demonboy
Active member
We have a Hurth gearbox which is 20 years old and has been the bane of our lives since purchasing the boat. So many people have opened it and attempted to repair it that our current mechanic says it is best for spares.
We trust our mechanic wholeheartedly. He has put in his spare Hurth gearbox whilst looking at our current one. Now he has come back to us with an offer to buy his gearbox off him. It's an identical model but has only been installed for 2 years (it was a spare gearbox on another boat), barely used and functions perfectly. However he wants €1500 for it, which if my memory serves me correctly, is how much a replacement ZF is. Plus of course a ZF will come with a warranty.
The mechanic explained that ZF are not great gearboxes. In his experience he is doing lots of repairs on ZFs and indicated that they 'just don't make them like they used to'. Funnily enough I sent our Hurth to ZF in Istanbul and it came back with a certificate telling me it functioned perfectly...which it didn't!
Help! Who do I believe? What should I do? Should I take the risk on the Hurth? Are there alternatives and most importantly does anyone have experience of replacing their Hurth with a ZF? We have a week or two to try out the gearbox but that doesn't mean it won't fall apart in a year. Bear in mind we are off down the Red Sea to India this September.
Thanks all.
We trust our mechanic wholeheartedly. He has put in his spare Hurth gearbox whilst looking at our current one. Now he has come back to us with an offer to buy his gearbox off him. It's an identical model but has only been installed for 2 years (it was a spare gearbox on another boat), barely used and functions perfectly. However he wants €1500 for it, which if my memory serves me correctly, is how much a replacement ZF is. Plus of course a ZF will come with a warranty.
The mechanic explained that ZF are not great gearboxes. In his experience he is doing lots of repairs on ZFs and indicated that they 'just don't make them like they used to'. Funnily enough I sent our Hurth to ZF in Istanbul and it came back with a certificate telling me it functioned perfectly...which it didn't!
Help! Who do I believe? What should I do? Should I take the risk on the Hurth? Are there alternatives and most importantly does anyone have experience of replacing their Hurth with a ZF? We have a week or two to try out the gearbox but that doesn't mean it won't fall apart in a year. Bear in mind we are off down the Red Sea to India this September.
Thanks all.