Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians

Overview

Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians has a national median salary of $57,550 per year, with +4.9% projected job growth from 2025–2035. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical education needed to enter this occupation.

Description

Repair and adjust electrical and mechanical equipment of inboard or inboard-outboard boat engines.

Work Values

• Support
• Independence
• Working Conditions

Work Styles

Responsibilities

Tasks

• Start motors and monitor performance for signs of malfunctioning, such as smoke, excessive vibration, or misfiring.
• Document inspection and test results and work performed or to be performed.
• Mount motors to boats, and operate boats at various speeds on waterways to conduct operational tests.
• Repair engine mechanical equipment, such as power tilts, bilge pumps, or power take-offs.
• Perform routine engine maintenance on motorboats, such as changing oil and filters.

Work Activities

• Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment
• Handling and Moving Objects
• Getting Information
• Repairing and Maintaining Mechanical Equipment
• Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems
• Performing General Physical Activities
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
• Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
• Controlling Machines and Processes

Detailed Work Activities

• Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or watercraft.
• Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
• Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
• Servicing, repairing, adjusting, and testing machines, devices, moving parts, and equipment that operate primarily on the basis of mechanical (not electronic) principles.
• Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
• Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
• Performing general physical activities includes doing activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.
• Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
• Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
• Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).

T-A-S-K

Technology, Abilities, Skills & Knowledge

Education

Education Levels of Current Workers

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical education needed to enter this occupation. The chart below shows the highest level of education held by people already working in this field, ages 25 and older. It includes workers who earned more education than the job requires and workers who entered the field under earlier requirements, so the largest bar is not the entry requirement. For example, if someone finished an associate's degree and then started working in this field, they are counted under “Associate's degree” here, but the job itself typically asks for a high school diploma or equivalent.

Certificates

Certifications applicable to Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians:

Video Resources