29 0utlaw single
 

Hello all, newcomer here. I'm kicking around purchasing a 29 outlaw with single HP 500 470? hp with bravo 1. I do not want twins. Dry weight is 5500. If anyone knows, will drive hold up. Looking for improved ride at LOTO over my 272. Not one for hole shots or excessive air. Thanks in advance

Hello, Welcome to OSO!!

As an owner of a 29OL I really have to ask Why don't you want twins? I love my 29, but I wouldn't even think of owning one with a single engine. I would think that the drive would hold up, but you better not go wake jumping. It for sure will be the weakest link!! There are some older posts in the Baja forum about single 29's and I have heard that they ride pretty good, but they are NOT fast whatsoever. I think as long as you are happy with 55 to maybe 60MPH on a good day, you will like the single. The downside will be resale value, not many want a boat this big with a single engine. Good luck and If you have any questions about 29's feel free to PM me.
Also remember that 500s are due a top end refresh around 300-400 hours, don't know how many hours are on this one, but make sure you find out if this has been done, or will need to be done in the near future.

:drink:

29 ol
 

Thanks for the reply. I guess my reasoning for the single is for ease of maint. .50 the headaches I do my own work as many here probably do. When I think of all the work I've done on my singles thru the years I cant imagine the pita of dealing with twins. I currently have a 98 272 502 mag efi. nice boat and I really do still love it but I'm in LOTO twice every year and it just isn't enough hull/weight to handle that water comfortably. Also my tow vehicle is a 03 denali ---8200 towing cap. twins w 3/4 tank fuel and acc. and trailer is over the limit. The boat I'm considering has 300 hrs. Hp 500 has 17 on complete rebuild. Drive is orig. coupler is newer. One bud has already advised against this move due the limits of B1.

A good friend of mine has a 2000 272 with a 502 mag and your right it is a nice ride, but you're right, his boat does not ride near as nice as mine in any water. Doing mtc on mine is not as hard as you might think, you just have to remove the rear seat back. Once you do that it is really not bad at all (took me 3 hours to change out a seapump impeller before I read on OSO how to remove the seat). Towing is another matter you will need to think about, even a single 29 will be a LOAD on your truck. I tow mine with a crew cab F-250 powerstroke and it's a pretty good load, I even pulled it this spring with the motors/drives removed and its still alot of weight. I read somewhere that my boat loaded with fuel/gear, etc weighs 8400 or so. I can assure you that the boat on the trailer weighs more than that, so even a single may be over, or very close to max weight on your truck. I pulled my boat home from the dealer with a 2003 Hummer H2 (my truck at the time), it was not a fun experience and I bought a diesel truck shortly after. If you don't have to pull it far, you might be ok, but I wouldn't want to pull it long distance. It's very hard on a small truck. Yes, the Bravo drive would be a concern for me as well, but I have been there before. My first boat was a 30 Scarab with twin 454s and Alpha drives, I trashed my fair share of them. Best advice I can give is to treat it like it's an egg and it will last. If the boat was factory with a 500HP, it's lasted this long anyway! The engine sounds like it has been taken care off, so I think it will be fine. The only real problem I can see is that you will get outrun by another 29 that had twin 330 motors in the back of it and whoever buys your 272! Remember it may be a 500HP, but it's only 470 horse. Mine has 660 (330 X 2) and runs 67 GPS.
Whatever you decide you WILL enjoy the boat!! I love mine and have just finished updating mine this week (motor rebuilds, new hatch vinyl, wetsand, buff and replaced all the hullside stickers).:drink:

I had a friend with a Baja 29 ft twin, that thing behind his std cab z-71 felt like it was about 15,000 lbs, (probably really 8000-9000) it would shove his truck right thru a intersection if the surge brakes didn't hit and it threw his truck around like a rag doll,(he ended up getting a one ton truck), I know the single is lighter but its not that much lighter, I think if you tow much you will need more truck, Smitty

I had a single with a 454 Mag and it ran around 54. The ride is better than a twin 29 on LOTO. Boat bow steered a bit, but not a huge deal. You will always be the last one to the dock if you are running around with other performance boats. It towed like it wasn't even behind my F250 V10. Just make sure the trailer brakes work.

Forget the single, get a twin. The maint. on two 454's or 502's is not worse than on a blue merc. Prolly get better milage too.

I'd find a different lake before I'd go buying a new boat for 2 trips a year.
I guess if I wanted to run 55 mph WOT and go through a bunch of gas doing it, a single 29 would be a good fit.

