A question about TWINS
 

OK so this is probably a very cut and dry question but, How much fuel do TWINS (502MAG) actually burn? Now this could be perceived as running wide open and that would be not too long, maybe a day. Basically in a nutshell, I found a smoking deal that is too hard to pass up on a '97 Baja 29 Outlaw with TWINS and low hours from the original owner. The main thing that scares me is the 146 gallon fuel tank and having to fill that sucker up. My boating consists of a few hours of cruising around, a few WOT bursts and the rest of the time, anchored and tied up with friends. This would be my first performance boat and do not want to bite off more than I can chew. I was originally looking at the 25-27' range with a single until I found this Outlaw at a smoking deal ($35k with 240hours in excellent condition). What are your thoughts?

Don't fill it up, run around 1/2 tank, full fuel= weight, you can get a 100 different answers on fuel burn, have the ecm scanned to verify hours, sounds like a nice boat, buy the 29 you'll want one in a year anyway over a 27 single, is it fresh water or salt, does it have a trailer, good luck

Ditto, I have had both a single 502 and now twins, the single was carbed, now I have EFI's, my experience is before it would cost me $150 on the average weekend, now it cost me $200 a weekend, thats the average, if it a high testosterone weekend it can be a tad more severe, but based on the normal cruising weekend, and a cpl hits on the throttles its really not that bad, and the EFI's definitely helped, also when trying to get somewhere the single would be wound up, the twins just purring so there is not as much need for WOT LOL

The way you describe your day, 50 to 75 gallons.

Yes that makes sense that the dual engines are not working as hard. Check out the link and let me know your thoughts. http://petersmarine.com/Gallery.aspx...-29-Outlaw-SST It looks clean and seems like a great deal.

Do you always shout TWINS?

YUP! It's a thing to do in the North East. LOL

2x502=About 60 gallons per hour wide open give or take!:readinghelp:

Well know that you have told everyone where it is, I hope you have a deposit on it,

If its there its there. If not then someone else got a great deal. I am sure there will be others if that one is not there.

Lol. TTTWWWIIIIINNNNNSSSSS

my buddy has the same boat, it had twin SB in it, now being repowered with 525's, with the SST package you get some really nice stuff like ext. steering, larger k planes and more

I am trying to convince the OL that the TWINS!!! are a better investment. We want something thats comfortable to be on all day and even do a few over night trips too. We want to live on the water next season on the weekends. I was looking at a 27' Checkmate with a single 496HO and the Baja is only $4-5k more. Any others to investigate while I am looking? Knowing my luck, that Baja will be gone soon, I do not want to go into it so quick that I have buyers remorse after the newness wears off.

Remember that's asking price, its the end of the year and they don't want to set on it all winter, if its what they say it is it wont last.

And TWINS in the Midwest are awesome to

Buyers remorse? That's funny. The way I see it none of us are completely satisfied and are always looking to the NEXT boat. Better, faster, more room did I mention faster. And if I forgot to mention faster. " faster" lol

No women compare to Midwest women. None, uh uh, Nada, ain't happenin.

And that's why I'm a boat owner.

Twins
They eat gas like no tomorrow. If you boat on a small lake where you cant run on plane for miles it will help.

My new boat 31' scarab...... seems like everytime I looked down at fuel gauge it moved LOL

If you like the Baja, put a deposit on it and have a survey done. Check for rot and Check for skeg damage hiding under those covers. At that price if boat checks out you really can't get hurt if you want to sell it sooner than later. If you guys are going to use the heck out of the boat you'll be happy you bought twins. When run smart fuel consumption is not bad at all.

Figure you will average about 1mpg. Sometimes better and sometimes worse but averaged out with idle time and everything else if you go out for the day and run 100 miles you will burn about 100 gallons. Asking price seems pretty congruent with those around the Midwest. I wouldn't call it a steal but if everything checks out and you get into it for low $30's it seems like a decent value.

Good luck.

Nice boat for that cash

+1 for 1 mile/gallon. If you hammer down a lot, you'll get a little less, and if you're easy on the sticks, you'll get a little better. Twins are worth it though!

i am getting about 1.4 mpg with my 330l with 454 mags.. I dont fill her up, I just keep a 1/4 fuel and add what I think I will burn based on a couple trips.. Ends up at or just above 1/2.

I was hoping for a different thread when I saw the title!

I've tracked nearly all the boats I've had religously on gps. Fill up, reset trip, track miles. These were tracked over entire seasons. I don't lay on the sticks but I do like to run 'em so these numbers reflect a nice broad range of operation. some recent examples

260 Chris Scorp w/twin mild 350's - 1.4 mpg
34 Scarab III w/ stock 454 mags - 1.3 mpg
38 Donzi ZX w/525 SC's - 1.12 mpg

moral of the story figure 1 mpg with a little reserve :cool:

My twin 502mpi's in my 32 AT get better mileage than my single 525SC did in my 28 Pantera.
502mpi's burn about 34gph at WOT. At 3500rpms, they burn about half that.
MPG will be determined by boat weight and hull efficiency.

If you and your wife are going to spend weekends on the boat, and if she has a turd cutter the size of this one
, go with the biggest boat you can.

Firing up 2 big blocks at the ramp never seems to get old . That boat is prob going to be the infamous vst set up of 96-97 502's see if the vapor tanks and raw water pumps have been serviced

You will use ALOT of gas the first yr or 2 after that not so bad. Plus- you always have 1 to get home on

Ditto

Depends on how much actual boating you actually do. I have friends that burn 4 gallons a day because they are on plane for about a minute then the boat is anchored all day. Then the 1 minute trip back. LOL

As stated, the 502 EFI burns about 33-35 gph at wide open. They will burn about 18-20 at 3500 rpm. If the boat does 50 mph at 3500 rpm, you are getting 1.25 mpg. So, you could go 50 miles at a 3500 cruise and burn 40 gallons. The amount of WFO blasts will increase the fuel consumption. :D

I have roughly the same size twin, and if I take really easy, have gotten as much as 1.3 mpg, but I'm not fuel injected, my boat is heavier, and am running about 520 per side at the prop.

I've never spent less than $350 per day and most days it's closer to $400, many days hit the $500 mark but I stand on it a good bit. I don't argue with myself about doing what comes natural. Weekends are expensive, I've come to terms with this.

If you're worrying about gas on a twin engine boat, run now! There's a HELL of alot of OTHER expenses that are double as well! However, like someone already stated "Firing up twins at the ramp NEVER gets old!!". Good luck!

30-35k is a steal??? Apparently the baja market is better than I thought. Anyone want a deal on a 38 special??

agreed...30-35k on a 1997 baja aint nothing to write home about. there is a sweet cafe racer (1993) that was completely restored a few years for near equal money. id be going to visit that boat before the baja.

I get around 22-25 gal/hr. at 3300 rpm. crusing at about 43 MPH. Twin 600's in 9000 lb. Scarab. Just my 2 cents. Holds 200 gal. I never run full, maybe 1/2 tank.

I like the bigger tanks because you have the ability to hold a lot of fuel if you want to. In my boat my tank has the ability to hold 132 gallons and I've only filled it up once.

Only fill mine up once a year for our poker run

Fuel is the cheap part of owning a boat. Lol

I moved from a single 496HO to twin 502s and paid not one bit of attention to gas consumption (no...I'm not one of the rich ones here). Twins are so nice I learned not to care. I can say with confidence I'll never go back to a single. And docking is a nice surprise too, the twin 33' was FAR easier to handle than the 28' single. You learn not to use the steering wheel when docking.