24 ft Sportcraft Walkaround with 225 Mercury Outboard.

[vogelfish]

Looking at a 24 ft Sportcraft Walkaround with 225 Mercury Outboard. It's a 1988 Hull - I've heard this age Wellcraft may have fuel tank leaking issues - can anyone confirm or refute that? Any opinions on Wellcraft in general? The Outboard is a 1998 and has been "re-manufactured" in 2003 - red falg? Or is that not uncommon for a 5 Y/O Merk engine?

 

[Philster]

Re: 24 ft Sportcraft Walkaround with 225 Mercury Outboard.

What type and year of Merc engine? Also, a Sportcraft is a brand that went out of business and is separate from Wellcraft -- no?

Sportcraft was bargain basement, IMHO.

This came up in another thread: Early Optimax from Merc, especially a 225 before 2003 = trouble.

 

[DuckHunterJon]

Re: 24 ft Sportcraft Walkaround with 225 Mercury Outboard.

Early opti's did have some issues, and many powerheads were replaced under warrantee. I believe the issues were fixed in 2002, you can google for more info. Most likely the motor was a core return from a warrantee replacement, and was re manufactured. I wouldn't let it stop me, but I would ask for more details and make sure any and all fixes were done to it. Can't help much on the boat, other than to say a leaking fuel tank can replaced - just how much discount makes it worth it for you.

 

[Andy'sDelight]

Re: 24 ft Sportcraft Walkaround with 225 Mercury Outboard.

Not sure about Sportcraft, but I have an 88 Wellcraft Coastal 230. Have had no issues with leaking fuel.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: 24 ft Sportcraft Walkaround with 225 Mercury Outboard.

any aluminum tank from 1988 is likely to leak. Just part of buying an old boat--the money you save is the money you will spend in installments.

If you find an old boat that is running well and in relati9vely good condition, then look at the price this way: if I spent X to buy it and the motor died in 6 months, can I afford Y to replace the motor? I think youhave to go into any used boat purchase with the realistic ability to repower, and every season that you don't, you are lucky. And you may split the difference, and end up with an expensive repair short of a repower.

 

[Andy'sDelight]

Re: 24 ft Sportcraft Walkaround with 225 Mercury Outboard.

any aluminum tank from 1988 is likely to leak. Just part of buying an old boat--the money you save is the money you will spend in installments.

If you find an old boat that is running well and in relati9vely good condition, then look at the price this way: if I spent X to buy it and the motor died in 6 months, can I afford Y to replace the motor? I think youhave to go into any used boat purchase with the realistic ability to repower, and every season that you don't, you are lucky. And you may split the difference, and end up with an expensive repair short of a repower.

Good post, totally agree with what HC said. I have already repowered my boat, mostly due to my own mistake but it was coming soon anyway with that old and tired 88 Yammy. While my fuel tank is not an issue now, I will say that Wellcraft made it very accessible in design, so I wouldn't have to tear out the floor to get to it and replace. That's a serious consideration IMO.

 

[vogelfish]

Re: 24 ft Sportcraft Walkaround with 225 Mercury Outboard.

Thanks for the info everyone...

Not sure of the engine details - it's a 1996 and was "re-manufactured" in 2002 - here is a photo. All i have.

 

[Philster]

Re: 24 ft Sportcraft Walkaround with 225 Mercury Outboard.

I think that pre-dates the Optimax Direct Injection headaches. It's straight up standard EFI. Find out what 'remanufactured' means. If it is a new power head, that might be nice.

Remanufactured: It has specific meanings, as does 'rebuilt', but individuals tend to overuse both terms because they don't understand how involved each process actually is.

 

[vogelfish]

Re: 24 ft Sportcraft Walkaround with 225 Mercury Outboard.

Thanks,

The owner says he has all the paperwork on the engine work so when I go see it I'll check all that out. It sounded like he took pretty good care of it. And after checking - it is a Sportcraft, not Wellcraft - I think I got mixed up reading all the posts on Ethanol and fuel tanks. My last boat had a tank leak last year and I spent $700 on a new custom built tank - don't want to do that again if I can help it.

