I've Found A Good Deal On A Boat, Only Concern Is Motor Thirst.....

[retiredbosn]

OK, found a great deal on a nitro 911cdc, it's in great shape. Problem is the huge 225 Merc, just how thirsty will this beast be? The last bigger engine I had was a Johnson 140 with carbs, that thing was awful on gas

[Way2slow]

Some of that's going to be determined by if it's efi or DFI. If you turn them loose, 225 horses are going to eat, At mid RPM ranges, the Opti-Max, is suppose to be better on fuel than the efi motor. The Verado is suppose to do better than both of those. I'm not a Merc guy, so as for how they burn, don't know.

[Dwight Hottle]

What year is the motor. Is it a pro XS? I can tell you the fuel consumption on my 2008 merc 250 pro XS is very reasonable, comparable to a 4 stroke. 

[retiredbosn]

Sorry its a 2000 efi

[jbh3]

That's a big boat and will need all those ponies to run efficiently. The 3 liter 225 EFI's were good engines. Have it checked out by a good Merc shop and get the service up to date. Your mileage will be very dependent on how hard you run it. Same as with your old 140. Good luck.

[Trek]

So it's a 2000 Nitro and you can get a great deal. Think about this a minute. That boat is 15 years old and your worried about the motor ? Merc has been around a long time and makes a great motor. It is a efi and not a carbonated engine so you got that going for it. In my opinion 15 years ago Nitro made as cheap of a boat as they could. I don't think so as much today but their older boats had cheap wrote all over them. I would worry more about the boat then I would the engine. At least the engine can be fixed if needed.

[retiredbosn]

So it's a 2000 Nitro and you can get a great deal. Think about this a minute. That boat is 15 years old and your worried about the motor ? Merc has been around a long time and makes a great motor. It is a efi and not a carbonated engine so you got that going for it. In my opinion 15 years ago Nitro made as cheap of a boat as they could. I don't think so as much today but their older boats had cheap wrote all over them. I would worry more about the boat then I would the engine. At least the engine can be fixed if needed.

Not worried about reliability of the Merc at all, just don't want to burn $100 bucks in gas every trip.

[Trek]

Not worried about reliability of the Merc at all, just don't want to burn $100 bucks in gas every trip.

Again. I would worry more about the boat.

[gardnerjigman]

Again. I would worry more about the boat.

Zero help for what he is asking...

[slonezp]

Being that it's not carbed is a big plus. I realize the EFI is not the same as the Opti but, my 225 ProXS sips fuel compared to my old 90 ELPTO.

[thomas15]

There is no such thing as an inexpensive to operate boat.

[retiredbosn]

There is no such thing as an inexpensive to operate boat.

You are correct sir, just i've never considered am engine that big before, have no frame of reference.

[BassnChris]

I just bought a 2009 Procraft 210 Superpro with a 225 Optimax.

I have only had it out twice......and just to run it around on the water.

 

2 trips is really not enough to formulate a solid response to your question......but...I do know that it has burned less gas than my 2001 Merc 150 XR6 carbed motor would have burned in the same 2 trips.

[tomustang]

You are correct sir, just i've never considered am engine that big before, have no frame of reference.

That's a big heavy boat, I believe it's 21.5ft, those 9 series are like caddilacs. basically you would burn a lot more fuel off the bat vs other combos, but I would say it's worth any consumption.

[Fishes in trees]

the Nitro CDC.  Wasn't that the center console version of the Nitro?  As I recall, those were ok boats, the top of the Nitro line at the time.  If it has been well taken care of, I wouldn't worry about the hull.

 

As I recall, and mind you I've never owned a Nitro, only ridden in one a few times and listened to parking lot talk about boats, where the NItro's had questionable quality was in the little things.  Like lower quality hinges on the bin lids that would corrode over time.  They used a lighter grade of vinyl on the seats than some other boat makers did.  Low end to mid-grade bilge pumps and live well pumps rather than the top of the line.

