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Animal03.
Looking to pickup a 1996 18ft basscat eyra this weekend from a local guy in my club. The boat is in superb condition as it appears and has a 2007 etech 150HO . No major problems can be found. Just wondering what I should look for before handing over cash just to know I checked for the obvious problems these boats may have over 20 years. What kinda of performance can I expect from this boat? Im changing up from a 1989 374v ranger with 150 efi . My name is Andy by the way and its nice to meet you all . Guy is asking 8900 cash. Felt like thats fair
Welcome to the BCB family. Several on here have boats in that year range. Theyll be along to give you some direction on what to look for.I would have the motor tested by a reputable mechanic, inspect the transom outside, and in the bilge area for cracks, leaks, spongy spots around bolts and other areas, and look over the bottom thoroughly. Some owners will give you specific ideas on what to check. Enjoy.
How would I go about checking the transom? And as far as sponginess and cracks in the bilge area I had that in my ranger so Im pretty sure I would recognize that. Motor is fine . Has 77 hours since new . Thanks
check for soft spots around the floor drain. I have a 1994 Eyra and have been very pleased. I have a 150 mercury promax and have had it to 62 gps
I went to look at 94 Eyra back in September with a marine surveyor. He took a small hammer with a rounded head and tapped lightle on the transom area. Basically youre listening for a difference in sound. A hollow sound may indicate delamination or core separation. A dull sound suggests high moisture content and a very dull sound suggests rotten core material. A sound structure will produce a clean “click” with very little bounce back of the hammer. Of coarse this is after you inspected the transom area for any cracks.
Theyre nice boats and way ahead of the rest from that era, everything from handling big water to being a damn fast hull especially with how deep of a hull design they had, recessed trolling motor foot pedal. Pull the floor drain it might have some rotten wood around the edges. An easy transom check is to apply some pressure on the outboard lower unit if you see the transom flexing it could have some issues. I have had a hell of a time with my boat but all being engine issues boat wise theyre great. Thats a good deal if the boat is as you say and with a late model outboard like that you should get many years of great use out of the boat. You might find some gelcoat stress cracks on you transom, my boat when I bought it originally didnt have any but I put a new jack plate on and outboard, I now have some stress cracks on the transom theyre from the relief of pressure when I pulled the old JP Take a look at the new Bass Cat boats, then look at the old Eyra, not a lot has changed design wise the interior of the boat almost looks like a new one. In my opinion thats because why change something that works oh so good! Good luck if you buy the boat youre buying the boat that launched Bass Cat way ahead of the competition. Im certainly not the most knowledgeable owner of the old Eyras but if you ever have questions or just wanna talk old school Eyras dont hesitate!Kip
Oh performance wise you should see mid to low 60sTake everyones advice put that engine on a dyno its worth every penny…. Ask me how I know I learned the hard way. My Eyra had a mariner mag 150 the powerhead was NEW in 2007 not a reman, I was devistated when she went boom one month after I bought the boatLast edited by 94eyracat on November 5th, 2014, 11:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thanks for all the info gentleman, I looked hard for stress cracks and such , visibly I couldnt find any in the transom , gel coat is about as good as Id imagine it could be for a 18 year old boat. Has pro steering(hydraulic) manual jack plate…. The big seller for me on the boat is the newer motor, etec is a decent motor , and the storage this boat has for 18ft is second to none it seems . The full flipping deck is my favorite thing( the ranger deck from my 89 was very small and had terrible storage. Hated walking to the back to re tie or grab something. The boat comes with the center flipping deck compartment/step. Guy bought brand new seers for it last month when I showed interest in it. The touch button gauge and switch system seems cool. Can it be updated ? I also would like to get new etech gauges for the left side of dash since original ones look like there about done . Has no windshield which seems kinda odd but I think I could make that happen. The other thing I really like is the size of the live wells and storage for battery compartment , my ranger was a total pita to change out a bilge or do anything in the bottom drain field of the hull, everything seems to have ample room on all sides and is awesome. The plumbing for the live wells looked a little hokey . Not sure if it was original but I may have to make a change to that . If I buy it Ill make a thread and see if its factory and what it should be. I have been told these boats are superior by multiple people. As far as my question about performance in a previous reply, the owner stated it would turn low 70s on GPS . Other members of our club that drove that boat also backed this claim. I figured it was a little much considering wieght and horsepower. Anyhow if all is well when I go to seal the deal Ill be joining the bass cat club!!
Ive got a 96 that I bought last year and love it. Needed quite a bit of TLC but the motor (ProV) was and has been strong. Mine didnt have a windshield either but got one from BC. You can replace the BP101 dash with an analog deal that they will make up for you for $400 I think, I may be doing that next year along with new carpet. My livewells are huge and so are my saddle tanks (2 X 26 gals), the rigging compartment is super easy to work in with the tanks on either side, I pulled everything out and cleaned and rewired the whole thing and access was really good. From a speed standpoint youll be somewhere in the 60s, I think 70 is for the guys with 175s. I can tell you that I probably lose 6-8 mph with full livewells and tanks but Im glad the tanks are big because the Yamaha is thirsty. Boat runs really well in rougher water and fishes great. I dont have a deck extension and have actually found the open area in front of the console to be great for your partners tackle bag, no more jumping over it. One thing to keep in mind that I found out the sort of hard way is that you might need a 52″ TM shaft. The bow seems to sit just a bit higher than other boats Ive had and the 42″ Maxxum I put on just wasnt cutting it. Replaced with a 52″ Fortrex. Id say for $8900 with that newer motor and hydraulic steering its a fair price, I paid $7K for mine with a 96 motor and cables that needed replacement. I added hydraulic to mine and that was just over a grand.
I wish it had a Yamaha , I know them to be super reliable motors. My friend has a similar ranger too what mine was with a 86 pro v and he had a leak down test performed and it showed a 30 percent leakdown on a cylinder . Has been running it for two years that way and still going strong . The trolling motor on the boat is a 65lb thrust min Kota probably 10 years old . I was planning on replacing that first thing so that heads up will save me trouble for sure. I also want to put modern electronics on it . Probably gonna save to get the himmingbird 360 setup on the bow and a decent one at the helm if I can get them where they are linked . I also was thinking about a fortex, or a motor guide pinpoint series if they sell one that has that option with a wired foot control, the remote series is not my choice for a bass boat
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