Zodiac Hurricane 540 - New Project

sufius · 25 July 2024, 22:40

Just bought a Zodiac Hurricane 540. Pretty close to buying it sight unseen as the pictures were so bad lol. Within a week or two I will see what I am getting into. I thought about buying the other one there also but hiding one boat from my wife is possible...two is much tougher

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If anyone has any information on the 540 I would greatly appreciate it. I have searched and see that the hull design is a bit different than the Avon/Zodiac 5.4s which I like for the Chesapeake Bay. Max power seems to be 90hp and it has a Yamaha 90 2 stroke already. I researched and saw a couple people at least had one on here and read their posts.

I hope to get the tubes holding air and the motor running...probably wishful thinking but they believe the hull had only about 350 hours on it, so there is a small chance there may be life on the motor. More to follow I expect.

beamishken · 26 July 2024, 06:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by sufius

Just bought a Zodiac Hurricane 540. Pretty close to buying it sight unseen as the pictures were so bad lol. Within a week or two I will see what I am getting into. I thought about buying the other one there also but hiding one boat from my wife is possible...two is much tougher

.

If anyone has any information on the 540 I would greatly appreciate it. I have searched and see that the hull design is a bit different than the Avon/Zodiac 5.4s which I like for the Chesapeake Bay. Max power seems to be 90hp and it has a Yamaha 90 2 stroke already. I researched and saw a couple people at least had one on here and read their posts.

I hope to get the tubes holding air and the motor running...probably wishful thinking but they believe the hull had only about 350 hours on it, so there is a small chance there may be life on the motor. More to follow I expect.

The 90 2 stroke Yamaha is probably one of the best outboards ever made & definitely worth saving & a good chance it will be fine as long as nothing silly been done with it. Tubes may be more of a challenge depending on the material & condition.

sufius · 26 July 2024, 13:08

Yes, it will probably be a week or two before seeing and picking it up. Total gamble on the tube and outboard. I am hoping the hours are low on motor and not whacked and the tubes good but you never really know until you know. I agree on the outboard is worth keeping. I have already searched for parts motors if deemed necessary. Contacted Zodiac and they are getting back to me about tubes, but plan to drop by their office as they invited me to. They are ten minutes from me but have never gone in. I know there are other tube sellers but figured I would talk to them first :-). Actually pretty excited but have to do a couple things to my Seacraft 20' before putting up for sale. I also have a fancy rowboat project I need to finish up

Yes, I have a project problem lol

1970Chvl · 27 July 2024, 02:03

Hi, did you get yours out of maryland off gsa? I did yesterday too, I got the yamaha, did you win the one with a merc?

1970Chvl · 27 July 2024, 02:33

Im a coastie, Im willing to bet for the most part there tight, especially with engine maintenance, not so sure about the tubes, in the coast guard those would be maintained by the boatswains mates not the machinery technicians, good chance there were “DRMO’ed” because they were replaced with a newer platform.

sufius · 27 July 2024, 02:39

Yes I bought the other. I got the boats mixed up but yes I got the merc and you got the Yamaha. I changed my mind last second on boats and thought they had same engine. I feel a bit stupid but it’s okay. You emailed when I was on the phone with the guy there. Nice folks. I hope the boats are not a train wreck.

sufius · 27 July 2024, 02:44

That is great to hear. They are contacting me when they figure stuff out with moving boats off of trailer and onto the one I bring. I dropped by the zodiac MilPro HQ but it was a Friday afternoon and most were gone. They were washing a new 9 meter Maryland police boat with aluminum hull I was drooling over though.

1970Chvl · 27 July 2024, 03:15

I hope they wait to transfer them so they can drop them on our trailers. Keep intouch please. I would like your guidance on helping me get this back to running condition lol. Thank you!

sufius · 27 July 2024, 03:34

They were trying to figure out a sling or other method. GSA wants them out I think within 10 — 15 days but I told them I would do it within their timeframe but later the better especially if they are worrying about logistics. They said they can file for extension potentially if their side takes longer. If you have a CAC to get on base it also simplifies things but if not just a couple hoops to jump thru.

sufius · 01 August 2024, 00:53

Able to visit the boat to get an idea of what I will be dealing with later. In standing pattern, but I am in no hurry. Got to look at the other 540 also...sent PM btw to ya!

The motor that I thought was a Yamaha but it was a Mercury turned out to be an Evinrude lol. It is supposed to only have 327 hours on it. It didn't look too bad but will need to go through all the motions after pickup. Tubes and gelcoat are faded but I did not see any obvious holes, delaminations, or even any fraying at seam areas. One side still had air in it after some years I assume so possibly a good sign. They spray painted over plastic letters

but had to chuckle.

brveagle · 26 August 2024, 18:45

I shouldn't have waited so long between log in's on this forum. Pretty neat to see not one, but two more 540's entering the civilian population!

I also have a coast guard zodiac hurricane 540 that i bought a few years back. It was on the uscgc roanoke island.

Thanks for the pics. Post some more once you get it picked up.

P.s. those tubes look rough! Make sure you clean all that debris out of the rope rail area.

p.s.s. I would pay big money for an A frame that would fit my 540, so if either of you decide to upgrade or get rid of it, let me know!

sufius · 27 August 2024, 01:22

The whole boat was left to sit in the weather and looks a bit worse for wear. I am hoping much of it comes back to life. One side of the tubes actually still had some air in it believe it or not. It should be picked up within a couple weeks as they are getting the hoist lined up. They are faded but no fraying or obvious patches. I will clean and pull them off (hopefully rail mounted) and then clean more. I just need to see what I "won" first haha.

I had read your posts in the past when I did research on them. You were one of the few boats I could find anything on. I would like to pick your brain on issues you ran into.

brveagle · 27 August 2024, 15:16

Yes the 540 are mounted with the rope rail. Undo the back transom straps, front aluminum bracket bolts and spray lots of soapy water on the top/bottom of the rail slit and they'll pull off from the front in about 4 minutes.

Pretty stoked to see more 540's out there. Feel free to post your questions or email me. My email is my ribnet user name @yahoo.com. (brve****@yahoo.com)