Fuel costs for an f25

[John West]

Of course everyone says that if you have ask the cost of gas for a boat, then go buy a sailboat. However in todays high cost of fuel I hope that it is considered a relevant question.

I am looking at an f25 with a Chrysler 318 engine. What fuel consumption per hour should I expect with the boat being used only on inland waterways and just for leisurely cruising on weekends? Thank you.

John W

[Stripermann2]

Wow...John, I think that's a hard question to answer. I think everyone's boat will comsume differently.

Dependent on how well your boat runs, how clean the bottom is, sea conditions, how you have it trimmed, etc has a lot to do with how fuel efficient a boat will run.

Little jaunts from here to there at a slow cruise may yield say a 15 GPH burn. A little faster cruise may burn 20-25 GPH.
(These numbers are just for explanation only...)

At 4.00 per gallon or more, I think many of us will watch our fuel burn and plan activities accordingly.

Others will chime in with perhaps some real-time figures for you. Good luck and enjoy!

[jimini]

John lot depends on the way you drive it... fast; slow; on plane or just gukholing spot to spot for overnights.. the faster the more gas it will burn... single 318 on plane... I'm guessing roughly about 20 gph or roughly 1.3 miles per gallon give our take 15% or so.. anybody with a single 318 out there that would care to give John more accurate info?

[dean price]

since i bought her in sept 07, i've put 100 nm on her f-31 twin 318's. 50 nm on lac st. claire and 50 out west. being excited i was pushing her a good 25knots most of the time. after the can. conversions it worked out to 1.3 miles(land)/can. gal.. so when the ice gets off the lake i'll lower the rpms this season to get i hope about 1.5-1.7 mpg. dean

[prowlersfish]

I Would think a single in a F25 would do better then 1.3mpg . my guess would be 2+ . 8-12 gph depend on speed . or much better if you want to run5-6 knots .

[rick1954]

Well my little E26 with the tiny 351 FI engin, gave me a whopping 1mpg at around 1100 rpm . I am looking to take all my trips down hill with a stern wind this year I don't want to think what it would burn a WOT

[vabeach1234]

Looking at the Trojan Catalogs on this website

http://www.trojanboats.net/images/f%202 ... rmance.jpg

It states at 2500 rpm you burn 7.8 gph
at 3000 rpm 11.2 gph
and at 4000 rpm 20.3 gph

I have a 1972 F26 Trojan Express with a 318 and V-drive with a 14x11 prop and I burn pretty close to that. Of course with the price of fuel I now move at trawler speeds. At about 8 to 9 mph I running at 1800-1900 rpm's and probably burning about 4 to 5 gallons an hour.

If you run her hard, she'll suck it down; but if you slow down, sit back and enjoy the view, she just sips it and you don't spill your drink.

My 1972 F26 Trojan Express in my opinion isn't a blue water boat, she's set up more for protected water's. The stern of the boat is pretty flat so in rough seas she'll beat you up at higher speed. But that flatter bottom helps with fuel economy.

Ken
1972 Trojan F26 Express
318 Chrysler
Paragon V-Drive
Norfolk, VA

[randyp]

I've been tracking consumption on my F-26 with 318 since 1999. The following is based on average load (2-3 adults and PLENTY of beer):

Average gph is 4 at easy cruising of 1500 - 1800 rpm (about 6-8 mph).
2000 - 2400 rpm is a bear because the boat has not come up on plane until over 2400. GPH is 8-10. At 3000 rpm it's on a sweet plane and speed is around 15-18 mph based on wind, load, etc The secondaries are open but GPH is still under 12. WOT? Don't even go there - why beat the crap out of your boat and our engine. Trojan recommends no more than 80% of WOT anyway. Spec on the 318 is 4200 rpm, so the math says 3300 is best, but I still keep it under that, even with a well tuned engine and light load.

[wowzer52]

I just got back from a seven day cruise up the inside passage to Alaska and I can't wait to get on my boat today. Also, I'm going to Portland,Or. today to check out and run another F-32 for a friend that wants to buy it. FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN!..........Ohmmmmm.........I'm calming down now. My wife says I'm a finatic, yes I am. .........how many gallons per hour do most F-32's burn at a given rpm? I have 351's in mine and can't seem to find the sweet spot for best economy. Sorry for the babbling earlier. it's just all that flat green water around all those thousands of islands with whales and dolphins everywhere made me crazy. I'm better now .....well...maybe.....ohmmmmm..........

[chucka]

I have a '75 F26 with a 318. My experience is pretty consistent with RandyP. I don't have a flow meter. so my fuel consumption rates are approximate averaged over various conditions, but I would say:
3-4 gph up to about 1,800 rpm. ~6-7 knots definitely not planing.
5-6 gph around 2,200 - 2,600 rpm 8-10 knots,
7-8 gph at 2,700 - 2,9000 rpm planing - 12-13+ knots.

That's about as fast as I run. Once in a while I'll crank her up to hear the roar, but I never run above 3,200 rpms, where the secondaries open, up for more than a minute or two.

My speed at a given rpm is dependent on how loaded the boat is - I usually only have 1-2 adults aboard. I used to keep the fuel tank near full. Because of the price and ethenol water absorption issues, I kept it closer to half full last season. 35 gallons of gas weighs over 200 lbs. and that makes a big difference in the planing performance.

I don't notice much difference in fuel consumption between say 1,100 rpm and 1,800 rpm. Going 3 knots vs. 6 knots doesn't seem to save much.

I used to own a sailboat, and I'm having serious thoughts of swtiching back to sail.

[wowzer52]

ooh, a boat on a stick, kinda like a carmeled apple. I've never had one but I think about trying one every time I fill up the tanks. a sailboat I mean.

[Jezebel II]

I bought a F25 in Annapolis this past weekend and took her down the chesapeake and up the potomic to almost DC... 168 miles. 200 gallons. got home empty.

Life is but a dream!

John