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Old 12-31-2015, 01:09 PM   #161
BandB
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City: Fort Lauderdale. Florida, USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WesK View Post
I remember seeing a trawler with an outboard engine on eBay years ago. Speculation was that it was a "dock queen" and could probably be moved from slip to slip.


I think the difference in torque, not horse power is what is keeping inboards the favorite power for trawlers. We are typically trying to move a heavy boat at a slow speed. Outboards are better at moving lighter boats at higher speeds.


Also, a slow RPM inboard is likely to have a longer service life than a high speed outboard.


And then there's the choice of fuel. For a boat we may be living on for months at a time, many of us would feel safer sitting on top of 200 gallons of diesel than 200 gallons of gasoline. And, diesel is more economical to operate.
There are outboards with very high torque designed for work boats. Mercury calls their commercial line "SeaPro". Yamaha has a High Thrust series.

Engine life would be an issue but not to the average user and when one dies you just clamp another on.
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