I know that money/work/fun ratio all too well. Ron, you mentioned the main ingredient as to why those of us here, do what we do. We LOVE this sport! You have to or you will not stay in it. It's a ridiculously expensive hobby!
I've been without it for years, missed it terribly and had to get back in. Let's all face it. It's a passion. that love and passion gets us through the the extra work, time maintenance and the breakdowns.(not mental ones hopefully). When I get frustrated whatever the current issue with my boat is, I just reflect back and remember what it was like when I was without. As I grow older I cant ever see myself being without something hi performance on the water. I'll be one of those older guys that we see with white hair and sunglasses with the bow aimed into the wind and throttles pinned forward and an ear to ear smile on my happy face, period. Yee Haw!

My .02 cents is I wouldn't do the swap David as it's to much coin for not enough return. Your hull is grossly under powered but I still love the setup.My friend Steves 36 with 2600 hp was a blast. Would run 160 everyday for short bursts, but ,I told him after running it in 3's with the occasional 5' I would be content if the boat only ran 115 mph which it could easily do with say 1400 hp total. The 400s' weigh to much in my opinion.I went from modded nicasil 260s' that would run 110 on my hull to steel sleeve 250 hp 2.5 ltr. Promaxes for reliability and YEARS of maintenance free running. We blew a 565" BBC every other poker run, with one exception, heat soaking the motors and lifting/breaking the ring lands. I changed my plugs last weekend after 3 years of maintenance free running on my promaxes.Once again my opinion if you outboard guys, like myself, want to run in the 115 to 120 mph range go with an modest power I/O like Skates' 338 hull.I know you will make the right decision for you David. Enjoy your Beauty and your Skater !

The Talon Guy

These boats are impractical from day one. Every boat is a project boat from day one. You should do exactly what you want and not look back. Having four 400 Verados is like having two turbines on a 46', impractical. So I say go for it if that's what you want. The maintenance and parts on these older Mercury's may soon make them obsolete. New power may provide the power and reliability you need. I would let the earlier applications work out the bugs and prove the change will be a good change.

Hey I know, if I can get you guys to sponsor me, this might be doable!

hey as long as there's no talk of switchin back to tripples like there was a few pages back . . . . . oh . . . . .wait a minute . . . . cut two off and put only one back on . . . . . ok maybe I could get on board with that

If Merc Racing ever wanted to have a boat that would garner attention running quad 4's..... THAT is THE boat to use as a test platform.

Too bad Merc isn't into LAKE X type rig testing. Prove the new power (with the additional weight) works on a Cat, their sales would go way up as they took away the reservation on an unknown experiment.

I like how you're thinking, but I tried that once with mercury awhile back when the rumors broke about the new 400 . Maybe I should keep asking, since "the squeaky wheel gets the grease". Lake X was great in the day. I was sad when they moved out of there. I had some of my best memories in a short time getting to do some testing there back in the late 90's

There is room for a 5th 280....

No worries Dave, I cant go backwards!
Only forwards!
an order for FIVE 400's would get Mercury's attention wouldn't it!
I wonder what Peter would think of that though

WWPD. What Would Peter Do