Commander Victoria? 4.3 Merc Stern Drives

[kaelc]

Does anyone have a Commander 26 or 30 in Victoria I could come take a look at?

What do people think of the Merc 4.3 with Stern Drives? 2000 is the year of the engines.

These 26 footers looks like so much boat in an affordable package.

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[Rayvon]

Don't do it Kaelc,the boat you have now is cheap on fuel,easy to trailer,low maintenance,reliable,well rigged and in great shape.

 

[Sir Reel]

Does anyone have a Commander 26 or 30 in Victoria I could come take a look at?

What do people think of the Merc 4.3 with Stern Drives? 2000 is the year of the engines.

These 26 footers looks like so much boat in an affordable package.

Commander 26 boats for sale | YachtWorld

Find Commander 26 for sale on YachtWorld Europe's largest marketplace for boats & yachts. We connect over 10 million boat buyers and sellers each year!

www.yachtworld.com

The 4.3's are great motors. I had one in my Campion 602. only burned about 4.5 to 5 gph at 3500 rpm doing 30mph.
So would expect your in the 10 gph range. You'll burn more fuel than a diesel but parts and mainteance are cheap.
I love my Comander 30. Nothing like it. We have a great owners group to share info and experiences. I know a guy in Sidney with probably the nicest 30 out there. I could also asked the owners group in someone else is in Victoria area. PM me if interested.

There is also a nice 30 for sale in Sidney.

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[kaelc]

Don't do it Kaelc,the boat you have now is cheap on fuel,easy to trailer,low maintenance,reliable,well rigged and in great shape.

Yeah, thanks for that. Half of me is thinking for a friend but the odd time when my wife mentions a bigger boat I lean commander for the beam. Right now towing up to Alberni for July, to Courtenay/north island for spring break, first week of August and then Tofino for the second week of August. Trailering pretty appealing with my boat but also pictures of my brother stuck in his engine compartment of his 30 footer yesterday troubleshooting a loose starter cable his mechanic had installed, while drifting in the gulf islands.

 

[Thunder21]

If you want to try one out text me when you are in Alberni in July. I’ll give you the keys to mine and you can go for a cruise. Trailering isn’t a big deal with them. I think the twin I/O would be the biggest pain.

 

[Rayvon]

I've been down this road,you don't know what you've got till it's gone.(sounds like a country song). I've sold boats in my past that I shouldn't have and passed on boats I should have bought. Your costs will go up exponentially,moorage will be over $3K a year,Your 4 cylinder Honda 150 (civic motor) will burn probably 1/4 of the 12 cylinders of the GM motors,your travelling up island will be restricted,gas is expected to hit $2 a litre this summer,maintenance on 2 motors and the dreaded legs which are much older than what you have now.And you'll have to bring the wife along. Have you thought this through?

 

[CIVANO]

And you'll have to bring the wife along.
Amen!

 

[seabeyond]

I've been down this road,you don't know what you've got till it's gone.(sounds like a country song). I've sold boats in my past that I shouldn't have and passed on boats I should have bought. Your costs will go up exponentially,moorage will be over $3K a year,Your 4 cylinder Honda 150 (civic motor) will burn probably 1/4 of the 12 cylinders of the GM motors,your travelling up island will be restricted,gas is expected to hit $2 a litre this summer,maintenance on 2 motors and the dreaded legs which are much older than what you have now.And you'll have to bring the wife along. Have you thought this through?

Sometimes it's good to have an experienced voice of reason. Well put Rayvon.

 

[Sir Reel]

I've been down this road,you don't know what you've got till it's gone.(sounds like a country song). I've sold boats in my past that I shouldn't have and passed on boats I should have bought. Your costs will go up exponentially,moorage will be over $3K a year,Your 4 cylinder Honda 150 (civic motor) will burn probably 1/4 of the 12 cylinders of the GM motors,your travelling up island will be restricted,gas is expected to hit $2 a litre this summer,maintenance on 2 motors and the dreaded legs which are much older than what you have now.And you'll have to bring the wife along. Have you thought this through?

All these cost are completely true and more, but for me the price is totally worth it. I get to go places in my own boat others can only dream of.
I have had trailer fishing boats and gone to Nootka, Hardy, Campbell River, Sooke. Now I fish less and cruise more with family. Last summer we spent 8 days on the boat in Desolation Sound with sister and brother in law and we are still speaking to each other!

