If you had a Choice

[ONTHECHEW]

Guys and Girls,

I am after some recommendations/suggestions, positives or negatives on my dilemma. In the not to distant future I am looking at import a boat from the U.S. it is a Striper,7.92m walk around fibreglass beast, will be quiet heavy as has a 610ltr fuel tank My question is just on the power any suggestions on big single outboard, twin smaller outboards or a sterndrive.

I will start a list of a few pros and cons but please feel free to add,

Big single outboard (250HP at least)

Pros - single service, economical,

Con - Not the security of twins for long distance trips

Twins outboard (150HP each at least)

Pros - LOOKS AWESOME Security of two motors for long distance trips

Cons - double servicing, not as economical

Sterndrive (Diesel)

Pros - Very economical

Cons - not as popular in AUS compared to US, not sure on torque, heard they are not as manoeuvrable as outboards ?

Any help would be great, and YES the boat will comfortably fish five so I will have heaps more decky spots than I have had a chance with the Galey.

Andrew

[daveylad]

Have a chat with Dhess, his mate bought one from the US looked a million dollars but had problems, there's a few guys with stories so I would check out a few places unfortunately the dollars isn't a great at the moment too. There was also a program on TV this week comparing the differences between 1 or twin engines it was the fishing show where the 2 blokes do up boats and such they recently did an old Haines I think it was.

[Binder]

If you can afford a boat that size, I honestly wouldn't have thought economy and service charges would have rated all that high on the options scale.

Single or twin, I'd be more worried about weight, Stern drive, I'd be more worried about loss of deck.

[ONTHECHEW]

If you can afford a boat that size, I honestly wouldn't have thought economy and service charges would have rated all that high on the options scale.

Single or twin, I'd be more worried about weight, Stern drive, I'd be more worried about loss of deck.

Binder,

Wish I didn't have to worry about service fuels or economy, the whole reason for importing is bang for buck compared to what you can get in the australian market. Stern drive is set up pretty good in these boats, they replace the 150l live fish well and don't take up much deck space.

Andrew

[daveylad]

If you can afford a boat that size, I honestly wouldn't have thought economy and service charges would have rated all that high on the options scale.

Single or twin, I'd be more worried about weight, Stern drive, I'd be more worried about loss of deck.

\\

I know what I'd look at $50,000 USD a boat is about an $6,000 extra Au dollar that's a lot of fuel :whistle:

and agree Andrew stern drive take up much deck space they give you more area to play on

just get a reputable marine survey inspector or go there on a quick flight and be present when its looked at. Then again Andrew arnt you the bloke who recently won the 70 mill on the lottery

[dhess]

Unless you are planning on fishing really remote regions far beyond radio contact with other vessels or coastguard. e.g. Remote reefs more than a few hundred kms offshore I would stick to the single outboard or diesel stern drive. Modern 4 stroke outboards are so reliable these days that the redundacy offered by twins isn't an important part of the equation. Also consider that 2 150hp outboards don't equal 1 300hp outboard in performance and also aren't as fuel efficient.

If you are at all interested in trolling for marlin the diesel is the way to go. From what I have heard and read nothing is better than the low frequency vibrations from a diesel for raising fish. Fuel economy will also be better than any 4 stroke but servicing costs will be higher and the engine layout will eat into fishing room.

Very different boat, but a friend bought a US import locally. 7m glacier bay cat. Nice boat, rides well, but limited fishing room. Weighing in at 3.5 ton loaded its a pig to tow even with a new landcruiser. Diesel cruiser uses aboud 20L/100 to tow it. Absolute pain to tow around as its so high it doesn't fit under half of the servo's and most car washes. With two 115hp suzuki 4 strokes it uses 1.1l/Km.

If it was me I would be looking for a locally built, sharply priced, near new custom plate mono hull at around 7.5m long. Sure the glass hull will ride noticeably better in 20+knot conditions but will be a pain in the butt to clean and maintain and use way more fuel. Besides if its blowing 20knots+ its not really fishable anyway. :sick:

[billp]

Stick with the single and get yourself a little 15hp motor like a sailing boat incase of break down which isn't likely with a newer 4 stroke.

[dhess]

Only problem is the 15hp won't be worth a damn pushing 2.5 ton of boat especially if you are 50+ kms away from port or needing to cross a bar.

[motu]

inboard diesel with a heavy boat and glass all the way they are not hard to clean or hard to look after check out the service cost just a little more than your ute and you can do it your self they are back to basics as most mercruiser engines started life in a ute /car anyway I have a 6.25m boat with a 350hp mercruiser engine sitting on 30knots it uses 750ml ( 3/4 ltr ) per nm loaded that's my cruising speed inboard sit better at anchor and ride better as the weight is forward from the stern in a bigger boat as is yours you wont notice deck space as much as I do and it dosnt bother us it doubles as a bait / tackle station + you don't have a engine in your way out the back as with outboards

I have owned big glass boats and prefer inboard now for cost of running and cheap servicing + they are quiet

wish you luck on the import side :cheer: I have imported cars from the usa and nz and all went sweet check out sumone over there that has a good rap and been around for along time it is worth paying there fee

[motu]

get a alloy trailer built and set up over there if it dosnt have one

[Bi_polar]

Sounds like a diesel is the way to go Andrew, If you can get one with a late model Yanmar you will be a mile ahead. Look at the Shamrock range of boats too Andrew they are a planing hull and all come with diesels and low profile shaft drives similar to the Arvor.

Once i sell the yank tank this is what i will probably get.

Here's a few to look at
/>http://www.boattrader.com/search-results/NewOrUsed-any/Type-any/Category-all/State-all/Keyword-shamrock/Sort-Length:DESC

[sehrguht]

Single large outboard or inboard diesel. I think i would lean towards the inboard for fuel efficiency and the trolling noise is meant to be better. Anything under 7m i would probably stick with an outboard.

Do you find the outboard gets in the way when hooked up to a decent gt or do you fight the fish from the cast deck?

[Fishars]

@ONTHECHEW

1st off, absolutely understand why you are doing it, I lived over there for 9 years and unless you've had the chance to fish both sides of the pond, aussies simply don't understand what we are not allowed access to period (in fishing gear etc)

I've fished off these a few times and every time was on duel outboards. When I get the chance to do what you're doing it will lso be dual engines, numerous reason but most significant is safety. Having been 50 odd miles off shore in the gulf only to loose 1 engine to a fuel line issue, we were glad of the 2nd engine even if it was a 6 1/2 hour trip back!

You can also do so much more trim wise with 2 engines, didn't check to see if you were getting a pod fitted or not but inboard's in the long run , on a boat this size end up being more costly due to service constraints (space etc). Yeah diesels will always give you an edge of fuel but the new engine technologies are fast closing that gap.

I ran a 150 4stroke on a 21.5Ft and honestly on plane there were few that could keep up. This is an awesome fishing boat. On the importation, probably best I give you some tips in a pm if you're intrested as customs can get nasty on the subject!

Great boat tho.

Cheers and have a great Christmas