I need general stuff dont tune up change of oil and hook up of a stereo.I know i should learn to do this myself but.This seems like a good idea a guy coming out who works privetly and doing general stuff maybe its even cheaper then a marina.Anyway anyone ever do this or hear anything about it?

I have heard of it, but never done it. Are you in an area where it's popular?

I have not used it personally, but a friend does, he just pays a travel to/from charge. It was extremely easier to have service come to him rather than the other way around.
MARK

It's very popular around here. Quite a few people with slips don't even have trailers even for what would be considered "trailer boats". The mobile service performs winterization and other small jobs on the lift. If needed the lake marinas will come and get your boat and either run your boat over to the marina or bring a trailer. I'm not sure if all the winterization guys are affiliated w/ a marina...I haven't used them.

I would imagine this type of service is much easier to find near lake areas where many boats are kept on lifts.

Very popular here too.

I've only used the dealers mobile service though, not any independent shops.

We have one that is called the Boat Doctor. He arrives wearing Scrubs, instead of the usual technician uniform. Nice touch...

There is also two guys that will do oil changes from their boat, and dump your holding tanks too. Instead of a service van, they use a boat.

They're called Lil' Suckers.

I have been using the same "Mobile Marine Service" since we got our first boat, 13 years ago. He has made house calls,marina calls and even a couple of on the water HELP calls. Prices are fair and he does good work. If you can find someone who does this in your area, it is a good service if run properly.

I used one for the first time this year. He did a great job. I just made sure he was insured.

I never liked leaving my baby at a dealer for XX number of days waiting for them to get around to it. Lost count how many times I have driven past the dealer to see my boat parked in the same place I left it 3 days ago. I call, and they say they are backed up, someones sick, etc, etc, etc.

Plus, the guy welcomed me to watch while he worked on it. Wish I was around that day, maybe I could have learned something.

Oh, I found him on Craigslist. Crazy what you can find on that site.

cheers,

JJ

Factory Trained and Factory Certified? Long list of certificates showing the classes that they took and passed? Yes.

I've done it a couple of times. Once for a tune up, I really wanted to see what he did, which he was fine with. The other was my winterizing.

On reflection, it was cheaper, but he did the work on the side, so didn't have the insurance and backing of the dealer. In the future I'll get the winterizing done with the dealer in case something goes wrong.

The tune up was a lot of grunt work and wedging oneself into tight spaces around the engine. It was stuff I just didn't want to deal with, I'm good with him doing that.

I'm certain he wasn't certified anything, but my boat is an '89, that GM engine has been in so many boats and trucks that I was fine with it. If I had a newer boat, or was getting serious outdrive work done, I'd probably be more worried.

I tried a mobile guy once. Once was enough.

The guy was to replace the regulator on my outboard, and didn't know what it was or how it worked. I ended up doing it myself.

The laffer was when (in his flip flops) he fell off the transom of my Lund on the trailer.

I think I know why he is an independent.

I have used this method several times. With the boat on a lift 60 mi away, and the trailer in a warehouse here, it is much easier. Last spring to service my outboard (tune up, new impeller & pump, etc), a factory authorized service/dealer only charged me $35 to go get my boat and take it to their shop and put it back in the water(it would have cost me much more than that in gas to get my trailer and haul the boat). When I had a 5.7 Merc, there was a good mechanic close by that would come and work on the engine. The key is to make sure you get quality service. Ask around at the marina who others have used and would recommend.

My mobile guy is a marine technician for the Orange Co. Sheriff's Dept. Harbor Patrol. He is certified and works on boats all day long. He runs a succesful side biz and does great work. He is more thorough than most dealers I have worked with. He's reasonable as well.

^^^^^

Plus, a side benefit might be that if he happens to be the one that pulls you over for making a wake in a no wake zone, you can always blame him for setting the idle too high!