Soon to be back on the water....

Dude_Himself

I plan for 20 GPH with the 496 on the 280EC, but get around 1.9 MPG at 32 when properly trimmed, which is closer to 15 GPH. That's not much better through - you're absolutely right. If I had a reasonably priced slip nearby we'd boat a lot more, and look for a 310. But the 280 is the biggest thing we can reasonably tow around to our local ramps and lakes.

MarkB

Congratulations.

Michael T

@jbschmalz23....yes, I did routine on both cruisers - in fact my "routine" is higher level ocd - example - after any multiple day run to other marinas etc. I pulled both oil filters, replaced them with new (Mercruiser high efficiency NOT part store jobbers brand) oil filters and topped-up the oil. 

For bigger jobs: pulling drives to use the Mercruiser engine alignment tool, drive lube changes, cool fuel module changes etc. - that was service technician work.

Bottom line the Mike and I and now Bryan clearly understand the creation and sustaining of longevity by treating our boats right. JB you can now join that club!

IMO if you treat a Rinker right it will last as close to forever as possible and maintain its value!

Cableguy Greg

Dude_Himself said:

Congrats Josh! I'm ready to buy it from you in 3 years. ;-)

There is a line already forming for that boat. Hopefully I will be prepared to get it when Josh is ready to sell.

zaverin1

I mean there is routine maintenance and plain old ocd.
if you change oils and lick the boat from top to bottom 
I bet your summers will be spent working on the ocd instead of using the boat
inalways serviced the boat
waxed every spring and kept it up thru out the summer but never did I swap filters lol after each run 

zaverin1

I mean if you ran that boat like a off shore or if you owned one and raced it then yes 
I see the point.
motors are high hp and require routine service 

Michael T

@jbschmalz23......yes you will get amazing GPH with that EC 310. First it was "broken-in" properly but just as important, its engines were properly sized.

Once, I ran it alongside an EC 310 with 5.0 liter engines and the 310 with the 5.0s used considerably more gas than your EC 310 - as its engines had to work harder.

What really drove home the point of properly sized engines to me was a friendly side-by side run between my 2014 Rinker EC 360 with twin 502 Mags and a friend's Rinker 350 with 377 Mags. It took foreeeever to get that 350 on plane, ran close to WOT at 30 MPH and burned gas like there was a huge hole in its tank. It only got worse as we increased speed.

When you load a boat with (IMO) too small engines the gas "failure" increases exponentially. 

I never hit a point, load wise, with the EC 310 or the EC 360 where the gas consumption went off the rails due to load - but a lot of friends' boats did over the years!

I don't know how long it would take to "pay back" a set of 502s over a set of 377s due to the poorer gas performance of the 377s but I'd have gone nuts before that point anyway due to cr*ppy performance. 

Your EC 310 and Bryan's EC 360 are (IMO) perfectly balanced regarding engine/hull selection.

I keep saying it on this forum - PLEASE - don't purchase an underpowered boat...but you got that JB!

Handymans342

I dont MT

Michael T

Steve, you're just one notch above a sailboater (ragbagger) you aren't supposed to get it! LOL

zaverin1

Mike T
there is no replacement for displacement 
what you don’t get is a higher hp engine won’t necessarily make your boat go faster 
it’s all locked into the design of the hull

Michael T

@zaverin1...... agreed there is no replacement for displacement and that refers to engine block size.  However the better quote (IMO) is - "There is no substitute for cubic inches." to quote Roger Penske's chief engine builder - Smokey Y. Higher HP will make any displacement hull go faster - up to a certain point of hull damage (stringers/transom) or safety (stability/handling). Comparing sisterships with different power demonstrates this, forcefully, in real time.

jbschmalz23

zaverin1 said:

I mean there is routine maintenance and plain old ocd.
if you change oils and lick the boat from top to bottom 
I bet your summers will be spent working on the ocd instead of using the boat
inalways serviced the boat
waxed every spring and kept it up thru out the summer but never did I swap filters lol after each run 

I guess it comes down to preference. For me, it’s worth it’s weight in gold being a member of this forum and purchasing a boat that I’m able to track its entire history from the time the key was turned over, at delivery from the factory. I would always choose the boat that’s maybe been serviced a little too much or babied a little extra than one that maybe hasn’t. And absolutely, you wouldn’t want to eat up your whole season doing too much maintenance, even a well serviced machine can fail or go bad. The boats that are babied and show it always seem to sell very easy as well. I think everyone does it a little different. 

Handymans342

@Michael T I'm glad you are feeling better and back on your crack pipe .RLMAO

Michael T

@zaverin1...love to discuss different approaches to boating topics but please when quoting me to disagree do so correctly. What I said was ....."after any multiple day run" I would swap-out filters. FWIW - to be more specific - that would usually be four or six days spent cruising with full loads of fuel, water, gear and some waste for five or six hours each day. The cost of changing two filters and adding two liters of oil on expensive engines was peanuts - IMO - and the cheapest insurance of engine longevity available. 

zaverin1

How is that going to make your engines last longer?
do you change your vehicle oil after a 1000 mile drive?
probably not.
did you also pull the boat to drain and refill gear lube?
you know to make sure everything was fresh for the upcoming weekend lol

I knew few guys over the years that had spotless
boats
well they always cleaned and tinkered and never used them.

Handymans342

MT has the financial means to be that Anal on his Boat. The rest of us just do the normal maintenance .

zaverin1

I am not saying that it’s bad to service your boat like that mike 
i service boats myself and some customers are ocd.
i have a guy that also changes oil twice a season and water impellers.
i make money so who cares but yes it’s what I call overkill