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I bought a 24' proline with the intention of repowering with suzuki 300 fourstroke.. took the motor off that had blown head and took it to the Suzuki dealer... he told me he wouldn't put the motor on for saftey reasons the boat has a 2ft bracket on the back and with the bow pulpit its 26' long
anyone have any ideas on this?? boat is rated for a 300hp I was going with the 300 to give me the loss of speed that comes with a 4 stroke?? help please
First - you really don't need a 75 hp increase in power to "even out" with the power of a 12 year old 2 stroke. You would be a-ok fine with another 225 or 250.
Second - did the dealer actually inspect the boat, or was he simply against installing a 600 lb motor on a 12 year old hull? That is a 200 lb weight increase and a pretty dramatic power increase, so maybe he had his reasons.
If the hull is sound (and you may want to have a surveyor check out the transom) then I would call Pro-Line and ask for their recommendation. If they rated it for 300 hp they likely hung twin 135s or twin 150s on it at some point. However, I would make sure someone takes a good look at the boat first to make sure it is up to the task.
As for the boat, my friend bought the boat new in 96 and blew the powerhead 2 years later and had it fixed, he then bought a 30' proline with twin 225's and sold the boat to his Dad, his Dad blew the motor again and never had the money to repower and let the boat sit for the past 7 years... I have taken all the riggins of the old motor and the boat is as clean as it was 12 years ago with little use!!
I'm sure when they put the placard on for the hp rating it was for twin 150 or 135's but I would think that the single motor would weigh alot less??
i just repowered my '96 proline 240 sport with a 225 etec.
what a fantastic motor!
yes , 225 hp is enough but if you want more, just go for it.
i had an old '96 225 merc that had a drinking problem.
it had good power but was also very loud and it smoked.
250 would be a good repower but i'd go with a 2stroke for weight savings.
look at etec or optimax.
i think that your boat is rated for 300hp .
good luck.
Thanks... me I'm trying to stay away from 2 stroke oil with gas prices..... I checked on pricing for the etec and was out of my range along with the verado..
Yes the boat is rated for a 300 but with the newer motors I don't know with the weight issue.. Thanks
if you are concerned about gas prices , you should consider the new 2 strokes .
etec and optimax get pretty good fuel economy and are much lighter than the 4 strokes.
that's why i stayed with the 2 stroke.
i'm getting about 2.5mpg at cruise-- approx 12gph @ 30-32mph.
my old thirsty carbureted merc 225 sucked down about 17gph at cruise.
i'm saving gas now and it doesn't use much oil either.
I have a 1999 Proline 251 Walk with an Evinrude 200 and a bracket. 27 ft loa. It is underpowered. but finally runs well with a 15 x 15 ss prop. I thought 300 Zuke too. Dealer says a 250 etech (he sells both ) with a 18 Enertia prop would be the ticket.Can use same controls too. He has not tried the 300 etec yet but feels the Zuke on a bracket would be too heavy.The Evinrude does not tilt fully out.
All anecdotal so I do not really know.
The Proline has been great. And the Evinrude still sucks gas but runs very well. So...Let me know what you do, and how she does.
Last fall I put a DF300 on the back of my 1996 Pursuit 2470 walk replacing a Yam 250 OX66.......only diff is the Pursuit has a fixed euro style transom.......max hp sticker on the boat same as yours 300hp......odes not designate single or twins.....and I was boarded and inspected by USCG recently and they had no issues..........absolutely no problems....and the DF 300 is a very impressive machine........still not full broken in...but getting 30-32 mph......@ 4,000 RPM @ 10gph...swinging a 16X18.5 pitch wheel.........and I think I need to move the motor up one or two holes.................You probably don't need that much power ...but the drive by wire throttle/shift and other stuff make it a nice motor.........plenty of power if fully loaded.............
Stapon, I think that's why we blew 2 powerheads was because it was under powered!! As for fuel the proline they put the zuke on with the 300 was a 24 supersport and it got 3.89 mpg @ 31mph I'll try the link. http://suzukimarine.com/boat_builder...r_sport/df300/
Hard to beat that and not have to spend $25.00 a gallon for oil
Here in Georgia you have to run 65-70mile to get to the blue water, that's where I want to be and adding the weight of fuel (140gallon) ice (100lbs) and 4 men with all the tackle... I'm not going back with a 225 boat took 4 minutes to get on plane.
The hull may be rated to 300hp but what is the bracket rated to? That is the question. That hull had twin 150's with a larger bracket to meet the max rating. I think the single STainless marine brackets were rated to 250hp. (I had the walkaround version). personally I would have no problems putting a 300zuke on as I know the boat can handle running a 250hp outboard at WOT and being that I would want the 300 just to run a cruise at lesser rpms than WOT for engine longevity and fuel economy. Customer is always right. Find another outboard dealer..
Edit: I will say that a 250 Etec may give you great performance on that boat and save you money on rigging. I know a guy who has run the same hull with a 250zuke and 250 etec and his initial thoughts on the performance were that the DFI etec "had better legs" as he said. (see here: http://www.classicparker.com/phpBB2/...pic.php?t=4558 )
I'm going with the 250 zuke... he gave me base price witch is 1,300 off the 300zuke. and I don't have to pay the higher price for the fly-by-wire controls.... but sure would have been nice to have..
'96 Proline 240 motor question 
