Hello fellow Burger friends, I'm currently in the process of purchasing a 1970 67 Burger and wanted some advice, pointers, and information from those that are familiar with them. I read about the possibility of the shaft logs being pitted, and got completely spooked. The vessel had a survey in 2017 that proved healthy, and I know the owner takes care of her and has had her hauled every five years or so to complete zincs and bottom paint. She's powered with DD 8v71ti with low hours since overhaul. What should I expect or any particular areas of concern for the survey? Again, any and all information is welcomed, as it is difficult to find information on these rare vessels. Thanks in advance!
Hello and welcome to the forums. There are several Burger owners on YF including one who is particularly well-versed on restoring and maintaining seasoned Burgers. His screen name is @rtrafford. Hopefully he will see this thread and chime in. Short of that, use the Private Message system to drop him a note.
Her name is Cherish, originally named Ramona. I don't have a listing, as this has just sorta unfolded with the marina owner inquiring on if I'd like to buy her. He is the owner and just upgraded to a 90' Burger.
Make sure to get the hull audio gauged. Check the hull thickness especially under the tanks and shaft logs.
Well, you may have found a diamond on da hill. Give a day or two for some to come come back in and reply. Oh, Yes, Welcome to YachtForums. In the mean time, start sharing pictures of your new ship and projects. We like to watch..
Good morning, and good hunting. Focus your hull inspection on water tank, gray tank, black tank. I'm assuming each is integral to the hull, usually centerline within the engine room with water tank forward of the forward ER bulkhead. These areas are notorious for metal depletion brought by the conductivity of the solids in each. (ie, water from the dock is usually quite hard and full of sediments and heavy metals. You'd rarely consider it as a kid, drinking from a garden hose....but then run a test on it and find numbers above 1k parts per m. Black and gray water, obvious, and very easy to ignore over time, take for granted. 5 years between hauls is a heavy ask for a metal boat. I stripped mine, completely recoated, and implemented a two color scheme after the primer. I used a light blue bottom paint, ablative, for two coats, then I added two coats of black with a third at the water line. Two years of running is really my max. Zincs on the tabs, struts, and keel rarely outlive 12 months. I keep two sets aboard, prepped, ready for the diver, and replenish that stock at the hauls. The old iron is bullet proof. You only need a fraction of its ability to maintain hull speed. The Sparkman design implements some harder chines than the Hargraves. 9-10 knots is a layup in most seas. Electrical. If you look I think you'll find that much of your wiring for the house leads to well-placed j-boxes that branch to outlets and fixtures. Within those you likely see a lot of 2 conductor wires. No grounds. You'll want to follow that same pattern and run a bonding wire from the panel to a new distribution buss at these locations, and then run your ground wire to the plugs, etc. Take a good look at the backside of the main panel. Note copper brightness, order, general cleanliness, and look for anything home spun. Sea strainers should be clean and bright. Likely they'll be green from salt, but look for oxidation buildup around fasteners and where the devices meet the hull. These need to be very clean. Bilges should be without sediments, clean and epoxy coated. White lets you monitor conditions going forward. I implemented a multi zone Arid Dry Bilge system. I do my best to keep every water opportunity zone both clean and dry. A bilge pump will never empty a chamber completely. Arid will. When she's on the hard, spin the props. Turn the helm. Rudders and props should move with reasonable ease. Any notable resistance could be an indicator of metal swelling and compressing a cutlas. Mine had stiff shafts and very stiff rudders. The tubes were fine, but they needed to be cleared and polished, sealed, and new bearings installed. Most challenges with these boats are cosmetic and deferred maintenance. They are very well built, and they will treat you well as long as you give back thoughtfully. I generally take every maintenance project as an opportunity to upgrade. I'm probably not like most owners, but if you do this, she'll wear well.
Black tank inspection...have a septic truck come to the yard. Run their vacuum hose through an engine port as well as pressure washer. Open the access ports to the tank top. Have them clean and flush the tanks well. Do this for gray and bilges while they're aboard. This will give you visual access along with the surveyor's probe. You can see the pitting, decay. You'll also want to clean and re-surface the tank with an epoxy primer while open and cleaned if the metal is in good condition. Minor pitting can be filled with a metal filler like blue diamond or the like to achieve a smooth surface and avoid sediment traps. I cleaned mine, re-plated the keel through this zone, primed the new metal, and shifted my black to a lift station installation using an acrylic tank, and sent the black uphill to a new acrylic black tank above the deck. I added dry bilge pickups to this area, and use them for storage within plastic containers to avoid any metal to metal contact. Your design might provide a spot under the galley floor for such a setup. I chose to rely on a small A-Head system to handle the duties. My aim was to keep all bilges clean and dry. You cannot deteriorate a clean and dry metal environment.
