Abandon Boats - Salvage or Junk

[Soulakala]

I don't know about your area but in our small local I see more than one boat that will never see the water again just sitting on a rusting trailer. In fact I've resurrected two of these local boats and putting in some sweat and time sold them for a reasonable profit. Its not the money opportunity rather its basic recycling. Just cleaning up what looks like a wreak of a boat with a pressure washer, doing some fuel delivery improvements to the outboard and getting the boat seaworthy will pull in people that would have never bought a boat buy into a very reasonable and safe boat because its cheap and they don't need to do anything to enjoy it. This not only cleans up an ugly neighborhood sore but is fun to do. I would encourage anyone with time available think about this as a project, even if you give it some younger fisherman its a win-win for sure. Well I'm looking for my 5th project this year, but my agreement with the wife is only one boat at a time and nothing sitting around outside.

 

[acefuture]

Oh, I know this all too well. Some of my past spruce ups. Currently have 3 in the driveway and am looking for more neighbors to let me borrow theirs.

17' Klamath

21' Gregor From this

To this

19' Bayrunner

And my current project - 18' Outrage

And hopefully my next project if I can find a neighbor to donate me their driveway

 

[URN]

There can be opportunity for a side hustle and they can also be a money pit.

My first boat was a 16ft Larson runabout with the merc tower of power. Bought for $500 and with about $350 in updates I sold her for $1700. Huge learning experience worth more than the $ I made on the deal.

Second boat was an old aluminum 18ft boat that was hull up restoration. Bought for $800 and after a shit ton of work I sold her for $5000.

Third was a 19ft BW Sentry and my dad still owns since he and I partnered on it. I did the work, he paid for most of it.

4th was a jet boat bought at auction for $6000 and with about $400 in upgrades plus some labor I sold it for $8000.

5th one is my current one and the wife says no more. I need my own shop then the side hustles can begin again.

If you are able to drag that boat home free or for only a few hundred bones then there are ways to make it doable for sure. If you try to look at it as $/hr basis then maybe its not super wise, but where is the growth and satisfaction in that?

Go for it but start out cheap I say. If you have mechanical aptitude and are willing to do some work there can be some money to be made on the side.

 

[acefuture]

If you try to look at it as $/hr basis then maybe its not super wise, but where is the growth and satisfaction in that?

If I count the hours i've worked, i've lost tens of thousands of dollars on the boats i've built.

 

[Soulakala]

Oh, I know this all too well. Some of my past spruce ups. Currently have 3 in the driveway and am looking for more neighbors to let me borrow theirs.

17' Klamath
View attachment 1223295

21' Gregor From this
View attachment 1223297

To this
View attachment 1223296

19' Bayrunner
View attachment 1223298

And my current project - 18' Outrage
View attachment 1223299
View attachment 1223300

And hopefully my next project if I can find a neighbor to donate me their driveway
View attachment 1223301

Nice job on the restore. I find it fun to tackle. I had one boat that had a Spruce tree growing from a composited pile of leaves in the stern. Two wheel borrow loads of leaves some ivy and three hours of pressure washing that 15 Smokercraft was looking good. Next came the motor, carb rebuild, starter rebuild, and some wiring changes and I had a running boat. Then to make it save I changed out the fuel line, fuel tank, added a fire extinguisher some earlier recycled rod holders. The galvanized trailer was next. I replaced the bunk pads, bunk pad hardware, two rollers and roller hardware, swapped out the rims for galvanized rims and new winch strap. Bought it for 900 sold it for 2900. It sold 2 hours after I posted it. Similar boats on CL were going for 3800 or more, but my thought is if I left some meat on the bone the next owner he could use the boat and still break even in a quick sale.

 

[Soulakala]

My worst boat restore was an aluminum hull skiff that the previous owner mounted EVERYTHING with plain old sheet rock screws. Of course they were well rusted and most had to removed by drilling them out and welding up the holes. On top of that the guy had drilled holes in the stern for I don't what reason and then not used them, filling them with household silicone which has an acid base and eats aluminum like a dog on a bone. I had to re-drill oversize every hole and then weld them up and polish them back to flush. Like I said it was a lot of work but the end result was a very nice HD aluminum skiff that will live on to many future fishing trips with the new owner. One of the boats I restored had everything wired with extension cords. Yes I find the weirdest stuff but they are out there just waiting to be found, sort of like ugly ducklings.

 

[Bottom Line]

The worst one I've done was a riveted aluminum. The owner had figured since the boat was conductive he could use it to be the ground. Virtually every rivet needed replacing.

 

[dalurker]

Oh, I know this all too well. Some of my past spruce ups. Currently have 3 in the driveway and am looking for more neighbors to let me borrow theirs.

17' Klamath
View attachment 1223295

21' Gregor From this
View attachment 1223297

To this
View attachment 1223296

19' Bayrunner
View attachment 1223298

And my current project - 18' Outrage
View attachment 1223299
View attachment 1223300

And hopefully my next project if I can find a neighbor to donate me their driveway
View attachment 1223301

how goes your current Whaler Project?
time to start a "New Project" thread!
love watchin' your work!

 

[acefuture]

how goes your current Whaler Project?
time to start a "New Project" thread!
love watchin' your work!

Currently completely gutted. This boat is A LOT of work already. Now starting the process of sanding the entire hull, from deck to bottom paint to prep for a buff to the exterior, recoat of the deck, and new bottom paint. Thanks! I'll get one started here shortly. Hate having such big gaps in posts on the project threads. You can keep up with a few more on instagram (@acecraftco - sorry for the ad haha)

 

[mike mitchell]

I have also fallen victim to the I can fix it and sell it self destructive death spiral. It started decades ago with cars. Moved on to furniture. Then to a destroyed home. Then back to cars. Then to boats. Then to fishing rods. Back to boats. A never ending spiral !

 

[gettingbentwithbo]

@acefuture you got some skills brother!

 

[Soulakala]

I have also fallen victim to the I can fix it and sell it self destructive death spiral. It started decades ago with cars. Moved on to furniture. Then to a destroyed home. Then back to cars. Then to boats. Then to fishing rods. Back to boats. A never ending spiral !

Yeah but its better than doing nothing or wondering what can I do today. I like being busy, so with the last boat flip gone and until I score another its looking at my list of I "gotta" do this winter before fishing starts; get a scissor lift and replace all the florescent fixtures in the shop with the stack of LEDs waiting in the corner, split the wood rounds from two trees into firewood and stack that, pressure wash the house, and prune the limbs out in the field so I can stop dogging them when I mow. But all that will go on hold if I score another boat flip - I'm on the hunt.