Outboard hours - how many is to many
 

I've never had larger hp outboards before except for small 15/25 hp fishing motors, anyway I'll be looking for a CC after the first of the year, I know what is acceptable hours for me for inboard/outboards, but how do they compare with outboards.

Does 300 hours use on a outboard equal 300 hours on a i/o, I would think the hours on twin 300 mercs would be harder than on my twin 502s, any comments, of course this is assuming they were run the same way, I'm talking just pure amount of hours.

Example 32' 2008 CC with twin 300hp, how many hours is pushing it, is 500 too many and when would they have to be rebuilt.

Thanks for your help, Jim

It depends which 300's you're referring to. If you're talking about 300x, I hear 250-300 is about all you get out of them on my friends skaters. I would expect to get more on the other models (xs)... the 4 stokes should go a lot further.

Depending on maintenance and usage 2000hours plus life span is quite common on larger 4 stroke outboards, invariably these motors (and the boats the are used on) aren't run as hard as your typical offshore boat.

Personally I'd be comfortable at anywhere upto 1000 hours but would be looking at the computers for run times and how they where run.

Would much rather have the four stroke, at least that's what I'll be looking for when I get started.

300 Verado's will run forever !!! Well almost.

You see the majority of the Hull Truth guys trading in or upgrading around 800-1200 hrs. on just about every make and model out there. I'm sure there's plenty of life left in most them. The hardcore fishing crowd seems to want to keep things 100% turn key and under warranty.

Definitely will depend on which motor they are and also how hard they've been run. Most of the newer OB's with fuel injection can be connected to a scan tool which will not only give you total hours, but will also give you total hours throughout the RPM ranges. Just as you would do with a BBC, a compression check at minimum, but a leakdown is even better. Compression will vary depending on model, but you want to see all of the cylinders within a few pounds. Leakdown should be 10% or less (at least on 2 strokes)

I would sure ask around about the Honda's for reliability. I'm not so sure that they wouldn't run pretty fast if set up correctly.
I've got real close to 500 hrs on my Promax 300's, still run over 100, with 4 peeps and 100 gallons of fuel.

Thanks for the help, my first choice would be the 300 verados, they seem pretty much bullet proof, but we'll see what kind of deals come along.

One of the fishing captains I know down here ran 2000+hrs on his Hondas before swapping them out for Suzukis.

I still cant believe that outboards are popular! Hahahahaha.....

I am with you 100% my boat is within 2-3 mph of a comparably equipped boat with twin 300's and I get at least 1 mpg more, sometimes double the mpg. and my boat is effectively larger without all those outboards in the way. My CG is lower and ahead of the transom, and my motors need practically no maintenance (oil change annually, gear lube every 50 hrs). A boat that gets left in the water is the only time the outboards are an advantage since you can tilt them out of the water.

you're comparing diesels with outboards on fuel mileage? not a very fair match up, besides not many perf boaters want the stink of diesel fuel...

One thing I found when researching outboards is there are good models and bad, if your looking at relatively lat model boats then the only ones that I would stay away from is Yamaha's HPDI and the F350's, they seem to have a lot of issues. Never heard anything bad about Etec's, Verados, I have 225 Optimax motors and love them , the 250XS or 300 XS have great reputations also and I'm sure they scream

What year are your Optis?

I've got over 350hrs on mine and the coastguard in the Keys had 1300 hrs last I heard

Great info guys..................I know this about the fuel usage, one of the guys that we run with in FMO has a 32' cat with twin 300 mercs,and he uses close to half of what I use on one of our runs and it's a lot easier to clean, the other reason we're looking for a CC with outboards is how much easier they are to beach, plus we got a doggie and she needs some running room.

2006 with about 375 hrs, any Opti after 2003 is a good one IMO

Depnds on where you boat and how you use it.

If you can see why they might have an advantage for some then you walk around with blinders on I take it.

What stink?? diesel smells great, besides I usually keep mine in the tank anyway. :lolhit: And who said anything about being fair??? It's not my fault they are better.

Fair enough. The early versions were well know garbage. (Opti Pop), (Popti Max). The wife's last boat had a 99 that was an out of the crate total failure no matter what the dealer, or should I say multiple dealers did to it. They seemed to have fixed the problems in the early 2000's.

We'll be looking at 2006 boats and newer with around 300 hours or less.

A couple of things to consider if you are going with the verados. If they are out of warranty, replacing a supercharger or a lower can get very expensive. The lower units were a weak link on them when they first came out. I believe that the newer ones are "beefed up". Maybe someone with some first hand experience can comment. I know that during my search I decided that if I was buying a boat with verados on it! I wanted a warranty... That put me out of my price range and I ended up with EFI two strokes. very happy with it so far!

I think it was late 2010 the Mercury changed the lower units on the Verados going from a 1" shaft 4.88" torpedo to a 1.25" shaft 5.44 torpedo and if memory is correct gear ratio changed from 1.85 to 1.75

FWIW I have the old lowers on mine 350 hours with no problems

The current 300 Verado is the 5.44 and you can get it with either the 1.75 or 1.85 gear ratio. The 300 Pro still has the 4.88 and only comes with the 1.75 gear ratio. The Pro is recommended for lighter implementations like bass boats. For the 30' center console range boats he is looking at he definitely wants the 5.44 Verado.

Here's a 32' - 2008 that advertises 300s with 10 hours on them, on paper the boat looks great, of course anything I buy I'll get a survey and compression tests on, we may go take a look at this one if it's still for sale, anyone know anything about this one.

http://www.powerboatlistings.com/view/13914

The 5.44" Verado gearcase does come in both 1.85 and 1.75 ratios. The black 5.44" is a 1.85 ratio with a 1" prop shaft. It is designed for any boat 24' and up, multi-engines included, and uses the plastic "sacrificial" Flo-Torq prop hub kit. The silver HD 5.44" gearcase comes with a 1.75 ration and a 1.25" prop shaft. It is designed for larger, multi-engine boats, and uses the solid metal Mercury Racing prop hub kit. The Pro Verado does retain the original standard 4.88" gearcase with a 1.75 ratio and a 1" propshaft. It is designed for any single engine boat 23' and under.

We have many single, dual, triple, and quad engine Verado powered boats that put 1000+ trouble-free hours on the original 4.88" gearcases before the 5.44" was ever released.