So Im thinkin bout buying a 1998 Blazer 202 Pro V but Im worried bout the transom since it has wood. The owner passed away and his son is selling it. He doesnt know much about the boat other then what he can see upon visual inspection. But since he's not a boat guy , it's hard for him to tell me much with confidence. I have many pictures of the boat but its 300 miles away.

The price is hard to pass up at 7 grand but I'm worried about all the unknowns. He says the gelcoat and hull are in excellent shape and the pics illustrate that. Its as clean of a 1998 boat for that kinda money I have found. Looks can be decieving tho and I dont wanna make a 7 thousand dollar mistake.

Does anyone have experience with these boats or wood in general. I do know the boat was never stored in the water, it was kept in a 3 sided carport and he was the original owner. I also know the owner was a gearhead who had a custom chopper and truck which he spent alot of time customizing and caring for. Sounds like the boat might be perfect but how will I be able to tell when and if I go to see it this weekend ? Also he doesnt know when and how it was maintaned in terms of waterpumps, etc.. So what should I do ? Should I just forget about ? Are blazer bass boats made before the year 2000 known for transom problems ? I know they didnt go all composite till 2000 and the 2000+ models are more desirable according to what I read on the blazer owners forum. Help!

Any boat that has wood construction will rot in the transom and stringers if it isn't properly cared for. The only way to tell is with a first hand inspection.

BTW.

Considering the boat brand and the fact the guy was a gear head, I'd be way more concerned about the condition of the motor than the transom or stringers.  

But will I be able to see if the wood is rotted at all ? I thought the wood was sandwiched inside the fiberglass? I dont know much about older boats since I havent been around many. And if it has been cared for then how long is the lifespan of the transom ?

But will I be able to see if the wood is rotted at all ? I thought the wood was sandwiched inside the fiberglass? I dont know much about older boats since I havent been around many.

Look for motor mounting bolts sunk into the transom. Step onto the lower unit and jump up and down on it while somebody watches the transom. There should be no flex in the transom.  You can knock around on the transom and listen for a hollow sound vs. solid as well.

See the addition to my above post. I'd be way more concerned about the motor on that boat vs. the transom. blazers are high performance bass boats and owners are often known to trick out motors or run them hard. Given the description you gave that the original owner was a gear head I'd be looking very carefully at that motor.

Ya I agree the motor could be an area of concern too but I'm worried about the transom more for the haul home. The motor I was just gonna do a compression test before the test drive. I read about a guy that bought a 99 blazer off of ebay and on the tow home the transom started to break. I dont want my motor to end up on the side of the road or anything like that. I will take your advice tho and carefully think this one thru.

Ya I agree the motor could be an area of concern too but I'm worried about the transom more for the haul home. The motor I was just gonna do a compression test before the test drive. I read about a guy that bought a 99 blazer off of ebay and on the tow home the transom started to break. I dont want my motor to end up on the side of the road or anything like that. I will take your advice tho and carefully think this one thru.

For a $7000 investment it might be worth paying a local shop $200-300 to check the boat and motor for you before you buy it.  

Ya Im gonna see if I can find a member of this forum who lives near asheboro north carolina and see if he or she can go and do the transom test for me and look the boat over for a few minutes. I'd be willing to paypal whoever could help me 30 bux for gas . My truck gets about 13 miles per gallon on the highway on a good day so I'd hate to spend 150 bux in gas and then another 200 to have a shop look at it for a boat that I might not end up liking. What makes it harder is that the seller lives 4 hours away in west va so its not like he can go out and look at the boat for me or take more pics. Its not the most convenient situation but the price is what attracts me. Every other decent 20 footer is at least 11 grand and those might not be in any better shape either.

Sounds to me like you need to find a boat a lot closer home.

