Re: How do you track hours on your outboard?
I added an hour meter when I bought a used boat; it simply measures the time when the key is on (so if you left the key on by mistake overnight you rack up the hours!).
Sure it's frivilous but what about boating isn't? I watch it for curiousity, for replacing a water seperator, and it was invaluable for the break-in timing on a new lower unit. No way you can estimate with a wrist watch and a day's outing, if like me you often turn the motor off to drift, anchor, beach, go ashore, etc.
When you start with an old motor it won't tell you anything about that motor, but hours used are not that important except in the cases of extreme high use (1000/year) or under use (10 hours a year). IN fact an under-propped boat (ie too high RPM) can add an hour of wear for every minute it's run.
When the manufacturers recommend service at "one year or 100 hours" I take that to be the estimate of expected typical use per year. But there are way too many factors to say what's normal, including boating season length and typical trip distance (that is, some people use the boat right in front of launch/mooring; others typcially travel a distance to get to the area where they spend the time fishing, beached, etc. or to get beyond the interminable no wake zones in heavily populated areas.)