If you are dead set on a single, I would find a boat with same power but a stepped hull, way faster and more efficient. 29' fountain comes to mind. Nothing worse than a slow heavy boat plowing through the water...

A 29 Fountain is a 27' boat.

For you or me this would hold true but this guy wants to go boating in the criss cross washboard chop at loto and have a bearable ride, not the speed, Smitty

If not a 26'.

I feel with twins the drives help each other out, with a single all the workload is on that ONE drive.
I love my twins. acceleration, planning, its all so much better

EDIT as long as i don`t have any trouble with em .. knock on wood:drink:

Any bravo drive will wear out and has a chance of breaking. Just budget yourself ready to fix when it breaks or better yet have a spare standing by, put it on when your bravo breaks, while the other is getting fixed.

I love twins but understand why you might want a single. At least the 29 your looking at has a blue motor. If the boat is a really good value buy it, but there are alot of good deals out there today so shop around.

Don't know what your budget is but there are 2 30' Superboats in the classifieds. They run great with a single, great in rough water, LOA is 32', and there aren't tons of them out there. The 496HO boat will run in the low 70's.

29 outlaw single
 

Well, you guys raise good points. I know and understand the twins or nothing guys. Rummrunner, you're remove the backseat tip opens my mind a liitle more. However, if I do go doubles the truck must go. Someone commented to find a new lake....I boat every weekend on the Ill. river and or Lake Mich. so this boat will also serve me well all season long. Thank you all for the input. I am going to take a step back and give it more thought. I never jump into anything anyway. One more question. What is the fuel consumption difference with twins? Much more, little more, double? More hp but less load???

JasonSmith said it quite well. The single will work hard, and the blue motors are pretty thirsty. At cruising speeds a set 496's, 454's or 502's will work less, so the diff will not be huge. This is just an example for how the numbers could look. Single 500 running at 4000-4500 for cruising speed, and the twins running 3000-3500 doing the same, and yes, two drives will share the load. When it comes to maintenence, one more impeller and oilfilter ect. a year, is not going to break the bank. A rebuild on a 500EFI is by comparison not cheap, and it will need it much much sooner than a set of black mercs, if they ever will in the time you have the boat. Should the single 500 break down out there, your problem is alot less fun to deal with.

All in all, you should go out and try both, and see what you like. There are some nice deals on a few 29OL's and 30OL's with twins out there. Single vs. twin is somewhat subjetive, and I'm a twin guy.

Other than the 2 times a year that you go to LOTO
you're going to get pretty bored with it.

I went from a 75+ mph Bandit to a 29 O/L with 7.4's
because I thought I wanted a better ride.... that boat lasted
me about a year and a half before it was gone.
( along with the wife who also wanted the better ride)

it was replaced with a 29 w/HP500's, that kept me happy
for about 6 years.

The fuel consumption with twins is maybe 30%. Baja made a nice boat but if your stuck on buying a single in that size range I would look elsewhere. Superboat is nice but plane Jane. 28 A/T is a nice choice if you can find one. A 29 Scarab single is an ok option also. Fountain is small...

I'm glad I could help! It isn't hard to remove the seat and makes all the difference. I remove the seat when I do just about everything to the motors. I really think whatever you buy, when you get to a 30 foot boat, its time to buy a bigger truck! Even with a single, it is a big boat. I really don't much about 500hp fuel burn, but I bet it is the same or more than twins due to the rpms the 500 will have to turn. Maybe not, but like I said not sure. My fuel burn is more than my friends 272 with a 502 mpi, I do know that.

My 29 with the stock 454 (385hp) mags was really good on fuel. I could go an entire weekend on a tank of fuel.
I would say the twins don't use 1/4 more fuel than a single in the same boat. The added cost of maintenance is negleagble at best. What do you replace yearly anyway besides oil? If you can't afford the additional $25 for 8 quarts of oil, you don't need a boat period.
I will admit that a twin 29 Outlaw is cramped for space in te engine compartment, but there are things yo can do to help yourself out. Buy run-dry impellers. They will last 4+ seasons compared to one season with a regular Merc impeller. Take the bolts out of the back seat and leave them out. Replace all your hard to get to hoses with custom bent stainless tubing to mimic your rubber hoses. Hose changes aren't fun on a 29.
In all seriousness, a twin 29 will cost a few hundred a year more to operate than a single 29 will. Plus, you're gonna be buying a boat (the single 29) that will be hard to get rid of for just the same reasons you are asking about right now.
There are tons of good boats out there right now in the mid 30k range with twins.

Check out this 33
http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/boa/2464120394.html
The money is right on this thing, I think.