Newbie's wife wants gas budget

[mattmorrow21]

Hey guys, I know this is tough, but the wife wants to know how much gas is going to cost before we buy our first boat. What I'm looking at now is a 1997 Key West 17ft DC with a 1997 115 mariner 2 stroke. hull weight about 1150lbs I think per NADA and engine roughly 350lbs? I know it depends on if its WOT or cruising and any number of other variables, but whats a reasonable estimate for MPH or GPH at 3000rpms?

 

[sportsnut87]

Re: Newbie's wife wants gas budget

1st off if you are worried about buying gas, dont buy a boat!!!!!!!!!!

I can tell you my 97 175 sea ray 3.0 merc went thru $14.68 in 4 hours, now that is not pushing it hard, but the kids had a blast tubing.

boat 8000.000
tubes 250.00
gas 14.00

time with my family



PRICELESS

 

[degsey]

Re: Newbie's wife wants gas budget

my 115 goes through about 5 gal an hour at 4500 rpm

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: Newbie's wife wants gas budget

When I get that kind of stuff from my wife I just say..."It's okay, Sweetie. We'll just sell some of your shoes if we need to." Funny how that "what's it going to cost" attitude kinda evaporates after that.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Newbie's wife wants gas budget

Trying to give advice on how to budget fuel expenses for a boat, without knowing how much you will use it, and under what conditions, is difficult.

Your motor probably burns somewhere in the neighborhood of 11 gallons an hour at WOT (wide open throttle). By pulling the power back, without coming off of plane, you can reduce that consumption quite a bit. Reducing speed further will cause the boat to come off of plane and will require you to add power again, thereby increasing fuel consumption. This is referred to as "getting behind the power curve." I realize that this bit of info may seem to be more than you want to know, but it is useful because the rate and manner in which fuel is consumed plays into your expected boat usage.

For example, if you take the kids water skiing and they are small, you could probably run the boat at less than WOT and still remain on plane, while giving them a decent skiing speed. Or, perhaps they want to tube and you don't want to get going too fast, so you run off plane and end up pushing a big bow wave. That will probably use more fuel than the water skiing.

With all of this in mind, what I recommend is that you search the net for some boat reviews. Try to find one with a similar boat/motor package. In those reviews, you will often find charts and/or graphs, depicting fuel consumption at various rpm settings and hull speeds. By taking that information and combining it with a sense of how often you will use your boat, and what you will be doing with it, you can make some "guesstimates" on what you need to budget for the boat.

If the logic doesn't work, you can always bribe her with jewelry!

 

[bhammer]

Re: Newbie's wife wants gas budget

I think it is great that your family sets up a budget and you are asking before you buy a boat. Too many folks forget about the gas and maintenace portion of it. My wife wanted to know the same thing before we purchased; not becasue we couldn't afford it, it's just her nature.

With that being said, it is difficult to tell and we could throw numbers at you but that wouldn't help that much. Maybe another member has the same boat/engine combo... The idea for you to search google would be good and find a similar boat with the numbers.

 

[xxxflhrci]

Re: Newbie's wife wants gas budget

I can tell you my 97 175 sea ray 3.0 merc went thru $14.68 in 4 hours, now that is not pushing it hard, but the kids had a blast tubing.

When in 1997?

On a serious note, my 3.0/17.5ft is what I consider easy on gas. We went to the lake the other day and ran the boat non-stop for about 2 hours, mostly cruising at 25-30 mph. It used 7.6 gallons. I actually expected that I would have used more.

 

[Kev144]

Re: Newbie's wife wants gas budget

my 89 150 Blackmax on my Charger uses about 70 litres a day or 60 bucks a day for me . And thats being pretty hard on the ol girl.

 

[dodgeramsst2003]

Re: Newbie's wife wants gas budget

as a general rule, an engine will burn 1/2 lb of fuel per hr per Hp at WOT. so, if you have a 100hp engine, it will burn 50 lbs of fuel per hour at WOT, or a little over 7 gal/hr. ( gas weighs about 6.8lbs per gallon) Now, all you need to do is figure out how much HP you will be using at your intended use. Not an easy task, but I generally figure about half of what the engine is capable of. I have an I/O 188hp, I use about 12 gal/hr doing what I do, which is cruising out to the fishing hole, and back in, docking etc.

 

[bjcsc]

Re: Newbie's wife wants gas budget

If the fuel is a big concern, a boat may not be in your best interest. In my experience, the fuel is the cheapest part of owning a boat. You could always make the "look how much money we'll save by not having to buy fish" argument ...

 

[45Auto]

Re: Newbie's wife wants gas budget

Congratulations on looking for some realistic numbers BEFORE you get involved!

According to Yamaha tests, a 1260 lb boat with a 360 lb carbureted Yamaha 115 will burn typically burn 6 or 7 gallons per hour while it's on plane. That'll be 4 or 5 miles per gallon. I would expect the 115 Mercury to use slightly more fuel than the Yamaha, say 7 or 8 gallons per hour, 3.5 to 4.5 MPG. A friend of mine has a 19' Mako with a mid-90's Mariner 150, gets between 2 - 2.5 MPG.

