Potential buyer - how does a '97 Outback do as slalom boat

[skiyaker]

If you are going direct drive my advice would be to go after one that will be appealing to a slalom nut- they hold their value really well. If the Malibu is a newer model that can be converted to zero off you won't have any trouble selling it someday. Depending on the year and condition quite possible that the bu will cost you less in depreciation. True that many DD prices are dropping, but the diehard slalom tugs really hold their value well. I could sell my 2001 nautique for more than I bought it for because that year's hull has a good following. What year is the Bu? I split time on the course between my 2001 nautique and a 2008 LXi.

[iwaterskihard]

If you have that kind of money forget about the carb boat! Just my 2 cents as an owner of both previously!

[FamilyMatters]

Where are you located.
I have my 2009 in the Classifieds for $25,000 on this forum. I also have a buddy that is selling his 2005 Mastercraft X7 (197 with a tower and 400lb Ballast Bag). $25,000
I'm a Free Skier, Ski at 34mph Love the Outback. The wake on the Outback is a little larger than the X7 (The Outback is Bigger) but the wake on the X7 is flatter, but is harder (I don't know why). When I ski the X7 I have to lean back a little more cutting hard through the wake because it kicks the tail of the ski and pitches you forward.
So bottom Line do what everyone else has said and Ski behind the boat. The one thing that hasn't been mentioned is that the Direct drive get's you up so much easier, and does so much better on fuel economy you will never miss the Outboard!

[jcb512]

So, despite all the great advice from those of you that responded we ended up buying the 2006 Outback. After doing so I am very sorry that I didn't listen to you experts. Since the deal was made we have regretted it so much I almost don't want to ski. In a nut shell the boat had a lien on it so we had to buy out the loan which took a lot of effort then had to make a deal with the seller to hold some of the cash until he got the title from the bank (took 3 weeks). The seller was a real a-hole through all of this even threatening my 70 year old dad that if the deal didn't go right there would be "big trouble". Wait it gets worse, we put the boat in the water about a week after buying it and everything seemed fine until I looked in the little hatch in front of the ski bar (this model doesn't have the ski storage) and saw a good amount of water. Ran the bilge but saw this happening all day. Long story short with the help of a friend we discovered both mufflers were cracked on both ends where they go from wide to narrow. Of course the seller claims he had no idea and we bought it "as is". We did recover a little bit of replacement money but not enough to cover the pain anguish and our installation effort. The mufflers took 3 weeks to get here due to an idiot parts guy at local dealership. Hope to put them in this weekend and really hope the leaking stops. On top of this we don't feel like the boat has the power we were expecting. I will call it ok but I expected to be pulled out of my ski getting up compared to our 1989 outboard. I think it even lost some power as at one point it took what seemed like forever to plain out when pulling my 175 lbs dad up on two skis. There was an instance that I think I introduced water into the fuel but not that much, could a little water really effect power that much? Before the water/fuel incident the boat did run up to around 5,000 rpm (not sure afterward) but according to my iphone gps speedometer we were getting 38-39 mph which is lower than the expected 42-43. It is running a 3 blade prop but I don't know any more details than that. We also have a little trouble with it idling (sometimes dies) and a pretty good amount of trouble going at low speeds like when trying to get our kids up and slowly moving from nuetral to really low speed it kills out frequently.
Overall, this have been a really sad experience especially since we have been wishing for, planning, and saving for a ski boat for LONG time. Maybe I sound like whining, but we just have a bad taste in our mouth over the whole thing and don't know what to do about it. I am going to look at the fuel filter this weekend (any guidance on where I find it on this boat with the 310 HP indmar) and put some heet in the gas and run some high octane gas. I hope I get the power back.
I hope I learn from this experience and others do too.

[kaneboats]

I'm sorry for your bad experience. Sounds like you need a good carb cleaning, maybe even a rebuild. Also, why not drain the fuel completely and put in fresh stuff along with a new filter? If you think you have contaminated fuel don't run it through your engine. Get rid of it. Also, look at the numbers on your propeller (behind the nut) and post them up here. We may be able to help you with some of your issues.

Finally, do a search on "water under ski locker floor". A few models suffer from this and guys have drilled an access hole and installed a cover. You can use a shop vac to remove water. Keep your bilge dry and you can help this a lot. It's been a little tough so far but you have a decent boat. It may take a little TLC but try to enjoy it along the way.

[deerfield]

jcb - In what part of the country are you located? If anywhere near Richmond, Virginia, glad to give you a hand to get that '06 running right. - Deerfield