Marine Trader 50 - worth it or not

[MT50]

G.day
I am considering buying a 1991 Lien Hwa Marine Trader 50 for cruising around the islands in the gulf of Thailand, and maybe further if I feel the boat and I are up to it.
I tried to paste a link to the advertisement but its a Facebook marketplace advert and does not display, instead I have made a .pdf of the advert and attached that. There is a link to facebook in the pdf

I owned a Sealine 42/5 for a few years and enjoyed that but I think that a trawler is the way to go. I don't need to get there fast, I just need to get there.

I would be grateful for any advice or opinions or comments from you all as I know very little about Trawlers in general and this boat in particular. I am particularly unsure about what the present owner has done with the electrical systems so advice in that area would be well received. It seems to me that perhaps the present owner spends very little time on the hook and that is not my plan. I see myself spending more time on the hook than off.

Anyway, any and all advice will be gratefully accepted.

Marine trader

 

[Greg2]

The language in the advert is more house orientated than boat and as you have already identified, the electrics appear to have been done with a view to a permanently marina based houseboat with electric hook up to shore power. That set up wouldn't be my choice using the genny or inverter for everything including the lights instead of 12v. Not sure if it has a calorifier to provide hot water from the engines but again, mains electrics are cited as heating water for the showers.

Can't comment on the build quality of such vessels, because I am not familiar with the yard, but the Ford Lehman engines are quite common in the likes of Grand Banks and have a good reputation as far as I am aware. Be interesting to know what was involved with their 'overhaul' and who did it.

Trawler style boats are my thing and all I can say is that the tendency for function to be a primary consideration is a plus point and chugging along at displacement speeds is no bad thing.

I guess an inspection and in particular exploring how well the refurbishment has been done and whether it meets seagoing standards (because it sounds like a houseboat) and what might be involved in addressing the electrics would be required before forming a view on suitability for your needs.
.

 

[PCUK]

I hope it's better than the thing Gludy got stuck with. Until his lawyers got rid of it for him!

 

[Hunterlees]

Maybe join the mainly US trawlerforum and post there, you might get more responses.

 

[PowerYachtBlog]

I hope it's better than the thing Gludy got stuck with. Until his lawyers got rid of it for him!

Gludy bought a Trader first, the UK one although they were build in Taiwan, and then had to buy a Marlow but even that ended not so good.
AFAIK Marine Trader and Tarquin Trader UK is not related to the Lien Hwa Marine Trader, which also build under the Tradewinds name, and probably someone else.

I think most Trader where built by Kha Shing until they changed to some one else in the noughties. Kha Shing is known for its Monte Fino range outside of the UK.

 

[kawasake]

The 'Gludy' thing was one of my first thoughts when I read the OP's post
By now though I would have thought any of the 'Trader' genre by whatever yard they were built
The 'Snags the Infamous Mr G had encountered have been sorted
If said vessel is to be used at displacement speeds, which it seems the Poster 'MT50' intends to use one for
A good choice for the intended area of use
As the OP has had experience of a Planing Hull Sealine 42
I may suggest the experience of a 'Trader' may be a nice alternative
A 91 50 footer 'Lien Hwa' is currently for sale on the Trawler Yacht Forum
If this is the same vessel in question perhaps the OP could indicate so
Then we have more detail to help the origional questions
Cheers
K

 

[jfm]

Fuel tanks are very small. 800 litres for the main engine tanks. If it does 4 litres/nm cruising that's a tiny 200 mile range. Maybe it does 2 litres/nm, but that's still only 400nm range, and that is before allowing for the 20% in the bottom of the tank that you might not reach or might not want to get to.
Perhaps explains why only 50 hours clocked on engines in 34 years. Actually the whole engine hours thing is hard to follow.

 

[MT50]

Fuel tanks are very small. 800 litres for the main engine tanks. If it does 4 litres/nm cruising that's a tiny 200 mile range. Maybe it does 2 litres/nm, but that's still only 400nm range, and that is before allowing for the 20% in the bottom of the tank that you might not reach or might not want to get to.
Perhaps explains why only 50 hours clocked on engines in 34 years. Actually the whole engine hours thing is hard to follow.

Hi jfm, the original advert is a bit old and I think the 50 hours refers to time since the 2022 engine overhaul. Its now up to 300 hours. That is a pretty limited range though.

