Carver 356 - 2000 to 2001 - 4000 lbs heavier?

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Humbucker427

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Hello all!

I am in the market for a Carver 356. I found one locally that's a 1999 model. I did a bit of research and found in 2001 they gained an extra 4000 lbs for the *exact* same specs (length, beam, etc). They went from 19.3k pounds to 23.5k pounds.

From looking at the literature available on carvers website, it appears to construction is the same too.

Any ideas? Thanks!
 
I have never seen carver provide proper info on what options were installed on their official weight boat. Different engines, drive lines, tops ete. etc. make a big difference. My Carver is nearly 10,000# heavier than the original spec sheet indicated.
 
Hmmm, what else could have changed - a hardtop perhaps??? Also, when did they switch to the 8.1L engines instead of the 454s???
 
Carver has a habit of publishing weights differently from model year to model year. The 1999 is probably a "dry" boat weight, and the 2001 is most likely with fuel and water tanks full
 
Well, the 1999 model has a hard top. The specs on both say "w/fuel & water". I would imagine the different drivelines shouldn't be a 2 ton difference, but I've been wrong before. Many times. :)

I'll probably just give them a ring this morning and see what they have to say. I just didn't want to jump into a boat that Carver "corrected" two years later with a better, though heavier, design. Maybe they reinforced their hull, stringers, etc, from 2000 to 2001? I'm hoping that's not the case, and it's more like what pdecat says. Just inconsistant publishing specs from year to year...
 
At some point they went to 100 percent wood-free stringers. I wonder if that would have made a difference...
 
Pete: do you know when or how to tell the difference???
 
the 33/350/355/356 always had all fiberglass stringers...from 1991 when it was introduced till production ended
 
I spoke to Dave in service at Carver today. He said all the 356 models weigh exactly the same, differences being only minor, such as engine, appointments, etc. The weight of 23.5k lbs is accurate for all years and the 19.3k was just a typo for both 1999 and 2000. Apparently, the 355 was 19.3k, and they didn't get around to changing the weight of the 356 in the official specs for a couple years. ???? Anyway, there's the answer, and for me that's good news.

pdecat: You were right! :)
 
Historically Carver seems to be incredibly sloppy with the specifications in their sales literature. For example, good luck trying to find out how much water my 1980 2896 carries. Depending on what you read, its 36/40/48/52 gallons...

In my case I've guessed the 48 or 52. Carver used to forget to put the water heater capacity in their numbers, so if it has a 40 gallon water tank and you add 12 for the heater you get 52 (like the 1981 brochure says) or if you leave out the water tank you get 40 (like the 1979 brochure says) or if it has a total of 48 gallons but you omit the water heater you get 36 (like the 1980 brochure says) - your guess is as good as mine...

You have to be a bit of a historian to figure these things out sometimes...
 
I have a 2003 356 that I'm just putting on the market. If you think you might be interested, drop me a PM and I can e-mail you the details & pictures of the boat. BTW, I'm located in the northeast. (St. Lawrence river)

Dave
 
If you've still got the 2003 356 I'm in the market for one...let me know what its got on it..

quote:
Originally posted by timeout

I have a 2003 356 that I'm just putting on the market. If you think you might be interested, drop me a PM and I can e-mail you the details & pictures of the boat. BTW, I'm located in the northeast. (St. Lawrence river)

Dave

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