SHO - Super High Output V6 Engines!

[Tom Boyd]

Those of you who get the e-magazine Boating World should take a good hard look at Pages 52-53 and 58-59.

They are lighter (502lbs for the Big Boys)because of new high-displacement 4.2L block. Eventually, this technology is going to work it's way down to us smaller OB jet owners, then look out! The F70 only weighs-in at 260 lbs! That's "139 lbs lighter than competitive four strokes and 115 lbs lighter than modern tech, 2-strokes!"

Here we go!
dadTB

[smalljaw]

It'll probably come at a price, like in dollars and cents!! A friend of mine who happens to be a boat mechanic (he could never get me a deal though...lol) was talking about new V-6 coming out on the market in the very near future and he was, or has to, take a course on the internal workings and told me he thought the course was a waste for right now because very few will be able to afford them for right now. I'm not sureif its the same thing he was talking about but it sounds like the same thing, the conversation started after I made a comment on a new Skeeter bass boat I was looking at, it was close to 70k!!! Well he then began telling me how much of the price was the motor and then told me about these new motors that were in development stage, some kind of V-6 4 stroke that is going to be lighter and more efficent to appeal to guyss in states were the 2 stroke was banned, anyway he said a 150HP will cost more than a Yamaha 300HDPI, somewhere around 22k to 26k so I can't imagine you'll see these anytime soon, I could also imagine what it would cost for a 225 or 250 assuming he is correct about what he was saying.

[Tom Boyd]

We were discussing at the shop how when BASS went unlimited, the dream of owning a boat similar to your favorite pro went right out the window. It was a definite negative turning point in tournament angling across this country.

Manufacturers out priced their rigs to the tune of $70,000 +. Who can afford a $70,000 boat, a $60,000 towing vehicle?

The fanatic's fishing rig and towing vehicle exceeds the cost of their homes!!

Yep, the young man's dream of "being like_____" no longer exists.

Don't get me started!!
dadTB

[smalljaw]

Don't get mad at me Tom!!! I was just saying what I was told but I agree with you on the cost of these fully loaded bass rigs. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand why a lot of new boat dealers are having problems with lagging sales, Triton has an entry level rig that sells for 12k or something like that and it has a 50HP motor and if you want to upgrade I believe the its rated for a 150HP, the very same rig will cost over 20k...Thats ridiculous and I really believe the manufacturers are pricing themselves out of existance but as long as they get enough people to buy them then it'll never change and I'll still be looking for one 10 or 12 years old...lol!

[Tom Boyd]

Not mad at you... LOL! I guess I'm mad at the decisions that some make to take a working formula and screw it all up becasue "it's time for a change."

There was absoluetly nothing broken with the 150 Hp limit. Manufacturers had technology that was biting at the bit... 175, 200, 225, 250, 300, etc! They want sales and what they did was out price the blue collar worker.

That 150 Hp limit brought innovations in hull design to make better performance. The same is happening with the bigger engines, but most of us cannot even touch the cost involved.

The SHO most likely has a hefty price tag attached to it. I haven't seen the actual bottom line costs yet. But as in all new technology, as the years go by, that price will trickle down to a more affordable one for us in the long run.

Heck, I remember back in junior high math class (1967) a "well-to-do" friend asking if he could use his calculator to check his math work. It was a plain function (+,-,/, X) Texas Instrument. I distinctly remember the teacher saying, "No, Brad. Not everyone can afford them."

[egfish]

I'll throw my hat into this. I happen to know the Western sales manager for Skeeter boats. At the Phoenix Boat Show last year he told me about these new Yamaha big block lightweight 4-strokes that would come out in 2010. He said Yamaha gave up on trying to meet AAA California Air Board standards with its HPDI 2-strokes and put all of its eggs in the 4-stroke basket. He said he had not been able to sell a bass boat in California since 2005 because of its tough emission regs for outboards, but that would change when these motors came out. We'll have to see how they perform, but he told me they would compare favorably in all performance aspects - hole shot, mid-range acceleration, top end and fuel economy - with the DFI 2-strokes. As for the price, I'm sure they will be expensive; however they may not be quite as high as you might think. Remember, unlike other 4-strokes, these are designed to compete with DFI 2-strokes in the bass boat market. They will have to be competitive in price or no one will buy them.

That leads me into the pricing thing. At last years' boat show the 20 to 22-foot bass boats with 200-250 hp engines dominated the floor space, but the only boats that were selling were the 16 to 17-footers. What few smaller aluminum rigs that were there were selling quite well as were the pontoons. This had been the store for the 2008 show as well. You'd think the boat and motor manufacturers would get the hint. Build more smaller boats with smaller engines and sell more units. I am convinced that the reason BASS lifted the 150 hp restriction was at the behest of the boat and motor industry so they could sell more bigger, more expensive rigs.

Unfortunately, particularly in the fiberglass bass boat industry, it really doesn't cost much more to build a 22-footer than a 17-footer. The profit margin on the larger rigs is much greater which is why the manufacturers and dealers have been trying to push the bigger boats. However what they failed to learn until perhaps now is that it is better to sell a bunch of items at a smaller profit margin than to have the larger items with potentially bigger profit margins sitting on the show room floor. The Skeeter rep told me he has told both Skeeter and parent company Yamaha to build and 18-foot boat and match it with a 150 hp engine and sell it for around $20,000. He said he could sell every rig like that for that price he could get his hands on. I do see where Nitro is offering a 17-footer with a 115 for around that 20K mark, and Ranger has had a more modestly priced 17-footer retro model out for three years now. Perhaps some folks are learning.

As for the 2010 Phoenix boat show? I've heard it has been cancelled. There are not enough marine dealers in Phoenix to hold one. Too many of them went out of business in 2009.!

[Tom Boyd]

egfish... Thanks for the insightful information regarding Skeeter and their approach in sales.

So many major companies lose their focus and often suffer, if not fail, because of it. Look at Home Depot and it's reputation for customer service under the co-founders, Bernard Marcus and Arthur M. Blank. A new leader comes along and removes orange aprons from the floor looking for a bigger profit and they become just another home improvement/building supply store.

Frank Blake took over in 2007 after a shareholders uprising and he starts to go back to the original "focus" of the founders to restore leadership in the home improvement indusstry...

Read this: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...etYouDown.aspx

Quick growth an a microwave society can lead to disastrous outcomes.

[egfish]

I've also seen that Rick Clunn is fishing some BASS events in an 18-foot aluminum Tracker bass boat. He said he is trying, or at least Tracker Marine is trying, to tell everyone they don't need a 21-foot rig with a 250 hp engine costing $65,000 to catch bass. Other pros and their boat company sponsors should do the same.

[Tom Boyd]

Rick is a unique individual... Angler's Quest is a good segment on BPS Bass pro t.v. program.

There have been several others who have experimented along the way with using smaller rigs and even jet OB's on smallmouth rivers. The "Big Boys" hated it!