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Would like opinions on what to do with my 24' Pursuit WA. It's currently powered with twin Yamaha 130's. They run fine but only get 1.3 mpg and with 125 gals. of fuel don't have the range I need. If I stick with twin yamaha 4 strokes would have to go to 115's that are 100 lbs. heavier. Could go to twin Suzuki 140's with about the same weight as the yamaha 4 strokes. Or could go to single 250 4 stroke but would need kicker. Any advice?
MarVista: I wrestled with this same question a few months ago when I ordered a Grady 258. I chose the F250. Not just because I'm cheap - even though I am. Not just because I'm lazy, even though I can be.
I've run the same model boat with both twin F150s and now my F250.
I like the (relative) fuel economy, less sound and vibration, less time spent changing fluids and the room I get at the transom for kids getting on the ladder and for sharp turns with my downrigger cable out.
I do most of my boating within ten miles of shore and I keep a quality radio and antenna and an EPIRB. I keep my tow insurance up. I would do these things even if I had twin engines. I do run to the Bahamas each year. But I always run with another boat. If I had motor trouble, I'm not going to die.
A friend also pointed out that, while most any new engine should be reliable, you do double your chances of having a problem with twins. You get back without seatow, but it still ruins your day and you're still back in the shop.
Also, I plan to keep this Grady for a long time. I likely will want to replace the engine after 7-10 years. Replacing twins is daunting on the pocketbook.
There are drawbacks tomy single lifestyle. The transom of my boat seems lighter than Grady designed it for. That's great heading into a sea - boat stays on plane at a fairly low speed. But the bow does not stay up as well as I would like it to in a 2-4 following sea. It isn't bad, I was running at 30 mph in a 2-4' following sea, but the ride is slightly better when I have two people sitting in the stern seat rather than upfront with me.
Also, I feel a bit of torque steer when coming up on plane. Not much, and it goes away once up on plane, but I don't think I would feel it with twins.
I thought I would notice a bigger difference while docking. But I don't really. It took a few weeks to get used to the new boat, but now I don't even think about it anymore.
It would depend a lot on what you with your boat- Wahoo brought out some good points regarding taking the boat offshore. If you do a lot of this and typically do it solo, the twins would be better IMHO. However, if not, then go with the single f250. Especially since you can almost get the max hull rating HP with a single four stroke (280 seems a little low for this boat, however) . The only advantage to twins in this situation, would be for peace-of-mind if you're offshore alot. I went with twins for my 23 GW only because at the time I needed more HP than you could get with a single. But it's definitely more expensive. If you do go with twins, get as much HP as the boat will allow. You'll never regret it. Good luck with your decision. Very nice boat BTW.
I think if you go from twins to a single you lose big time on re-sale. If you don't have a bracket then you are drilling new mounting holes and filling the existing ones. Stay with the twins for several reasons.
Thanks for the input guys. You guys are hitting right on the points I'm struggling with. I think the single 250 Yamaha would be awesome on the top end speed and on fuel economy and I bet the Yamaha would be reliable and would probably never let me down. I do use the boat almost exclusively offshore chasing pelagics but I do have the gold card towing insurance. The one problem is I trailer down to Baja and there ain't no tow service there. I love the way the boat handles now with the twins. It jumps on plane and tracks like a dream but it tops out at 30 knts. WOT.
Also, I repowered my last boat and added more HP. The problem was the new motor was heavier and the added weight made the boat sit lower in the water. The top end was great but when weather didn't allow for planing speed (16 knts.) the boat sank into plow mode and my economy went into the tank.
I think the Yamaha 115's would have less speed then my existing set-up. The Suzuki 140's might be the answer but I like the idea of saving gas, going faster, and gaining space for swim step, with the single.
Again, thanks for the input this is such an important decision I want to make sure I way all the options.
24' Pursuit WA. It's currently powered with twin Yamaha 130's. They run fine but only get 1.3 mpg and with 125 gals. of fuel don't have the range I need.
Based on performance bulletins, twin 140's would likely give you at least an additional 1 mpg at cruise (adding 125 miles to your range). Here's a link to a bulletin with twin 140's on a boat that may be slightly larger and heavier than your boat (but should give you an idea for comparison purposes):
Thanks Drifter, those numbers look attractive and my boat is just slightly smaller (23.5' x 8.5'). I especially like the trolling speed economy. I have a couple of questions: what is the highest RPM that can be run continuously? what are these motors going to cost? $9,000 ea?
Why would you want to get twins? It equals up to a bigger headache imo. my friend has a 300 on his key west and he makes run to the south ledge and everywhere else out there, where talking 80 and 90 miles runs and he is fine no engine problams now. yea people sat that if one motor cuts out there you have another one to gte home on but what if you run out of gas? put the highest amount of power you can on the boat if it is made for a single then do it if not put twins and get all the saftey equipment you need.
vicbot1 - 4/14/2005 9:19 AMtwin engines=twin maint.=twin problems=twin headaches. If you can get away with a single high hp engine and kicker, DO IT!
Nothing near the headache you will have should you loose your main engine in bad weather and have to try and motor around on a kicker. Remember, engines always seem to break down at the worst possible time, such as in a bad squall.
Twins or Single? 