This is the only half decent deal for less then 11 grand that I can find within 300 miles on a 20 foot or longer bass boat made in the late 90's and I have looked all over. Everything else is either full of stress cracks, early 90's or its 15 grand. Otherwise Im gonna put money down and finance a newer boat but I hate to do that and pay crazy interest rates. Im tryin to work out a deal on a 1999 stratos extreme 21ss right now thats only about 90 miles away but they want 14,500 bux and its simply not worth it. If one of those 2 doesnt work out and nothing else pops up in the next few weeks then Im just gonna get a tr21 and finance about 7 grand of it. I cant stand fishing out of my tracker anymore, I need an upgrade asap.

This is the only half decent deal for less then 11 grand that I can find within 300 miles on a 20 foot or longer bass boat made in the late 90's and I have looked all over. Everything else is either full of stress cracks, early 90's or its 15 grand. Otherwise Im gonna put money down and finance a newer boat but I hate to do that and pay crazy interest rates. Im tryin to work out a deal on a 1999 stratos extreme 21ss right now thats only about 90 miles away but they want 14,500 bux and its simply not worth it. If one of those 2 doesnt work out and nothing else pops up in the next few weeks then Im just gonna get a tr21 and finance about 7 grand of it. I cant stand fishing out of my tracker anymore, I need an upgrade asap.

If that's the best price you can find  , you should make the effort yourself to check it out. That 4 hour drive means nothing if you get a deal that you like.

You can save upwards of $4-5k.  I'd suggest driving there, money in hand, tow the boat to a mechanic, pay him whatever it takes to have a quick look at it and be prepared to drive home with it.  A transom in such bad shape that a motor won't hang on it for 300 miles won't take long to find.  I'd avoid any motor that's been modified for performance.  A mechanic can also tell you that as well as the soundness of the motor overall.

BTW, 300 miles isn't that far in order to save that much money.

Im thinkin I might just go down there on saturday morning and try my luck. The sellers wife is gonna be down there this weekend when the buyer for his dads chopper comes to pick it up so it would be convenient. However she knows nothing bout boats and they are still tryin to figure out where we are even gonna test drive it. I do know it hasnt been started since april and the batteries are gonna be dead most likely. But I have seen about 12-15 pictures of the boat and the gelcoat shines, no visible scratches and the carpet and seats look fine. I wish the seller knew more bout it. He cant even tell me if its oil injected or fuel injected nor can he tell me what electronics or trolling motor is on the boat. There always seems to be a catch when I find a deal like this. Im prayin a closer deal pops up but its still tournament season and all I see for sale is junk or expensive, nothing inbetween like what I'm looking for  >

Take some batteries with you.  

Get on the phone and find a local shop that can check it out for you. Set up a time to have the boat there. If they cannot do it Saturday, find out when and then go look at the boat. It's obvious you need the help.

Don't go down there Saturday if you have no one to help you check it out unless you are willing to buy it without knowing. It's possible you will get there, like the looks, think about the drive, and then make a poor(possibly) buying decision to go ahead and take the boat since you have driven all that way. It may be a good stout motor, but be prepared to put another four grand in the motor if it ends up being a basket case.

Good luck!

will the crankin battery from my 16 foot '04 tracker be ok to try and crank that 225 merc ? I could just take my battery and also my trolling motor battery actually if thats the case.  Would it suit me better to just find a local shop that can look at the boat without me even having to drive down there ? And if everything checks out then go down there ready to buy ? Im gonna call a few local marinas/techs down there and see what I can setup. Anyone driven or riden in a 20 foot blazer that can comment on how they ride ? I know they are light so it's not THE most stable platform but the casting decks are huge and its still as stable as most 19 footers I'd assum since it weighs about what an average 19 foot boat weighs. I think its around 1350 pounds or so.

They are considered one of the speed boat builders of the bass boat industry. Up there with Bullet, Stroker and Allison. Their hulls are normally lighter than standard assembly line boats. I've never driven one but what I've heard is everything from fairly decent in rough water to a bucking bronco.

Go to Youtube and type in jasper river run. In a few of those video's there are some Blazers involved. From what I've seen of them on that video, they don't seem the most stable in choppy stuff. Just My opinion though after viewing the video's.

Very fast though.

