changed it to a electric motor  / batteries / generator /solar panels. I see no reason for me not continuing to service that lot myself.

 

As for Hire craft, I would bet the official policy is that each time a hire boat comes in from a weeks hire, then an engineer will do all the checks/oil /water /filters etc But they will probably not do a full service "in season" as that would take the boats out of use...

 

 Having friends on the broads with their own motor boats I have so far not felt the need to join any RAC/AA equivalent service.

[BrundallNavy]

I service my BMC once a year, total cost this year including two fuel filters one oil filter gallon of engine oil and a raw water pump impeller £70, I do around 200 hours per year, I believe hire boats get done a couple of times in a season.

[Chelsea14Ian]

We  have the boat serviced each year mainly before the season gets underway ,as for hire boat yards checking the engine each time a boat comes in, not sure they all do.Spoke with a couple last week there hire boat needed a pump out after 2 days.Guess it was  not done on handover.

[NeilB]

In a full hire season BMC's and later Nanni's would have 2 or 3 oil and filter changes, 4107's / 4108's about 3 or 4.  Then a full service over winter.

Most boats did not have hour meters so we based it on 6 weeks hire for BMC / Nanni and 4 weeks 4107's / 4108's, luckily we only had a few of these!

[Guest]

21 minutes ago, NeilB said:

In a full hire season BMC's and later Nanni's would have 2 or 3 oil and filter changes, 4107's / 4108's about 3 or 4.  Then a full service over winter.

Most boats did not have hour meters so we based it on 6 weeks hire for BMC / Nanni and 4 weeks 4107's / 4108's, luckily we only had a few of these!

I wonder if that's upheld these days ? After all a hire boat is a source of income and should be looked after .

[JennyMorgan]

The impression that I get with some yards is that some only service when an engine actually breaks down and then in a customer's time.  I think that we actually need a 'horse's mouth on this one.

[NeilB]

 Not sure, I left over 16 years ago.  Cannot remember how many hours an oil and filter change is required but 6 weeks hire could be around 200hrs.

We had a very good record on breakdowns and I can only recall 1 or 2 total engine failures in the 10 years I was there.  We had around 25 Cruisers and 10 or 12 day boats at the time.

[dnks34]

We do a self service consisting of oil change (gearbox included) oil filter and all fuel filters at the start of each season.

The belts and impellor get visually checked and changed as required but spares are carried incase of breakdowns.

This year we had to go a bit further having to remove repair and then clean the heat exchanger.  The casting had to have proffesional attention but we carried out the remainder of the refurb ourselves. 

Any hire yard worth its salt could easily do a full service in a change over period if need be.  You would think servicing their engines at the recommended intervals would be in their interests.