todays road trip...red and white but not wheel horse

[rydogg 186]

The zero turn sales have been excellent lately so I went in search of a boat that I could afford and found this one on craigslist near Mound Minnesota which is about 2.5 hours from home so I loaded up the kids and took a little drive. Boat is a 18ft larson all american with a 4.3L V6 rated at 190hp previous owner said it was winterized and parked in 09 since they purchased a party barge pontoon. The price was right so I didn't mind taking on a non running project. The kids already love it I was trying to get it cleaned up before putting it in the shop and they didn't want to get out so they all got soaked.

[AMC RULES 37,102]

Looks like the kids are already having fun.

Nice boat.

[Jake Kuhn 1,554]

Thats a very nice boat! Looks like your family and you will enjoy it. Jake

[can whlvr 993]

so you know the boaters saying,the 2 happiest days of a boaters life are the day he buys it and the day he sells it

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,264]

The smile on the kids faces says it all.

[Hodge71 664]

Being a boat owner myself you will see soon enough that this saying rings true....A boat is nothing but a hole in the water that you throw money into.....

[Ken B 3,134]

Being a boat owner myself you will see soon enough that this saying rings true....A boat is nothing but a hole in the water that you throw money into.....

Amen to that!

[Kelly 1,029]

But they are fun the first year or so, the kids will keep you going on it I'm sure.

[312Hydro 474]

Nice looking boat and it's already getting family time,no water! So,It's red and white ,good colors, pick a name for it yet?

[COMMANDO1 23]

WHAT DOES BOAT STAND FOR

BUST OUT ANOTHER THOUSAND

[rydogg 186]

I have had good luck with the boats I have had they haven't needed too much to keep them going and I never came out upside down when I sold them. Here is my 20 foot Hydrostream that I used to have I sold it when the kids were little since it was not practical to have a 70+ mph speed boat.

I also had a Sidewinder that was the same as the one pictured below except mine was black and purple metal flake.

[KC9KAS 4,741]

so you know the boaters saying,the 2 happiest days of a boaters life are the day he buys it and the day he sells it

This was my exact thought (and I was going to post it) but I saw that you beat me to it.

Another fellow told me that a boat was a hole in the water to dump money into.

[can whlvr 993]

a freind of mine used to have a hydro strem with a 250 merc that he had about 5000 extras done to the motor,that thing was stupid fast,make your eyes blister when going full out

[rydogg 186]

Well I took the boat to my marine mechanic we traded trailers since he had a nice roller trailer that was better than the one that the boat came on we threw a couple slings under the boat and lifted it to its new trailer and it was almost a perfect fit than we went to try to start the engine when I purchased this I was told there was something wrong with the engine so I was curious to see if the block was going to have a "window" in it or what so we hooked up the muffs and no water leaking from the block which was good than I tried to start it she tried to fire as soon as I turned the key which was pretty surprising after 3 yrs of storage, so I gave her a couple pumps and tried again and it came to life all was good except for the lower end knock so it will need a crankshaft rebuild kit ($200 includes all bearings) or master rebuild kit for $300 and have the crank turned. I was pretty happy since I purchased this boat thinking the engine was possibly junk. Before I take it apart I will do a compression test to make sure the cylinders are good once apart all rods will be checked to make sure they are not egg shaped, the heads will be sent off to check for cracks etc. If all goes well I should have it back on the water for under $500 but until I get the money for the repairs I am going to craigslist it and see if it sells as is for a nice little profit.

I am going to throw money into the "hole" but I will make sure I can get it back if I do decide to sell it... I got it cheap enough so I could throw some money at it and still get a good return on my investment.

[rydogg 186]

a freind of mine used to have a hydro strem with a 250 merc that he had about 5000 extras done to the motor,that thing was stupid fast,make your eyes blister when going full out

Hydrostream hulls are crazy fast mine only had a 150hp Mercury but with the hydraulic jack plate I could lift the motor out of the water so it was barely touching and get some additional speed once topped out these boats were almost completely out of the water except for the lower unit which is why they needed low water pickups in the nose cone since the normal water pickups were out of the water. I am still in search of a good Vking YT which is the 18 foot tunnel hull model.

[stevasaurus 22,527]

and I thought I was boat nuts... :bow-blue:

[can whlvr 993]

my buddies was radared at 82 mph,which is really fast in an 18 foot boat thats barely 12 inches off the water,hope you boat goes well 4 u,ive never had great luck with my boats in terms of recouping my cash,but they are a blast,i have a 20 foot grew with a very deep hull,can easily take 3-4 waves all day,but it drinks so much gas i cant afford to drive it all out very much

[rydogg 186]

Well we found out we are having a 4th child so I put the boat up for sale before dumping any money into it and made out very well so I picked up a vehicle that will work better with the future addition to the family it's a 1997 Suburban that will get us by until the lease is up on the car than we will be looking for a crossover SUV with quad seats (4 captains chairs) and 3rd row seating (Chevy Traverse, GMC Acadia, Toyota Sequoia etc.) Suggestions and opinions on other vehicle options would be greatly appreciated.

I may use the left over money from the other boat sale to purchase a Glastron GT150 which is the same type of boat used in the James bond movie pictured below.