Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

You guys have said it before and you are right, owning a boat can sometimes be expensive... just had my boat serviced... For the first time since I bought it 2 1/2 years ago, instead of taking it to the dealership I took it to a local guy who runs a stern repair shop from his home.... he came highly recommended.. I went to this man because I figured he would be cheaper than the dealership, and more than likely I would get a better job... here's what he did..

changed oil
changed filters
greased lower unit gears
replaced spark plugs
changed water separator filter ( changed or replaced, not sure how that works )
put in a new water impellar
adjusted valves
greased wheel bearings on the trailer

cost: $429.25

I know if I were mechanically inclined I could have saved a lot of $ by doing it myself... but since I'm not, I figured I saved some $ by not having to take it to the shop to fix what I screwed up.. sorry, but some of us are just not good with a wrench... on the other hand, I believe if I had taken it to the dealership and had this work done it probably would have cost in excess of $600 Regardless, the Looney Toon is now ready for a little warm weather.... can't wait!!!!!

It's always good to know someone. I need to do the same thing.

Actually, with everything that was done, that wasn't a bad price.

I would guess that work at a dealership would of hit you at least 1500.00

I don't know about adjusting valves, but the rest of what you described is EASY. I'm dumb and even I can do those things. Try getting on YouTube and search for videos on how to do the various maintenance items on your motor. I can change the spark plugs, fuel filter, oil, oil filter, impeller, and lower unit oil in a couple hours using not much more than $100 of parts/materials. I'm serious when I say that I'm not mechanically inclined. I was nervous just like you the first time. I dove in and it was a piece of cake. Obviously your motor differs from mine, but I can't imagine it's too different in terms of maintenance procedures. Good luck.

We bought our first "new to us" pontoon last summer. I was going to take it to a local dealer for the yearly service (oil change, filter change, lower gear oil change and spark plug change). The dealer actually told me to learn to do it myself because of the $100/hr shop charge.

I watched all sorts of youtube videos and decided to tackle it myself. I'm glad I wasn't near any body of water because I had spills all over the place while changing the gear oil and the motor oil. But I did it and I saved a lot of $$ -- still spent over $120 in just parts. I just need to figure out how to do all of this without making such a big mess. One of the worst messes was taking off the oil filter - what's left in the filter after draining the oil, still comes out in the upper cowling. I've seen something on the internet of a little metal "chute" that you stick under the filter to catch and disperse the extra oil outside of the cowling.

Roland, for all that you had done, that's doesn't sound like too bad of a price. How long did it take your guy to do all of that maintenance? i'm sure since he knew what he was doing, he probably knocked all that out in a couple of hours. It took me about 5 hours -- but then I had to go back and watch the youtube videos several times along the way. Then stop and think about what I was doing (while enjoying a cold frosty beverage).

But I have to agree with your comment that boats and maintenance are expensive

Seems like a very fair price for what you had done, and you now have another mechanic contact when you need them down the road.

That's a very fair price.. I am pretty good with a wrench yet finding the time to tinker with it is the hardest thing. I have a 2 stroke so their is not as much maintenance but I still pay the marina to get the motor ready for the season.

OK Toon wrote:
Roland, for all that you had done, that's doesn't sound like too bad of a price. How long did it take your guy to do all of that maintenance? i'm sure since he knew what he was doing,

OKtoon...can't say how long it took him to do the work. I dropped the boat off at his place last Saturday afternoon and I'm picking it up later today ( saturday ). Found out about the guy purely by accident... got in late from work one night, stopped for gas on the way home around 4 in the morning and this guy pulled up with his bass boat and big 225 on the back.. we got to talking and I asked him who serviced his boat and thats how I found out about the guy.. Turns out he's been servicing outboards since 1996. I don't think I mentioned this in my original post, but when he was putting grease in the bearings on my trailer, he told me that the trailer manufacturer used a really cheap set of bearings and I think he said seals.... told me they weren't hurt or anything, but that they were just cheap and I ought to think about replacing them in a year or so with a "good" set of bearings... he told me it would run about $250.00 Probably will do that next fall since I won't have to put a new water pump in.....

While look at it like this. First service in 2 1/2 years so that is less the 200.00 a year. That is a great price. Myself would not wait that long to have motor service. But I use mine 15 + days a month during the year starting in march and going through oct. so mine is serviced very year.

Gonefishing wrote:While look at it like this. First service in 2 1/2 years so that is less the 200.00 a year. That is a great price. Myself would not wait that long to have motor service. But I use mine 15 + days a month during the year starting in march and going through oct. so mine is serviced very year.

Hi bob.... just to clarify, this wasn't the first service... I've had the boat 3 years... bought it new, had it serviced at 10 hours, then at the end of each season.... Up until this service, I used to take it to the dealership but it would run me 200 to 225 just to have the general service done ( no water pump or anything like that ) Tha'ts why I took it to this gentleman that works out of a shop at his house...

Roland, I too am "Mr. Bad Wrench". I'm great at taking stuff apart. Putting it all back together in the right sequence with no extra parts? Now that's another story!!
I look at it this way: If I have the local marina do the work and something goes wrong, with that, then they are the ones who make it right. Also, my time is worth something. I travel quite a bit and I'd rather be fishing, tooning, or whatever rather that messing around trying to change oil, impeller, whatever. Also, I don't have trailer and would not thing of trying to do most of this stuff with the boat on a lift.
It all depends on what your priorities are.

I forgot to add at the end of my last post that I have nothing but the utmost admiration for those who do their own maintenance, etc. The pictures on here of the rebuilds of pontoons is absolutely amazing!

bassn386 wrote:Roland, I too am "Mr. Bad Wrench". I'm great at taking stuff apart. Putting it all back together in the right sequence with no extra parts? Now that's another story!!
I look at it this way: If I have the local marina do the work and something goes wrong, with that, then they are the ones who make it right. Also, my time is worth something. I travel quite a bit and I'd rather be fishing, tooning, or whatever rather that messing around trying to change oil, impeller, whatever. Also, I don't have trailer and would not thing of trying to do most of this stuff with the boat on a lift.
It all depends on what your priorities are.

Bass... WELL SAID... I learned my lesson 30 years ago... just married, living in the St. Louis area. we had just purchased an older home and I was installing these little "mercury" light switches that glow in the dark... no problem at all in the rooms where there was just one light switch.... but there were two in the kitchen... after I installed the two in the kitchen, I shut off the light and was headed to bed when I noticed that the refrigerator had shut off at the same time I shut off the light.... went back turned on the light, refrigerator came back on.... called an electrician the next day and this older gentleman came out who not so politely asked me " who the has been fooling around with this. I told him the truth, that a friend of mine did it... he told me to keep my friends away from my wiring because "my friend" could have burned down my house.... Lesson learned.

Thats prety close to what I pay. I use a local to me guy. Knows what he is doing, honors his work, and does the warranty work for Yamaha as well.


Nothing better than having someone you trust to work on your toys - boats, cars, etc

I would neevr step foot in a dealership to have any type of maintenance done unless it was 100% warranty related.