Thank you for the replys. I looked at the 34 and wishing it was located in the northwest to avoid transporting. That cost alone makes it more than we're willing to spend putting the cost more than its worth-for us that is. I do like the 34 and will keep it on my radar.
Regarding the present engines, I've been down the road with our previous boat having 440s. Bullet proof and easy to work on, yes. Finding someone more qualified than me to work on them was a task. In our area, I found some mechanics had no experience with a 440 due to their age or the quirks they have the engine may have. I had the heads done on our tired 440s and the blow by increased as well as crankcase pressure. Seems putting new (heads) to old (block) had an adverse effect.
I am keeping an open mind though. When we sold that boat with 440s I was sure I wanted diesel mainly for the safety factor and what I thought was burn rate. Some of the higher hp diesels don't seem to do as well as non-turbo'd engines as far as gph and are you doing a dis-service to a turbo'd engine by running at trawler speeds? The kind of boat we like is going to have the higher hp diesels which factors into the purchase price. So my way of thinkingis; if I can get the boat we want, possibly repower and still be under the cost of a like boat with diesels,are we ahead?
