Mercury fuel economy and approx. speed?

[chris16371]

My fiance and I are looking at buying a used Tracker 1754 SC with with a Mercury 60/40 JET40ELPT. The one we are looking at has the 7.8 gallon tank, not the 9.5 gallon. I'm wondering what type of fuel economy and top speed I can expect with approximately 500lbs of added weight and also with 250lbs of added weight, not including motor weight. The boat is rated for up to 75hp, want to make sure the 60/40 is enough for our needs. Thanks!

 

[Silvertip]

Tracker typically "marginally" powers their package boats which is also why you see many power options. If the boat is rated for 75 HP then you want a minimum of 75% of that HP to have respectable power. 75% of 75 is 56 HP. So no -- that is not an acceptable (in my view) power plant. 60 HP on a pump does not deliver 60 HP worth of performance -- it delivers about 40 as the 60-40 denotes. That combination will move the boat but I think you will be very disappointed,. As for fuel consumption, 60 HP at WOT will burn about 5-6 gallons of fuel per hour and with this combination you are getting 40 HP performance from 60 HP worth of fuel. 60HP with a prop would be a better choice but you apparently run in skinny water so that may not be an option. What makes matters worse, on a pump, the engine needs to run its guts out nearly all the time to get the job done.

 

[roscoe]

And, thats not a light boat, 886#

Speed ??? guessing low to mid 20's

 

[chris16371]

Ouch, yeah a upgraded motor is definitely something I would need to look into.

 

[flyingscott]

Jets are not known for good fuel mileage.

 

[chris16371]

So I also found a used 2014 Xplorer XP180 Tunnel with 90/65 jet, would this boat still be underpowered?

 

[chris16371]

Forgot to add the jet on Xplorer is a Yamaha.

 

[Silvertip]

Question: Why are you hung up on "jets". They are simply power & gas hogs. The same principle applies to this boat. Look at the MAX HP plate to see what the maximum HP rating is. Then take 75% of that number for minimum HP. Again -- in this case you get 65 HP performance from 90 HP worth of fuel. 65 HP on an 18 ft boat does not make a performance boat by any means -- but I'm not familiar with that particular boat.

 

[chris16371]

Question: Why are you hung up on "jets". They are simply power & gas hogs. The same principle applies to this boat. Look at the MAX HP plate to see what the maximum HP rating is. Then take 75% of that number for minimum HP. Again -- in this case you get 65 HP performance from 90 HP worth of fuel. 65 HP on an 18 ft boat does not make a performance boat by any means -- but I'm not familiar with that particular boat.

I live right next to the Allegheny River so a prop is not an option on this river unless you want to stay in one spot, wait for heavy rain for days, hope they let a lot of water out of the dam, or have the money to pay for props every time you go out. I found a boat/motor that meets my needs and has decent fuel economy running 3/4 throttle, always leave myself 1/4 throttle for those times it's needed and it's working well for me.

Appreciate the help.