The 'Gludy' thing was one of my first thoughts when I read the OP's post
By now though I would have thought any of the 'Trader' genre by whatever yard they were built
The 'Snags the Infamous Mr G had encountered have been sorted
If said vessel is to be used at displacement speeds, which it seems the Poster 'MT50' intends to use one for
A good choice for the intended area of use
As the OP has had experience of a Planing Hull Sealine 42
I may suggest the experience of a 'Trader' may be a nice alternative
A 91 50 footer 'Lien Hwa' is currently for sale on the Trawler Yacht Forum
If this is the same vessel in question perhaps the OP could indicate so
Then we have more detail to help the origional questions
Cheers
K

Hi K, Thanks for your reply.
I cant find the 91 50 footer that you reference, perhaps you could send me a link.
There is a fair bit of detail in the pdf attachment. Yes the "Gludy" saga was pretty frightening, but this thing has been running for the last 30 years and still going so I guess most issues like those that Gludy faced have been sorted one way or another.

 

[MT50]

Maybe join the mainly US trawlerforum and post there, you might get more responses.

Thanks

 

[kawasake]

Hi jfm, the original advert is a bit old and I think the 50 hours refers to time since the 2022 engine overhaul. Its now up to 300 hours. That is a pretty limited range though.

Hi K, Thanks for your reply.
I cant find the 91 50 footer that you reference, perhaps you could send me a link.
There is a fair bit of detail in the pdf attachment. Yes the "Gludy" saga was pretty frightening, but this thing has been running for the last 30 years and still going so I guess most issues like those that Gludy faced have been sorted one way or another.

Ok I will try that
Currently in and out of the bilge of our boat fixing leaks etc!
Will attempt the task later today

 

[kawasake]

Hi jfm, the original advert is a bit old and I think the 50 hours refers to time since the 2022 engine overhaul. Its now up to 300 hours. That is a pretty limited range though.

Hi K, Thanks for your reply.
I cant find the 91 50 footer that you reference, perhaps you could send me a link.
There is a fair bit of detail in the pdf attachment. Yes the "Gludy" saga was pretty frightening, but this thing has been running for the last 30 years and still going so I guess most issues like those that Gludy faced have been sorted one way or another.

‘Sods’
MT50
Buggered if I can find it now!
Will try again later!

 

[MT50]

The language in the advert is more house orientated than boat and as you have already identified, the electrics appear to have been done with a view to a permanently marina based houseboat with electric hook up to shore power. That set up wouldn't be my choice using the genny or inverter for everything including the lights instead of 12v. Not sure if it has a calorifier to provide hot water from the engines but again, mains electrics are cited as heating water for the showers.

Can't comment on the build quality of such vessels, because I am not familiar with the yard, but the Ford Lehman engines are quite common in the likes of Grand Banks and have a good reputation as far as I am aware. Be interesting to know what was involved with their 'overhaul' and who did it.

Trawler style boats are my thing and all I can say is that the tendency for function to be a primary consideration is a plus point and chugging along at displacement speeds is no bad thing.

I guess an inspection and in particular exploring how well the refurbishment has been done and whether it meets seagoing standards (because it sounds like a houseboat) and what might be involved in addressing the electrics would be required before forming a view on suitability for your needs.
.

Thanks for your comments and advice. I will certainly survey before going further.

 

[oldgit]

I would be grateful for any advice or opinions or comments from you all as I know very little about Trawlers in general and this boat in particular. Anyway, any and all advice will be gratefully accepted.

Old and apparently a bit controversial, but observations still relevant today on trawler yachts built in the far east.
Boat Reviews by David Pascoe, Marine Surveyor

Worth an hour of anybodies time ?

 

[superheat6k]

The Chung Hwa were hulls made in Taiwan and fitted out by quite a few family based yards, hence there are quite a few name variants out there, and a wide variety of finish styles, and some notably better than others.

Chung Hwa / Lien Hwa / CHB; Marine Trader; C-Kip are a few of the examples.

The Ford Lehman engines were mostly naturally aspirated simple and cheap to maintain engines, but many will be getting on a bit now, but beware as some on the smaller vessels are advertised as 80HP but are in fact only 65 HP, and that took me some discovering. Identifying Ford Engines properly requires a Degree level of research ! I nearly bought a CHB 34' but withdrew when the engines refused to start on the sea trial. They were less than pretty anyway and I figured out re-engining the boat considerably exceeded its best ever value.

I expect with larger turbo diesels these boat would semi plane, but the do like the fuel once on the half plane. My Grand Banks will achieve 16 knots with its 2 x 225 HP Sabres and a clean hull and props, but you can almost observe the fuel gauges as they spin down towards empty. This is why my Grand Banks 36 Sedan mostly chugs around at 8 - 10 knots. Also the number in the boat description is normally the main hull stem to stern measurement and ignores any overhangs such as bow sprits and swim platforms - NB the yard owners do not ignore these details - I pay for a 40' mooring and she actually measures ~ 41' all up.

