Coaster 23 weight?

[MurrayM]

Hi there,

We're looking at buying a 23' Coaster Cruiser, built in BC around 1980. According to an article in Pacific Yachting from the 1980's, the manufacturer stated it weighed in at 4,000 lbs.

The current owner put the boat and trailer on a truck scale and it turns out the boat actually weighs 7,500 lbs. It has a Perkins 4-108 in it now, larger fuel tanks, and the surveyor figures the first owner of the boat added ballast to dampen roll.

Does this weight seem excessive for this size and type of vessel?

I'll try to post a photo of a 23' Coaster which I poached from a previous thread for you to have a look...

Murray

 

[markpierce]

Does the 7,500# include the trailer? How much fuel and water were aboard? Much gear aboard?

 

[MurrayM]

It was 7,500 pounds for just the boat. The fuel tanks were less than half full, and not much water. There wasn't much gear aboard either.

Could the Coaster manufacturer have been using a "hull weight", meaning the 4,000 pounds was for just the bare bones boat, with no engine, no fuel tanks, no cabinetry, no head, etc?

Murray

 

[CPseudonym]

The current owner put the boat and trailer on a truck scale and it turns out the boat actually weighs 7,500 lbs.

It was 7,500 pounds for just the boat. The fuel tanks were less than half full, and not much water. There wasn't much gear aboard either.

So just to clarify, the empty trailer was taken across the scale at some point to establish a tare weight that was subtracted from the combined boat/trailer weight to arrive at the 7500 lb number for the boat only?

Welcome aboard Murray

 

[honeybadger]

Ran into this a few years ago with a Wellcraft paperwork said 7500 lbs, But when i made some calls and dove deeper that didnt include the ( 2 ) 8.1 L engines and outdrives fuel, water, equipment, So in the end scaled the boat and it was around 12,000 lbs , Most compaines show the weight with no power source including the outboad guys.

 

[psneeld]

I think boats that are normally factory fitted with engines include their weight with engines...it's for shipping to the dealer purposes...once at the dealer...who knows what weight is added or absorbed.

Here's an example from Pursuit boats and it's even an outboard...because it's usually factory fitted with engines....outboard boats that are fitted at the deaership with engines may have dry weights w/o engines.
Approximate Dry Weight
(with twin 250 four strokes)
8,865 lbs.

Scout boats

Dry Weight w/ Tw-Yamaha 350s (aprx)
.....................................13,400 lbs (15,900 lbs loaded)


and this is off a Wellcraft spec sheet


210 COASTAL®
[FONT=Interstate,Interstate][FONT=Interstate,Interstate]* Dry weight calculated does not include engine(s). Dry weight will vary with engine and options installed. [/FONT]
[/FONT]wellcraft


....but then again this IS for an outbard series boat..couldn't find an inboard spec sheet but pretty sure inboards are USUALLY included

 

[MurrayM]

So just to clarify, the empty trailer was taken across the scale at some point to establish a tare weight that was subtracted from the combined boat/trailer weight to arrive at the 7500 lb number for the boat only?

Yup, the boat without the trailer was 7,500 pounds.

Thanks for the input everybody...especially the bit about a boat going from 7,500 to 12,000 pounds. Yikes!

Murray

 

[MurrayM]

Sniffing around the web for factory / real life weight guidelines, I found the following info on the Rosborough site;

RF246 Sedan Cruiser's dry weight;
5,400 pounds.

Recommended trailer;
Shoreland'R SLR8088B (8,000 pound capacity.)

Interesting...

 

[psneeld]

Sniffing around the web for factory / real life weight guidelines, I found the following info on the Rosborough site;

RF246 Sedan Cruiser's dry weight;
5,400 pounds.

Recommended trailer;
Shoreland'R SLR8088B (8,000 pound capacity.)

Interesting...

Not really...it would be easy to add #2000 and then have a little reserve as suggested.

 

[MurrayM]

Not really...it would be easy to add #2000 and then have a little reserve as suggested.

Interesting in that the dry weight and real world weights are together in one place, from the manufacturer.

I'm still wondering how a vessel similar to the one in the photograph above went from 4,000 to 7,500 pounds. Seems excessive, but then again I have little experience in this.

 

[Vashon_Trawler]

I like the look of your 23' Coaster Cruiser--nice looking boat. Four thousand pounds seems light.

My 23+ foot full displacement trawler weighs 6000 pounds according to the plans--I assume this is dry. I'm guessing my weight it is closer to 7000-8000 pounds loaded... maybe more. She looks heavy.

The bottom picture is my boat on a trailer when I took delivery a few years ago and before her involved restoration. I have since sold the trailer. I'm in the picture and am wondering how much it will cost to soda blast the bottom!

 

[Ocean Breeze NL]

Looks similar to my BIL's boat.

 

[MurrayM]

I like the look of your 23' Coaster Cruiser--nice looking boat.

It's a long story, but we didn't buy a Coaster Cruiser. Our hearts were set on that or a Vashon Trawler, or a Calkin's Bartender, or an Allweather, but all the stars aligned and we ended up with a 30' Sundowner Tug. Go figure!??!

 

[Conrad]

In years gone by we had a hard look at a Coaster 23. A very salty looking vessel but just a tad too tight for us. In the end we purchased an Albin 25, which was, in a round about way, the predecessor of the Coaster. The Coaster came with the Perkins 4-108, which I believe was the standard engine. Dry weight could have been around 4000# but with fuel, water, and groceries it would be quite a bit more.

 

[Nomad Willy]

The Albin is 4,000lbs and it's bigger than the Coaster but an Albin cruising around in SE AK is probably 6,000lbs. The Coaster has a heavier engine so it all sounds about right to me.

Ocean Breeze,
I REALLY like your BIL.