Need Help with Labor Costs on Repower

[Cregan13]

I am looking to repower a 2006 330 Express. Right now the boat has twin, 2006 Yamaha mechanical 250s. It is going to be repowered with brand new, twin Yamaha digital 300s. I already own the engines, the controls, gauges, wire harnesses, props, etc. I went to Grady for a list of all the items needed and specs, and I bought what they told be to buy. So I just need the labor. I have shopped around for quotes, which have ranged from $1,800 and two days of work to $7,500 and almost two weeks of work. One of the lower quotes I got is from a reputable shop in town that does a lot of repowers, though mostly with Suzukis. Meanwhile other shops tell me there is no way to competently do what I am asking to be done in that amount of time and for that little money. My search on other forums reveals a lot of posts in support of each end of that range, but I have not seen much in the way of people sharing their actual experiences on similar repowers.

To add some additional information, I am using the round gauges, which should fit right in the existing holes without the need to rebuild the dash.

Bottom line, I don't want to overpay, but equally important is getting it done right. I would really love to hear from people who have done similar repowers on their boats and can opine on the cost.

Many thanks!

 

[UCPA111]

Are you pulling out the old stuff first and they are starting clean or do they need to do that too? For reference, I took my motor, controls, and such off my Seafarer in a couple hours (mechanical 225 Yamaha). I repowered with a Mercury Verado digital with Vesselview and power steering. After seeing what it took, I could have done it. They had the motor mounted in less than 2 hours. Pulling digital cables is no big deal. Now, they did have my boat for several days...because they didn't order a couple cables they should have and were not sure of what they were doing with the vessel view (a whole other story - blah blah blah).

My trepidation was the interfacing of the Vesselview and the power steering. But, after review what they did....I think it was a couple days of actual work if you've done it before. Mounting two...maybe it's a 3 day affair if they aren't messing with new cutouts/etc. That's my opinion.

 

[Cregan13]

Thanks for the response. They will be doing the the de-rigging and re-rigging.

It is my understanding that everything is going to fit into the same holes/cutouts. Someone feel free to correct me if I am wrong on that. I have one shop telling me it is a 6-8 hour job, and another telling me it is 40-60 hours. They are both reputable shops that have been around for some time, which is why this has me so perplexed.

 

[Legend]

Here is a detailed estimate that I got for 2 F250.Installation should be the same about 4,500 or 5,600 with old engine removal. This was the same situation you described but going from F225s mechanical to F250 digitial with electrical controls

 

[Doc Stressor]

I just replaced my mechanical Yamaha F250 with a mechanical Honda BH250. All new gauges and controls. One day's work that cost a little over $1000. This was done by a dealer at a marina.

Dealers are all over the place as far as prices go. They pretty much will charge you what they think they can get you to pay.

I'd go with the lowest quote that you have. It sounds reasonable.

 

[Legend]

I ultimately went with F250 4.2L mechanical engines over the electric for cost reasons. The labor to swap out two mechanical engines for 2 mechanical engines was $2,020. This is right in line with what Doc quoted as well. Since you have the already purchased the digital it looks like you will be north of that because of the derigging the old cable and purchase of all new digital equipment plus labor for all of the above. Definitely worth shopping around for a fair price.
Good luck, 33 with 300s is a nice package!

 

[Doc Stressor]

The digital cables are easier to pull through than the mechanical stuff. An NMEA 2000 starter kit for building the backbone is less than $100. That might be your only additional cost if already have the gauges.

One reason they have gone to all-digital is to simplify installation.

 

[glacierbaze]

One thing to be clear on in reading your estimates is the difference between time, and labor hours. If a shop tells you 1 day, but they have 2 or 3 men on it, that is anywhere from 16 to 30 hours of labor.