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Liverpool Boats


Jon Cartwright

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Hi there,looking to buy my first boat and viewing this weekend.

Going to see a Liverpool Boats 45 ft cruiser ,with a Lombardini 1202 linked to a Technodrive box.

Have been told to be careful with the above mentioned ,depending

on year built relating to the hull I think!

Any advice on this please?

Also,is it true that Technodrive gearboxes can be troublesome?

Many thanks

Jon.

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You would be as well to be very aware of the possible problems with the hull, the gearbox and the engine. An unfortunate combination all round.

 

From my experience only.

 

Hull.

Fitted out a few Liverpool hulls, not impressed. Some cabins longer on one side than the other, poor welding and fit of end bulkheads, not straight due to welding one side first then turning over.

My friend has a similar hull, in his first winter he discovered that the L/P fitout had NO roof insulation at all.

 

Gearbox.

If its one that runs on ATF, they are noisy. Prone to develop excessive backlash.

 

Engine.

Not a popular unit, was a pump and generator engine with toothed cam belt. Spares suppliers thin on the ground and parts are expensive. Not worth overhauling, its a junk it and fit something else when it gets worn out.

 

Others will have differing view but I have my opinions and I would not touch it.

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Thanks Sam,I've cancelled viewing on Sun.

Valuable advice I think.

I will strike them off my list of possibles.

There seems to be a big difference between boats above and bellow 30k on the market! Think I will take my time and look at as many boats as needed. Also found that an early 90s boat ,may be in far better condition through care/ maintenance/ updating etc,than say a 2005 boat,that has been neglected or just sat on shoreline from New!

Still lots to learn I think before I part with my cash.

Thanks again,all the best

Jon.

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14 minutes ago, Jon Cartwright said:

There seems to be a big difference between boats above and bellow 30k on the market!

Bear in mind that a lot of boats (not all, certainly) that are priced a bit above £30k will eventually sell for a bit below £30k. 

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Don't discount all Liverpool Boats. Our last boat, a 40-footer, had a Liverpool shell. It was a solid and comfortable boat. It was only when, after five years, we put her on brokerage, that we discovered that the side deck on one side was 4" wide and the one on the other side was 5" wide. This did not detract one jot from our enjoyment of the boat.

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25 minutes ago, Athy said:

Don't discount all Liverpool Boats. Our last boat, a 40-footer, had a Liverpool shell. It was a solid and comfortable boat. It was only when, after five years, we put her on brokerage, that we discovered that the side deck on one side was 4" wide and the one on the other side was 5" wide. This did not detract one jot from our enjoyment of the boat.

But didn't you ever wonder why you kept falling in on one side but never on the other? ;)

 

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25 minutes ago, Athy said:

Don't discount all Liverpool Boats. Our last boat, a 40-footer, had a Liverpool shell. It was a solid and comfortable boat. It was only when, after five years, we put her on brokerage, that we discovered that the side deck on one side was 4" wide and the one on the other side was 5" wide. This did not detract one jot from our enjoyment of the boat.

But for those of a doubtful mind anyway, it does highlight the appalling quality of Liverpool boats.

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3 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

The production of Liverpool boats never recovered when the automotive industry went to alloy wheels and did away with hub-caps.

What have hub caps got to do with boatbuilding?

Reverting to your last comment, one mistake in measurement does not constitute "appalling quality". I emphasised that our Liverpool-shelled boat was solidly built and that this minor error did not detract from our satisfaction with the boat.

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Just now, Athy said:

What have hub caps got to do with boatbuilding?

C'mon Athy …………………………………..

 

What has Liverpool got to do with Hub-Caps ?

 

1 minute ago, Athy said:

Reverting to your last comment, one mistake in measurement does not constitute "appalling quality". I emphasised that our Liverpool-shelled boat was solidly built and that this minor error did not detract from our satisfaction with the boat.

It is indicative of the care that goes into the build, if something as 'simple' as getting the gunwhale measurements 'similar' cannot be achieved, what chance is there that more 'techinical' errors have been made ?

There are so many examples of boats under 7 feet wide but will not fit in a 7 foot lock because of a big bend (banana shaped) over their length, examples of poor welding / missed welding.

 

Yes - there are folks extremely happy with their boats and I suppose that like any 'lower end of the market, volume builder (in any market) there will be a disproportionate number of 'Friday Afternoon boats'.

