advice on 90' 242 Offshore 06' F250

[sgallo]

Hello,

I'm new to the forum. I joined because I love Grady's and I'm looking to buy one soon. I grew up fishing the gulf coast on a Sailfish and I'm excited to hopefully purchase a Grady of my own.

I'm looking at a 90' 242 Offshore with 06' f250 low hour motor. I would appreciate any advice on what to look for when I go check out this boat this upcoming weekend? Thanks for any replies

 

[onoahimahi]

The hull is almost 25 years old so you need to be concerned with any of the wood coring material in the transom, stringers, floor, etc. The gas tanks are likely near the end of their lifespan so at least sniff around to see if there are any signs of gas leaking from the tanks. The early 2000 Yamaha four stokes have exhaust corrosion issues that you want to be aware of - that may have been corrected by 2006, however. A link discussing this is here:

http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-for ... epair.html

I hope I didn't scare you too much... :wink:

Good luck,
-Scott

 

[Jbird]

Good luck on possible purchase. A good Boat Survey prior to purchase would be helpful as well. I have a 1991 - 242 - with a 06' - 250 Suzuki, I got last summer. I ended up needing to redo the tanks and all the fuel lines - labor myself, and parts a little over $2g. I just started on the electrical, probably around $500 in parts ordered yesterday from Genuinedeals. My boat was not very well kept and I knew that when I traded a Jeep for it; I knew I had a project at hand - but thats what I was looking for - I enjoy the tinkering. If its on a bracket, check out to see if any galvanic corrosion on the bracket. Keep us posted and feel free to ask any questions and I'll be glad to share my experiences over the past year. I'm looking forward to getting mine wet; hopefully by the summer. Thx

 

[sgallo]

Thanks for the replies! The boat looks to have been kept up very well, new gas tank a year ago, engine has <300hrs, has a full boat cover... I'm anxious to check it out.

What is your opinion on how a single f250 pushes the boat? I would prefer 2 engines but I can't find anything in my budget with 2 newer engines so I'm leaning towards this one with a relatively newer 06' f250.

Thanks, Stephen

 

[exudedude]

Not trying to sound negative but an 06 motor with 300 hrs is not necessarily a good thing. Engines need to be used or they can go south just like they were abused. Have a good mechanic of your choice check it out.

There are plenty of older Offshore's and Gulfstreams out there with singles. I really don't think you leave much on the table except redundancy and a little bit of handling quality. But at the time of repower weight would have been a issue for 2 150's or the 200's.

 

[Jbird]

Unfortunately, I can't offer any advice on how my 250 pushes mine; since it hasn't made it, into the water yet. The previous owner told me it topped out in the 40's; that's about all I know. I plan to run mine on the local Lake and not offshore, so I'm figuring I'll be good to go. :dance

 

[J-Sea]

Definitely an exciting time - a lot of the value in the boat you're thinking of buying is in the motor; if that craps out, you're looking at ~$20k+ to repower with a single 250 / 300. If you're very interested in buying the boat, my two cents are to have the boat surveyed AND have the motor scoped (to find out of there are any hidden problems inside the cylinders or elsewhere) and have the motor compression tested (you would do this once you're comfortable with the rest of the boat). Well worth the upfront dollars to give you the comfort knowing of any issues in advance (soft spots in the hull, water logging, anything major that would compromise hull integrity, thru-hull fittings (likely plastic in that vintage, probably want to change those out to brass), etc.

Best of luck

 

[sgallo]

Thank you all for the replies! I found 2 boats I was really interested in for the value... I started out looking at a 90' offshore, but then I found a 97' 268 islander in the same town the Offshore was in so I thought I'd take a look at that one since it was so close to the other. Long story short I ended up buying both boats! I brought the Offshore home yesterday and I've worked/ cleaned on it for 12 hours today. Everything works as of now except for 3 light bulbs need changing.

I'm looking for a good triple axel trailer for the Islander if anybody knows of one anywhere near Norht FL please let me know.

Thanks Stephen