To rebuild or replace that is the question
03-29-2016, 08:42 AM
#1
To rebuild or replace that is the question
Like the title says, I'm currently on the fence about what to do with the power on my 32. I've currently got trip X's and want to rebuild them before I start running the boat for the summer again but am honestly thinking about selling them and repowering with either trip XS's or twin 400's...
I know that if I swap motors I'll miss the X's but the X's seem to be selling for good money and that would go a long way to updating the power. Then the question is if I repower do I go XS's and stay trips since the top end and acceleration is awesome and I'd still get better economy, or do I take a loss on those two put the 400's on and have a much more updated boat?
What would you do and why???
I know that if I swap motors I'll miss the X's but the X's seem to be selling for good money and that would go a long way to updating the power. Then the question is if I repower do I go XS's and stay trips since the top end and acceleration is awesome and I'd still get better economy, or do I take a loss on those two put the 400's on and have a much more updated boat?
What would you do and why???
03-29-2016, 03:20 PM
#3
I would say twin 400r. It might not be as fast as the triple setup but should be more reliable and still provide pretty good speeds. Plus if you go to sell the boat I would think more people would want twin 400s over triple 300s.
03-29-2016, 07:38 PM
#4
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MLB75
This is one of situation many of us with 30' plus OB cats think about all the time. If it were me I would start by listing what is most important to least and fill in the blanks. I know there are guys that say a pair of 400's will run as good as triples but I have a hard time believing that. Especially when using the 300x motor. Chardt on here has his boat running 125mph+ consistently as shown in a video. So far a twin 400r boat is 114mph as a best.
If you look at some other facts a quad engine 400r Nor-tech CC outran a triple 7Marine 557 boat. The Seven marine boat ran 88mph and the 400r boat hit 100mph.
Here are my questions I ask myself.
1) Do I plan to keep the boat or sell in the next 2-3yrs.
2) Do I care about top speed
3) Is not having a warranty an issue
4) What is my budget for the Repower or rebuild.
5) Noise factor?
6) 2 stroke oil and smoke?
7) Are you someone that can work on the motors or have to use mechanic?
8) Fuel Milage?
Just some of things to consider. However if you decide on the 400r's let me know. I would be interested in the X motors.
Thanks
This is one of situation many of us with 30' plus OB cats think about all the time. If it were me I would start by listing what is most important to least and fill in the blanks. I know there are guys that say a pair of 400's will run as good as triples but I have a hard time believing that. Especially when using the 300x motor. Chardt on here has his boat running 125mph+ consistently as shown in a video. So far a twin 400r boat is 114mph as a best.
If you look at some other facts a quad engine 400r Nor-tech CC outran a triple 7Marine 557 boat. The Seven marine boat ran 88mph and the 400r boat hit 100mph.
Here are my questions I ask myself.
1) Do I plan to keep the boat or sell in the next 2-3yrs.
2) Do I care about top speed
3) Is not having a warranty an issue
4) What is my budget for the Repower or rebuild.
5) Noise factor?
6) 2 stroke oil and smoke?
7) Are you someone that can work on the motors or have to use mechanic?
8) Fuel Milage?
Just some of things to consider. However if you decide on the 400r's let me know. I would be interested in the X motors.
Thanks
03-29-2016, 09:05 PM
#5
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Hey MLB75, I think Ron is asking the right questions. Where do you live now. Im in Toms River NJ. I would consider taking you out for a ride if you are ever In the Toms River area. My boat is the one he was referring to that ran 114mph. I have never owned a boat with any of the other 300 motors. Im sure they run very well. Ive been out a few times recently since I have gotten her home. Although I have nothing to compare them too I absolutely love the 400Rs. My question is as Ron said how long are you planning on keeping it. I don't think you would be disappointed at all but why spend the money if you aren't keeping it long. Now that Ive run her in the salt water Im pretty sure Ill get another couple mph out of her on top end But 114 or 116 or so shouldn't really matter. She's definitely got more left in her if it does.
03-30-2016, 05:00 AM
#6
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Trips for sure, if one quits, you can still run 50 going back.
Weight is close to the same with trips, but power is way better.
Oh and the Cool Factor.
Weight is close to the same with trips, but power is way better.