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On 22/02/2019 at 01:09, Boater Sam said:

You would be as well to be very aware of the possible problems with the hull, the gearbox and the engine. An unfortunate combination all round.

 

From my experience only.

 

Hull.

Fitted out a few Liverpool hulls, not impressed. Some cabins longer on one side than the other, poor welding and fit of end bulkheads, not straight due to welding one side first then turning over.

My friend has a similar hull, in his first winter he discovered that the L/P fitout had NO roof insulation at all.

 

Gearbox.

If its one that runs on ATF, they are noisy. Prone to develop excessive backlash.

 

Engine.

Not a popular unit, was a pump and generator engine with toothed cam belt. Spares suppliers thin on the ground and parts are expensive. Not worth overhauling, its a junk it and fit something else when it gets worn out.

 

Others will have differing view but I have my opinions and I would not touch it.

My personal experience of the Lombardini 1404 has been a good one: it has never missed a beat in 4000 hrs (not a huge figure, I know) and all regular service items have been readily available. The cam belt was changed at 2500 hours (easily obtained and not expensive) and the original was visibly as good as new. It never smokes, starts at first turn every time, is economical and relatively quiet, and is

regularly used on tidal waters. Had we not purchased the boat because of this engine we would have made a big mistake.

Edited by rgreg
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6 minutes ago, Athy said:

What have hub caps got to do with boatbuilding?

Reverting to your last comment, one mistake in measurement does not constitute "appalling quality". I emphasised that our Liverpool-shelled boat was solidly built and that this minor error did not detract from our satisfaction with the boat.

Don't take on Mike, its not serious.

The suggestion was that hub caps were Liverpool's main source of steel,  Why else did they all get nicked?

Let's just say that at times the quality control down the dock road was at best variable and at worse we had 2 start to sink at launch.

Like most things, buyers got what they paid for and like Springers  they got hundreds of folk onto the canals.

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4 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

C'mon Athy …………………………………..

 

What has Liverpool got to do with Hub-Caps ?

 

 

There used to be several car factories there (I think Triumphs were built in Liverpool) - but, I'll ask again, what have hub caps got to do with boatbuilding?

C'mon Alan, explain please.

1 minute ago, Boater Sam said:

 

The suggestion was that hub caps were Liverpool's main source of steel,  Why else did they all get nicked?

 

I had no idea that they did get nicked. But in any case hub caps, being chromium-plated, would surely not be suitable as a boatbuilding material.

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9 minutes ago, Athy said:

C'mon Alan, explain please.

From the 'Urban Dictionary"

 

someone of liverpudlian origin who's main hobbies are stealing (usually hubcaps), and becoming pregnant while still in primary school
"whats long, scouse, and goes round corners"
"the line for benefits!"

"did you see that dirty scouser stealing that bike?"
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4 minutes ago, Murflynn said:

my 57ft Liverpool boat was 61ft long when I went to view it during fabrication in 2005.

 

when I pointed this out they put it to one side and started again.

Didn't you notice the "8% Extra Free"* sticker on the side?

 

 

*Yes, all right, 8% - ish.

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2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

From the 'Urban Dictionary"

 

someone of liverpudlian origin who's main hobbies are stealing (usually hubcaps), and becoming pregnant while still in primary school
"whats long, scouse, and goes round corners"
"the line for benefits!"

"did you see that dirty scouser stealing that bike?"

A rather defamatory definition - "Scouser" is a general nickname for any Liverpudlian and does not imply any lack of moral fibre.

 

But then, what do you expect if you use a source which spells "whose" as "who's"?

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41 minutes ago, Athy said:

A rather defamatory definition - "Scouser" is a general nickname for any Liverpudlian and does not imply any lack of moral fibre.

 

But then, what do you expect if you use a source which spells "whose" as "who's"?

I also object!

I am a scouse muppet, never nicked a hub cap in my life and full of fibrous morals.

If I had nicked one though I would prolly have passed it on to LB.

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15 minutes ago, Murflynn said:

years ago when I read the Narrowboat Builder's Book the list of shell builders in the Annexe showed that about 50% of all hull/cabin shells were being built by LB.  As far as I can remember LB was building about 9 shells per week.  Some of them were very good.  

Throughout the noughties, the Liverpool sailaway, usually in its grey undercoat, was a common sight around the inland waterways. I suppose those came directly from their factory. But there were certainly many boatfitters who used their shells - including Devizes, who fitted our last boat out in 2001.

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