Don't assume a job was done right.

[Carl]

To keep it short, a customer asked me to take a look at his boat, he recently had new diesels installed but was getting vibrations once in awhile and he saw a shiny spot on his shaft when painting the bottom.

I take a look at shaft and its rubbing on hull, probly just needs realignment right...would you believe his "Reputable Dealer" installed a pair of 200+hp diesels in his boat using 1/4" Screws and Fender Washers just screwed into the stringers. Several screws where stripped and one was sheared off. I think a total of Eight where used on each engine. The engine was just moving around on top of the stringers.

Moral here... don't assume stuff is done right just because it was supposed to be done right.

[Harry Babb]

Hi Sim
I don't how you see it but here in my part of the world this thing is more common than you would ever imagine. I have had local boat yards ask me to make propeller shafts out of anything that would not rust just to reduce their cost....................ie increase their profits.

Sickening...............and we wonder why manufacturing in our country is going down the tubes..............and even the service industry is sucking also.

I think people like you and I, and many others in our little B31 fraternity, by upholding our standards and ethics will always come out on top

Harry Babb

[IRGuy]

I suspect there are quite a few yards who hire the cheapest labor they can find so their costs are low.. and if the yard monkey installing an engine gets the job out the door who cares if it isn't done professionally (or safely)?. I personally know of a case in a "reputable yard" in which a new 48' yacht with a non-operating bow thruster had bought and installed several thousand dollars worth of special switches and controls since the thruster was not getting power. Of course the yard charged the owner for all the time and materials. The thruster still didn't work. A good friend was asked to take a look at the problem after the yard mechanics said they were stumped. He asked me to give him a hand tracking down circuits. The problem? The battery bank supplying 24 volt power to the thruster was dead. Apparently the owner did not know he needed to charge the bank seperately from the 12 volt system! Did the yard guys ever think to take a voltmeter and see if the system had power? No.. they just jumped in and started replacing stuff. The owner was most likely told there were serious problems with burned out components resulting... I can imagine the bill he was given!

I have often quoted Omar Khayyam's (sp?) simple statement (and I recall it often when working on my own boats)..

"No sham survives the sea!"

[In Memory Walter K]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, our gene pool is going down the sewer. The setting of a standard of excellence is a personal thing that seems to have gone the way of all flesh. I was a depression baby. My father was an auto mechanic for a GM dealer in the city and was glad to have a job. Daily work was "piece work", you got paid only for what you did. The only problem was that the Foreman gave the job assignments to his friends who kicked back to him first. My father taught me that the only way to beat the system was to have the customer ask for you specifically to work on his car. If told you were busy, they'd say "I'll wait". The only reason he said that would happen was if you did not only a terrific job when you did it, but also followed up on it whenever you saw the customer even if it was on the street.
His advice served me well in the business I went into. I was shocked to find how many in my field just did what they had to...and no more. Many of the clients I had have become my dear friends, even after I retired. That's a second reward.
My father was grateful to even have a job. Maybe it's too easy now. Walter

[Raybo Marine NY]

screws or lag bolts?

thousands of boats have lag bolts right into the stringers, but screws?

usually the lag bolts are fine, until you have a rotted stringer.

[Carl]

Raybo, yes they where Lag bolts into the Stingers. Eight 1/4" x 3-1/2" SS Lag bolts to hold a 200+hp diesel in place on an 18,000lb boat, when 1/2" Lag bolts where used to hold the old 440's in place.

Maybe I am wrong and 1/4" are fine...

Several where stripped and could easliy be lifted out.

One was sheared off, either on install or somewhere along the way it broke, I personally believe 1/4" Lags are undersize for the job as does the customer.

Engine install is far from my expertise, but being around boats and in the mechanical field I have to say it just seems wrong. Especially when Fender Washers, ( 1-1/4 diameter x 1/16" thick washers) are needed to stop the heads of the bolts from slipping thru the holes in the mounts. Please let me know if I am wrong.

Either way I did not mean to deal with the actual install, but more in the way of looking at the Work performed a bit more carefully. Not just saying it was done by a Good Yard so it Has to be Right. The customer saw a few other items that just did not sit right with him, it was a clue somehing was just not right, but he assumed just because it was a Good Yard...

I have seen some excellent work, the kind of stuff you see from Bruce and Capt Pat, that type of work you can take a quick glance at and be overwhemled by the quality and can have faith the balance of job was done right. However if you saw dangling cables from unsupported battery switches and splintered decking in the bilge at the completion of the job, Red flags should go up cause further inspection. I am just trying to say, Really look at the job and go with your gut feelings, something don't sit right with you ask about it, don't take for granted it was done right...

[Raybo Marine NY]

believe me I see stuff that makes me shake my head as well.

One would think if going to the trouble of such an expensive re-power that custom mounts would have been part of the package.

[Carl]

Yes I agree.

All aspects of Install left something to be desired, the customer just closed his eyes to the whole thing and said "It was a reputable Installer So the Job Must have been Done Right". The customer is far from a dummy too, just one of those times you are so wrapped in the moment I guess...

[Peter]

If you pay your help peanuts, you only get monkeys.

[IRGuy]

Peter...

Yes.. yard monkeys!

[Peter]

Yard monkeys are great for painting bottoms, and the obscene markup the yard makes on them is an unhappy fact of life..... but give me a skilled and experienced professional for my re-power project, please.

[Rawleigh]

I only go to yards that allow me to do my own work and allow me to brin gin my own workers! I know they are hard to find now.

[Raybo Marine NY]

I only go to yards that allow me to do my own work and allow me to brin gin my own workers! I know they are hard to find now.

thats because everyone that had that policy went out of business :-D

[Carl]

No Yard Monkey's involved, almost wish they where as I would like to have a place to confidently send my customers.

I have dealt with Installer on several occasions and he really seemed to know what he was talking about. A real stickler...making sure all the fits and finishes where right on the money, had us verify shaft straightness prior to leaving. More thorough then most, but not over the top and we never had a problem with payments. Somebody like that makes me think he would be like that with his own workmanship.

On a good note, I am glad I never recommended his services, althought I had come close a few times as customers nagged me for reliable marine service.

I do all my own work, not so much because I want to but because I don't know of anyone I can really rely on to do the work properly without paying a futune, even then I hear to many stories.