76' 85hp fuel consumption

[niceandeasy]

I have a 74' Johnson 85hp. Pushing a 15' trihaul with two people I'm getting about 4 1/2 to 5 gal per hour at 3/4 throttle. What can I do to get better gas consumption. It's Not water log and a 10gal tank it sucks. And yes it's on plane

 

[ttankmoran]

That sounds about right and even fairly decent for 3/4 throttle. As a guideline most outboards will burn about 10% of their hp in GPH at wide open. 85 HP equals about 8.5 GPH at WOT.

I'm not sure what you are expecting, you gotta pay to play. You can conserve gas by making sure you are propped right, slowing down, downsizing boats/motors in some cases or riding on someone else's boat.

 

[ttankmoran]

I just checked out some performance bulletins, as an example I checked a few boats with a 90 hp carbureted 2-stroke (3 cylinder, likely more efficient than your v-4) Best cruise on these engines are usually in the 3000-3500 rpm range, burning about 4.5-5.1 GPH. You're right in the ballpark, sounds like you're going pretty good.

 

[emdsapmgr]

The crossflow family of engines was never known as a fuel efficient engine. When it came out, it made a lot of hp in a small package. Wildly popular at the time. Smoked a lot, made a lot of noise and burned a lot of fuel. Back when gas was 70 cents a gallon-who cared? Ther've been a lot of improvements in the marine industry since 1976-fuel economy probably the most remarkable change in the marine industry over the years. Quietness and durability/reliability too.