Per Hubby:
After hearing advice fromyou good folks on the forum, I came around to my wife's way of thinking, which is generally a good move.
I have always admired and had a great appreciation for old boats. But I also think that older boats are like beautiful women, and best admired from afar, as they can be both troublesome and expensive up close. Of course my lovely wife is an exception to this rule. Trust me, I know how lucky I am to have someone that prefers the older Trojan over the newer Maxum. After recently turning 47, this means more and more to me every day!
The following explains why I came to my decision to keep the Trojan. After doing some research I found that most of the mechanical parts such as the engine, transmission, exhaust manifolds, alternator, fuel pump, etc., were still available if replacements were needed. Structurally, the boat seems very sound with no soft spots on deck, stringers, or hull. Although the hull could use some rubbing compound, a little wax, and a lot of elbow grease, the rest of the exterior is in pretty good shape, with the exception of the swim platform in need of overhaul. The boat was also fitted with a new canvas top and full enclosure just 4 years ago. To the best of my knowledge, the boat has always been kept in a covered slip in fresh water. But the biggest plus is that the Trojan has a truly classic look and feel of a "REAL" boat.
Of course there are negatives to the Trojan. While the engine does start and run well, and the transmission shifts well and smoothly, the boat does have 1200 hrs. The transmission fluid looks brand new but the oil in the engine looked a lot like tar (after I finally was able to get it out of the engine!) The alternator isn't charging and the wiring in the engine compartment leaves a lot to be desired. Before the boat was shut down for the winter, I noticed a faint gasoline smell on occassion. I'm hoping it's just coming from the old Carter carb, as the gaskets seem porus. (Or it's coming from the fuel pump, as the vent hose from the carb. is missing!) The seacocks have been replaced recently, but the new ones had a different bolt pattern than the original. Whoever replaced them attached a block of wood (yep, really) to the original brass bolts for the seacocks and used only 3 small 1inch wood screws to attach the seacocks to the wood. I am only left to think...I hope not many previos repairs were done in such a fashion! While these problems (except for usual engine wear) seem relatively minor, I don't want this to be a consistent theme throughout the years of uncovering more problems. This is especially important because on the lake we're on, there are very few inboard boats (they are exclusively outboards and sterndrives) so basically, no one knows how to work on them and I'll be stuck doing it myself. Of course, I have very little knowledge of these drive systems, either!
Now for the Maxum:
Admittedly, we don't know much about the Maxum. Positives: sparkling clean engine, no oil or water seepage, everything mechanical looked brand new. Boat has only 700 hrs, with only 200 on the engine. (Of course it did concern me that they didn't get more than 500 hrs out of the original.) It has a separate small aft berth that is pretty cool. It's 15 years newer than the Trojan, and for sale for a great price due to unfortunate circumstances experienced by the owner. It's a standard Mercruiser engine that's easy to work on with a plethora of available parts, and most mechanics are familiar with Mercruiser sterndrives.
Maxum negatives:
The finish is faded, and the cabin is cramped with less width, headroom, and forward berth room. It seemed dark inside with few windows. Being on it made us miss the wood effects and special feel of the Trojan.
SO
The 2 biggest reasons for picking the Trojan--
-it's unique. In the area we live in, it's as unique as they come. On a lake in Arkansas, you may only get one chance to own a boat like this. The Maxum is more of a cookie cutter boat and there will always be such boats around should the Trojan turn out to be more of a project than we bargained for.
-But the #1 reason: if wifey ain't happy, nobody's happy!
