we have those same engines on the
fishing boat i
work on, right now the port main has 18000 hrs on it and it burns a half gallon of
oil a day, the stb has 5000 and doesn't burn a drop. we usually run them at 1450 rpms, and they don't burn that much
fuel. they are great, you can get
parts for them anywhere (you won't need them often, but when you do you can get them) and everyone can
work on them. just make sure you use cat filters, not fleetguard or another brand (like mpl or fram) they just last longer. and when changing
fuel filters, do both, its only a few bucks more and you don't have to worry about clogged filters shutting down the
engine. (bleeding injectors sucks, and if it happens you'll wish you changed the secondary filter when you were at the
dock cause you'll have to change both at sea too)