 

All that being the case, the one guy I knew who had one liked his A LOT.  He told me he felt much more confident and secure running in the 2 to 4 foot choppy water that is fairly common on Table Rock and Stockton Lake in the spring.

 

My advice is overall, that seems like a good boat - have fun in it.  You probably will burn more gas, for a while anyway, but that will be mostly due to the fact that it is a new to you boat and you'll have fun just driving the boat for a while.

[S Hovanec]

Just because it has a big motor doesn't mean you have to feed it. Stay out of the deep throttle and it won't be that thirsty. Just like a car, it's all in how you drive it. You can take a car that will get 35mpg and MAKE it get 20mpg just by being heavy footed!

[retiredbosn]

Just talked with him again, cruising around 50 and staying out of it, he said a tank will last 5-6 trips. Its got a 50 gallon tank though.

[jhoffman]

50 gal /$4 gallon = $200

 

What are you towing that massive thing with? Its gonna eat fuel too.

[tstone]

The Merc EFI motors suck fuel compared to an Opti.

[curtis9]

Just talked with him again, cruising around 50 and staying out of it, he said a tank will last 5-6 trips. Its got a 50 gallon tank though.

How much riding does he do each trip? I know I have days I fish one area most of the day and don't ride at all, and other days I ride all over the lake.

[retiredbosn]

He's a runner and gunner, so allot more than I do on a normal day.

[retiredbosn]

On 3/6/2015 at 2:21 PM, tstone said:

The Merc EFI motors suck fuel compared to an Opti.

Yeah seems like everyone likes the Opti, maybe I should go with my original plan and get a new or at least newer engine. The.911CDC had tons of room and storage, that's the downside of a new hull can't afford a.21 footer

[WIGuide]

The 225 EFI's aren't terrible on gas. Obviously it's not going to be as efficient as a four stroke, and a lot depends on how you run it. Compared to the the Optimax the EFI sips a little more gas, but the EFI's are a bit more potent of an engine. No matter motor you get, the more the horsepower the more it's going to drink. I wouldn't put too much of a thought into it. If you like the boat and you can get it for a good deal I'd say go fior it.

[Way2slow]

If you are wanting to get a 20-21 ft boat, the minimum size motor you are going to want is a 200..

Couple of things to remember. The hull requires a certain amount of horse power to move it. It going to require a certain amount of torque to get on plain, and if it takes 100 hp to push it 35 mph, and 200 hp to push it 65 mph, that's not going to change, no mater what motor is on it. Just how efficiently the motor will do it is the variable there.

From that, you decide what motor is going to best fit your needs. If fuel economy is a major issue and you figure 40 mph is a good cruising speed, then you look what motor is going to push that hull most efficiently at 40 mph, and still have the torque to get on plane.

Now to fit that bill, you are looking at a 3.0L to 3.4L, that is either a Diret Fuel Injected two stroke, or a four stroke.

Now is when you start rationalizing, just how much is the cost of the best motor I need versus just how much fuel economy do I want to give up for a less expensive motor. Then it's how old of a used motor do I want to take a chance on, know the older the motor the more fuel it will probably burn. Not saying as a motor ages it burns more fuel, just the fact the didn't have the technology designed into them for fuel economy the newer motors have.

So, do you buy a much newer, much more expensive outfit with a gas sipping motor, one of the older cheaper, carbureted or EFI gas guzzling motors, or something in the early to mid 2000 models that has all the engineering issues they ran into building these new gas sippers.

Also remember, a smaller motor does not automatically mean less fuel consumption, it can actually burn more tnan a bigger motor. It has to work harder and take a lot more throttle input than a bigger motor. Making it work way above its peak efficiency range, where the bigger motor does the same job with ease and stays well within its peak efficiency range. Remember, it's going to take the same amount of power from any motor you put on it to run a certain speed, so it's how efficiently the motor will deliver that power at that speed.

[J Francho]

My 99 Pro Max actually isn't too bad on gas, so long as I dont run WOT every day, all day. No actual numbers, but a 25 gal. Tank will last me a month of weekends on most lakes.