You can get Parker 25s with a deep v. That used to be one of my "stare too long" boats but once I got on one, or rather IN one, I didn't like it. Step down into cabin, too closed in... and lots of "carpet". Love all the deck space but freeboard way too low, practically knee height. Great boat for hauling crab pots in a bay but not quite right for offshore.

Shamrock made a clone of the 24' North Coast.
The 20 Pilot House looks cool. and the Predator.

Be careful on the shamrocks, lot of them have stringer issues. Apparently they just anchored the motor mounts with lag screws, no sealants. There is a charter guy here that takes older ones, re-habs 'em and works them for a couple of seasons, then repeats the process.

A boat that was interesting to me was the Four Winns Quest 267 it was 26 foot that had the motor in the center of the boat and a drive shaft to an out-drive. Looked at a couple but never bought one.

Yeah, I really like the idea of i/o power using jack shafts, Albemarle used to build them like that, maybe they still do.

All this big talk about big boats, and I am still just dreaming...

I like the jackshaft design as well. All of the weight forward advantages of a straight inboard, and all the advantages of an i/o with being able to trim the drive for shallow operation or just better running performance and docking ability. My ultimate dreamboat would be a 29 blackfin with a pair of yanmar 315HP straight 6's in it. Take and convert it using a pair Konrad duo prop out drives. It would keep all that cockpit space they have, an actual functional cabin, flybridge, and to me make it the ultimate compromise boat. I'll never have a boat again that is too large to put on a trailer, and it's been proven with a folding tower and good trailer the 29 blackfin can fit on a trailer and is low enough to go down most roads, and switching to outdrives should make it even easier to get it sat down low on a trailer. And it is supposed to be one of the biggest riding under 30 footers ever built. With a pair of 315HP yanmars they are supposed to be pretty fast, and switching to outdrives normally gains 20-30% in top speed making it even faster.

If I ever win the powerball, I'll find out of my theory about it is correct.

Grady 265 express
 

probably gonna drop a wad of cash on this one tonight. Have a test run at 5pm.

2000
Yamaha OX66 2 stroke 225s. I think I heard they are really good engines?

Nice...that is def on my list of "next boats".
They are hard to come by!

Good luck, Bill

$22k picking up this weekend:sun:

Really? For a 265 express?!
That's unreal...congrats!

Pics!

Has Suzuki gotten any better with corrosion protection?

https://treasure.craigslist.org/boa/...347424191.html

I really like the Ranger 250C, and I like the idea of a newer single 300 4 stroke.

I hear a lot of talk about Suzuki's being prone to corrosion, although my 14 year experience with my Johnzuki 140 has been nothing but positive.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy a Suzuki. They are no more or less likely to have a problem than any other major brand. While looking at boats during my search, every 2003 Yamaha 4 stroke made the point of saying that the exhaust (corrosion) had been replaced. I can say that my 140zuki looks a lot better at 14 years than my Merc150 did at 11 years, Tstat holes were a corroded mess.
But Yamaha and Mercury make good motors too.

As far as I know, Suzuki is still one of the worst for corrosion. They use ALOT of zincs in them to help deal with it. For a newer engine like that,vyou do have the advantage of knowing it should still be good, and you could keep on the flushing and protection. Yamaha is still the best from what I've seen. Yes there were some problem childs like the 1st big 4 strokes, but they have gotten those issues worked out(I know of an 05 225 that gets used strictly in salt water, only gets flushed via the flush hose hookup for 2 or 3 minutes, and that engine is great with virtually no corrosion). I don't have much experience with Honda, but I know Spare says they're the worst, and I would be inclined to believe him from the amount of corrosion that was on my 05 75hp that had very little use in salt water. And I would say Evinrude and Merc are top notch as well.

The biggest killer in salt water is lack of preventative maintence. Keep them flushed, change the zincs every couple of years, spray em down with corrosion block every month or so, and most any of them will treat you well.

They seem to have gotten better, but its hard to say as there are far less around here than there used to be. Sea Fox flooded the market with Suzukis and the Bomb dealers were selling repainted Suzukis as Evinrude 4 strokes from 2000 to around 2005. Suzuki got a black eye around here not only for their corrosion, but for their crappy warranty and the way they handled it. I was getting pretty competitive prices on Yamaha engines till very recently. I now have a source of new Suzuki engines and am planning on going to Suzuki school this spring. Looks like I will be finding more out about them soon. Mercury still has the best corrosion protection Ive seen, but Im noticing now some sub assemblies on Mercs are corroding faster than other parts on them(lower units) that leads me to believe they are outsourcing some casting to other places since they closed down Stillwater. Since OMC/Bomb changed their casting in the late 90s I havent been impressed with their corrosion protection, hard to tell about the newer Bomb product as their are so few in this area(<50?). Yamaha does a decent job on their product, but I'm rarely able to get a Yamaha lower unit apart. Usually it comes apart in pieces. The 2 stroke Yamaha inlines corroded thru the cylinder head fairly often. Ive been doing my fair share of V6 fourstroike exhuast updates as well. Hondas are still alka seltzers in salt.

My father in law, was in the Navy, he told me there's nothing in this world that Salt Water or a Marine couldnt F... up

Our last boat had a zuke on it...(year 2000). One of the best motors I ever ran; quiet,efficient, trolled all day.
I would not hesitate to run zukes again.


Bill

Well if the guy ever returns my calls, text, or emails, I will likely go look at it and buy it if the pictures are an accurate portrayal.

Well, my discussion of larger boats has concluded. After almost a month of trying to get in touch with the sellers of the Ranger 250c listed above, I finally got them. I drove down and checked it out, it was better than described, and I drug it back home from Florida.

It's a 1995 boat and 2015 300 Suzuki with 108 hrs on it.

I will put up some pics in the next few days when I figure out how again (post photobucket).

Congrats

Imgur for photos

:sun:

https://i.imgur.com/aY65mL7.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/zhDsihQ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/VDHqZQg.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/FtVzKWg.jpg

These are mostly pics from the CL ad, except the last one that shows how HUGE the 300 Suzuki is.

It actually looks even better now after a good cleaning, I am very happy!

c'mon let's see it!:pic:

:beer: