38 TE Fountain/ QUAD 250 opti's/ performance #'s

[propbender24]

I just got the boat a couple of weeks ago, so I am still learning how to trim the boat for max performance

The boat is rigged with quad 2006 250 opti's, They are the detuned opti's that burn 87 octane.
The boat is a 2005, and was originally rigged with 91 octane 250's, The previous owner said the boat lost 2-3 mph top end with the new 87 octane engines. This particular boat was the first quad boat Fountain built, and it was constructed with an extra layer of glass and added reinforcement, so it is a little heavier than some of the other 38's

After a little practice running the boat, I had a chance to take some numbers for you guys:

The boat had 200 gallons of fuel, light fishing gear, 3 people, open array radar, full t-top enclosure, lots of miscellanous gear in the console and cabin, and there is a leaning post/fighting chair mounted on the bow on the cuddy deck

The numbers were taken with a 10 kt. tail wind, but we were running against a 1-2 kt current in ole river, air temp was in the mid 70's and sticky. All speed numbers were collected using the furuno gps, and gph was collected via Smartcraft(SC 5000), Props are labbed 28 Bravo's on the centers, and 26's on the outside


600 rpm = 1.4 gph = 5.50 mph = 3.93 mpg
3700 rpm = 33 gph = 44.0 mph = 1.36 mpg
4100 rpm = 42 gph = 53.5 mph = 1.27 mpg
4700 rpm = 62 gph = 63.2 mph = 1.02 mpg
5800 rpm = 96 gph = 77.6 mph = 0.81 mpg


So far I am extremely impressed with the boat, the acceleration is sweet, (it does not take long to get to 75+ mph)
I am sure I can get a little better top end after some more practice running the boat, I think its safe to call it an 80 mph boat with a light load

[surveyingdawg]

AWSOME!!!!! Are 300s in your future?

[SEASWIRL PAUL]

Wow, thats sweet. Especially with the extra thick hull. Enjoy. It must be nice getting offsore in short order.

[propbender24]

I plan to power with 300's when the 34 sells.
The gph fuel burn #'s will be the same as the 250's, but the speed will be 5-7 mph more across the board

[Mr. Demeanor]

Smokin...wanna donate one of those old worn out detuned 250xs' to a slightly underpowered Fountain owner

[propbender24]

Mr. Demeanor, wish I could help on the donation, but those 300's aren't cheap,
the 250's are actually gonna be for sale shortly, they have 250 hours.

They have the heavy duty Sportmaster gearcases, and that 23/25 Fountain would look sweet throwing a rooster tail

[Ellie's Navi Gator]

Wow, that top end is impressive. Sounds like you were in freshwater. May pick up a mph or so in saltwater.

[Mr. Demeanor]

I'll talk to Santa

[Tireless]

If you bought the Hooters boat I am impressed. I saw that baby running with the quad 250xs motors......it passed us like we hit the brakes, we were only running 68 mph in a 34 Fountain.

Talk to us about the difference between running the 34 and the 38.....your perspective would be quite interesting.

[DreamWeaver21]

Watch out for gun slingers on the highway...

[Glen E]

Tireless - 12/9/2007 9:58 PM

Talk to us about the difference between running the 34 and the 38.....your perspective would be quite interesting.

agreed - and how do you sync the motors? - the outside motors first and then the two centers? or vice versa? do they all run the same gph?

[propbender24]

Tireless,
I haven't ran the 38 enough to give a full comparison to the 34, but so far; here are my thoughts:

A good comparison is that the 34 is more nimble and drives more like a sportscar, while the 38 rides like a one ton dually with a superchip that will out run the sports car. But, if the 38 only had trips, this may not be a good comparison

I would say that in a sea less than 3 feet, the 34 gets the job done fine, but when the seas get bigger, I imagine the 38 would be a more comfortable ride. The 38 is definately more difficult to drive as far as trim and tabs go. I have not had the 38 in a chop yet, but in a 3-4 confused sea, the 38 felt dominating, and seemed to plow through the waves rather than run on top like the 34 does at 55 mph. For some reason, the 38 seemed to ride heavy, more like an express. but, keep in mind this boat is 13,500 lbs.+ dry, with fuel, gear, etc, you could actually approach 20K lbs.

If you are not a hardcore fisher all of the time, and you like cruising around, the 34 gets the job done well


Glen, syncing the motors has been tough to figure out.
At the same trim level, the outside engines are 3-400 rpms less than the center motors. So, I have mainly been matching the rpms, and gph with trim.

At WOT, I have been trimming all 4 engines together until the center engines get to 57-5800 rpm, and then I raise the outside engines till they reach max rated rpm as well. I am sure I am doing something wrong,

At cruise speeds, I was playing with the trim and throttles till I got the same gph out of all 4 motors.
It seems that the center motors are burning more fuel than the outside, and this doesn't make since b/c the centers are turning more rpms than the outsides given the same throttle

At the 4100 rpm cruise listed, the inside engines were burning 11 gph @ 4150 rpm, and the outsides burnt 10 gph @ 4000 rpm.
At the 4700 rpm cruise listed, the inside engines were burning 16 gph @ 4800 rpm, and the outsides burnt 15 gph @ 4600 rpm.

Glen, to answer your questions, I got the inside motors in sync first,, followed by the outside engines.
The gph were all 4 the same at WOT, but the outsides burnt a little less at cruise speed

I am open to any suggestions

[sundancekid]

The reason why you are seeing less fuel burn on the outsides is that they are swinging two inches less pitch. You can immedeately tell pitche differences when you try to match RPMs and gph. The Verados are especially touchy with this over 5000 RPMs. I have ran several triple boats where at 5000 the gph can be off by as much as 4 gph. Run the same boat with lab finished props and true pitch, the difference is within 0.5 gph accross the board.

[Tireless]

Thanks for the reply. I am thinking about moving up and the 34 and 38 are first on my list. Keep us posted on your experience. Congrats again.

[propbender24]

Tireless, I can tell you that a step up to a 34 is a big difference in size and ride. I spent some time on a 31' I took in on trade for my twin engine 34. I am sure you have experienced the difference since you spent some time on a 34.

Joey,
You are right about the higher pitch burning more fuel, but for some reason my 34's center engine seems to burn less fuel even while pushing a higher pitch prop

The throttle linkages on the center engines are a little stiff, and this may be affecting my perception of throttle position a little as well

[Tireless]

Oh I do know the massive difference between the 31 and 34........it's big time difference to be sure. I think the 34 weighs in at least 50% more than the 31, wider beam, lot's of ponies, great floor boxes. I think it's time to sell my boat and join the big leagues.

[bgreene]

Nice, wonder if it would be slower or faster with triple Opti 300's.........?

[cheapshot]

Propbender Good Luck with your new ride ! It's sweet !I went from a 31 te to a 08 34 cc,can't beat the numbers .

[sundancekid]

Triple 300 Optis are slower, ran a 38 Open with them and 76 was the top end light in good conditions on the limiters with 26 labbed Bravos.

[vwfam2000]

Man I cannot wait to fish this boat. Still got 6 months left in the sand. But I will have some free time when I get back. I must say if there is an idea of getting a 34 /trip's. DO NOT pass on Chris' 34' boat. It is beautiful and has about everything you could think of (except for a 6' aftco gaff ha. ha.). I was soo impressed with his boat I just couldn't believe he was moving up, till I saw the 38 WOW. Have you decided on the graphics yet? At least change the ladies. Anyway, good to see the boat is working out tell everyone I said hey.