Opinions on a boat

[KVico]

10 minutes ago, Rickent said:

I actually liked that one. Could be nice with a bit of tlc. Providing the hull is sound it could probably be had for around £25k, less if you're prepared to be cheeky.

I'm wondering how cheeky you can be with offers, any experience people want to share..?

[Rickent]

You can be as cheeky as you want, they can only say no.

But bear in mind there's cheeky or insulting, the art is knowing where one ends and the other starts.

[KVico]

Is it essential to have a central heating system, in the general opinion?

[zenataomm]

I'm on my 9th boat, lived over winter on all of them and still haven't got central heating.

.......... mind you didn't have it in my first three (land based) homes either!

[KVico]

23 minutes ago, Ray T said:

 

https://www.apolloduck.com/feature.phtml?id=514944

There is also evidence of a stove being in situ at some time.

The sad thing about this boat is that almost everything movable has been stripped out. 

To my eyes it could become a nice little boat with time and money! Also depends upon a survey!

The fact it is so sparce could be used for bargaining.

I wonder why the stove would have been removed? I'm not sure what else needs doing to it...

[Rickent]

1 hour ago, zenataomm said:

I'm on my 9th boat, lived over winter on all of them and still haven't got central heating.

.......... mind you didn't have it in my first three (land based) homes either!

If living aboard central heating is not essential but a solid fuel stove is. Winter would be miserable without either. Although not essential, it is nice to have a second heat source in case your primary one fails.

[Neil2]

1 hour ago, KVico said:

I'm wondering how cheeky you can be with offers, any experience people want to share..?

I did once ask if someone would give me their boat, how about that?  

It wasn't a narrowboat though and needed so much work that I reckoned the owner would be glad to be rid of the mooring fees etc. 

The trouble with narrowboats is there is always going to be some idiot with rose tinted specs on a sunny day and many owners/brokers just hold out until that person comes along.   

OTOH the boat we currently have I got for exactly half the original asking price which shows you just how random the market can be. 

It's really difficult to make a judgment though without experience.   I'm not even sure a surveyor is the best person to advise.  

[Athy]

1 hour ago, Ray T said:

 

https://www.apolloduck.com/feature.phtml?id=514944

There is also evidence of a stove being in situ at some time.

The sad thing about this boat is that almost everything movable has been stripped out. 

To my eyes it could become a nice little boat with time and money! Also depends upon a survey!

The fact it is so sparce could be used for bargaining.

Ray, you have the eyes of an eagle, not a crested grebe [if that's what your avatar is]. Now you point it out, it's obvious - there's even a blocked-off hole in the ceiling through which the flue would have passed. Have a greeno.

From the position of the pipes, it looks as if the stove was removed when the central heating was installed.

[junior]

If i were you I'd be going for the Les Allen boat. That first one, the green one, looks like it hasn't been looked after.

[Neil2]

The Les Allen is a good example of someone who thinks you can add quite a bit on the price of an old boat just because of the provenance. 

And "Attracts much praise from passers by" is the same as "much admired" it's unnecessary estate agent speak. 

It would be a good buy for about £10k less than the offer price though, then you could afford to replace the engine..

 

[ditchcrawler]

If you are buying a boat without a survey then read this thread first 

 

[Sea Dog]

6 hours ago, Ray T said:

 

https://www.apolloduck.com/feature.phtml?id=514944

There is also evidence of a stove being in situ at some time.

The sad thing about this boat is that almost everything movable has been stripped out. 

To my eyes it could become a nice little boat with time and money! Also depends upon a survey!

The fact it is so sparce could be used for bargaining.

I agree it has been a rather nice boat and possibly could be again. Something odd about ripping out everything including the stove though. I guess it may have been condemned and was easier,  probably more pertinently cheaper, to remove than make good. However, outside looks to have been seriously neglected over a number of years, and that's never a good thing in boats. I'd walk unless I had a very good understanding of the work, time and costs involved in her successful refit - and the purchase price reflected those costs and covered the margin for risk.

[Athy]

35 minutes ago, Neil2 said:

The Les Allen is a good example of someone who thinks you can add quite a bit on the price of an old boat just because of the provenance. 

And "Attracts much praise from passers by" is the same as "much admired" it's unnecessary estate agent speak. 

It would be a good buy for about £10k less than the offer price though, then you could afford to replace the engine..

