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Random Quote: Do not handicap your children by making their lives easy. LL
Nope on selling the Fountain, Hawaiianpunch. I thought that it would sell quick when I bought the Contender but no luck.
Bigbait: I'm kind of partial to the Fountains...I've had four of them but I haven't had enough time in the Contender to answer your question about the ride. I can say that the 31' Fountain is very enjoyable to drive and ride in...it feels more like a race car than a fishing boat. I think that the 31' Contender is more of a no nonsense fishing boat. If you don't need it then it isn't on it. They also have a tremendous amount of below deck storage and a flat level deck with good drains! The fuel burn is about double that on my Fountain. The 300 HPDI's on the Contender seem to get about 1 to 1.25 mpg and it doesn't make much difference what speed you run her at compared to the Fountains burn of 2 mpg with Yamaha F225's.
Both boats cruise at about 45 but I think that the top end will be a couple mph higher on the Contender...about 59.
a friend suggested that I switch motors from My fountain to the Contender. That would give me a 31' Fountain with 300 Hpdi's and a 31' Contender with Yamaha 225 Fourstrokes!
Any suggestions as to which would sell first? Any idea's as to what would my top speed be on the Contender with the 225's?
Hmmmm....switching the motors...I'll let someone else chime in who has more experience, but I think the contender would run mid-high 40's with the 225's and would be considered underpowered, but more economical at a lower cruise speed. The fountain would absolutely fly with those 300's, but how much of an issue would the weight be?
Sorry, I'm just a wanna-be tire kicker at this point, but love both your rigs!
The Contender with 225 4 strokes will hit 52 light but 48 or 49 with a normal load. It will cruise at 31.5 knots at 4500 RPM's with a full load getting about 1.5 MPG. Light it will get 2.0 MPG.
BigbaitBigfish - 4/18/2006 5:26 AM Hmmmm....switching the motors...I'll let someone else chime in who has more experience, but I think the contender would run mid-high 40's with the 225's and would be considered underpowered, but more economical at a lower cruise speed. The fountain would absolutely fly with those 300's, but how much of an issue would the weight be? Sorry, I'm just a wanna-be tire kicker at this point, but love both your rigs!
Reduced! 2004 31' Contender w/ twin 300 Yamaha HPDI's $88,000