You'll have to decide what a typical day would be on your boat. Cruise 15 minutes to a beach, lay around a couple of hours, maybe tube for an hour or so then head home? Cruise 1/2 hour to a fishing spot and fish for a couple of hours? My point is that you will not be constantly running the motor. The typical boater puts less than 50 hours per year on their motor. Figure 10% or so at idle (no wake zones, etc), means you'll probably run 40 - 45 hours at 7 gallons per hour. You're probably looking at 250 - 300 gallons of gas, which will cost you somewhere between $1000 - $1200.

You'll have to decide what the boating experience is worth to you. My family considers it well worth the cost!

On a serious note, my 3.0/17.5ft is what I consider easy on gas. We went to the lake the other day and ran the boat non-stop for about 2 hours, mostly cruising at 25-30 mph. It used 7.6 gallons. I actually expected that I would have used more.

xxxflhcri, that is EXCELLENT fuel consumption. I hope to get my 120 (2.5l) I/O in the water today, hope it can come close to what you're seeing!

 

[fishmen111]

Re: Newbie's wife wants gas budget

Tell her it burns about one gallon a day and then siphon the rest from her minivan when you get home.. Matt, I know money does not grow on trees, but IMO, a boat is one of the best family investments you can make. With any boat, your costs can vary widely. At WOT, that motor will probably burn around 10-12 gph. Cruise speeds are 35-50% of that. Fuel usage in boats increases greatly above the motors recommended cruise rpm. Some folks look at gph figures and buy a canoe, but the numbers can be misleading. The wife and I take a one hour cruise, then anchor up and fish for a few, then cruise a little more. Pulling the kids on tubes does burn more, but they tire out and it is rare that you really run the boat more than a few hours on any day. Boats are toys and can be expensive, but to me, NOTHING beats being on the water. Good luck!!!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Newbie's wife wants gas budget

the test data is pretty accurate. thing to conserve fuel proper load dispersement, trim, motor properly propped to achieve max rpms. go to wot, then feather back to about 7/8 throttle, the spark stays advanced, the carb does not distribute as much fuel.

 

[DRIFTER_016]

Re: Newbie's wife wants gas budget

When I get that kind of stuff from my wife I just say..."It's okay, Sweetie. We'll just sell some of your shoes if we need to." Funny how that "what's it going to cost" attitude kinda evaporates after that.

 

[wca_tim]

Re: Newbie's wife wants gas budget

some good advice above... count on gas as your primary and major expense... right behind maintenence. A lot will depend on how you drive and how much ground you cover, also whether or not you are on a trailer or in a slip (marina gas is going to cost more).

we have been goign almost every day wakeboarding, etc.. in a small runabout and are burning between 50 and 100 a day... OI have a heavy throttle hand, and a lot of that is also pulling wakeboarders and skiers... we also have a performance v-8 in our boat, but it is actually getting about the same fuel usage as it was with a 4.3 v-6... also don't forget to include gas for the tow vehicls... my truck seldom is driven for anything else and get's poor gas milege... when we go very far to put in the water, the truck gas is also a contributing expense... ON both fronts i could be more economical, it's about choices. We chose to stay home and boat our *****es off for vacation this year instead of traveling. has turned out to be a great choice.

that being said, I wouldn't trade anything for the joy of watching my daughter learn to wakeboard, or quietly driving and listening to her and her friends talk and laugh while we're on the river... (not married, so wife doesn't apply...).

I also agree that it's good you're talking about gas budget up front.

God luck! the watter calls...

 

[DRIFTER_016]

Re: Newbie's wife wants gas budget

If you are concerned about fuel usage, look for a boat with a 4 Stroke as they get much better mileage than 2 strokes (especially the older non DFI ones)

Or you could just buy one of them sail boats, I hear they get really good gas mileage!!!!

 

[PennStateZ]

Re: Newbie's wife wants gas budget

the test data is pretty accurate. thing to conserve fuel proper load dispersement, trim, motor properly propped to achieve max rpms. go to wot, then feather back to about 7/8 throttle, the spark stays advanced, the carb does not distribute as much fuel.

Less fuel and advanced timing...this doesn't put you at risk for detonation (preignition)?

 

[triumphrick]

Re: Newbie's wife wants gas budget

The good thing about the Key West is the lighter weight. The Hydra Sports is also light for it's size due to a lot of Kevlar. Weight is one of the biggest factors, along with drag and horsepower that will determine fuel usage. I, too, feel that you can expect to use 3-4 gph on an average with a rig like that. And always keep weight in mind while out on the water. I don't always carry two anchors, but sometimes I do. I may not need 60 lbs of ice that day, maybe 30 will be enough. I go through my boat regularly looking for things I can leave out, you know like all those pesky life vests, float cushions, radios, flares, gps, etc.....