 

Evidently you aren't impressed. I take some of your points, but isn't the engine a Lister SR3? They have a very good reputation and they sound nice, and its clean appearance suggests that it has been well looked after. What's the problem with it?

[Neil2]

2 hours ago, Athy said:

Evidently you aren't impressed. I take some of your points, but isn't the engine a Lister SR3? They have a very good reputation and they sound nice, and its clean appearance suggests that it has been well looked after. What's the problem with it?

My take on the air cooled Lister range is the same as the old BMC 1.5 and 1.8.  They ruled the roost once upon a time because of their tolerance of low speed running but in my opinion have nothing to offer when compared to the modern generation of diesels.  They don't have the charm of a "proper" vintage engine either, though I suppose there is a certain appeal in the simplicity of an air cooled motor, but then I don't understand the fanatical following the old flat four VW engine has so it's lost on me.  

We all come at this from different angles though don't we - in my ideal world the engine would be silent but I like to cruise all day long dawn till dusk others view the note of the engine as part of the canal boating experience, fair enough.  Having said that there's no way the sound of an SR3 is comparable with something like your Gardner but then again some people like listening to Bob Dylan sing so it takes all sorts.    

[Rickent]

My old perkins sounds like a tractor but it takes my boat from A to B , charges the batteries a d gives me a full tank of hot water, so does the job for me .

[MtB]

On 06/05/2017 at 17:48, Athy said:

Evidently you aren't impressed. I take some of your points, but isn't the engine a Lister SR3? They have a very good reputation and they sound nice, and its clean appearance suggests that it has been well looked after. What's the problem with it?

 

Your subtle sense of humour cracks me up sometimes!!

[Athy]

1 hour ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Your subtle sense of humour cracks me up sometimes!!

But they DO sound nice: I have appreciated their regular beat from half a mile away before now.

[Neil Smith]

But you wouldn't want to be much closer would you.

Neil

[MtB]

On 07/05/2017 at 09:52, Neil Smith said:

But you wouldn't want to be much closer would you.

Neil

 

My thoughts too. I can't imagine why that nice Mr Athy thinks they sound ngood. They sound like a dumper truck.

I'm wondering if he is confusing them with the Lister JP3, or even the Lister HA3 at a pinch.

 

[Neil Smith]

Yes my old dumpers were fitted with them in both handle and leccy start, my newer ones have Perkins not the most refined but what an improvement over the old Listers, at least I can start work earlier without waking up everyone within that 1/2 mile radius.

Neil

[Athy]

1 hour ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

My thoughts too. I can't imagine why that nice Mr Athy thinks they sound ngood. They sound like a dumper truck.

I'm wondering if he is confusing them with the Lister JP3, or even the Lister HA3 at a pinch.

 

To me their sound is more evocative of agriculture. Oi quoite loike tractorrrs. I wonder why no one has ever put a Field Marshall engine an a narrowboat - their sound is most soothing.

Whilst not a technical person, I think I can tell a ******* JP from an SR - ten times the size, three times as shiny and half the rpm! I am unsure if I could tell a JP from an HA (or HB, which I think is similar) though. I suspect that the former is bigger, but one would rarely see the two side by side.

[KVico]

Here is one I really like, the style of it and it's just about what I'm after. It's 1994, 43ft, £27k, needs a repaint. Want to view this one.

https://www.apolloduck.com/feature.phtml?id=516790

[junior]

Just now, KVico said:

Here is one I really like, the style of it and it's just about what I'm after. It's 1994, 43ft, £27k, needs a repaint. Want to view this one.

https://www.apolloduck.com/feature.phtml?id=516790

Looks a decent boat and a decent price. I'd bang in an offer of £25,500 subject to survey. You could probably get the cost of your survey knocked off again if it needs a few bits and bobs doing. If not, you'd get a decent deal at that price i think.

[Graham Davis]

Is a Worcester combi-boiler approved for boat fitting?

[Athy]

Now that looks classy and comfortable, and reasonably priced. The builder is a known name in the cheap-to mid-range bracket, and still exists. Attractive fit-out, good engine (if it's been properly maintained). And it's named after a Burton-brewed beer! One could have done with more external photos but it appears to be moored outside another boat (perhaps at Shobnall Marina), making access treicky.

 

Graham Davis' question is a good one. I don't know the answer but it's worth checking.