44 Marine trader ?

T

TJM

Member
Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
RO Number
2909
Messages
498
I am shopping to replace my Regal that was sunk in hurricane Sandy.
I am looking at two early 1980's 44' Marine Traders this weekend down in Baltimore, Md.
Any pro or cons to offer ?
Of course a survey will be ordered prior to closing, just looking for general info.
One of them has ford diesels, 120 HP with 3000 hrs and the other volvo TAMD40 diesels, 165 Hp.
The other vessel is a 1986 46' Bertram Convertable with detroit diesels, 3500 hrs.

Two very different styles of boat, Marine traders are trawler styles while the Bertram has a little more pep, lol
 
There's lots of Marine Traders with the Ford Lehman powering them. That engine is about as bullet proof as you can get. Put 10,000 hours on one, re-build it and put another 10,000 hours on it.
 
Check the MT's carefully for delaminated decks.

Have fun boat shopping!
 
Evening,
As mentioned, Lehmans are pretty rugged and if they've been properly serviced, 3K hrs are nothing. Ask to see maintenance logs but you should be able to get a pretty good idea with just a visual inspection initially. I've heard some Volvo parts can be very expensive if available at all. Check the tops of the fuel tanks for rust. Don't expect any more than 10 knots top speed but a lower fuel burn than the Detroits. Nancy mentioned deck delamination. Also carefully check all widows and ports for signs of leakage.
Happy hunting.
 
Ask these folks. http://www.mtoa.net/

Marine Traders are good boats but like a lot of 80s trawlers made over seas some model years are better than others. Based on what yard they were built in and who was over seeing the builds at the time.

A properly maintained can go 15,000 hours if not more, are almost bullet proof and pretty easy to maintain.

The Bertram is a nice boat too. But as you noted a different animal. What model DDs are in it?
 
TJM, I have a good friend who owned one for years. He is a wealth of info and super eager to share. He is not on the forum but if you give me an email, i will facilitate contact for you. John
 
As others said...depends on each specific boat and it's actual condition and who built it on any given day. Check the fuel tanks, electrical systems, and decks for soft spots. Leaks at windows are common on pretty much all older boats and pretty easy to spot via rotten woodwork interior under and around portlights, windows, etc. Stay away from teak decks unless you love to work on your boat 24/7 and spend lots of money. The MT 44 is a great boat if you can find one in good condition.
 
In addition to the MTOA, certainly the first place to look, since it used to be Marine Trader Owners Association, now Marine Trawler Owner's Assc, to increase the membership, good group), there are two forums that have a lot of people with these and lots of old threads. Perhaps a search will find someone with your specific year and model, because as Tony and Bill have noted they vary greatly. One forum, the better and much older of the two in my opinion but not as modern, is the Trawlers and Trawlering list where the odds are great that a web search will have a lot. The other is Trawler Forum, which you have to be careful with as it has a higher than average percent of bad information being spewed about.
 
I have looked at these boats as well and have friends with smaller Marine Traders.

Here are a couple of known issues.

Look for a MT that has had the teak decks removed and has had the decks redone.

Fuel tanks are another item that by now most of the original steel tanks have been replaced. Again look for one with the fuel tanks that have been replaced.

Electrical, check to see if the MT has dual 30 amp circuits some only have a single 30 amp circuit so running more than 1 AC unit at a time will be almost impossible. I have also seen some MT's that have used solid wire for some of the AC circuits (not good). Rewiring an MT is not difficult so electrical wouldn't stop me from purchasing an otherwise sound MT44.

Hatches and windows once again most I have seen for sale have already had these repairs when the decks were repaired. It's worth checking for leaks.

These MT's can be had for a good price in the current economy and the Lehman engines are bulletproof. Just make sure you are purchasing a MT that has been updated by the previous owners. Getting a survey is a must.

Bill
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top