Two small engines or one big one?

pstew96

pstew96

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Dec 4, 2003
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12527
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I want to move up to a bigger boat, fuel costs being what they are, is it better to get one big motor (496) or two small (4.3) ones? I know the docking and security of the twins have value, but I do have boatus towing and I really cruise alot and gas is expencive!
 
Need way more info? size and style of boat,weight,type of cruising,I/O or Inboard, etc.
 
I'm thinking a 280 Sea Ray probaby about 8500lbs, comes with two 4.3 bravo 3, or 1 496, these are boats ranging from 2002 to 2004 so I don't know to many particulars.
 
Gas will be negligible between the two. Maintenance however will be where you see the difference.
 
I'd pass on both those engine packages in that boat, but that's just me. I like my boats to have power, lots of power. If you have to worry about the cost of fuel, boating might not be for you. The smallest engine package I would want in a SR 280 dancer would be twin 5.0s, with something other than Alpha drives. Twin 5.7s would be ideal for me. YMMV.
 
I would go with twin small block V8's too. A single big block might make the boat harder to handle around the dock, will suck up a lot of gas anyway, and can be super expensive if you ever have to replace it.
The twin 4.3's probably won't use that much less gas than the two V8's, and will be harder to come by if you ever need to replace them.
Go with the 5.0's or 5.7's.
 
I have 5.7s in my 310 dancer, granted its an older boat, compared to what you are looking at. In a 28ft boat I wouldnt go smaller then a V8

I rather have more power and not use it, then to have less power but need more power...Youll be working those 4.3s much harder then you really need to, and youll burn more gas, then if you run twin V8s easily, accomplishing the same speeds...
 
Maintenance X 2, parts X 2, ER room X 1/2. After trying to maneuver my fat arse in the bilge of Saint Max, if it came with one large arse single I would invest in thrusters. If I had an extra $60+K laying around there is one hell of a new outboard out there.
 
I had twin 4.3s in me last boat 30' Chaparral and it was under powered. I have to agree with the above keep looking you should be able to find one with a least 5.0s and I would go with twins for all the reasons you mentioned. I had a problem the other day, I was low on antifreeze and I had to shut down one motor I had me problems getting to the anchorage and then the return trip home. Twin motors for this type of boat always better. Someday if you are looking to do the great loop in a trawler I may have a different answer.
 
I went through exactly the same decision process when I bought my Four Winns last Fall. I was leaning toward a single big block. Problem was that I never found a good example, so bought one with dual V-6s instead. It ran fine during the sea trial.

On Sunday I brought it home from Seaford to Bayshore. The boat weighs 7400 lbs dry. 9.5' beam. I had 600 lbs. of passengers aboard, full tank of fuel (110 gallons), and we had loaded all our 'stuff' aboard that morning. That put our running weight at about 9000 lbs. There was NO drama getting on plane, we cruised easily (GPS) at 25mph at 3000 rpm, and ran about 30 mph at 3500. Far as I'm concerned there's no need for V-8's on that boat, and fuel consumption does rise when you add another 4 cylinders. Four Winns' archives have performance comparisons available for all their boats will all available power options. Take a look there.

Time will tell, and if I ever make a habit of carrying 8 or more passengers I might regret my decision, but I'm very happy right now with the 4.3's.

Take your time, shop and try as many as you can. Owners' forums are a good place for info, too. Good luck!
 
Depending on the motors as to whether they are Fuel injection or carbs this can make a difference, my 4.3 where 4 barrel carbs in order to stay on plane I was running with the 4 barrels open and sucking down the fuel. Friends with similar size boats and 5.0 4 barrel carbs they where running on two barrels going faster and burning less fuel. Just because a 6 cylinder can get the job done doesn't mean it is the most efficient way to do it.
 
Sea Ray 280DA has good reviews on the package of 4.3L with Alpha 1s. If I was going to upgrade to 280DA than this is the package I would look for. BIII drives are very nice, but corrosion reputation just doesn't provide enough comfort level and they're VERY expensive to fix. This is where Alpha 1 wins big time. So, you loose on the performance end, but gain on the lngivity, maintenance and reliability. Since you're in brackish waters this matters, unlike if you were in 100% fresh water. 4.3s should give you pleanty of power. The best way to judge it is by taking a sea-trial on the boat you like and load her to the max how you would use it.

Since you're looking at Sea Ray, your best source of info is "clubsearay.com", this site has lots of members with 280s and they can share tons of usfull info on this.

Good luck,
Alex.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Audrey II

Depending on the motors as to whether they are Fuel injection or carbs this can make a difference, my 4.3 where 4 barrel carbs in order to stay on plane I was running with the 4 barrels open and sucking down the fuel. Friends with similar size boats and 5.0 4 barrel carbs they where running on two barrels going faster and burning less fuel. Just because a 6 cylinder can get the job done doesn't mean it is the most efficient way to do it.

Click to expand...


Excellent point about FI vs. Carb and I should have factored that into my answer. Mine are FI (TBI) which means more horsepower (in my boat, that's 205 vs. 190) and better fuel efficiency than the carbed models.
 
Thanks to you all, some really interesting points I hadn't dream't to even ask about! Gonna start with this "clubsearay.com", Thanks again!
 
Just for the record the 4.3 2 barrel is a 190 HP and the 4.3 4 barrel is a 205 at least in the models I looked at.

Best of luck let us know how you make out.
 
HP to the prop moves boats. The boat doesn’t know whether there are three engines or one.
More HP in one engine should be more efficient since there is 1/2 the prop drag and parasitic losses in the engine. Probably weighs less as well. The big BUT is that you need the HP and sometimes one isnt enough to get the HP.
 
Pat,

We had a 2002 280 Searay DA and it was great.... I think you were on it. It had 5.0's, or maybe 5.3's but gas usage was ok.
 
I had a 2005 280 sea ray with the twin 4.3's engine package. It is by no means underpowered. At 3500 rpm's the boat cruises 28mph. Bump it to 3700 or 3800 and you are doing 30mph easily. You get about 1.5 mpg up to 4000 rpm's. Most of these boats came equipped with the twin 4.3's from marienmax. The boat's that come with the 5.7l 260hp bravo 3's were custom ordered and are much rarer. I had the boat for 2.5yrs before trading up as this was my first boat. Loved the performance.
 
Yes, I could live with 1.5 mpg, this is the kind of info I'm looking for! Thanks!
 
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