Oh and the Cool Factor.
03-30-2016, 07:57 AM
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I can't see spending $30,000.00 or more to go at least 10mph slower and lose a lot of acceleration and load carrying capability. I believe Grants did a 32B with 400's and it lost at least 10mph from the 300x motors. I'd wait till you can get 500 reliable horse power out of the four stroke outboards before I spend the money. You already have the 300x motors and they are cheap to rebuild and easy to work on. That's my thoughts and I have a 32' skater with triple 300x motors.
Carl
Carl
03-30-2016, 12:14 PM
#8
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just as all above stated about what u want out of the boat and how long going to keep it
if u were building a modern 2016 hull with new power 400s would be the direction to go
as new hulls are being built for them
running an older hull that the motors fit the era
and having the extra excelleration of the trips
as stated rebuilding is cheap,,,,there is a few builders that know these motors well
can bump them to 350 hp each and still be dependable
and still have $ left over the price left over of repower
for fuel and be adding more mph and really fun excelleration
I did my little boat with trips over twins
the wow factor and excelleration is just plain fun
if u were building a modern 2016 hull with new power 400s would be the direction to go
as new hulls are being built for them
running an older hull that the motors fit the era
and having the extra excelleration of the trips
as stated rebuilding is cheap,,,,there is a few builders that know these motors well
can bump them to 350 hp each and still be dependable
and still have $ left over the price left over of repower
for fuel and be adding more mph and really fun excelleration
I did my little boat with trips over twins
the wow factor and excelleration is just plain fun
03-31-2016, 07:13 AM
#9
Thanks for the input, you've basically told me the same thing that I was thinking I just needed to hear that I wasn't making a bad decision...
I love the trip setup because it looks cool and has such amazing acceleration, the boat will just leap up on plane and doesn't stop pulling until you pull back on the throttles. The main reason I was considering going to the 400's was to be able to mold on a "bustle" between the two motors to clean up the rear profile and make getting on and off the boat easier but no big deal I'll figure out a different ladder setup and leave it the way it is.
To answer a few of the question above.
Yes I plan to keep the boat for a while, I'm pretty much going through the whole thing now so hopefully I've got several years of trouble free boating ahead of me. That's why I figured if I was going to do it now was the time.
Top speed matters but to me every day top speed and longer distance top speed matters more. That's one of the other big things pushing me to stay 2 Stroke. The Verado's are nice but let’s face it with the valve trains they aren't going to like running wide open for 90 miles during a poker run, I've done so several times with my last boat that had 300 XS's allowing me to run with much faster boats that just didn't want to push it for as long a time. It's funny to me that a 102MPH outboard boat (much less a 120MPH one) will run right with 140MPH boats in a poker run more often than not because they don't want to break things. Again a nod to keeping the X's but was making sure I wasn't just being silly...
Warrantee is nice but I'm more than capable of doing 99% of the work myself and it seems that Mercury doesn't keep anything in stock so other than them covering the cost of parts whenever they're available I almost think it's a false sense of security. I will also say after eating 2 compressors on 300XS's they were a bit of a letdown (supposedly the newer versions of the compressors are better though so maybe that wouldn't continue to be an issue). The only reason I'd go XS over the X's I have is fuel economy, the X's seem to be VERY thirsty and since we boat quite a bit it's got to at least be a consideration.
The budget was pretty much it costs what it costs. I was figuring in that 30K plus selling my motors range though. I was fine with that if it was the better option because IMO the boat would also appreciate for at least part of that and if it got me a better overall experience that’s the cost of boating. Would I like to keep that $ in my pocket sure LOL but like I mentioned above with going through as much of the rest of the boat as I am I figured now was the time if I was going to do it.
As for rebuild budget again it’s going to cost what it costs, its part of boating. That being said I don’t necessarily think I care about spending a bunch more money on hoping these motors up at the cost of reliability.
Oil and smoke don’t matter, granted I don’t want it to smoke like a freight train at the dock but that shouldn’t be the case anyway.
Noise, none of them are going to get the sound of a blown BBC so it’s a wash almost a nod to the X’s that when running at least have a little attitude.
Like I mentioned above mileage is a consideration but I can buy a lot of gas for $30K.