 

[Rayvon]

The wife and I spent 10 day's on my old Wellcraft coastal running from Victoria up to Desolation Sound and back.We did it twice and enjoyed every minute. It was a whole lot more cramped than you guy's have it,so I understand the cruising side of boating too.That's why I considered owning bigger boats in the past,it would have been more affordable then than now.I just think big boat ownership for me has gone the way detached home ownership has gone for the young generation,unaffordable and only for people with deep pockets.I also worked on yachts for many years and saw how many large boats sat in their slips never taken out covered in growth.You can't just jump on alone ,you need a crew to handle docking etc..For those of you that can afford and use your boats regularly, good on you, it's a great life style.

 

[Sir Reel]

The wife and I spent 10 day's on my old Wellcraft coastal running from Victoria up to Desolation Sound and back.We did it twice and enjoyed every minute. It was a whole lot more cramped than you guy's have it,so I understand the cruising side of boating too.That's why I considered owning bigger boats in the past,it would have been more affordable then than now.I just think big boat ownership for me has gone the way detached home ownership has gone for the young generation,unaffordable and only for people with deep pockets.I also worked on yachts for many years and saw how many large boats sat in their slips never taken out covered in growth.You can't just jump on alone ,you need a crew to handle docking etc..For those of you that can afford and use your boats regularly, good on you, it's a great life style.

I’m not at the yacht stage….yet. I can handle my 30 solo no problem and do lots of extend cruising and fishing by myself. At some point the cost will be too high. Not looking forward to that day.

 

[SpringVelocity]

Don't do it Kaelc,the boat you have now is cheap on fuel,easy to trailer,low maintenance,reliable,well rigged and in great shape.

I would second what he said. That is money pit. Those inboards will nickle and dime you to death.

As for as 4.3L my friend had one is Campion and it was fairly good motor. Just the other stuff broke around it etc.

 

[ab1752]

I had a 4.3l in a searay, bad luck, torn couplers, flapper failure and hydrolock amongst other neat things. Most of that was operator error however.

 

[kaelc]

Thanks everyone. Really appreciate the insight, thoughts and offers. I will take you up on them. Definitely rewinterizing tonight and getting the camper back on at the end of the week is nice and easy, compared to a moored boat.

Another 30 came up today but I'm not rushing out to buy anything. Especially with comparison of the 4.3 to the Honda. I've only bought one engine and it was a 4.3 replacement on a road trip in Kamloops, due to a cracked distributor cap causing a misfire, and eventually a loss of compression. As usual newer outboards win the day with reliability.

Wonder what a 30 weights on the trailer? I think I can tow 14,000 pounds but likely need a permit and another license! The 26 might be the ticket some day, and that might be in 4-5 years.

 

[Rain City]

Thanks everyone. Really appreciate the insight, thoughts and offers. I will take you up on them. Definitely rewinterizing tonight and getting the camper back on at the end of the week is nice and easy, compared to a moored boat.

Another 30 came up today but I'm not rushing out to buy anything. Especially with comparison of the 4.3 to the Honda. I've only bought one engine and it was a 4.3 replacement on a road trip in Kamloops, due to a cracked distributor cap causing a misfire, and eventually a loss of compression. As usual newer outboards win the day with reliability.

Wonder what a 30 weights on the trailer? I think I can tow 14,000 pounds but likely need a permit and another license! The 26 might be the ticket some day, and that might be in 4-5 years.

What 30 came up today?

 

[Maxpri]

What 30 came up today?

Ok, settle down, let's pod the one first

 

[YachtMech]

the 4.3's have had issues. depending on the build date, some even had valve seats dropping out of the heads. Commander 30's are heavy and work really well with a couple volvo diesels and DP (family member has that exact setup and has never regretted fitting that upgrade from the original mercs), I wouldn't want one with 4.3 v6's.

Truth be told, the 5.7/350 vortec with the 906 heads are by far the best (and only worthwhile) engines for inboard gas boats, and I say that as diesel guy with that exact engine in my own boat. They can't be beat for overall cost of ownership and reliability. Thats why both merc and volvo used them for so long. Although if you can avoid the merc fitted engines if possible simply due to their raw water side of the cooling systems, terrible water pump placement as well as fuel cooler/filter/pump unit and an overly complicated system in general (absurd in my opinion, even worse if you have the drain down system and I have been servicing them for 20+ years). Its even worse if you have one of the engines with the guardian system that has the raw water pressure sensor, they are horrendously bad, and we see sensor failures in as few as 5 hours of use (heck had one fail immediately on installation), even had to replace the sensor multiple times in a year in some cases.

