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Outboard 4 Stroke On Broads


wooster

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Hi guys

 

How practical is a petrol outboard on a broads cruiser? I see a lot of Shetland 4+2 etc with them although petrol pumps are like hens teeth. Are these able to cruise as far as diesels if you put an extra tank or two aboard. Is it legal to do so? Are there other complications to this situation. Someone recently tole me there was hardly any difference between the economy of modern 4 stroke OB and internal diesels. Is this true?

 

Thanks all you knowledgeable guys.

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  • wooster changed the title to Outboard 4 Stroke On Broads

A 25hp outboard will give you roughly 6 to 8 litres per hour fuel consumption at 4 to 5 mph and also provide battery charging and water heating , range is solely dependant on size of fuel tank and you have to remember that all your petrol has to be carried from land to the boat (unless you are trailering the boat) .

Most of the remote fuel tanks on shetlands are 25 ltr although some have 120ltr tanks 

 

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My boat has a 4 stroke outboard. The thing with outboards is that the petrol tanks should be in proper vented compartments as specified in the BSS regulations, it is all there for you to read. Spare fuel should not be stored in the cockpit but is ok if stored on deck where petrol vapour cannot enter the boat.

The main problem on the Broads is supply so do your research as to which places and filling stations are near the water and use them.

I believe there is a thread somewhere which locates places you can buy petrol near the waterside.

 

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Hmm. it seems to be fraught with difficulties as I remember. I had hoped things might be better by now but I'm assuming with all the regulations coming on more and more each year, it's likely to get worse not better. I had my eye on a petrol but then remembered my struggles 30 years ago and re-considered. I recall struggling with a 5 gallon tank from Acle Bridge to Acle in blazing hot sun one morning with a monstrous hangover and not loving the experience. I loved the experience of lugging the full tank back still with hangover and this time in more heat, even less! Mind you I was young then and able so........

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5 hours ago, CambridgeCabby said:

A 25hp outboard will give you roughly 6 to 8 litres per hour fuel consumption at 4 to 5 mph and also provide battery charging and water heating , range is solely dependant on size of fuel tank and you have to remember that all your petrol has to be carried from land to the boat (unless you are trailering the boat) .

Most of the remote fuel tanks on shetlands are 25 ltr although some have 120ltr tanks 

 

My Honda 20hp PowerThrust (big prop, low revs) used nothing like that much fuel. On the high Northern Broads, so minimal tidal effect, it was more like 1.5 to 2.0 litres per hour. I have been from Broadsedge to Coltishall and returned on one 13 litre tank, admittedly ready to swap over as we were on fumes at the entrance to Barton. I am sure you could get the consumption up there but you would be over the speed limit and well over theoretical hull speed, causing a "bulldozer" effect and massive bow wave on te length of boat usually OB powered.

Fuel consumption of 4 stroke OBs has improved massively in recent times and EFI is now available down to 15hp with Mercury/ Mariner.

I never found fuel a problem but could carry 48 litres in proper outboard transportable tanks.

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For me it seemed that the boating world in particular is geared toward diesel as the fuel of choice and in particular for the Broads. 
so that ruled out a lot of boats that caught my eye. 
But the advantages of an inboard Diesel engine far outweigh any advantages of a petrol outboard. 
From increased power generation to hot water and heating. 
And don’t forget BSS is less of a headache for diesel power 
But the compromise was that we had to have a bigger boat and that costs 

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7 hours ago, CambridgeCabby said:

A 25hp outboard will give you roughly 6 to 8 litres per hour fuel consumption at 4 to 5 mph and also provide battery charging and water heating , range is solely dependant on size of fuel tank and you have to remember that all your petrol has to be carried from land to the boat (unless you are trailering the boat) .

Most of the remote fuel tanks on shetlands are 25 ltr although some have 120ltr tanks 

 

Water heating? From an outboard? 

Battery Charging? For the starter, maybe. 

6/8 litres an hour? At a sedate pace on the broads, 6/8 litres should give you around a day's cruising. 

Our pod boat with a 10litre tank and 10hp outboard would use typically 8 litres in a day in HIRE where, typically, there are two speeds: full throttle and tied up. 

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10 hours ago, wooster said:

Hi guys

 

How practical is a petrol outboard on a broads cruiser? I see a lot of Shetland 4+2 etc with them although petrol pumps are like hens teeth. Are these able to cruise as far as diesels if you put an extra tank or two aboard. Is it legal to do so? Are there other complications to this situation. Someone recently tole me there was hardly any difference between the economy of modern 4 stroke OB and internal diesels. Is this true?

 

Thanks all you knowledgeable guys.

We had a from New a shetland 4+2.For four years,each September we would  go from Brundall  to Hickling broad.Yes next to no fuel on the river.All our fuel from Petrol stations.Far from easy,but with planning do a ball.

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Outboards are ok but no hot water and less battery charging, they will charge batteries but at a slower rate than a god alternator, bss regs are not that bad for an outboard really, any spare fuel must be in a drained fire resistant locker but that is the same for diesel and gas, if a portable tank is connected it can be anywhere as it's 'in use', have a spare portable tank on bayonet fittings and you can change over while running with no mess, there's far more bss regs about inboard with fixed tank wether petrol or diesel.

Gas fridges are a no-no with petrol (unless fully room sealed) but they are crap compared to a modern 12v compressor fridge anyway.

My old norman 25 had a 4 stroke mariner 9.9hp and it would keep my 2x 110Ah batteries good with compressor fridge running and also had a webasto heater, hot water was from a morco gas heater, I could do 2 weeks on that with no problems although I did do long days of running back then.

For a small weekender sized boat outboards are great, just makes stern on mooring tricky but not impossible.

 

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I don’t have much knowledge on outboards but as they are raw water cooled I’m not sure it would have enough temperature or flow to heat a calorifier.  Plus if you went through Yarmouth the salt water would soon turn the coils to dust, I presume they are still made of copper.

Couldn’t see much on Google either.

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The figures I gave are from a good friend who keeps a 30ft boat on the Gt Ouse powered by a 20hp outboard , he has hot water which is provided by the outboard , how I don’t know but I will ask him on Monday .

i bow down to members who run outboard powered boats who are far better positioned to give an educated opinion 

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1 hour ago, Smoggy said:

I'd like to see how it was set up, I've never heard of an outboard heating water.

I have no idea,but we always had hot water ,heating etc.It was a great little  boat.That was the problem. We out grow her and thats why we went from Little kingfisher to  Sweet kingfisher. 

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