What are your thoughts about a 45' boat with stern drives

Rinker sold their 360 with 377's and BIII's, their is one at our boat club. It is funny watching this boat get up on plane.
 
Between your comments and two local mechanics input I am not moving forward with this boat. Dang! I really really like the layout.
Back looking. Any suggestions where to look besides boat trader and yacht world?
 
redlightning said:
Between your comments and two local mechanics input I am not moving forward with this boat. Dang! I really really like the layout.
Back looking. Any suggestions where to look besides boat trader and yacht world?
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Just curious. How much were they asking for the boat? After all, when it comes down to it if you are fine with gas motors and the Pods and/or shaft boats are going to cost $100k more, you can repair a lot of stern drives with the savings. And that isn't to say you won't hit the pods or shaft props on the bottom a time or two anyway? I wouldn't just rule the boat out because there is something better and more expensive out there. I tend to see a lot of value in middle tier vehicles/boats. It's still a hell of a boat anyway you look at it. If you are okay with not having the biggest and badest of whatever it is you are in competition with yours friends with, then it just might be fine.
 
redlightning said:
75-100k below diesel/pod config
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I don't see an issue with the boat for that type of savings. Might be a little "harder" to move at sell time but deal with that then. Do you know if it has the 375hp or the 425hp and does it have the SeaCore or not?
 
They built this boat around the Zeus system, I can only imagine that they offered the gas stern drive as a more affordable option for new buyers.

Since there really wasn’t any other way to install a gas engine with the boat being designed around Zeus, why not pop some holes in the transom and block off the half tunnels under the hull.
 
Lots of negativity on ODs on larger boats. We have BrIIIs on our 340, which is actually 37.4 foot, has the 496 mag / BrIII config and we love it. We can get into some shallow areas like local creeks and restaurants. Service hasn't been an issue, just gotta do it. Boat plains @ 3000rpms which puts us @ 28.5 mph. At WOT, 4600rpm, she will run 42-44mph depending on load. Mileage: 1 to 1.2mpg. Changed out props to 4x4 Hills, same pitches. Up on plain much faster, better handling around docks. Wouldn't have w/o bow thruster. Do most maintenance ourselves, so the extra room in the engine compartment is great. We can stow the camper canvas with the frame assembly down there along with folding chairs and beach umbrellas. Impellor change - 45 min per motor. Although all this is great on our 340, and I would do it again, as mentioned above over 40' - diesels and inboards for sure.
 
One thing to consider, outdrive need yearly maintenance, and that means at least a short haul. Moving a 45’ isn’t cheap. The PODS can be maintenance intensive as well. I believe there is a forum for those, if you want to get some input on them.

Looking at Boattrader the spread between this boat and a inboard Cummins powered boat is $60k asking. For a boat this size, diesel would be the preferred power.

Don’t know what you budget or boating style is, but if I could swing it, I would buck up for the diesel powered shaft boat. If it’s beyond the budget, drop back a year or two.

I have a diesel 410 on an inland lake and I really appreciate what the big props can do around the dock even in a moderate wind.
 
Korkie said:
Lots of negativity on ODs on larger boats. We have BrIIIs on our 340, which is actually 37.4 foot, has the 496 mag / BrIII config and we love it. We can get into some shallow areas like local creeks and restaurants. Service hasn't been an issue, just gotta do it. Boat plains @ 3000rpms which puts us @ 28.5 mph. At WOT, 4600rpm, she will run 42-44mph depending on load. Mileage: 1 to 1.2mpg. Changed out props to 4x4 Hills, same pitches. Up on plain much faster, better handling around docks. Wouldn't have w/o bow thruster. Do most maintenance ourselves, so the extra room in the engine compartment is great. We can stow the camper canvas with the frame assembly down there along with folding chairs and beach umbrellas. Impellor change - 45 min per motor. Although all this is great on our 340, and I would do it again, as mentioned above over 40' - diesels and inboards for sure.
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I would suggest you look at the Boattest data on the 8.1 equipped sterndrive fuel numbers. According to them:


Test Results
RPM MPH KNOTS GPH MPG NMPG STAT. MILE NM DBA
650 7 6.1 2.4 2.94 2.56 596 518 61
1000 7.1 6.1 4 1.75 1.52 354 308 65
1500 9.4 8.1 6.2 1.52 1.32 307 267 72
2000 11.3 9.8 11.4 0.99 0.86 201 175 73
2500 16.2 14.1 17.9 0.91 0.79 183 159 77
3000 22.8 19.8 24.1 0.94 0.82 191 166 81
3500 27.3 23.7 30.3 0.9 0.78 182 158 86
4000 31.8 27.6 39.4 0.81 0.7 163 142 86
4500 34.9 30.3 53.4 0.65 0.57 132 115 88
4700 36.7 31.9 61.4 0.6 0.52 121 105 92

Sorry couldn’t keep the formatting. Here is a link to the report:https://boattest.com/review/sea-ray/75_340-sundancer. It may be behind a USER/PW wall, but Boattest is a free signup.

