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fishincrazy
01-06-2009, 07:02 PM
Hello All. I am new to this this forum. I know it is early to thinking about this stuff but I am going to put a new outboard motor on my 16' Smoker Craft alum. fishing boat. I have a older 75 H.P.,oil injected, Mariner on her now. The boat is good up to and including a 90 H.P. I am going to go to a new 90 H.P. The question is do I go 2 stroke or 4 stroke? I have done some looking at Riverside Sales in St. Albert. I was going to go Yamaha 4 stroke but then I saw a test on the net that showed an Evinrude E tec (2 stroke) make the Yamaha look sick. I have a built in fuel tank in the boat and a 10 H.P. kicker, 2 stroke ( pre-mix) with a separate fuel tank. Is there a site where they have the spec.s on motors, torque, etc. or can any body out there help me with some info on the best motor/ dealer to perform this job for me? I have been viewing this message board for a while now and it seems like there is some knowledgeable guys and gals on here. Thank you for any info you can provide.

Chris K
01-06-2009, 08:03 PM
If you switch to a four stroke, you are going to notice a difference in how low your boat transom sits in the water, as the four stroke is heavier. And switching manufacturers, you will also have to change gauges, throttle etc. The big benefit of four stroke over two is much quieter, and not having to add oil like with a DFI (digital fuel injection). The four strokes traditionally don't have the same low end torque that you are used to with your oil injected outboard. You probably won't notice any differences in performance, as the extra 4 stroke weight will cancel out the extra horsepower. Going with a DFI will improve your power to weight ratio and you will get better torque and top end, but you still have to put oil in. Unfortunately your old outboard isn't worth much, and most places won't even take it on trade. A lot of dealers won't even look at or repair old outboards anymore. For what it's worth to really repower, at the least $8000 if you find a screaming deal on a non current motor, I don't think it would be worth it for the added cost versus the gains. I think you would be better suited to sell the whole package privately and buy new (noncurrent @ a dealership, or a few year old used boat, there are lots of smoking deals out there), and you would have a new or newer boat, and motor, and it would be more cost effective. When you buy a new boat, there are incentives for purchasing everything together at a package cost. Buying a loose outboard costs more, and then the throttle, guages and rigging labour, so putting it into perspective maybe repowering isn't the best cost effective solution to getting new outboard technology. You state you are just wanting to upgrade and love what you have for a boat, but say in five to eight years down the road, you then have a hull that's really old, with a newer motor, and you won't get the value from it if you resell or get something else. Just my 2 cents, Chris K

Buckhead
01-06-2009, 09:05 PM
All the outboard manufacturers have their own sites on the net that has all the info you are looking for. Just do a search and you will find them.

It is a tossup these days with the technology that the new 2 strokes have whether to get one of those or a 4 stroke. I personally do not like the 4 strokes myself as they are heavier and they lacked power on the low end on the ones I have tried (Yamaha, Honda). I went with the Mercury Optimax (2 stroke) on my new boat and I love it - but I would buy an E-tec as well as they are about the lightest outboard around when comparing the same horsepower.

They oil tanks on the new 2 strokes will let you run about 3 days before filling and you will not have to take it in for an oil change as with a 4 stroke.

On a boat like yours, I definitely would go with the lightest weight outboard and that would be the E-tec, but like Chris said it is going to cost quite a bit to repower - maybe more than your boat is worth. I would not look at a repower unless I was doing it on a newer boat that I knew I was going to keep for quite a while.

fishincrazy
01-06-2009, 09:19 PM
Thank you Chris and Buckhead, The cost to go to the 75 hp Yamaha, controls, etc was $10,000.00 plus labour. You are right I love the boat and I have done a lot of work to it ie. new fish finder, new tires on the trailer etc. etc. Both of you bring up some great points that I did not think about. I am going up to Lac la Ronge and beyond, Otter lake, etc. this summer with my son and son in law and had given some thought to a little bigger boat. Thank you

Flip
01-06-2009, 10:47 PM
I have a 90hp 2005 4-stroke Yammie on my 16ft. Lund and I'm more than impressed. Good on fuel, quite, and I can troll with it at 2.5 mph if needed. It has more power than what is really needed but then again you can never have to much power.

PoorTurtle
01-07-2009, 08:43 AM
2 stroke vs. 4 stroke, that is a real hard call.
i think i would go 4 stroke just for the quietness and much cleaner to run.
well maybe 2 stroke for the weight and more power
no 2
no 4
no 2
no 4
i cant pick.....lol
i do love my 150hp merc. 2 stroke

Waxy
01-07-2009, 09:10 AM
I think Chris K nailed this one, I would be really surprised if you could repower the boat for less than the current value of the boat. In other words, it's probably going to cost you $10,000 to replace the motor on an $8000 boat, and the final value of the boat will be about $10-11,000. Financially, it doesn't make a lot of sense to have $18,000 invested into a $10,000 boat, but sometimes, money isn't everything.

There are some pretty good deals to be had on boats right now, my advice would be to shop around and see what kinda deal you can get on simply upgrading your current boat with another one closer to what you want.

As for 2 stroke vs. 4 stroke, I'm on the fence too. I don't think you can go wrong with either these days. I love my Optimax, TONS of power, really good on fuel and oil, very reliable, surprisingly quiet, etc..., and yet, part of me still thinks I'd like to have a 4 Stroke Verado, just for the quiet operation. SMART guages would be nice too lol...

Waxy

Chris K
01-07-2009, 09:52 AM
Since 2005 I have been running four stroke outboards, specifically the Mercury Verado. Now they have all been the bigger L6 engines, 200, 225, 275, and 300 hp. I have been really pleased with the performance as these four strokes are supercharged, and they are not like other traditional 4 strokes and have lots of low end torque for just as fast as EFI or DFI holeshot, and very comparable top end. Because of the supercharger they are a little harder on fuel at WOT, but for the added performance when I want it I don't mind, and the boats these motors have been on are all 20 to 21 footers. At crusing speed with my Smartcraft guages I can dial it down to going about 35 MPH and I burn 11 gallons per hour wich is fine when it's not tournament day. Every 100 hours I get my oil changed, and like the fact I don't have to buy oil, and the Verado's have the option of power steering on smaller outboards, and have it standard on the bigger ones, and it's a dream to drive with it. You can't really fathom how great the power steering is until you have a chance to drive one. This year I will probably be running a 200 L4 Verado (smaller block same size motor as the 135, 150, 175, & 200) and am looking forward to it and it will have power steering because it's going to be a tiller. Most new purchases nowdays are going with 4 strokes, and I know many dealers that pretty much don't order anything but, as most people like how quiet they are and if they just bring in 4 strokes that's what they sell. Many manufacturers hulls have been changed so that they better accomidate the heavier weight of a four stroke outboard (wider hulls at the bottom). Not all are created equal though, so look around and compare apples to apples. Chris K