 

[erie_guy]

Re: 24 ft Sportcraft Walkaround with 225 Mercury Outboard.

vogelfish,

Sportcraft is indeed a useable fishing boat. On Lake Erie and other great lakes there are literally hundreds used as Charter fishing boats. They offer good economies with a single screw inboard, are large enough to fish 6-pacs, and strong/fast enough to get home in a storm. Ask any commercial charters on the lake and get their opinion.

I believe Sportcraft did go through a management change (bankruptcy) and recently stopped producing boats for a few years. However, I also believe they are now back in business and producing boats in a variety of sizes.

erie_guy
Port Clinton, OH

 

[Beefer]

Re: 24 ft Sportcraft Walkaround with 225 Mercury Outboard.

Looks like a Wellcraft, and not a Sportcraft. That's an awfully big cutout in the transom for a single....

 

[vogelfish]

Re: 24 ft Sportcraft Walkaround with 225 Mercury Outboard.

Here is a better photo of the boat. Will see it in person Sunday.

 

[dingbat]

Re: 24 ft Sportcraft Walkaround with 225 Mercury Outboard.

That's an awfully big cutout in the transom for a single....

You've got that right. No way would I even consider that boat except to boat on a pond.

 

[Beefer]

Re: 24 ft Sportcraft Walkaround with 225 Mercury Outboard.

Well, it's definitely a Sportcraft. It should have an aluminum fuel cell, so the only reason for it to leak would be if it's rusted out. That was probably set up to have 2 o/b's, and not just one, or it was an i/o or str8 inboard, and someone did some modifications.

SC did make that boat with twin 140's in '88. There was also an option for a single. My guess is anything less then a 225 will be underpowered for that boat.

As for the fuel leaking, if it is, it's probably due to ethanol fuel deteriorating the original fuel lines or some other fuel system component. Let's not make this an ethanol thread. It's just that that was is a common issue with boat of that vintage (all my fuel system components have been changed out).

 

[vogelfish]

Re: 24 ft Sportcraft Walkaround with 225 Mercury Outboard.

Saw the boat today - the cutout is big - was originally designed for dual motors. There is a removable panel that spans the width of the boat to keep water from coming into the cockpit. The motor looked clean and ran well (see photo below). Overall the boat was clean except one thing that has me concerned - there is a crack in the transom both above and below deck on the inside. The outside showed no signs of stress or crack and clearly has not been repaired or painted over. Anyone have an opinion on this? Is it a show stopper - or is it gel coat and not and necessarily structural? Anyone have ideas on how to get it checked by an expert?

 

[Richardsix]

Re: 24 ft Sportcraft Walkaround with 225 Mercury Outboard.

Re the crack, hard to say from just looking at pics, but judging on where the crack is it looks to me that the transom has suffered stress, perhaps when the boat has been trailored and the motor may have bounced up and down, it may only be the gel coat cracked, but a crack like that will allow water ingress, unless you are prepared to have extensive work carried out I would walk away.

 

[Beefer]

Re: 24 ft Sportcraft Walkaround with 225 Mercury Outboard.

The last pic looks like the inside of the transom, and it looks like it's had water getting in there for a while. I'm thinking a new transom is in the near future for this boat. If the price is really, really right....

 

[dingbat]

Re: 24 ft Sportcraft Walkaround with 225 Mercury Outboard.

The brown stains around the washers and running down the transom is an indication of wood rot. Too many decents boats out there to mess with this one. I would run, not walk from this one.

 

[vogelfish]

Re: 24 ft Sportcraft Walkaround with 225 Mercury Outboard.

Thanks everyone! I also posted the transom photos under a different thread - it's pretty unanimous - I'm running away as fast as I can!

 

[Andy'sDelight]

Re: 24 ft Sportcraft Walkaround with 225 Mercury Outboard.

The giant crack in the transom is an obvious dealbreaker, but not sure what the issue you feel there is with the cutout? I have a 230 coastal with the same style cutout and regularly boat in anywhere fro 2-5 foot chops offshore without issue. In fact there's tons of older boats with that same cutout design, including Grady's.