But the only time mileage gets to 1.4 is between 1000 and 1500 rpm (AKA no wake speed). Their results (scaled down) correlate with my recollection of the consumption numbers for our 280 with 496 BIII.
 
I would prefer and would not mind paying for diesels with shaft drive. It seems the only options on the 450 was the stern drives with gas or pods with diesels.
 
redlightning said:
I would prefer and would not mind paying for diesels with shaft drive. It seems the only options on the 450 was the stern drives with gas or pods with diesels.
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That is a bummer that they didn't offer V-drives. With the sterndrives that boat only weighs 1800lbs more than mine. I'd be a supporter of the 8.1's for sure...but those outdrives are just not my bag.
 
redlightning said:
Between your comments and two local mechanics input I am not moving forward with this boat. Dang! I really really like the layout.
Back looking. Any suggestions where to look besides boat trader and yacht world?
Click to expand...
There's a great broker in Oriental, NC I can refer you to...

Seriously though, work with a buyers broker you trust (cough, cough) :) They are actually out there.
 
Korkie said:
Lots of negativity on ODs on larger boats. We have BrIIIs on our 340, which is actually 37.4 foot, has the 496 mag / BrIII config and we love it… Although all this is great on our 340, and I would do it again, as mentioned above
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Korkie, I like outdrives too. He talking a 450 which is way heavier than your 340.
 
Stee6043 said:
Like this one?

https://www.boattrader.com/boat/2010-sea-ray-450-sundancer-8073336/

It's just a very different layout. Or maybe I'm crazy. But the interior feels more like the big dayboats. Not like a Sundancer.

But man alive you could bunk 4 kids in that engine room!!! That is not even an exaggeration.
View attachment 117142
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If he's going to spend that, I'd suggest he go for a mid to late 2000 48 Sundancer. Although it's a larger boat, they made them with shafts in that era and well worth another $40-$50k. Remember 1-2 years ago, when they were going for under $300k?! Now a decent one starts @ $400k.
 
It just comes down does the boat work for what you want to mainly be doing with it. For me, I spend way more time on my boat in the marina than I do out motoring. If I was going to spend the majority of my time running, I certainly wouldn’t have gotten a major fuel guzzler. To me, mine is a condo that floats. If all your going to do is keep it on a relatively calm lake and go maybe a few miles out and anchor, seems like plenty of boat. Yes, big Diesels are cool, yes, shafts are cool. I head out into some nasty stuff at times in the Chesapeake and occasionally the Atlantic. I Wouldn’t do that in a Stern drive 45’ gas motored boat. I just won’t. But on a big lake or relatively calm river, not a problem. I’m really curious as to how that boat runs. I really am. I’m thinking it does just fine. I do agree I would absolutely have to have a bow thruster. No 2 ways about that.
 
Pirate Lady - As mentioned, I wouldn't suggest outdrives on any larger/heavier than what we have. I was just stating that we have ODs on our 340 with the 496 mags and it performs very well. Henry, the numbers I put up are accurate. I viewed the numbers you put up from Boat Test on their site. Those numbers are with the 8.1s with the V drives. The numbers for the Optional 2x375-hp 496 Mag BravoIII MCM are totally different. We cruise all day long on decent water at 3250 rpms at 30 mph (GPS Speed). Been doing it for 6 years now. I always measure my fuel when adding and when doing the math it comes up to 0.9 - 1.1 mpg. We make a regular trip from Breton Bay to Solomons, MD. It is 60 miles. If we leave full, when refueling on arrival - 60 gallons puts us right back where we started from, full. Travel time is 1 hour and 43 minutes at 33-34 mph. On a rare occasion the VV will report 1.3 gpm (when reading the instant report), but only briefly and with little to no load (weight). Never did I mention 1.4 mpg. Boat test has their numbers and I know what ours are and they are accurate. I will say I am running different plugs than stock (using the same ones the PO advised me to use), almost always run with tabs fully up (only adjusted to level load) and little to no trim on the drives. This also suggested by the PO. The boats previous name was Fast Forward and the surveyor suggested "Aqua Rocket" if we were planning on changing the name. Stating it was the first 340 he had surveyed with 496s and ODs and that she was incredible faster than the standard inboards.
 
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