Anyone running a z520 with a Verado Pro 250?

[pwrfshn]

Just curious to see if there are any out there. I am sure there are, but I haven't seen any.

Ordering the new boat tomorrow and probably getting the Verado Pro.

Thanks in advance,

[Chuck D]

Have not seen a Verado Pro yet. I hope to see Merc 4 strokes making their mark on the bass fishing world very soon!

[Rangerdawg]

My buddy just ordered z521 with the Verado.....

[pwrfshn]

That's good to hear, I won't be completely alone. Done a lot of reading and living at elevation it would appear that the verado has the advantage over 1,000 feet and is almost a draw at sea level. We compared the weight and evened out the difference between the sea star and oil tank full. 77 pounds. I've always found the rangers to run better with the motor lower and more weight in the back anyway. ;)

[Chris M]

Isn't the Verado a gas hog or have they fixed that?

[pwrfshn]

I think at wide open it consumes slightly more than the Pro XS...a few hundred under the 6400 rev limiter I am told is a big difference.

They claim to run 6100 is perfect and will do better than running my Pro XS at 5850.

I guess I will find out. A lot of SHOs running around and I guess I am going to take the chance that the Verado Pro will do what they claim. In the end, there are a lot of other features that will be a benefit if the top end is not what I hope it will be. If the stats are correct, I should have more psh at this elevation with the Verado. Thankfully none of our lakes are that big, Amistad is the only place where fuel cost will be a big factor. Running from Burro to the 285 bridge will probably be expensive.

[Chris M]

Good luck with it. I think the Verado is pretty cool looking. I had an offshore boat with a 4 stroke suzuki and it would get that big ole boat on plane and run 6k all day. Id put one on my rig anyday.

[pwrfshn]

I had your rig...as you may have noticed in my sig, but I put that boat on a large ledge Jan 3rd and just got the settlement from the insurance. I was looking for another 520 as I believe it is the best bass FISHING boat ever made.

The long and short is that I have a chance to get into a new boat for a very fair out-of-pocket amount. It did not help that I picked up a friends z520 last week to do him a favor. It is in my garage and that is not an easy boat to ignore. Found a new 2008 520 in AL and they wanted $45k for it with a yammie. They even agreed to pull the motor and re-rig for Merc, but in my situation, it made sense to get the latest and greatest. And yes, I made my wife the promise that the last boat was the last boat...at least I had a good reason.

I am looking forward to getting the Verado.

[Chris M]

LOL! I'm hope they (insurance) treated you failrly. I think you'll like it. They sound bad ass too.

[pwrfshn]

Very fair, Bob Luellen from Worldwide Marine was my agent and he is nothing short of exceptional. Anyone not insured with Bob is possibly at risk if you ask me.

The policy I had did exactly what he said it would...and in 13 calendar days. Not many insurance companies work like that. He is a good guy and knows his marine coverage.

[white mudbug]

i have an 05 520 myself, thought numerous times about repowering with the new verado. i think in the not so distant future it will be the way to go. Especially when oil is 40 dollars a gallon. looking forward to hearing your report when you get the new rig. Good luck!

[MissionImpossible]

I have a Z522 with a 300 Verado. Great running engine. Extremely quiet. Also has digital throttle and shifting. My best speed was 72 at about 6300 rpm's. Engine is redlined at 6400. A great site to get Verado info is http://veradoclub.com

[pwrfshn]

I had considered the same thing once my existing Opti died. Instead, I killed my whole boat.

[pwrfshn]

That sounds great for the 522. I signed up at the Verado Club last night and read a lot of stuff. They may have already saved me a huge headache. I decided to verify that the dealer here that is going to hang my motor is Verado certified by Merc and they are not according to the Merc site. Hopefully the site is not current. I talked to their lead tech and he said he was Verado certified and showed me their brand new CDS system when I was in their with another boat for a Service Bulletin last week. He also said they have only worked on 3 Verados, but that is not surprising when their are only two or three that I know of in the state.

At our elevation, I am expecting the Verado to outperform the Opti, but that has yet to be determined in real-time. On paper, best we could tell, there is a 77 pound difference between an Opti rigged boat and a Verado rigged boat. When you factor in a full oil reservoir, sea star and other rigging differences, it is not the full 130 difference at the motor.

In my experience with Rangers, they run almost the same full or empty if the motor height is right and you have a Croxton prop. I think the extra weight at the end of the boat may give more bow lift and help top end running, but that has yet to be seen.

Thanks,