2820xld or 2520xld

[Reel Addiction]

I sold my 2520xld with twin 150s a few years ago it was an excellent boat but I missed having a bigger twin diesel express boat. i was thinking on getting back into a parker my question is should I get a 2520 xld or go up to the 2820? Is it worth getting the 3 xtra feet. I would order new my 2520 had twin 150s which were fine what would be a good combination for the 2820 thanks for the info

 

[warthog5]

Max it out! A pair of 300's........ You can always back off the throttle....But if you put it on "The Pin's" and it's not quite enough you will regret it. More Motor also means your not running The Stem Winding Crap out of them all the time.

No one ever said...... "I wish I had a smaller motor."

 

[Megabyte]

No one ever said...... "I wish I had a smaller motor."

True.

 

[Lucky John]

If you go with another 2520xld I would say a pair of 200's is ideal. Enough power and decent fuel consumption. Also depends om how many you usually have aboard, if number is 4 or more most of the time go 28

 

[Reel Addiction]

Thanks

 

[johnkn]

Don't make the mistake I did and buy a new 2520 only to trade it in 10 months later on a new 2820. Get the 2820 and absolutely get the T-300s. Good luck

 

[warthog5]

I bet they Hit you hard on deprecation on that Johnkn

 

[Lucky John]

I bet they Hit you hard on deprecation on that Johnkn

I know I couldn't take a hit like that lol

 

[johnkn]

It wasn't too bad but sometimes you have to cut your loses quickly and move to something that makes you happy rather than struggling with something that doesn't. It could have been a lot worse, like trading in a wife. Lol

 

[sydngoose]

I was in your exact shoes 2 years ago: I sold my 2120 and was looking to go up in size. I lamented back and forth between the 2520 and the 2820. I decided to go with the 28 pilot house and started looking. I found a steal on a 2830 ( extended pilot house 28') and bought her.
She was TOO much boat : she handled effortlessly w/ twin 225's. She was fast, nimble, but THIRSTY! She would get 1.4 -1.5mpg (which was fine when I had a 3 or 4 man crew).
But, for just cruising the river with my son, she was too expensive to operate. A simple inlet run cost me $140 in fuel. My son and I like to run the river to the inlet ( 29 miles one way). So, it made those exertions expensive.

I sold that 2830 and bought a 26' center console: not a Parker but rather a Jones Brothers Marine with twin four stroke 150's. Love this boat, but I miss my pilot houses. I will be selling this jones brothers soon. I will be getting back into a Parker pilot house. Now, I'm just tossed up between the 2320 ( so easily towable for s. florida runs) vs. the 2520 which would give me lots more room and one extra angler. I think I am going to go w/ the 2520 DV next w/ a single 300 and a 9.9 kicker on the bracket.

Just my insight who's been in your same "predicament".

Best wishes on your choice. The 2820 just cost too much money to operate on a casual basis. 2520 seems an excellent compromise. Parker/ Yamaha claim 2.1 mpg at 34mph cruise in the 2520 w/ single 300. Sounds good to me!

 

[Lucky John]

I was in your exact shoes 2 years ago: I sold my 2120 and was looking to go up in size. I lamented back and forth between the 2520 and the 2820. I decided to go with the 28 pilot house and started looking. I found a steal on a 2830 ( extended pilot house 28') and bought her.
She was TOO much boat : she handled effortlessly w/ twin 225's. She was fast, nimble, but THIRSTY! She would get 1.4 -1.5mpg (which was fine when I had a 3 or 4 man crew).
But, for just cruising the river with my son, she was too expensive to operate. A simple inlet run cost me $140 in fuel. My son and I like to run the river to the inlet ( 29 miles one way). So, it made those exertions expensive.

I sold that 2830 and bought a 26' center console: not a Parker but rather a Jones Brothers Marine with twin four stroke 150's. Love this boat, but I miss my pilot houses. I will be selling this jones brothers soon. I will be getting back into a Parker pilot house. Now, I'm just tossed up between the 2320 ( so easily towable for s. florida runs) vs. the 2520 which would give me lots more room and one extra angler. I think I am going to go w/ the 2520 DV next w/ a single 300 and a 9.9 kicker on the bracket.

Just my insight who's been in your same "predicament".

Best wishes on your choice. The 2820 just cost too much money to operate on a casual basis. 2520 seems an excellent compromise. Parker/ Yamaha claim 2.1 mpg at 34mph cruise in the 2520 w/ single 300. Sounds good to me!

 

[captmatt]

It sounds like your "inlet run" is 60 miles total, which would burn about 45 gallons at 1.5 MPG. You seem to think that is expensive but it all depends on your point of reference. That is really not so bad for a 28 foot pilot house with twins. I would consider a 60 mile run to be a long way to travel except if running offshore.

Please send me a PM when you are ready to sell the Jones Brothers 26!

But, for just cruising the river with my son, she was too expensive to operate. A simple inlet run cost me $140 in fuel. My son and I like to run the river to the inlet ( 29 miles one way). So, it made those exertions expensive.
...
I sold that 2830 and bought a 26' center console: not a Parker but rather a Jones Brothers Marine with twin four stroke 150's. Love this boat, but I miss my pilot houses. I will be selling this jones brothers soon.

 

[johnkn]

And do not believe the performance or economy numbers Parker publishes, ask here for the real numbers. That's THE reason I traded my 10 month old 2520 XL with a single 300 for a new 2820 with T300s. Much more boat and room, +25% better economy at 30 mph with the bigger boat than the smaller boat with 1/2 the power, and my 2820 gets marginally better fuel economy at 40 mph as my 2520 did at 30 mph, plus almost +20 mph on the top end when you want it.