Plus if your running a heavy boat like the commander you're really going to benefit from DP drives, and you don't have to look far to find out the bravo 3 has had a multitude of issues especially when it comes to cooling water intake, you pretty much have to have both in leg and through hull connected together to keep the leg and engine cool (merc TSB years after the problem was known). yes merc may have cheaper parts than the volvo stuff, but you will be replacing things more often and have more problems in general (and be forewarned some people are having bravo 3's dissolve off their boats, although that issue has not been widely publicized yet).

not to say volvos have not had issues, but in general they are worth spending the additional percentage on parts, as they will give you more days on the water. I work on both volvo and merc, and by far prefer working on and have higher customer satisfaction with all the volvo equipment.

 

[kaelc]

What 30 came up today?

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/3157186641170754/ looks like a great package with the dingy Davit setup and recent work. Outdated electronics and no radar but at least one doesn’t have to pay a premium for used old stuff.

 

[kaelc]

the 4.3's have had issues. depending on the build date, some even had valve seats dropping out of the heads. Commander 30's are heavy and work really well with a couple volvo diesels and DP (family member has that exact setup and has never regretted fitting that upgrade from the original mercs), I wouldn't want one with 4.3 v6's.

Truth be told, the 5.7/350 vortec with the 906 heads are by far the best (and only worthwhile) engines for inboard gas boats, and I say that as diesel guy with that exact engine in my own boat. They can't be beat for overall cost of ownership and reliability. Thats why both merc and volvo used them for so long. Although if you can avoid the merc fitted engines if possible simply due to their raw water side of the cooling systems, terrible water pump placement as well as fuel cooler/filter/pump unit and an overly complicated system in general (absurd in my opinion, even worse if you have the drain down system and I have been servicing them for 20+ years). Its even worse if you have one of the engines with the guardian system that has the raw water pressure sensor, they are horrendously bad, and we see sensor failures in as few as 5 hours of use (heck had one fail immediately on installation), even had to replace the sensor multiple times in a year in some cases.

Plus if your running a heavy boat like the commander you're really going to benefit from DP drives, and you don't have to look far to find out the bravo 3 has had a multitude of issues especially when it comes to cooling water intake, you pretty much have to have both in leg and through hull connected together to keep the leg and engine cool (merc TSB years after the problem was known). yes merc may have cheaper parts than the volvo stuff, but you will be replacing things more often and have more problems in general (and be forewarned some people are having bravo 3's dissolve off their boats, although that issue has not been widely publicized yet).

not to say volvos have not had issues, but in general they are worth spending the additional percentage on parts, as they will give you more days on the water. I work on both volvo and merc, and by far prefer working on and have higher customer satisfaction with all the volvo equipment.

Thanks. The 4.3 was on the 26 but good to know they weren’t all that good. Also as much as this seems like a good deal on this 30 the older engines and legs wouldn’t come close to a new Vp/dp setup. https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/1988-commander-30-8050099/

You can’t be sure but I think the makers of this Volvo Penta video had the playboy channel on satellite?

 

[Eden Island]

Thanks everyone. Really appreciate the insight, thoughts and offers. I will take you up on them. Definitely rewinterizing tonight and getting the camper back on at the end of the week is nice and easy, compared to a moored boat.

Another 30 came up today but I'm not rushing out to buy anything. Especially with comparison of the 4.3 to the Honda. I've only bought one engine and it was a 4.3 replacement on a road trip in Kamloops, due to a cracked distributor cap causing a misfire, and eventually a loss of compression. As usual newer outboards win the day with reliability.

Wonder what a 30 weights on the trailer? I think I can tow 14,000 pounds but likely need a permit and another license! The 26 might be the ticket some day, and that might be in 4-5 years.

I made the move from a completely open 16' boat to a 23' Hourston. As a family, we never looked back, but there certainly are costs - moorage or a trailer and tow beast - I went with the latter after two years mooring and seeing the same scenery. Maintenance - yup. Fuel is more, but if you go diesel [and lots of Commanders are], its more manageable. Also, we trailer close to our destinations, so hours running are low.

That 30' might be a little heavy - 13,000 lbs without trailer - and too wide for standard trailering. The 26' is a mere 8,000 lbs, call it 10,000 with trailer and a few extras. My 23' is just shy of 8000 on a trailer, so I'd tackle the 26', and I comfortably single-hand the 23', so 26' should be OK -- if only I had 3' more room where I park!