Howard Mold for sale on Ebay

[noxiousz28]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Howard-Custom-Boats-25-Ft-Magnum-Series-Molds_W0QQitemZ220077979256QQihZ012QQcategoryZ3127 1QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Liquid Courage]

A friend of mine is selling this mold. He has a couple others too. They were bought by another friend of mine who was going to build some boats but just didn't have the time. The molds are in great shape. Could be a good deal for someone that had the time to build their own boat.

[909punk]

Curious if someone bought these and went on to sell the boats under a differant name, if any copyright issues come up...

[BADBLOWN572]

Curious if someone bought these and went on to sell the boats under a differant name, if any copyright issues come up...
Doubtful. It appears as though the molds were legally sold to an outside party by Howard Custom Boats. By selling a mold, they know that the person using the mold is buying it for the purpose of duplication of their product. As long as you don't use the "Howard" name, you should be just fine. :)

[Racey]

Curious if someone bought these and went on to sell the boats under a differant name, if any copyright issues come up...
Howard should be the last one to complain about that, that boat is a friggin Hallett 24' + 1'

[909punk]

seems like a decent deal.. but wouldnt know the first thing to do with it. heh

[Cole]

sure it might be a good deal, but the molds look a bit dated...could those molds be competative in todays market?

[Liquid Courage]

They were rightfully bought from Howard (legally). Gene knew what the deal was, he just wasn't producing these boats very much anymore and wanted to free up some space.
Yes, a bit dated boat and small since it seems bigger is better know a-days. In 1990 that boat was considered a "big" boat on Havasu:D
The idea was to build the boats, rig them himself and sell them for very cheap as an entry level boat to younger performance enthusiests. Maybe even to a multi use purpose boat with a tower for wakeboarding etc.
But like I said, time was an issue so now they are for sale.

[axkiker]

I agree they do look dated. I dont think hes gonna get many bites from a person wanting to MFG them as new. However someone who wants to dabble with building their own boat may be interested. I would love to snag it up but 10k is way more than im willing to pay for a trial and error type of thing.

[superdave013]

I like the 21'er that is show in the old sales ad. How can a timeless classic ever be dated!!

[beaverretriever]

Maybe I will buy them. Could I just fill them up with foam, pop them out, carve out the inside, throw some seats and an engine in there and have my self some sweet Howard knock offs at a 1/4 of the price. I will sell them at swap meets and flea markets.
Granted they won't hold up very well, but either do the faux Rolexes that they still sell tons of those... :D :devil:

[work2play]

I noticed that the 25 was only an 18 degree bottom. Pretty shallow for an 25 ft boat.

[SHOTKALLIN]

How much work is it to retool? Maybe a couple of the rough edges can be retooled to get rid of the 1990's look?

[axkiker]

I noticed that the 25 was only an 18 degree bottom. Pretty shallow for an 25 ft boat.
Yup even more reason I feel they are dated. Seems like it would beat the heck out of you in any chop.

[BADBLOWN572]

How much work is it to retool? Maybe a couple of the rough edges can be retooled to get rid of the 1990's look?
If you bought the mold, you would have to pop a hull and deck mold out. The deck would be the plug for the new mold. Once you change it, you would have to go and make a new mold. If you are on the real good guy deal, you are looking at somewhere around $1,000.00 per foot to make a new deck mold. Toss the original deck molds and start building them.
You will probably have:
10K for the original molds on e-bay
2K to get the molds back into operating condition
15K for the first hull and deck (shell)
3K to modify the deck
25K for the new deck mold.
You will probably have about $50K in the design prior to popping out your first boat. :( These numbers are probably high, but no matter what, it is not going to be cheap.

[BADBLOWN572]

I noticed that the 25 was only an 18 degree bottom. Pretty shallow for an 25 ft boat.
I have also heard that this boat chine walks pretty bad. :(

[SHOTKALLIN]

Hey This is a great Idea. Someone could make a few south of the border and produce them pretty cheap. Then they can sell them to the lake lice renters at a price they can afford. Maybe some of the workers from Commander will move back home with a trade they learned in America.

[Panic Button]

25' hull & 24' deck???