[rose_surfer]

I'm considering selling my 3100 open to move up to a 3300 open. On my 3100 open, I generally remove the hatches for bigger maintenance jobs where I need the better access. How does that work on the 3300 with the larger (and heavier) single hatch setup? Can you unbolt and slide away the seats and tackle station and remove the hatch all without help or a forklift or anything?

[jrblough@mtu.edu]

I had a 3300 Open for many years... unbolt the two seat modules, 4 bolts each and slide them off, then unbold the hinges at the front of the hatch and the lift cylinder and one person can pick the hatch up and slide it out of the way to work on the engines much more easily. Depending on what is in your seat modules you may have to disconnect a couple of plumbing lines and maybe an electrical connection. I could take it off or put it back on by myself in less than an hour once I knew what I was doing.

[rose_surfer]

I had a 3300 Open for many years... unbolt the two seat modules, 4 bolts each and slide them off, then unbold the hinges at the front of the hatch and the lift cylinder and one person can pick the hatch up and slide it out of the way to work on the engines much more easily.  Depending on what is in your seat modules you may have to disconnect a couple of plumbing lines and maybe an electrical connection.  I could take it off or put it back on by myself in less than an hour once I knew what I was doing.

Thanks that's exactly what I wanted to know. Sounds like it's pretty similar to my 3100 - which is kind of a pain but not too bad.  I'd imagine having an ice maker or sink or whatever there would make it a little more involved with a plumbing connection to have to deal with.

[sbw1]

Our 3200 open is fairly accessible by pushing the button that lifts the hatch. Not sure what maintenance would require removing the hatch. Ours was off for the removal and replacement of an engine with 18 hours on it in 2004. We maintain the boat by the book and have never had an issue doing all required work since then with the hatch lifted. The tech who does our work is 6'3" or more and is not a little guy. He likes the access of including the work space for the genny. He has lots of experience with Tiaras and knows the tricks. That is important knowledge to have. Our hatch is heavy and needed the fork lift for removal the one time it was removed.

[rose_surfer]

Our 3200 open is fairly accessible by pushing the button that lifts the hatch. Not sure what maintenance would require removing the hatch. Ours was off for the removal and replacement of an engine with 18 hours on it in 2004. We maintain the boat by the book and have never had an issue doing all required work since then with the hatch lifted. The tech who does our work is 6'3" or more and is not a little guy. He likes the access of including the work space for the genny. He has lots of experience with Tiaras and knows the tricks. That is important knowledge to have. Our hatch is heavy and needed the fork lift for removal the one time it was removed.

Perhaps the geometry is different but on the 3100 pretty much anything on the front half of the outboard side of the engine requires the hatch to come off completely. One example would be front 1 or 2 spark plugs on the outboard side of the engine. Also most things mounted outboard of the engine and forward in the engine room (blowers, hot water tank, etc) do as well. For things that are farther aft you can lay across the engine and work, but stuff farther forward there just isn't clearance between the top of the engine and the bottom of the hatch. Perhaps there are some "tricks" I don't know about but that's been my experience. On the plus side it's not that big of a deal to remove the hatches. Once unbolted the seats slide around easily so it's pretty easy to move them, then the hatches are just one bolt at the lift attach point and four small bolts at the two front brackets, and without the seats they aren't all that heavy.