How many hours are motors good for?

[squire]

Guys just purchased a 2001 90 hp mercury 2 stroke and was wondering if anyone could tell me how many hours a motor usually lasts these days? and if there is any way of telling how many hours a motor has done? Regards Squire ???

[Kerry]

The more one uses them the longer they'll last. Basically it's a case of use em or loose em.

3000-5000 hours isn't unheard of but if one only manages 50 hours per year, which is about what the average boater does then the years will kill em long before the hours do.

A lot of hours over a short period on a new motor is fairly hard to pick.

Cheers, Kerry.

[Greg]

Hi squire,
Interesting question. It will depend on the type of use and frequency of use as Kerry has already said, but I was told by a mechanic years ago that the average life of a two stroke outboard is around 1000 hours. A mate of mine use to have a water taxi service in Airlie Beach and he was getting between 1200 to 1500 hours out of his motors, in a fairly quick time I mite add. But as I said there are so many variables involved, I don't believe there is one clear anwser.
But the one thing I do know, if you do regular services and look after your engine you will get years of trouble free service from it.
Greg.

[squire]

thanks for the info guys the one i got was of a commercial vessel. Another thing I thought of after I got it was have I done the right thing because I dont know how many hours it has done. Do you guys know what the average amount of hours a commercial vessel does a year?

[Kerry]

Difficult to say (guess) really but one question is what type of commercial vessel as some types of commercial activities are more friendly to hardware than others.

Also the operating environment can have an impact on the internals.

Totally guessing but somewhere between 800-1200 max ??? ??? based on the size of the motor and assuming what it might have come off and what it was used for but like I said totally guessing, could be less, could be more but even so is probably in better nic than the rig sitting down the road that hasn't been turned over for 4 months.

Cheers, Kerry.

[squire]

Thanks Kerry. I know it come off a 17 FT seafarer but I dont know what it was used for. It is a 90 hp and is the saltwater series regards Marty.