The Grand Banks were built in Singapore by American Marine, and did take the quality of build to another level, but then I would say that wouldn't I.

The Trawler forum is found here ...
Trawler Forum

 

[PowerYachtBlog]

The Chung Hwa were hulls made in Taiwan and fitted out by quite a few family based yards, hence there are quite a few name variants out there, and a wide variety of finish styles, and some notably better than others.

Chung Hwa / Lien Hwa / CHB; Marine Trader; C-Kip are a few of the examples.

The Grand Banks were built in Singapore by American Marine, and did take the quality of build to another level, but then I would say that wouldn't I.

The Trawler forum is found here ...
Trawler Forum

The difference was that American Marine was owned by its builders. Who came from a very good American back ground and always used the best designers.

The Hwa's, were sub contractors, and then how a Marine Trader versus a Trader will be made depended on many factors included how much one wanted to pay and QC was put in the products during construction and after.

 

[Fire99]

Being a Trader owner I found the whole Trader / Marine Trader thing really interesting but have learnt that though from a distance they are fairly similar looking, they are very different. Trader hulls were put together by Kha Shing in Taiwan, who funnily enough I have had some correspondence with them recently.. So Similar name, similar style boat but very different between Tarquin Trader UK and Marine Trader in the US.

On a side note I followed Gludy's drama with his Trader 575 (If I remember right) and I still later bought a 2002 '47 Sundeck. Mine isn't perfect after some neglect by the previous owner but she hasn't fallen to pieces either.

 

[Alicatt]

There is a Tarquin Trader 41 + 2 Sundeck still for sale at the broker where we bought our Ocean 37, it was in the berth next to us, it has been for sale for quite a while though
Tarquin Trader 41 + 2 Sundeck - 1983 | Jachtmakelaardij Kappers

Edit: if you look at the pics the boat we bought is just in front of the Trader

 

[MT50]

Old and apparently a bit controversial, but observations still relevant today on trawler yachts built in the far east.
Boat Reviews by David Pascoe, Marine Surveyor

Worth an hour of anybodies time ?

A good read, thank you.

 

[MT50]

The Chung Hwa were hulls made in Taiwan and fitted out by quite a few family based yards, hence there are quite a few name variants out there, and a wide variety of finish styles, and some notably better than others.

Chung Hwa / Lien Hwa / CHB; Marine Trader; C-Kip are a few of the examples.

The Ford Lehman engines were mostly naturally aspirated simple and cheap to maintain engines, but many will be getting on a bit now, but beware as some on the smaller vessels are advertised as 80HP but are in fact only 65 HP, and that took me some discovering. Identifying Ford Engines properly requires a Degree level of research ! I nearly bought a CHB 34' but withdrew when the engines refused to start on the sea trial. They were less than pretty anyway and I figured out re-engining the boat considerably exceeded its best ever value.

I expect with larger turbo diesels these boat would semi plane, but the do like the fuel once on the half plane. My Grand Banks will achieve 16 knots with its 2 x 225 HP Sabres and a clean hull and props, but you can almost observe the fuel gauges as they spin down towards empty. This is why my Grand Banks 36 Sedan mostly chugs around at 8 - 10 knots. Also the number in the boat description is normally the main hull stem to stern measurement and ignores any overhangs such as bow sprits and swim platforms - NB the yard owners do not ignore these details - I pay for a 40' mooring and she actually measures ~ 41' all up.

The Grand Banks were built in Singapore by American Marine, and did take the quality of build to another level, but then I would say that wouldn't I.

The Trawler forum is found here ...
Trawler Forum

Thanks, I have posted there.

 

[henryf]

As @jfm quite rightly points out fuel capacity is tiny. If you were based in the Solent this might not be so much of an issue but around Thailand and neighbouring areas you need to be fully independent. The next fuel pump might not be just around the corner.

The same is true for water. At the very least you need good water makers to provide reliable fresh water. Hot and sticky weather means lots of showers.

The generator will be running pretty much the whole time you’re on board. So do the maths there as well. I’d be wanting 2 weeks off grid with a boat in that part of the world.

It’s an old boat so regardless of builder make absolutely sure of the condition via a good surveyor then set aside a small fortune to work through the problems as you wake her up from her slumber. The surveyor can only report as they find on the day. They don’t have a crystal ball.

Asia has a make do and mend approach with bits sourced from all different places. Just be sure the basic functionality works for your planned usage.

Henry