 

[GoodChance]

And do not believe the performance or economy numbers Parker publishes, ask here for the real numbers. That's THE reason I traded my 10 month old 2520 XL with a single 300 for a new 2820 with T300s. Much more boat and room, +25% better economy at 30 mph with the bigger boat than the smaller boat with 1/2 the power, and my 2820 gets marginally better fuel economy at 40 mph as my 2520 did at 30 mph, plus almost +20 mph on the top end when you want it.

I'm not sure I understand what you are saying .......

Are you suggesting that your 2820 with twin 300's gets better fuel economy than a 2520 with a single 300?

 

[johnkn]

I'm not suggesting it, I'm stating it.

Based on the new 2016 2520 XL MV with single 300 I owned vs the new 2017 2820 I traded up to 10 months later. I was dissatisfied with the 2520s actual performance and economy vs advertised specs. Parker was attending the annual Annapolis boat show that year and after my complaints kindly offered to have their engineer stop by since he was in the area. He spent time and sea trialed my 2520, even tried different props, no improvement.

Both boats were similar, fresh bottom paint, moderate load, 1-2 people. Here are some specs from pics of the Yamaha instrument clusters from each boat I have in my phone:

2520 w/ single 300 MV hull
4500 rpm 30 mph (gps verified) 1.6 mpg. Trimmed up 4-5 bars and motor raised one hole from factory config. Top speed 39. I think 1 time I saw it flash to 40 but would not hold 40

2820 w/T300s DV hull
3400 rpm 30 mph 2.0 mpg
3800 rpm 35 mph 1.8 mpg
4200 rpm 40 mph 1.7 mpg
Top speed last year when new was 58-59mph on the pins...
All speeds gps verified. Trimmed up 5 bars, motors raised 1 hole from factory location

Both boats topped out right at 5900-6000 rpm on the pins with their factory props

Your mileage may vary. ;^)

 

[grouperjim]

FWIW......dry weight/no motors (from Parker's website)

2801 = 5000#
2820xld = 6400#

2520xld = 5800#

All other things being equal performance-wise it looks like the extra 3 feet on the ass end of the 28dv hull is 600# plus the addl friction of wetted surface area and the weight of the addl motor.

If you add permatrims to the equation which provide lift at the motor foot rather than the stern of the hull (like trim tabs do) the provided hydrodynamic lift will mitigate a good portion of that motor weight while on plane making the hull ride more level with less drag.

My most efficient cruise is 3500 rpm/35mph/2.1mpg in good conditions.
Fast cruise is 4500rpm/45mph/1.6mpg

The difference you see between John's 28 performance numbers and mine are the extra drag/weight of his pilot house versus my T-top, and the addition of permatrims.

Out of curiosity I have run my boat up to 30mph with one motor shut down/trimmed up. No problem. Given the weight of the 25xld I am guessing this is about what the performance would feel like with a single 300/19p prop.

LJ or others here can chime in on the "real" numbers for the 2520xld/single 300.

Yamaha performance bulletin shows the following for a 2520xld with the new twin 200s......

3500rpm/26.6mph/2.35mpg
4500rpm/37.8mph/1.97mpg

With the twin 200s I'd have to say the efficiency comparison between the 25 and the 28 is close. Getting to the spot quicker at fast cruise though goes to the 28.

Discuss........

 

[Lucky John]

Real numbers are 1.7-1.8. Noway 2.1 I even do better since going to 4 blade ss prop

 

[johnkn]

Jim, it's good to see the actual numbers of our (2) 28' boats are pretty much spot on as expected based on weight and CD. My 2520 and 2820 were probably a bit lighter than the published dry weight numbers as they are both Open Back models. My 2820 does have the minor extra weight of the 2nd station, and I keep ~120 lbs of lead ballast in the empty bait tank on the port side otherwise the boat sits high on that side at rest and it bugs me (I really don't use live bait here and don't fill the tank). I also have a fair amount of stuff hanging out in the breeze on the hard top (2 large lights, radar, 14 rod rocket launcher mostly filled, etc.)

Looking at the performance bulletin on the site you'll see why I was dissatisfied with my 2520 with single 300.

Published:
4000 rpm 30.5 mph 2.43 mpg
4500 rpm 35.5 mph 1.99 mpg
5700 rpm 46.4 mph 1.77 mpg

My boat:
4500 rpm 30 mph 1.6 mpg
total speed ~39 mph

Granted it had bottom paint, but it was a brand new boat with fresh paint.

thanks all

 

[moose8420]

Its interesting to see some other numbers for the 2520. My 2520MV 99 hull with a Yamaha 300 does fairly well. depending on the sea and load I can do about 28-30mph between 4300 and 4600rmp. My usual fuel burn is 2.0-2.4mpg. Although I was fully loaded with 6 guys and camping gear for a week, and I was still able to cruise at 33mph with a fuel burn of about 1.3-1.5mpg. My top end fully loaded or light is the same, 40-41mph. I also carry a lot of stuff on my cabin roof, 8' inflatable, radar, and 6 rods. just my two cents.

 

[grouperjim]

Some random shots from this weekend. Gulf of Mexico, 1/2 tank of fuel, seas 1 ft, 5 people, no fishing gear.

Managed to get a few pics of fuel burn.

Fast cruise 4500rpm/45mph/1.6mpg was seen but no pic.