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| Here in California we don't get much of Walleye or Muskie fishing. But, i still want a boat that handles rough water as will be taking it out in the ocean and local lakes. I'm thinking about getting either a Ranger 1850 or a Stratos 385XF. With the ever rising cost of fuel THANK YOU Obama. Would under powering a boat a little bit give better mileage than a 150 or 175 OPTI Max or maybe even the 200. This will probably be my last boat so I want to get it right the first time . |
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| DO NOT UNDERPOWER!!With an underpowered rig you will use more fuel due to running higher RPMs than you would with a larger motot. Max the horsepower for the boat and if you are worried about fuel consumption back of the throttle and find the sweet spot of the boat and motor. Usually you will get the best mileage somewhere between 3000 and 4000 RPM. |
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| DO NOT UNDERPOWER!!With an underpowered rig you will use more fuel due to running higher RPMs than you would with a larger motot. Max the horsepower for the boat and if you are worried about fuel consumption back of the throttle and find the sweet spot of the boat and motor. Usually you will get the best mileage somewhere between 3000 and 4000 RPM. |
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Posts: 582
| First off the reata is a great choice (but i am biased since i own one). My advice is to NOT underpower. In fact, i believe it will hurt gas mileage. You want enough motor to move that boat. Generally a 150 is matched with the 1850 reata. I have the 175hp on mine and i am getting stellar gas mileage with my suzuki. but under powering will just make you hit the throttle harder to get the boat on plane etc..... The reata is rated for a 175 max and i suggest you go for it. But a 150 works too. I just wouldn't go any less than that.
the stratos is a good boat too, in fact my cousin has one. He has a 150 opti on his. It moves that boat sufficiently. However, he was unable to pull up a skier that weighted 240lbs with his. He is pitched at 21. His boat is also only 4 years old and the rub rail fell off, bilge pump stopped working and he commented he is quite disappointed in the quality. The stratos will save you money but the ranger will last longer and have better resale IMO... Spend a little more now and be happier down the road. RANGER! (with a 175hp motor)
Edited by jackson 6/25/2010 12:32 PM
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| Likie the others said dont under power your boat. A 200hp motor cruising at 30mph will give you better mileage than a 115hp running wide open doing 30mph on the same boat. Get the proper motor, pitch the prop correctly for what you are doing then find your motors sweet spot and run it there. I had a Crestliner 1850 walleye style boat with a 150 Opti on it. At 30mph it got better milage than my 16ft Crestliner with a 40hp on it did at the same speed. One just cruisng the other running wide open. Getting the larger motor and running it down will also help the life of your motor. The key to the best mileage is in your throttle hand.
Cheers
Mr.KIA |
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| I want to thank you all for your input.You all confirmed what I was thinking already. But wanted to be sure thank you again. |
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Posts: 1663
Location: Kodiak, AK | As has been said, do not for any reason intentionally underpower. The larger motor will burn less gas, not working as hard as the smaller engine.
And if you're looking for fuel economy, I don't have to tell you to get a four stroke. Some two strokes are "decent" on fuel but I was floored when I repowered from a two stroke to a four. Everything is a compromise, but for fuel conomy, four stroke is where it's at. |
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Posts: 433
Location: Cedarburg, Wisconsin | Underpowering is the absolute biggest mistake you could possibly make from a safety standpoint, especially in rough water.
If you look at the reports done by the outboard manufacturers, on their web sites, you will see the fuel economy tables with different boats and motors. Every table looks basically the same. The motor gets the best economy at idle. Then the mpg readings crash until the boat gets on plane. After that the second best mpg readings usually appear somewhere around the middle of the rpm band and drop off again approaching WOT.
If you want to run, let's say 35mph, you need x amount of horsepower to do it. That will not change a noticeable amount from motor to motor. Only the load in the boat will change x, and the larger the boat the more weight you will need to change x as it will be a proportion of the boat's total weight. If x equals 110 hp for your boat, obviously the smaller hp motor you hang on the back, the greater the rpms you will need to turn to get to 110hp, because the hp curve of the motor is not flat. That puts you into the poor mpg range with smaller motors to hit the desired speed. To get the same mpgs with a smaller motor you will have to sacrifice speed and if you go too small, you won't even have the hp to get on plane anymore and the mpg will be horrid.
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Fuel economy