Looking for recommendations for repair of submerged boat

Friday night of opener weekend, the hose from the baitwell pump came loose and filled my boat tied to the dock. Evidently, my auto bilge was not working. Both motors completely submerged, Humminbirds on dash under water over night, entire boat full of water. We did get it pumped out enough to get it on the trailer and let it drain. When we got it up to the cabin, we pulled plugs and got the water out of the cylinders, fogged and sea foamed the motors trying to minimize damage.

Mostly everything electrical doesn’t work, so not sure if the whole thing will need rewired. I worry about fighting corrosion gremlins over the next couple of years. Insurance has been great to work with, said to get it fixed as soon as possible.

So now the question – where to take it? Boat is a 2002 Ranger 620 with 225 Evinrude and 9.9 Evinrude. I live in the north metro, but willing to drive for trusted service. Thanks in advance.

Dean Thorn

Ugh…Only Evinrude shop I know of with Gold certificate is Prince Bait. Great people to work with. Not sure if they will handle all the rest.

Not news you want to hear, but my best advice is to get the insurance company to total it out. I have been around 3 sunk boats and all of them were repaired professionally and a few years later were nothing but trouble. Electrical issues all the time, engine issues, etc… all 3 were repaired by different shops as well. One here in Iowa, 2 in Minnesota by different shops. This is the worse year to have this happen as boats are hard to find and expensive when you do, but I would strongly recommend to be done with that boat. Long after the claim is paid and the work is done is when the little issues that will kill a weekend on the water will be showing up all to often. Corrosion takes a long time and often goes unnoticed untill it’s too late.

Jbg1219,
I’m hoping for a total rewire. Really like the boat, and have not had a boat payment in 19 years and don’t want to start.

This would really depend on your insurance policy. As JBG said I would try to get them to total it out. Now it also depends on what they are going to give you would determine if you would try to fix it. Obviously boat prices are high but by the time you would get the boat back It would already be late season so too wait another year would not be a deal breaker. That really sucks and now is a bad time for it to happen. Good Luck.

Wait… Did a Ranger 620 really sink? I would have thought that was impossible.

Ouch that hurts. The motor is simple but the oat itself will be a nightmare. Especially this time of the year. I’d wish for a totaled boat as well.

Roadhunter,
Submerged, but still afloat.

“my best advice is to get the insurance company to total it out.” Agree.

However, I have been in the same boat so to say. Boat/motors under water for 24 hours on Mille Lacs. Took it to Lyback’s Marine. Sat there for a couple weeks until the insurance claim went through – Totaled. They “Pickled” the motors (Merc 150 and Yamaha T8) while it sat. (Pickle = what you did, lots of oil in the cylendars)

Lyback’s Marine bought the boat salvage from the insurance company. Later that year I saw that boat back on the water, same motors. So it can be done.

http://www.lybacksmarine.com/

Good Luck,
-J.

Jon Jordan wrote:

They “Pickled” the motors (Merc 150 and Yamaha T8) while it sat. (Pickle = what you did, lots of oil in the cylendars)

Pickling the engine and QUICKLY is key, but there’s way more to it than just spraying the cylinder.

Water will have gotten inside the crankcase so your crankshaft, bearings, connecting rods, wrist pins, etc will all be starting to rust inside the crankcase where no spray lube is going to get to them. As will the cylinder walls below the ring line.

IMO get it to somebody who knows what they are doing and get the motors properly preserved ASAP. That buys some time as far as making a decision, etc. If you wait much longer the rust will set in very quickly and once the bearings rust or pitting starts on the crank, it’s game over.

Your going to have lots of problems down the road. Turn it in to insurance that’s why you pay for it. You should be able to find a used similar but may take time.

Justin from woods and water would be the guy to ask.
He’s got the recreational insurance dialed in.

I would confirm with you insurance company if you have a agreed upon value policy or a Actual cost value policy. Often times on agreed value policies the value is given at the time the policy was issued and not lowered over time. In that case the agreed upon value may be far more than you think it is, and you may come out of this quite well $ wise. That is if you can get them to determine it as a total loss. As Grouse said, getting it to the correct shop to get it dried out as soon as possible is key here. Hope this all turns out well for you in the end !!!

