That's spectacularly good. Either you spend some time trolling with your main engine or your hull can plane with very little power. It takes about 70 hp to plane my hull so I typically burn 8-10 gph on cruise or most often 13 gph when I'm moving along (up to 21.5 wot). Of course a 225 Opti isn't exactly the most economical engine ever built.

 

I don't troll with the 140. Occasionally I have let the motor run while bottom fishing or crabbing. I think I will go back and calculate it from year to year to see if it has varied based on my experience and fishing methods.

I'd really like to have a fuel flow sensor. Maybe my next boat....

Anybody else have any long term fuel usage data?

 

I've heard good things about the fuel efficency of Suzuki outboards. The 140 seems like it is a good range of power and fuel economy for an 18-22' boat.

 

I just hung a brand new 140a on my old 18' duckworth. Looking forward to some better fuel economy!! Kind of funny, I was going to list the lowrance flow meter off of my old outboard in the classifieds. Two seasons of use. If you are interested pm me.

 

Twoshottom: This is interesting. I also have a 20' Thunderjet Luxor half hard top with offshore motor bracket. My main motor is the Yamaha F150 inline 4 stroke and the kicker is the 9.9 High Thrust Yamaha. Mine is a 2014 bought a year ago, new. In this first year I've put 168 hours on it.

• our boats weigh approx. 2,200-2,300 lbs (1,845 for soft top versions)
• fuel tank is 48 gallons

I do not record every gallon I put in mine, but from the several tanks I have checked, doing what I do around Kalama, running to the mouth of the Lewis or Cowlitz, often going wide open, often slow... the number I keep getting is 2.2 - 2.3 gallons per hour. Having fed a Ford 460 jet for 14 years and it's 8-9 gallons per hour thirst ... I can't tell you how nice it is to see the fuel bills plummet.

CW

 

Interesting to see that you calculate your burn rate at gallons per hour. I have a DF 140 on a 19 foot trophy dual console and do my calculating on the basis of miles per gallon. The only times I really do the calculations is on tuna trips when I am running 40 miles, or so, out and another 40 back with 6 to 7 hours of trolling at 7 miles per hour in between the out and back. Going out is usually done at 15 to 20 miles per hour, unless we are really lucky. Usually, the return trip is done at 25 to 30 mph. I almost always get 3 miles per gallon.

Using your 3 gallons per hour is hard to compare since I have no idea what was your average speed over the time that calculation was made. But, I just thought I would give you the numbers I have experienced with mine under the conditions described.

 

ccw, Wow those are great numbers! I think the Thunder Jets are a great looking boat and I have loved the 1/2 hard top. You obviously get a lot of use out of yours and I'm sure it will serve you well. Thanks for sharing your data.

jacksalmon, I know I could keep track of how many miles I've traveled by GPS but don't usually do that. The hour meter and gallons I've put in the tank are easy for me to track. The bulk of the fishing I do in the Columbia probably isn't very comparable to the Tuna! runs you are making. It's fun to see others information. Thanks for sharing your data.

 

Fuel burn rates for most motors are posted all over the internet. Some of the information here seems a bit misleading. All I will say is don't expect to burn 3gph while running a 140 or 150 at WOT, or at cruise for that matter.

 

True. Generally speaking, most engines at WOT burn roughly a GPH for every ten horsepower. So most engines at WOT will burn somewhere close to their max rated hp divided by ten. The thing that sets engines apart is how they behave at mid-throttle ranges

I've heard the DF140s are really good in that regard but I'd be interested in seeing real world burn data from a variety of boats.

 

I'm burning 12.some gph at 45+ mph wot. At 4000 rpms and 30 some mph it was 4.4 or so gph. About 3x better than my old carb Johnson. I just propped down to a 21. I'll post after I run it a while.

 

Are you using a Suzuki Modular Instrument System to log your data? I'm getting one for Ginger and her DF 175 because I suck at math.

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Are you using a Suzuki Modular Instrument System to log your data? I'm getting one for Ginger and her DF 175 because I suck at math.

Nope, just a spiral ring binder to log the date, the hour meter and gallons that I put in the tank.

Just another note, I have been using non-E fuel for the last 8 years.

ccw, a nice cruising speed with my 140 is 4,800-5,000 rpm's which is usually 28-30 mph. I have a stainless prop and hit right at 6,000 rpm's at WOT and 40-41 mph.

