After my wife and I bought a house on the water we decided we needed a powerboat. Naturally we checked out Craigslist and bought a 2003 Lowe 16′ jon boat with a 25hp Johnson outboard for $2,500. This was the happiest day of our lives, but it was quickly followed by years of misery and then the second happiest day of our lives when we sold it.
The seller had it running and it looked like about the most boat you could get for $2,500.
Dad and I towed it home on the Kiwanis club’s trailer. The previous day I tried to get it on my sailboat trailer, but it was too short and there was way too much weight aft.
I brought it around to my house and we took it out maybe 2-3 times but the steering was really tough. I eventually figured out the piston was rusted to the inside of the tilt tube on the motor bracket. So I hauled the boat out and took it to work and pulled the engine off.
Then I machined a new tube from stainless. I don’t know how much a new one would cost, but I figured this would probably be cheaper.
I also put in new steering and shift control cables since they were fraying and rusty. The key was broken and had to be held just right in the ignition so I changed that out too. Fortunately the seller included a new one in the deal.
The boat sat in our creek for a long time growing barnacles and leaking gas. I took it out once or twice more and only managed 10mph. Turns out the prop was spun and the engine needed work too. I decided to sell it and it sat on a pallet in my driveway for a couple years collecting rainwater and leaves. Eventually I got the boat painted, new prop, new fuel pump, new battery cables, the engine running and listed it on Marketplace.
The other side.
A guy in North Carolina drove up to get it sight unseen and didn’t even care if the engine ran. I think he was planning to repower anyway. I got $2,000 and a lot of experience fixing a crappy boat. Good riddance!