Twins or Triples
 

If you were looking at a used 42' Fountain, would you prefer triples or twins? In either case, why would you chose that setup?

Anyone own either? Why did you chose your setup?

Triple Bravos with 500hp or twin SM3,5,6 with 750+hp. Both 1500 total HP and total reliability. Just my thought, I own niether.

Troutly, next time that 42'r is out on the Mississippi, you let me know. The boys and I would get a kick out of seeing that.

No offense, but I would love to see a guy like that come out of Red Wing with a weeeee bittt too much noise and have the "patrol" try to pull him over. It's only a few miles South to Pepin and from there, it's bye bye....LOL.....if only those damn radios those guys carry weren't so fast and accurate ;) ;)

Oh, and YES the twins would be better than triples. Yikes, can't imagine the maintenance on three motors and drives :eek :eek:

Jeff

I would go with staggered twins. I had a 99 with 540's with 620 to 625 HP. It would run 90 with a great attitude. I had 98 with triples 500 HP's. It would run 94 but the stern was to heavy for me. It did not have as good of an attitude especially in big water plus the stern set so low that the ladder would vibrate like crazy. Hope this helps :)

I agree with Blueman....too heavy in the ass.
Side by side would be my favorite.
Oh by the way my 42 is setup side by side! :)

staggered set up handles rough water a little better than side by side, but not that noticeable. staggereds or a little harder to dock then side by side because props are closer and you lose some of your piviot. in a classic deck 42 you lose 18in in the cockpit with staggereds and triples do to the motors being forward. on the new tall decks the decks are only configured one way to except staggered or triples so it has the smaller cockpit no matter what, even if you order a side by side you will not get the extra cockpit space. triples or a great way to go if your only concern is top end speed but you sacrifice so much for such a small percentage of time. then for the remainder of the time you fuel three motors just to cruise. the non step triples would run low to mid 70's with 454 magnums and mid to upper 70's with 502 magnums, and mid 80's with 525's. and twins staggered are side by side (note not much if any top end advantage with staggereds) will run low to mid 60's with 454mags, mid to upper 60's with 502mags and low 70's with 525's. the early steps in 95 added roughly 4-7% on top end and the latest big steps starting in mid-late 98 added roughly 7-11% top end speed. hope this helps any way you go they are a first class offshore boat and i think you would be hard pressed to find a more refined boat as for as performance and handling is concern.

Not to start anything but the Staggered setup dosen't make much sense.
They move the 1 motor forward and now they can be lowered for a better center of gravity right?
But then they also slap big old tanks on both sides for the fuel...not much better in the sense of lower center of weight....Just a thought. :(

the 42 at the loto was a brand new boat with less than 5hrs on it. owned by raymonds driven by their mechanic. plus the loto shoot out is a standing start run. after talking with their mechanic he asures me there is any other few mile an hour to be had. he said he was at the end of the track just as your tweaking for the last few mph plus the motors were still tight.

I'd call Tim at Riverview marine. He has driven them all and is very knowledgeable about boats in general. He had a 97 42'with triple 525's. Very sweet boat. I believe 93 was the number on that one.
Dan

Yep thats Dr. Bobs boat up at Winthrop Harbor.
Quick Delivery is one fast 42 Fountain!

Mark,
You know your boats well. Bob the pizza delivery guy. Quick Deliveries! Those 525's love Gas. He said there was no comparison from his 35' to the 42'. His boat is almost a twin to mine. Just allot bigger. :(
Dan

Mark,
Were you at Thunder Run 1996 out of Hammond?
It's the only run I remember with flat water.
Dan

No i was a Chain-O-Lakes monkey back then.

Troutley,

Who was driving the 42, Gary or Leah? I've riden in it twice and both times we were racing Bryon in the twin TCM 42. The first time Gary was driving and he couldn't take the twin. Second time Leah couldn't stand Bryon beating her again so she kicked Gary out of the drivers seat at about 90 mph, trimed the boat perfectly and walked away at over 110. She is definately a woman who can drive a boat.

Back4more,

I'm interested in a staggered set-up my self, so I'm still learning as well. Anyway's you wondered if it made sence to lower your engines and then move the fuel as well.
From what I understand, your moving the one engine forward, so you can actually have your staggered set-up. By doing this it also allows you to lower your engines because of the ( V ) in your hull, which is also the purpose of moving them closer. By doing this you lower your drives as well. And because they are at the lower portion of your hull now, it gives you more lift out of the water, which is hopefully less drag, which allows for more speed. And by having the engines lower it is just one more luxury as far as center of gravity. Also from what I understand, if you had a 42' boat with triple 750's running 85 mph. Supposevely you can run a staggered with twin 800's in the same boat and run 85mph. So for 50Hp. more per side, you have one less engine, tranny, and outdrive to buy and maintain and feed the fuel to.
I hope I helped, as I said I'm still learning too and I don't mean to sound elementary just trying to help, who know's maybe I'm way off base.

Goof Luck
CougarMan

[ 01-12-2002: Message edited by: Cougarman ]

Troutley,

I think your right that the boat is in California. Gary told me the same 300 hour total and I was amazed that those motors ran that long. Guess it's a testament to the quality engines that TCM builds.

I think this goes to "later". One thing about performance boaters, everybody knows everyone and everything. But you seemed to have a handle on the 42. I bought a non stepped 42 with trip-500's. They were 502mags redone by Baker with cams and such for 500hp, their fresh with brand new bravos. My group seems to think maybe 80mph, what do you think, I'm in MI with snow and nothing but time to pounder such ideas.

