I am sure many of you have heard the news that our beloved gas/ethanol mix could soon hit $4.00 to $4.50 a gallon by the end of April. "Geopolitical" tensions in the middle east and increasing demand globally are the culprits, or so that is what I hear. I just wanted to throw something at you guys cause frankly, I have a little time to kill tonight...

Most of you know outboard motors are not the models of fuel efficiency and that increasing fuel prices have changed the way most of us approach our day on the water, so I just want to throw a scenario at you should prices hit these projected numbers by May.

Its a Saturday morning in May and you decide to run from the Sam Rayburn Dam up to the 147 area of the lake (Midlake Area)You have a 225 horse 2 stroke engine that isn't exactly new anymore (lets just say a 2003 or 2004 model) and a full tank of gas. That run, according to map legend, is appx. 17-19 miles, lets just say 18 for arguments sake. The lake is as smooth as glass (like that ever happens, but it did today!!!)and you cant wait to put the hammer down and run WFO!! (figure it out).............now the math..............Most 2 stroke outboards fuel consumption per hour at 5700 rpm's (WFO) can be calculated by dividing the horsepower by 10. I know, its not perfect but follow me here............That 225 is gonna burn 22-23 gallons per hour wide open by this math. Lets say your rig runs at between 65 mph and 70 mph for arguments sake, remember, you have full fuel tanks!! At 68 mph, it will take you appx. 16 minutes to arrive at the 147 bridge area. Oh yeah, because of obstacles (sand bars, stumps, other boats, and the occasional flock of coots or water bird of your choice)you were not able to drive a direct path and it ended up taking an extra 2 minutes to arrive. (18 minutes total)

18 minutes= .30 hours x 2 (remember, gotta get back to the ramp and were runnin HARD today!!!) Total of .60 hours

.60 x 23(gallons per hour @ 5700rpm)= 13.8 gallons

Now lets just throw in another .20 hours because you ran up into harvey creek on the way back and back over to Mudd Creek before you left for the ramp.

Total .80 hours x 23= 18.4 gallons of fuel

Now lets settle at $4.25 for the gas

You just spent $78.20 on one trip down the lake.........Ouch

and the best part..................your gonna do it again tomorrow and then drive back to the burbs of Houston or Dallas in your 4 wheel drive........ch ching!!!!

Dont laugh too hard fellas, I was bored tonight. Out!!

Makes me want to win the lottery.

Its not that we don't think about this, its that we simply stop short of answering the final equation because at that point we realize that we really don't want to know.

That's why I keep telling my wife I need a place on Fork. It will save me gas money and i can get rid of boat storage in town!

With all the savings I can afford to buy gas.

Makes perfect sense to me.

If they keep it up you may have to win twice.

Nothing funny about it. Glad you did this cause
its interesting to see how much money is
being spent makin a run.


Years ago sittin at the mouth of caney
a boat was comin from minnow bucket
to somewhere towards lfm and
my buddy said you hear that? I said
Ya the boat gettin on it? He said the no money
flyinn outta of his bank.....

Sounds to me like the wife is going to have to work a little more overtime. lol

Well said OKbass, that is EXACTLY my thoughts and exactly why I wrote this!!! Its only on Monday when I look at my online debit card activity do I want to write something like this!!!! Come Friday, screw it!!

It's still waaaaaay cheaper then drag racing.

Thinking about Golf but God I suck.

My 17' Procraft with a 115 just got a little more appealing to me! I have been wanting to upgrade but I think not now!

Thank you!

+1
I've got a 17' Triton with a 115 Evinrude. I put 5 gallons in the tank every time I go to the lake and I've never run out of gas!

For the record, I have a 99 model 225 Johnson and it actually think it sucks 23 gallons per hour at 4000 rpm's!!! It costs me 10 bucks just to fire that thing up.

For you guys with the 90's and 115's, you are looking smarter every day.

I HAD a 99 Johnson 175 on a 19ft javelin. With it your numbers may have been close to correct or even a little low, but I now have a 225 Opti on a 20ft ranger and I bet my fuel consumption is 1/2 to 3/4 of what you added up. My opti is great on fuel, honestly it probably gets close to double what the ole Johnson did. I have a smartcraft guage and I ran from Cassels Boykin to Mudd over to Hog Branch then back again then the next day ran from San Augustine park to midways back in Buck bay then straight over to five fingers and back to San Augustine park and All total used 8 gallons of gas.