I think Im gonna go ahead and drive down there to see it. Talked to the sellers wife today and she was down there lookin at it, she said its pretty much immaculate so lets hope it runs as good as it looks. Gonna be gettin a pre purchase inspection done to check compression and everything else. If it checks out then Im gonna get it. If I end up hating it then I can always list it on craigslist come March and sell it for 9 grand no problem. Then take the profit and put it towards something with a better ride. I cant afford to spend 15 grand on a TR21 right now or something along those lines so this will have to do. All I know is I need something fast, fairly stable and with huge casting decks which the blazer has. Might be a lil extreme for my first fiberglass boat but for 7 grand its a better choice then an 18 foot nitro which is about all u can get for 7 grand.

Now you are using your head , I hope it's what you're want . It seems like a great price.

If I can find a place that does in home service then I wont even have to drive down there till I know the boat checks out. Otherwise I have to trailer it 25 miles for the inspection and if it doesnt check out theres no way in hell Im gonna wanna bring it back to them. So thats where it gets complicated since the seller doesnt own a tow vehicle. They also told me if I dont end up gettin it that they will gimme a hundred bux to cover my gas.

Now the question for me is how concerned with stress cracks should I be ? Seems like most boats over 5 years old have at least a few gelcoat cracks. How do u tell the difference between gelcoat cracks and fiberglass cracks ? I know gelcoat cracks are easy to fix but I dont want anything with cracks or voids in the glass itself. I know this is part of the pre purchase inspection but what if they miss something ? No one is perfect. I could get home with it and discover cracks I didnt see before. Or even if I dont get this boat and I go to look at another boat , how can I tell ? Where is the most common place to find them and where is the worst place to get them ?

The cracking in the gel coat you're thinking of is most commonly called spiderwebbing. It basically caused from excessive flexing in the hull areas where the spiderwebbing is at. Most commonly its seen on the top cap, often due to banging into boat docks and in the bottom hull area towards the rear. You can even see spiderwebbing in the transom area that DOES not indicate the transom is bad. The stuff you don't want to see are cracks, specifically where the crack has extended down into the fiberglass. That's an indication of a more serious issue. Possible the boat taking a bad hit or an internal structural problem. Cracks in the back corners of the splashwell on the transom are often indicators of a weak transom or one that's taken a big hit.

BTW, them paying you for driving down is quite a deal. I'd seriously have money in hand ready to drive that boat off. That's a darn good deal on that boat. I have a feeling you're worrying over nothing.

I knew there had to be a catch > turns out the motor was modified to 300hp. Seller said he forgot to mention that and told me today. I spent 30 minutes in a local marina today talkin to the manager of the service dept as well as one of his techs and they told me to stay away from anything modified. So here I am back to square one. They also told me that without a moisture meter that there was no way to tell how bad a crack was. PPI's are 225 bux there and include compression tests and they use a meter to detect moisture. So if and when I find something local , I know where to go. Why is it so hard to find what I want when I have money burning a hole in my pocket?

I knew there had to be a catch > turns out the motor was modified to 300hp. Seller said he forgot to mention that and told me today. I spent 30 minutes in a local marina today talkin to the manager of the service dept as well as one of his techs and they told me to stay away from anything modified. So here I am back to square one. They also told me that without a moisture meter that there was no way to tell how bad a crack was. PPI's are 225 bux there and include compression tests and they use a meter to detect moisture. So if and when I find something local , I know where to go. Why is it so hard to find what I want when I have money burning a hole in my pocket?

Don't want to say I told you so but........

For some reason, if it's a Blazer, Stroker or a Bullet, don't be surprised to find a modified OB hanging off the back.  

you can say it, you were right. I had no idea and honestly I never ever asked. I finally asked today how old the motor was cuz the ad said "new" mercury 225 efi. Ah well. Such is life. I'll be patient and wait till the right one comes along. Im tryin to work a deal on a 2001 TR21 right now if we can agree on a price so we'll see. But tons of fall/winter deals are gonna start poppin up sooner or later. In the meantime I'll fish from my lowly 1987 Sea Nymph 16 footer  :-/ better then shore fishing eh. It goes a whole 28 mph