I'm looking to buy a late 80's 19' runabout with a Chevy 350 motor.
Intend to tow an inflatable, cruise the lake, and occasional fishing.

How much fuel can I expect to consume cruising at 20-25 mph? How less
fuel efficient would this boat be compared to one with a smaller
motor?

On Fri, 29 Jul 2005 23:25:56 GMT, Captain Chaos wrote:

I'm looking to buy a late 80's 19' runabout with a Chevy 350 motor.
Intend to tow an inflatable, cruise the lake, and occasional fishing.

How much fuel can I expect to consume cruising at 20-25 mph? How less
fuel efficient would this boat be compared to one with a smaller
motor?

My 350 averages about 6-8mph overall. I cruise at about 3200 rpm and 'think' i
burn about 8gph doing so.

--
John H.
On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD

I have the 260 hp version w/4 bbl carb in a fairly heavy 5,000 lb cuddy
cabin runabout. At 3400 RPM it burns about 13 gph and gets about 2
mpg, fairly typical based on what I hear from others.

I woul add that engine size has less to do with fuel economy in boats than
it does in cars. You will get better fuel economy with a smaler engine but
not dramatically so for the same speed with the same load. Engines work a
lot harder moving boats than the do cars. Planing boats with gas engines
are not fuel effecient.

"Captain Chaos" wrote in message
...
I'm looking to buy a late 80's 19' runabout with a Chevy 350 motor.
Intend to tow an inflatable, cruise the lake, and occasional fishing.

How much fuel can I expect to consume cruising at 20-25 mph? How less
fuel efficient would this boat be compared to one with a smaller
motor?

figure 7-10gah if run under 3500rpm cruise. Going to a smaller engine may
not save much fuel because while the V8 can cruise at say 45mph a smaller
engine boat may be wide open throttle at the same speed.


"Captain Chaos" wrote in message
...
I'm looking to buy a late 80's 19' runabout with a Chevy 350 motor.
Intend to tow an inflatable, cruise the lake, and occasional fishing.

How much fuel can I expect to consume cruising at 20-25 mph? How less
fuel efficient would this boat be compared to one with a smaller
motor?

2 to 3 miles per gallon depending on what you do on any given outing.
Pulling a tube around is of course worse since you tend to start and stop a
lot. Might get closer to 3.5 on a long run at around 3500 rpms.

Get an inexensive handheld GPS. This will let you know exactly how far you
have traveled on any given outing and then when you fill up you will know
exactly what your fuel consumption is. Plus it gives you a true speed
reading. Plus you know exactly how far you can go on a tank of fuel. Plus
you know where you are on any new lake you might go to.

--
Tony
my boats and cars at http://t.thomas.home.mchsi.com

-
"Captain Chaos" wrote in message
...
I'm looking to buy a late 80's 19' runabout with a Chevy 350 motor.
Intend to tow an inflatable, cruise the lake, and occasional fishing.

How much fuel can I expect to consume cruising at 20-25 mph? How less
fuel efficient would this boat be compared to one with a smaller
motor?