MIdnightRider,
I think you'll do better than 80. My guess would be 84-86. A 96'with triple 525's was running 93. That was with the smaller step. I believe the 502's were running around 79 in a non-stepped hull.
Dan

MIdnightRider i would think that a non step 42 with triple 502 500hp should run somewhere in the low 80's, as long as you got 500hp. the 525sc were running in the mid 80's im assuming that you havent been out yet with it. fountains like to be streched out, by that i mean they like alot of trim. both non step and step hulls. good luck and let us know what kind of speeds your getting. also what props are you running. three or four blade. bravo or hydros

Unfortunately I will have to spend the next couple of months sitting in it at the shop where I keep it drinking beer, listening to tunes, and finding new reasons to tell my fiance' as to why I have to go to the boat this time. All of the wives, fiance's, and girlfriends in my group told us about December, "Please stop talking about boats, thats all you guys ever do". Bench racing, they don't get it, thats half the fun for MI boaters.

MIdnightRider,
What else is there to do in the winter besides getting ready for boating season. :D What paint do you have on your boat? Post some pictures in reader's rides.
Hopefully we will get an early spring. At least the lake should warm up earlier this year.
Dan

I don't think my 42 really would qualify as having paint, it's a signature series, Black srtipe with the gold signature, and it does have an arch. I'll do a real paint job in a year or two, Mitcher T is in my neck of the woods, he did Casino Runner. My new boat has already cost me a new home, a new car, and a Jamacain honeymoon. "If we can afford that boat, we can certainly afford to buy _______." That was my final bachelor purchase before I got engaged this winter, something I promised myself to buy before I turned 30. I've been wanting a Big V since I was kid, in about 86' Grand Haven was home and still is to one of the Miami Vice Scarabs, I thought that was the cats meow. So the wedding has put all upgrades on hold, it could be worse, I could still be in the Baja.

I remember a 42 signature with an arch from the Michigan City area, could that be your boat? Great boat!
I fell in love with a 32 Fever with signature paint, which got me looking at the Fountains. I still like the straight lines on the Fountains more than the crazy stuff. The one exception is a yellow 35 up in the St. Joe area with some custom paint, which is awesome. I'm trying to buy another 35 and have been debating over the signature or the new red hull side signature. I'm trying to stimulate the economy and help Reggie but Fountain is not to eager to sell boats. :confused:
Dan

My boat is from the Great Lakes, I was told Chicago, so it may be the same boat, there cant be to many black and Gold sigs with an arch from around here. Is the yellow 35 your referring to have an arch with what I think was purple, orange, and red accents, with the windscreen vents and everything yellowed out. If so I think that used to be owned by a guy here in West Michigan. I beleieve that he owns renegade trailers(snowmobile trailer manufacturer) in Hudsonville, MI. That was a cool boat.

MIdnightRider,
I have definitely seen your boat. Very nice! You have to love all of that hardware hanging off the transom.
That 35' sounds like the same boat. Lots of candy colors. Definitely won't get lost in a crowd.
Dan

Candyman, My boat had the name "Show Time" on it when it came in. Kinda cool, but I'll recrisin her to Midnight Rider. That name and I have allot history and have come quite far to be on this new boat. I hope the old owner was fat and old, with a bad back, LOL. Did you see it out allot? Did you Know the owner at all? I didn't get allot of info on the previous owner, or any details how it was used. Everything was mechanically verified and the condition is good, I guess thats what counts.

That's the boat. I use to see it around Michigan City. Passed it many times with my girlfriend, who is now my wife, telling me to stop drooling. I think I might even have a picture somewhere. That’s a real nice boat.

I started out with a Rinker and now many dollar$ latter working on buying my second 35'. Time fly’s and so does the money. I never thought I would be so lucky.

I never got to meet the owner of your boat. He always had a boatload of friends on board. Never seen him on the Chicago side of the Lake.

There is another '92 or '93 42' running around Chicago with triple 454's. I think it was also a Signature.
Good luck with the boat in the off season. Hopefully it will be an early spring.
Dan

Btw, are you familiar with the re-naming a boat ceremony? You can’t just take the name off. http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/rename.htm

Sounds like a good accuse for a Party!

That whole renaming policy must be why my Baja cost me so much money, motors, starters, batteries, windsheilds, trailer, on and on and on. The just pouring michelob light over the bow didn't cut it. If leaving the name on will help my luck, I might be "Show Time", I thought that was cool anyway. That's on thing that I considered on buying this big boat, if it had the baja luck, get me a lawyer, we'll be in bankruptsy court. LOL

Troutly & Scorpion260, Just an update on Gary and Lia's engines. Teague has them apart and said they are just like brand new. He may have made another season on them. Still doing a complete rebuild including blowers. Brian Fisher's boat is out there too. His are in worse shape with less hours. Teague says he doesn't change the oil often enough. Number one way to make these motors last is to change the oil every 12-15 hours. (At a cost of $200+ per change) Also running 110 octane fuel helped a bunch.

32fever, Triples are *****IN'. I had a '97 42' with triple TCM 740 hp motors. Boat did at least 110mph (Never really rang it out). It was built along side the two 42's with the TCM 1000's that I was talking about above. It was every bit as fast as they were and about $100K less expensive. The weak link was the Bravo drives (TCM modified). I blew at least two of them, once a total loss. Another advantage of trips is you can get it up on plane with the other two. I could easily cruise at 45 mph on two. A mutual friend of Troutly and myself has a 42 w/500HP staggered engines. He wishes he spent the extra $30K and got triples. Yes triples are more work but like I said, when the hatches are open, it looks *****IN'!

Hey Innthered,

Thanks for the update. Glad to see ya on the board, it's always nice to add another person from this frozen state.

Jim

I'm always reading posts but don't say much. Can't wait to start boating again. Leaving Thursday 1-31 for a week in Jamaica. A little R&R. Talk to ya later. :)