1986 24 offshore Rigging

[Ratical]

So guys i have a couple question......

I'm in North Carolina and do lots of grouper and bottom fishing with an occasional trip to the break. So over the last few yrs i been been bringing back to life a 24 offshore, man I love this boat. I got her in the water last fall and she is a perfect fit to my needs. I got her two yrs ago and she was rough looking. The previous owner had her parked under a shed with a blown motor and hadn't moved her in over 10 yrs. I totally remolded her top to bottom and re powered her with a Yamaha f250 and man she has been great. My only issue is i'm a little disappointed with my fuel burn. I was wondering if any of y'all my have put together a rig like this? So long story short I had the motor in the third bolt hole from bottom running 15.5 X 17 pitch prop and if i run 50 miles fish all day my fuel burn will roughly be 50gal. I know that's not really bad but i would like to see 3-3.5 if possible. I know i cant get blood from a turnip and if y'all dont think it will happen i'm good with it. This is the first Grady I've ever owned and was wondering if y'all have any suggestions and i just want to see if i'm asking two much.

I did move the motor up to the last hole but haven't had a chance to run her yet. I called Grady to ask about specs and to see if that was gonna be to high on the Grady bracket and they couldn't give me any feed back. So with all that being said the motor is as high as it will go on the bracket I will still be running the 15.5 X 17 prop do y'all think this will still work. i have been told a 15 X 19 four blade prop is what I need but the want the Grady Guys Opinion!!!!!!!!!

FYI. The way she was set up I never had a blow out on a falling sea, coming off the back of a big roller, or at high speed in a tight turn. When I measured the motor in the third hole, the cavitation plate was same height as the bottom of the haul. My experience that's the correct height for a notched transom so I figured going up one inch shouldn't matter and should help with fuel economy.

Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions

 

[DennisG01]

My engine is different, but I generally run somewhere between 10 and 13 GPH at mid to upper 20's mph. But again, different beast.

You're on the right track with raising the engine. "Generally" speaking, you can raise the anti-ventilation plate 1" for every 1' that the engine is set back from the transom. What are your absolute MAX RPM's at WOT and how does that compare with your engine's RPM specs?

 

[Ratical]

I'm topping out great 5800 to 5900 at a max RPM of 6000
She likes to cruse at 42-4300 at a fuel burn of 14 gph at 28 knots. That's loaded with 4 guys, fuel, ice, gear and BEER

 

[DennisG01]

Oh, forgot to mention... I believe my RPM's are in the upper 3K to low 4K range for what I mentioned above.

Sounds like you're doing pretty good with your numbers. Since you're right at the top of your RPM band (with a normal load?) it would probably be worthwhile to experiment with a 19". It will drop your RPM a bit, but you might find a little better cruise at mid-range. You never really know till you try, though. I've heard good things about Prop Gods? Or, do you have a local dealer that has a lend-a-prop program?

 

[Ratical]

Yea i have a guy locally that will let you try stuff so i will probably do that. Well its good to know I'm in the ball park.

 

[Ratical]

I have a line on a 14.25/19 four blade do you think it will work

 

[jbrinch88]

Unrelated to your question but which f250 did you power your 24 with? The older 3.3 or newer 4.2? Only asking because I own an 88 offshore and was tossing around the idea of repowering with a 4.2 250 or 300.

Have any pics you could message me with of how it sits in the water? Thanks and good luck.

Jason

 

[Ratical]

I powered with a 2008 f250BTXR 3.3 with command link absolutely love it. Plenty of motor!!!!!

 

[Ratical]

PM sent jbrinch88

 

[UCPA111]

Repowering my 22' seafarer with a Mercury Verado 300 (2.6 Supercharged). One of the last one of this era of engine and hope it's a good one. Ordered in Feb and it just arrived. Interested to see my mileage and cruise. With a 24, it seems you are doing pretty well. Lots of good things about Yamaha. I wanted to do something different, liked the idea of all digital, power steering, and trying something unique it seems with a Verado on a Seafarer. Hope the experiment works out. I'll post more.... You can follow on my YT page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCATvLu ... RX0gH9FiMQ