D4 -260 Repower on the DOGHOUSE

[DOGHOUSE26]

I don't like to spend big coin but I'm telling you the 36K I just invested for another 10 years in the Doghouse has been some of the best money I have ever spent! The difference in performance makes for a completely different boat; forget about all that following seas nonsense, slow out of the hole, and trim tab concerns. This new package doesn't need tabs as it picks the stern right up out of the water and keeps the boat tracking as straight as an arrow, you just can't believe it until you jump aboard. Don was always against more HP but if he were alive today it would be a different story. I picked the boat up Friday afternoon late and went straight to Mission Bay for some Break In running (10 Hours required). I varied the engine speed every 3-10 minutes and towards the end of my session I took her up to 3000 RPM cruising speed(3500 is Redline) and was pleasantly surprised to see 25.6 knts on the GPS. My old WOT was 4000 @ 24.8 knts. Ended Up putting 2 hours on her, met John the next morning for more break in and detailed instruction on how to use the tach display to get all the function measurements digitally. John had to work on my autopilot to get it in sync with the Volvo Power Steering system. Bill from the Heron tagged along for the sea trial and we were off to Ski Beach where John promptly redlined her to 3600 with 3 people aboard with full bait and fuel tanks to a speed of 31.8 knts; white knuckle if you were standing on the gunnel on the starboard side next to the bridge holding on to the bridge railing and wrapping your feet around the lower railings such as I was. We checked trim angles and tab positions for the best overall ride; the tabs are only needed for slow (<16 knts) operation.
Went fishing on Sunday and it didn't take long to get bit on the troll, we had 6 YFT on rapalas off porpoise between the 9 and the 224. the boat still gets bit!

Here's a few pics of the installation:

The Outdrive and $1500/set bronze props:



The Flush deck hatch remained flush even though this new packge is 1" taller:



The new stainless steel gutter which is removable for future service:



New Rocket Motor:



The electric shift servo:



And the new Helm, Dash, and Electric Throttle/Gearshifter which takes some getting used to! :


Here’s a list of the engine statistics we observed while breaking in our new motor off Ski Beach in Mission Bay, Our first tests were taken with only one person on board; after 1/3 break in time we tested with a full load of 3 persons and full bait tank. The Compressor Operating Range was 1600-2100 RPM. The first number is RPMs, the second black number is unloaded knts, the third red number is loaded knts, and the fourth blue is GPH

Idle 650 RPM 3.8 kts 3.8kts
1000 5.9 5.7 .7 GPH
1200 6.9 6.6 1.0
1400 7.6 7.2 1.5
1600 8.4 7.7 2.7
1800 9.5 8.4 3.9
2000 12.5 10.1 4.7
2200 14.4 13.3 5.8
2400 17.0 15.6 6.6
2600 20.1 19.5 7.1
2800 23.0
3000 25.8 25.6 8.8
3500 31.8


You won't believe the ride, call me and I'll give you a shot behind the wheel !

[fireescape]

Very sweet Jeff...... That is so nice to have all that room to work on things! Fuel savings alone will pay for most of it. congrats zack

[Honeygirl]

All I can can say Is F-ING SWEET.

[NoSlack]

Looks sweet Jeff.
1.5 GPH at 7.5 knots gets you 750 miles with 20 hours of fuel left. Time to buddy up to Yale and start seeing the world in a whole new way.

If you want the pictures to show in the post, right click on the photo and a box will pop up. Hit properties at the bottom of the list and the address you see in the second box is the one you need to copy and paste.

[Professor]

I’m leaving for Benitos/Cedros on Saturday 10/18 returning Tuesday 10/28. Love to have you on the trip as long as you don’t keep reminding me that I’m burning over twice the fuel you are. You’ll still have to fuel up at turtle bay with that nasty old cheap MX diesel though.

[Freespool]

Very nice. Now you can run with the Parkers . Have you run it over 30 knots with the bow trimmed down? If so how does it act? Mine gets a bit tipsy if you trim it out like you would other boats. Just wondering if the weight difference helps with that.

[DOGHOUSE26]

You can't trim it all the way down @ 30kts in the ocean unless you like water on the back of your ears!

Thanks for the help Mike!

[Old Blue]

What a nice clean repower! I can't imagine having all that room in the engine box. Those speed/fuel burn numbers are THE BOMB!!! Try not to let it break your heart when your cruising in the 20s and getting 3knmpgs.

The best part is, you've still got the best part of the season left.

[Laura Mei]

Very clean install -- I like it.
Charley

[DOGHOUSE26]

I’m leaving for Benitos/Cedros on Saturday 10/18 returning Tuesday 10/28. Love to have you on the trip as long as you don’t keep reminding me that I’m burning over twice the fuel you are. You’ll still have to fuel up at turtle bay with that nasty old cheap MX diesel though.

I'd really like to Yale but I'm afraid I'll have to pass on this trip; I need to spend a little more quality time with my financier and she wants to travel up the coastline in a motorhome vacation the first week in November.