 

Anyone who knows my boat knows I am not a slow driver... Rather prone to speed and flashy turns. It is also amazing how often the Columbia River is glass calm. On a typical run to Cowlitz and back (18-20 miles after a day of fishing) I usually cruise along at 4100 rpm. My log and data are accurate.

CW

 

Twoshottum: So, how wide is your boat? I presumed earlier they were the same hull, gas tank size and weight.

If they are it would be neat to do a side by side comparison of the motors themselves: fill up both at marina fuel dock, run a good day and fish, run back and refill and compare fuel burn under the same matching conditions/performance. I know several Fishermen that love their Suzukis.

I'll find my prop's specs. (I think 17"?)

CW

 

my cousin has a 20 foot tj with the suzuki 140 and it always averages 3.6 mpg.
this mpg is for tuna fishing and halibut fishing out to the ranch, no fuel flow meter on his boat.

 

I just purchased a new Suz DF 140 put a jet on it.

I cannot wait to run it. I haven't gotten it back from dealer yet.

How much gas will the jet eat is my question??

MikeN

 

So yesterday I ran downstream by Cottonwood Island and Rainier and recorded data and turned and ran upstream, figuring the average would negate the effects of the current. The hull has some marina slime from moorage. I held each rpm step for a few seconds to stabilize speed.
These are the upstream//downstream averages:
RPM - GPS
3400 - 21;
3800 - 26;
4100 - 30;
4700 - 34;
5300 - 38;
5800 - 41;


CW

 

My boat has the 6 foot bottom and 31 inch sides.

I just looked at the Tjet brochure I picked up at the Sportsman Show and see the new Luxors have 34 inch sides. I'm not sure when they went to the deeper sides.

I'm running an Apollo stainless steel prop, 3 blade, 19 pitch and 13.125 diameter.

 

My prop is the Yamaha Reliance and dimensions are (I think) 14 1/4" diameter with 17" pitch. My boat has the 34" sides.

CW

 

I repowered a 18.2 Hourston Glasscraft hardtop runabout with a DF140A. This boat has a 23 degree deadrise and very deep for a 18 foot boat. The boat hull (fibreglass) weighs 1750 pounds and full fuel is 43.5 gallons. (cdn) I have a rack built on the boat to haul kayaks or a canoe which we always have along. So with 3 people and full gear the boat weighs over 3000 pounds. I got to use it a bit this summer mostly cruising and camping with very little trolling as I have a kicker motor. I installed a Honeywell hour meter and it's reading is 54.5 hours. I logged the fuel burned this summer and it came to 650 litres. The boat likes to cruise at 4600 rpm with a speed of 27 mph. Fully loaded with a 19 p standard aluminum suzuki prop it still winds out to 6000 rpm. The fuel consumption average works out to 2.6 gallons per hour. This is a very efficient motor on this hull.

 

I love my df140a. It's on a very different boat (20 foot tiller aluminum guide style) but man it just sips and sips fuel. Got the efi kicker w it too. I'm impressed w suzuki

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Not Suzuki-specific, but I thought I'd throw in my experience with Yamaha in for comparison.

Not quite as scientific as the gallons per hour being reported her, but my typical full day on the water at Buoy 10 averages 10 gallons a day running my 225hp Vmax SHO and 9.9 kicker on fully loaded 25.5 FT ALUMAWELD SuperVeePro. My re-fueling regimen is to fill'er up after every fourth trip.

Interestingly, my Kenai boat running a much older 50hp Yamaha 4-stroke and T-8 kicker also averages 10 gallons a day on the river.

 

Not Suzuki-specific, but I thought I'd throw in my experience with Yamaha in for comparison.

Not quite as scientific as the gallons per hour being reported her, but my typical full day on the water at Buoy 10 averages 10 gallons a day running my 225hp Vmax SHO and 9.9 kicker on fully loaded 25.5 FT ALUMAWELD SuperVeePro. My re-fueling regimen is to fill'er up after every fourth trip (45 gallon tank)

Interestingly, my Kenai boat running a much older 50hp Yamaha 4-stroke and T-8 kicker also averages 10 gallons a day on the river.