2005 Sea Ray 50 Sedan Bridge - anyone have experience with this year & model?

[jff]

I'm looking at a 2005 50DB. Looks like they only built the 50DB for one or two years (it replaced the 48DB and then was replaced by the 52DB in 2006 or 2007 I believe). Anyone have one of these? If so I'd love to hear pros/cons, things to look for, options that some had and some didn't, common failures, etc. Thanks in advance for an/all advice! Sincerely, Jason.

 

[bmac]

The 2005 50DB is the same boat as the 2006-2013 52DB with some minor changes between '05-'07, a cockpit seating change in '08 and later models. Most '05-'06's came with the optional davit which was replaced with the optional hydraulic lift in mid '06. Other than that and some trim changes and HP upgrades it's been the same boat for those 8 model years

 

[jff]

The 2005 50DB is the same boat as the 2006-2013 52DB with some minor changes between '05-'07, a cockpit seating change in '08 and later models. Most '05-'06's came with the optional davit which was replaced with the optional hydraulic lift in mid '06. Other than that and some trim changes and HP upgrades it's been the same boat for those 8 model years

Thanks for the info. Do you happen to know what that davit is able to lift (how many pounds)?

 

[bmac]

I think they're good for 1200 pounds (at least the ones I've seen).

Thanks for the info. Do you happen to know what that davit is able to lift (how many pounds)?

 

[cod]

Hi Jason,
I only had a few issues with my 500 SD. The windshield on the port and starboard sides of the bridge has a design flaw that I believe was corrected in the later models. The span for the top stainless steel rail is to long without being braced. In rough seas, the glass came out of the top frame. I had a custom as brace made, then sent it to be polished and installed it a mid span.
The other issue which was also corrected in later models is the Sub Zero refrig. and freezer would open while under way. At first I had a spring load clamp and would clamp between the 2 handles. Eventually, I installed a twist lock above the refrig. and freezer. The only thing is you have to remember to lock them prior to leaving the dock.
Other than a couple of alignment issues with the cabinet latches, those are the only real issues I had with the boat itself.
In regards to the engines, I'm not sure which Cummins engines you have but I have the QSM 11's. These are the standard power with the Mans being the option. After researching both, I decided I wanted to stay with the Cummins. Here are the things to look for with these engines
1. Earlier models (early 2000 QSM 11's) had problems with the stock air cleaner. Pieces of the interior metal mesh screening would break off and get sucked into the turbo. Since I didn't know if this was something that happened over time, I played it safe and upgrade to the Air-sep Walker air cleaners. Expensive but worth the piece of mind and easier to remove and clean.
2. The support bracket on the back of the heat exchanger tend to crack. There are two ways to correct this. One is to buy the upgraded bracket from Cummins but this requires removal of the heat exchanger to get to the bolts to replace the bracket. I opted to have a heavy duty custom bracket fabricated.
3. The oiler cooler brackets had a recall and cummins changed it free of charge. The new brackets have a black straps and a black hard rubber seat so you can look to see if that was changed.
Lastly, the QSM11 has a "dry" exhaust. This has caused some issues with exhaust gaskets failing. Usually, only after about 1,000 hours. This can be visually detected by seeing black soot on the engine near the heat exchanger and after cooler.
So these are the things to look for and be aware of but in summary, I absolutely love the boat....... Let me know if you have any other question.

Cheers and good luck.........
Steve

 

[jff]

Steve, thanks so much - that's all very helpful. We're focused at the moment on an 06 52DB. Wish I could find one (at a good price) with the hydraulic lift - so far everything I can find has the davit. I did learn from a buddy at Sea Ray that 1200 pounds is what the platform and davit are spec'd for. They say 800lbs in some of the documentation (for the platform) and they do that because past 800 pounds it does have a noticeable impact to the operation of the boat (the bow rise increases). Anyone out there with a 50DB or 52B and the davit tried putting a PWC on the back?? Regards, Jason.

 

[bmac]

Interesting you're going with the lift. I've spent most of my time looking for an '06 with the davit, I just wasn't thrilled with all those hydraulics sitting in salt water. I looked at an '07 52DB in Palm Beach Gardens that had a lift. The boat was in showroom condition, had spent most of its life in fresh water but....it was a blue hull and had 1100 hours on the mains. My guess is it will sell around $475k.

Steve, thanks so much - that's all very helpful. We're focused at the moment on an 06 52DB. Wish I could find one (at a good price) with the hydraulic lift - so far everything I can find has the davit. I did learn from a buddy at Sea Ray that 1200 pounds is what the platform and davit are spec'd for. They say 800lbs in some of the documentation (for the platform) and they do that because past 800 pounds it does have a noticeable impact to the operation of the boat (the bow rise increases). Anyone out there with a 50DB or 52B and the davit tried putting a PWC on the back?? Regards, Jason.

 

[cod]

Hey Brian,
I'm curious why the "but" with 1,100 hours? I understand the reasoning with a blue hull but don't follow with the hours.. 1,100 hrs. is nothing for a well maintained diesel and is probably better then a low hour engine that is just sitting and collecting rust on the internal parts....thoughts?

 

[bmac]

Steve

I actually tossed that boat back and forth a few times in my mind. The 1100 hours (and over 1200 on the genny) became more of a consideration for me when I go to sell it. Such hours in the Northeast are unusual and since I'd have to put another 70 or so to get it home before I even start my season here it just got to a point where I couldn't rationalize it given some of the other boats I was looking at. The blue hull, even though I love the way they look, and this one was in really good shape, was more maintenance than I was interested in taking on. Sooooo, with all that......I passed.

Hey Brian,
I'm curious why the "but" with 1,100 hours? I understand the reasoning with a blue hull but don't follow with the hours.. 1,100 hrs. is nothing for a well maintained diesel and is probably better then a low hour engine that is just sitting and collecting rust on the internal parts....thoughts?

 

[Gofirstclass]

Brian, by way of a FWIW, my boat had 1100 hours on it when I bought it and I was concerned about that. I called our local CAT dealer and he said that 1100 hours on the Cats is like having 11,000 miles on an over-the-road truck. His comment was "Hell, it ain't even broke in yet." He said that on most long haul trucks they figure on getting a million miles out of the engines before it needs a major overhaul and he's seen them go longer than that.

We now have about 1250 on each engine and 2150 on the genset (Westerbeke 15KW) and all three run like champs.

Jason, we have a 1995 550 and the only problems we've had were (1) busted nylon gears on the Glendinning Cablemaster ($1100 to fix); (2) a genset runability problem where it would just shut off periodically. That one was traced down to the fuel line. It had a very small crack at the aft side of the genset right at the bottom where the rubber hose connects to the metal fitting on the genset. It took hours to find the problem and about $1,200 to fix.

Other than that we've had zero problems with it.

 

[Alex F]

I think Brian's main concern was not the engines performance, but the resale value. I think he's looking at the big picture and if the boats with 500hrs sit on the market for a while then the boat with twice the hours will sit a lot longer unless the price is reduced. I also understand his point on the blue hull. I honestly can say that despite how much I like the look the color hulls don't even make on to my list of prospected boats. I just don't want to have the battle of maintaining the color hull, I have enough head ache with regular white. So, it's no brainer that combination of the two items was enough for Brian's decision to step back.

BTW, 500/520DB are great boats. It'll be hard to find the next one after that.

Just my .2c

 

[Gofirstclass]

For me, if I were boat shopping again, I wouldn't walk away from a boat that had 1000 hours, and certainly would look at a boat with 2,000 or more hours. I think a bigger factor for me would be the make of the engines. I feel I was lucky to find a boat with Cats in it. I didn't know the diff between Cats and Detroits until I started looking closely at them. A conversation with an old hand from Sea Ray Customer Service convinced me that Cats were the way to go.

I would assume (Yeah, I know what that means) that a fairly high percentage of boaters who are moving up to diesel powered boats are moving into their first diesels. That was my situation so before I bought my boat I did a LOT of due diligence to learn about diesels and the pros and cons of the various engine manufacturers' products.

If I were looking at a boat and the boat was clean, had been well maintained and had the records to prove it and the boat was priced right, those things would be more important to me than the number of hours on the engines and genset.

 

[Alex F]

GFC,

I totally agree. Like you, the more I learn about diesels the more I learn how important is to pick the make with good history and service, not to mentioned for the basic service to be reasonably priced. CATs and Cummins seam to fit perfectly in that category.

 

[bmac]

Alex hit it right on the head. The hours meant more to me on resale than they did to me at this point in time. Given the other boats out there, I didn't need to make that compromise on hours. The boat, like most 52's had the QSM-11's and I'm sure at 1100 hours they really were just broken in. But, in the Northeast, that's still a lot of hours for a 5 year old boat. I can appreciate GFC's point of view it just didn't work right for me....though I have to say, that blue hull looked GREAT.

 

[jff]

Quick note to say thanks everyone for your advice - we're going to make an offer on a '06 52DB (has about 660 hours on the engines). I plan to have Cummins do a mechanical inspection (and oil samples, etc.) but so far everything looks really clean.

 

[Alex F]

That's great news. Good luck Jayson and keep us posted.