triple inboard vs quad and more outboard engine boats popularity !
01-23-2019, 07:11 PM
#1
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Location: St-Hyacinthe, quebec, canada
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triple inboard vs quad and more outboard engine boats popularity !
I was just reading on Stu first run of 2019, and looking at the pictures, my eyes stopped on 2 quad outboard powered boat, and thought about my triple 500's boat...
the popularity of similar boats to my sonic 45 went down with the years, we hear about cost of maintnance, even more about cost of insurance, some saying they can not get insurance to cover a triple engine boat, or too expensive to insure, so on and so forth...
What the hell happened to all those cost when looking at many quad engines boat now, even 5 engines sometimes ! you can still tell me outboard engines are less thursty than inboard engines, but I doubt a quad boat is a lot less thursty than my triple. I doubt insurance company don't make any differences between a twin to a quad engine boats...
an oil change is an oil change, so wether it'd be 3 or 4 outboards, oil and filter still cost the same, and probably drive oil too!
maybe my triple inboard boat will come back to be a nice set-up in the market! Hey, it's only a 3 engines boat !
the popularity of similar boats to my sonic 45 went down with the years, we hear about cost of maintnance, even more about cost of insurance, some saying they can not get insurance to cover a triple engine boat, or too expensive to insure, so on and so forth...
What the hell happened to all those cost when looking at many quad engines boat now, even 5 engines sometimes ! you can still tell me outboard engines are less thursty than inboard engines, but I doubt a quad boat is a lot less thursty than my triple. I doubt insurance company don't make any differences between a twin to a quad engine boats...
an oil change is an oil change, so wether it'd be 3 or 4 outboards, oil and filter still cost the same, and probably drive oil too!
maybe my triple inboard boat will come back to be a nice set-up in the market! Hey, it's only a 3 engines boat !
01-23-2019, 10:59 PM
#3
Gold Member
Gold Member
We don't worry about winter here....
Blue motors are simply expensive. They cost more to buy and you spend more on maintenance because they're high performance and you've gotta pay for that. Black motors are fine if you leave them alone and run them the way Mercury built them but so many owners want to tweak the engine management systems, change the exhausts, adjust fuel pressures, replace camshaft etc, etc. If all the little things boost hp then the drives start to give way and you spend money on better gears and internals. I believe if you ask more from the engine than what Mercury built it for, you'll be forever paying.
Can't do much to outboards so people search for better props, slicker hulls, better weight distribution etc.
Look at some of the issues people have with inboards, most of these problems involve parts that don't even exist on an outboard. What about the ease of operation, ability to trim the engine up to get over a sand bar without fear of damaging the gimbal bearing? Change a set of plugs or oil while standing upright, regular gas, running in salt water.
I think once you start looking at quad and quint powered rigs, the money is not as relevant, its more about trouble free operation and maybe having a lot more space onboard instead of the big engine hatch. Not saying these buyers don't care about money but rather they can justify the extra dollars of multiple engines if they're sure they won't be let down.
Just my silly opinion, bring on the popcorn.....
RR
P.S. Your triple engine boat doesn't need to come back in any way to please the market. You've said several times that it runs great and never gives you problems. That makes YOU the market and you're happy.
Blue motors are simply expensive. They cost more to buy and you spend more on maintenance because they're high performance and you've gotta pay for that. Black motors are fine if you leave them alone and run them the way Mercury built them but so many owners want to tweak the engine management systems, change the exhausts, adjust fuel pressures, replace camshaft etc, etc. If all the little things boost hp then the drives start to give way and you spend money on better gears and internals. I believe if you ask more from the engine than what Mercury built it for, you'll be forever paying.
Can't do much to outboards so people search for better props, slicker hulls, better weight distribution etc.
Look at some of the issues people have with inboards, most of these problems involve parts that don't even exist on an outboard. What about the ease of operation, ability to trim the engine up to get over a sand bar without fear of damaging the gimbal bearing? Change a set of plugs or oil while standing upright, regular gas, running in salt water.
I think once you start looking at quad and quint powered rigs, the money is not as relevant, its more about trouble free operation and maybe having a lot more space onboard instead of the big engine hatch. Not saying these buyers don't care about money but rather they can justify the extra dollars of multiple engines if they're sure they won't be let down.
Just my silly opinion, bring on the popcorn.....
RR
P.S. Your triple engine boat doesn't need to come back in any way to please the market. You've said several times that it runs great and never gives you problems. That makes YOU the market and you're happy.
Last edited by rak rua; 01-23-2019 at 11:05 PM.
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mikebrls (02-13-2021)
01-24-2019, 01:45 AM
#5
Charter Member #94
Charter Member
Call me old fashioned, but I'm having a lot of trouble giving up the throaty thumping sound of a big block for an outboard.
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Abby-someone
Abby-someone
01-24-2019, 06:44 AM
#6
Gold Member
Gold Member
I don't have first hand experience with 3,4,5 engine boats. But here is my .02, If it takes more than 3 OB's to get the desired result, I would just stick with I/O's. I'm looking at the aesthetics and practicality. I think twin OBs look great, triples OK, more than that not so much. Triple I/O no thanks, HUGE engine compartment, HUGE cabin, small cockpit, and correct me if I'm wrong but not a huge performance difference between that and two higher HP motors. I think that only appeals to a small audience.
01-24-2019, 07:06 AM
#7
I don't have first hand experience with 3,4,5 engine boats. But here is my .02, If it takes more than 3 OB's to get the desired result, I would just stick with I/O's. I'm looking at the aesthetics and practicality. I think twin OBs look great, triples OK, more than that not so much. Triple I/O no thanks, HUGE engine compartment, HUGE cabin, small cockpit, and correct me if I'm wrong but not a huge performance difference between that and two higher HP motors. I think that only appeals to a small audience.