If the insurance company totals the boat, wouldn’t you be getting a check for the boat? That’s the money you use to go buy a different one. No loan, or boat payment, involved. Unless you are underinsured… which happens, but should not.

Another option to explore is total the boat and see if you can buy it back as salvage. Then scrap the motors and repower.

-J.

I had a 40 hp Evinrude go under. Begged insurance to total it no go. Had it rebuilt. 2 months later blew 2 rods out the side. I truly hope it goes better for you. They inspected it later rust in the crankshaft.

Bigwerm’s buddy has a 620 for sale.

both motors are most likely injected and I would drain the oil tanks, flush the lines, refill with oil.
drain and flush the gas tanks/lines as well.
then I would mix up a tank of 40-1 gas oil mix and run those motors for at least a half hour.

Now the bad part, all of the electronics on those motors, starter, solenoid, wires, connections, all of it will go south in the near future.
toss the batteries, if lake water got into those the iron and sulphur will degrade the plates, same with the connections.

as sad as it sounds I have to agree with having the boat totaled its not worth all of the grief you will have down the road in the near future, been there done that.

Opie wrote:

Jbg1219,
I’m hoping for a total rewire. Really like the boat, and have not had a boat payment in 19 years and don’t want to start.

19 years w/o a payment is a good run, personally I’d take the check and move on. 😉

In the fall of 2019 my Ranger 620 was blown off a lift and up onto shore but the wave action sunk the boat and water/sand was up to the back splash. The motors were not under water. I couldn’t get any dealer including the dealer I purchased the boat from to rush the boat in as they were already backed up with winterizing boats. This included Al’s in Rochester, Rapid in Ham Lake, Frankie’s and Power Lodge. So I started cleaning the best I could and within a week the wiring was starting to corrode.
I received letters from Al’s and Rapid with recommendations from them that the boat be totaled. In the end Progressive came through, totaled the boat and gave me a more than far price.
My suggestion is to work with dealers to provide you a letter to total the boat and provide to the insurance company?
Unless you are very happy with your agent, I would bypass and work directly with the insurance company adjuster. This is what I needed to do as my agent at the time from Insurance Brokers did not help at all.
Do you mind informing who the insurance company is?

fyi – as you are on the north side, you might want to check this out.

https://www.georgesrepair.com/

jbg1219 wrote:

If the insurance company totals the boat, wouldn’t you be getting a check for the boat? That’s the money you use to go buy a different one. No loan, or boat payment, involved. Unless you are underinsured… which happens, but should not.

He’d get a check for either value he insured it for or the actual cash value of a 2002 Ranger, which in either scenario is probably quite a bit less than a 2021 Ranger would be, or possibly even less than what he could get a similar Ranger for in today’s market.

I would get them to total it and buy it back.
Re-power it, gut the wiring, switches and everything else involved snd when you are done you will have a new boat more or less, built on arguably one of the better hulls Ranger ever built.

Unfortunately you couldn’t sniff a replacement for what insurance will probably give you.

Heck, I saw a 2013 620 listed at 67k! 😳

Unfortunately you are in for a project, whether you buy a different one or fix that one.
Hopefully your buddy’s can keep you fishing in the meantime!

Good luck man

Opie,
Exactly what is your insurance company telling you? Are they waiting for you to take it somewhere for an estimate?
Honestly, I doubt that you’ll come out whole in this deal. If they are not willing to total, take it to George’s, get it runable, and sell it. The used boat market is crazy right now, might as well take advantage of it and get the most $$$ you can, while you wait for an opportunity to buy another rig.

HRG

Im with the rest of the crowd. get a check and use it on a newer boat. we get it you liked your boat and no payments but its already 20 years old! consider it a blessing sort of as no one got hurt. yes new and used boats are hard to find and you pay a premium but hopefully prices and inventory will be replenished by next spring. you wouldn’t be using it this year anyway so wait until next year or buy something cheap to get by with for now.