So where does everyone get the parts from when they rebuild, or does everyone else just send them off?
I love the trip setup because it looks cool and has such amazing acceleration, the boat will just leap up on plane and doesn't stop pulling until you pull back on the throttles. The main reason I was considering going to the 400's was to be able to mold on a "bustle" between the two motors to clean up the rear profile and make getting on and off the boat easier but no big deal I'll figure out a different ladder setup and leave it the way it is.
To answer a few of the question above.
Yes I plan to keep the boat for a while, I'm pretty much going through the whole thing now so hopefully I've got several years of trouble free boating ahead of me. That's why I figured if I was going to do it now was the time.
Top speed matters but to me every day top speed and longer distance top speed matters more. That's one of the other big things pushing me to stay 2 Stroke. The Verado's are nice but let’s face it with the valve trains they aren't going to like running wide open for 90 miles during a poker run, I've done so several times with my last boat that had 300 XS's allowing me to run with much faster boats that just didn't want to push it for as long a time. It's funny to me that a 102MPH outboard boat (much less a 120MPH one) will run right with 140MPH boats in a poker run more often than not because they don't want to break things. Again a nod to keeping the X's but was making sure I wasn't just being silly...
Warrantee is nice but I'm more than capable of doing 99% of the work myself and it seems that Mercury doesn't keep anything in stock so other than them covering the cost of parts whenever they're available I almost think it's a false sense of security. I will also say after eating 2 compressors on 300XS's they were a bit of a letdown (supposedly the newer versions of the compressors are better though so maybe that wouldn't continue to be an issue). The only reason I'd go XS over the X's I have is fuel economy, the X's seem to be VERY thirsty and since we boat quite a bit it's got to at least be a consideration.
The budget was pretty much it costs what it costs. I was figuring in that 30K plus selling my motors range though. I was fine with that if it was the better option because IMO the boat would also appreciate for at least part of that and if it got me a better overall experience that’s the cost of boating. Would I like to keep that $ in my pocket sure LOL but like I mentioned above with going through as much of the rest of the boat as I am I figured now was the time if I was going to do it.
As for rebuild budget again it’s going to cost what it costs, its part of boating. That being said I don’t necessarily think I care about spending a bunch more money on hoping these motors up at the cost of reliability.
Oil and smoke don’t matter, granted I don’t want it to smoke like a freight train at the dock but that shouldn’t be the case anyway.
Noise, none of them are going to get the sound of a blown BBC so it’s a wash almost a nod to the X’s that when running at least have a little attitude.
Like I mentioned above mileage is a consideration but I can buy a lot of gas for $30K.
So where does everyone get the parts from when they rebuild, or does everyone else just send them off?
03-31-2016, 10:57 AM
#10
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the new 300xs have most the bugs out of them and is a motor still in production for on a couple more yrs
as the 4 chokes have taken over their lineup as that's where they are going
im an old 2.5 guy as I raced them for many yrs and know them well so at 375lbs each I used them on my set up
reason 300x is bringing in good resale as they are wanted for their simplicity and power
dave bush and diamond are 2 great builders for them motors
and builders like them are good to go to
being april tomorrow and 3 rebuilds may take a bit of the summer to have built
the x motor turns 7,000 rs and makes 325 stock
when they rebuild em and do tiny clean ups they really perform and still dependable
parts are available through pro marine for all components on these motors from powerhead to gearcase
as far as entering at rear ive seen a single step and a grab rail handle installed on both sides of hull anodized and looked good
as the 4 chokes have taken over their lineup as that's where they are going
im an old 2.5 guy as I raced them for many yrs and know them well so at 375lbs each I used them on my set up
reason 300x is bringing in good resale as they are wanted for their simplicity and power
dave bush and diamond are 2 great builders for them motors
and builders like them are good to go to
being april tomorrow and 3 rebuilds may take a bit of the summer to have built
the x motor turns 7,000 rs and makes 325 stock
when they rebuild em and do tiny clean ups they really perform and still dependable
parts are available through pro marine for all components on these motors from powerhead to gearcase
as far as entering at rear ive seen a single step and a grab rail handle installed on both sides of hull anodized and looked good