I'd go triple OB's but no way quads or more.
Triple I/O's were popular when they didn't have reliable big HP twin applications. So 43-45-50 ft. vee bottoms needed some HP, go triples because most recreational boaters didn't want a pair of 1000 SC's. Once the Merc 700/850s were out then that killed the need for triple 500/525s. The 3rd drive, 3rd set of headers would really be a kick in the nuts.
But Jeff, your boat kills it with the "cool factor!"
01-24-2019, 07:22 AM
#8
Registered
I was just reading on Stu first run of 2019, and looking at the pictures, my eyes stopped on 2 quad outboard powered boat, and thought about my triple 500's boat...
the popularity of similar boats to my sonic 45 went down with the years, we hear about cost of maintnance, even more about cost of insurance, some saying they can not get insurance to cover a triple engine boat, or too expensive to insure, so on and so forth...
What the hell happened to all those cost when looking at many quad engines boat now, even 5 engines sometimes ! you can still tell me outboard engines are less thursty than inboard engines, but I doubt a quad boat is a lot less thursty than my triple. I doubt insurance company don't make any differences between a twin to a quad engine boats...
an oil change is an oil change, so wether it'd be 3 or 4 outboards, oil and filter still cost the same, and probably drive oil too!
maybe my triple inboard boat will come back to be a nice set-up in the market! Hey, it's only a 3 engines boat !
the popularity of similar boats to my sonic 45 went down with the years, we hear about cost of maintnance, even more about cost of insurance, some saying they can not get insurance to cover a triple engine boat, or too expensive to insure, so on and so forth...
What the hell happened to all those cost when looking at many quad engines boat now, even 5 engines sometimes ! you can still tell me outboard engines are less thursty than inboard engines, but I doubt a quad boat is a lot less thursty than my triple. I doubt insurance company don't make any differences between a twin to a quad engine boats...
an oil change is an oil change, so wether it'd be 3 or 4 outboards, oil and filter still cost the same, and probably drive oil too!
maybe my triple inboard boat will come back to be a nice set-up in the market! Hey, it's only a 3 engines boat !
Maintenance isnt even close, with the 350 Verados we change the oil every 100 hours. On the 700's we change it every 25 hours. The Donzi is a lot more fun, but with triple 700's, there is often something breaking. Usually it is minor (water pump impeller, hole in a hose, etc) but still annoying and frustrating. We have put over 300 hours on the Nor-Tech and done nothing but oil/ filters/ gear lube. The Donzi we have replaced all the failed CMI headers, rebuilt all 3 engines, rebuilt all 3 drives, blown 2 transmissions, and a bunch of other minor things.
The insurance is alot more on the Donzi than the Nor-Tech and the agreed value on the Nor-Tech is $200k higher than the Donzi. The difference is the Donzi tops out at 120 mph and the Nor-Tech about 78 mph.
I don't think many people are going to outboards for the fuel or insurance differences, but more for the reliability.
Last edited by PremierPOWER; 01-24-2019 at 07:24 AM.
01-24-2019, 09:17 AM
#9
Registered
Great post on fuel burn comparison. That's a biggie for me. The outboards are also a lot easier to maintain when you can just stand up and work on motors that are sitting at eye level. I don't really have to winterize the outboards either. I know probably sacrilege on this website, but I enjoy a quite boat.
01-24-2019, 10:52 AM
#10
Registered
We have a 43 Donzi with triple Merc Racing 700's pushing 750hp on the dyno. At WOT, it burns 210 GPH. We also have a Nor-Tech 390 CC with triple 350 Verados. At WOT, it burns about 90GPH. With quad 400's, the same boat burns 155GPH. With Quad 300's, it only burns 98GPH.
Maintenance isnt even close, with the 350 Verados we change the oil every 100 hours. On the 700's we change it every 25 hours. The Donzi is a lot more fun, but with triple 700's, there is often something breaking. Usually it is minor (water pump impeller, hole in a hose, etc) but still annoying and frustrating. We have put over 300 hours on the Nor-Tech and done nothing but oil/ filters/ gear lube. The Donzi we have replaced all the failed CMI headers, rebuilt all 3 engines, rebuilt all 3 drives, blown 2 transmissions, and a bunch of other minor things.
The insurance is alot more on the Donzi than the Nor-Tech and the agreed value on the Nor-Tech is $200k higher than the Donzi. The difference is the Donzi tops out at 120 mph and the Nor-Tech about 78 mph.
I don't think many people are going to outboards for the fuel or insurance differences, but more for the reliability.
Maintenance isnt even close, with the 350 Verados we change the oil every 100 hours. On the 700's we change it every 25 hours. The Donzi is a lot more fun, but with triple 700's, there is often something breaking. Usually it is minor (water pump impeller, hole in a hose, etc) but still annoying and frustrating. We have put over 300 hours on the Nor-Tech and done nothing but oil/ filters/ gear lube. The Donzi we have replaced all the failed CMI headers, rebuilt all 3 engines, rebuilt all 3 drives, blown 2 transmissions, and a bunch of other minor things.
The insurance is alot more on the Donzi than the Nor-Tech and the agreed value on the Nor-Tech is $200k higher than the Donzi. The difference is the Donzi tops out at 120 mph and the Nor-Tech about 78 mph.
I don't think many people are going to outboards for the fuel or insurance differences, but more for the reliability.
