motor weights, too much?
 

been researching motors for repower in the near future. looking at something between 150 and 200 hp. boat is 18 sf. looking at yami and suzuki. all motors are weighing in between 465 andf 475 lbs. i have an older (92) merc offshore now which i believe weighs 410 lbs. i like how the boat runs now. not being too concerned w/ planing at low speeds, is that extra weight going to be a factor? rarely run w/ more than 3 people (usually 2 counting me) and boat is not overloaded w/ gear (it is an 18 ftr after all). i did build a 35 gal livewell on it and it has a 48 gal gas tank, though its rarely full. any thoughts are appreciated. im getting $ back from uncle sam for the first time ever and figure ill sink it into our floundering economy.

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

i know you said your looking between 150 and 200, but i would seriously consider the suzuki 140, its lighter by about 50 lbs. and it will take a while to burn through 48 gallons of gas. unless you have a serious need for speed its worth considering. youd still see 45mph top end if you have a clean bottom...

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

I had one with an inline 115 Merc, ran just fine and I was a young go fast buck then. So anything 115 and above will work fine, they even acme out with some new 4 cyl Etec's even an HO model along with that 140 Zuke - I think 465/475 is too much for it. My 200 Merc on a 20 and at 416 thats about it.

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

Sound like you're looking at 4 strokes. Don't know what your objective is but if you want speed, stay with a 2-stroke! Be advised that weights on those motors are really closer to 500 lbs because the quoted weights are DRY weights! When you add 6-7 qts of lube and gear oil that's another 35-40 lbs! I also understand they don't include weight of the cowling, since that's not on the motor when they hang 'em from a scale!

I agree with Egg that the 150 4 strokes you mentioned are way too heavy. You have to remember that Moesly designed the 19 Bowrider and 20' hulls for 300 lb motors! As you get over that, you're progressively screwing up the balance of the boat, and I'd think the smaller 18 is even more critical.

The heaviest 4 stroke I'd consider is the 140 Zuke and I think it's a little heavy for an 18. Suggest you send a PM to Snookerd, as he had one with a V-4 2 stroke and his dad has one with a 140 Zuke. I believe he feels it'd ride better with a lighter motor.

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

The perfect motor for the 18 is the inline 6 Mercury 140/150 hp. (Same motor, the 140 is prop-rated, the 150 is powerhead rated.)

The Merc XS1500 150hp actually produced an amazing 215 hp at 9000 rpms, but the listed max rpm was 6000.

I ran my 1st Seafari weighing 1800 lbs with the inline-6 150 hp Merc, and top speed was 44 mph. You can still find them on Ebay, and there are several places around the country which specialize in remanufacturing the "Tower of Power"

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

Bushwacker is correct. Only motors I would put on an 18SF to have the intended weight for the boat is below 380lbs. My family has the 140 Zuke on their 18SF and it does fine, but it isn't close to being self-bailing.

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

damn you guys are good. thanks a lot. i love all the info on this site. on the bright side we all run boats w/ 20 year old hulls so the big $ item is the motor. 140 zuke sounds good, you really think i can get 45 out of it? i do like to go fast but 45 is doable (clean bottom, no bottom paint). as far as the 2 stroke v. 4 stroke, ive always (last 3 anyway) ran 2 stroke mercs and had good luck, but im thinking of going new and i dont like the opti, its gotten too much bad press. ive heard they worked out the kinks but id rather not be the lab rat for it. also, really nobody is running yammis on their seacrafts? all the bigger boats i fish run the hpdi and love it. just a weight issue?

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

I bought Snookerd's 1987 ( I think) 18. It had a Yamaha 130 4 cyl 2 strk. I replaced it with the same. It took some searching but i found one with low hrs priced right. I think some will agree that this is the ideal power for this hull. I am in Columbia and fish Charleston and Lake Moultrie. The Mercury Tower of Power sounds good but every one I found was very long of tooth.

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

Look at the new Etec 115 HO, will be right at 125 HP and has the Lightning gear case which is smaller than the 130, it should have a bit more zip from fuel mapping and stuff since its a kinda go fast motor. Still think its about 369#, but a 100+ pounds is a ton on the transom, that should give 45 easy.

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

Sorry, I ended the prev post too soon. I was going to bring up the 115 E=Tech, and also the 130, or 135 Etek. I seriously considered the 115 but boat was already regged for Yamaha and I found a good motor at considerably less $$. But there is always tomorrow and Evinrude seems to loom large on the horizion (sp?)

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

I totally concur w/ESD. I'd like to hear some Merc heads thoughts on the Optimax. From what I gather the bugs are long gone, and the 115 would be a nice match. That being said that 115 E-tec or the 115HO and 130 are just too cool.

I think the optis weigh in at about 375 lbs and the white (salt-water) E-tecs 390lbs (according to '09 brochure) will both get you high 30s to mid 40s and still avg. 5mpg. I would be sold on either If I had the lumber, er money...

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

OMC Eagle series is the perfect power/weight ratio for the 18; 150hp @ 376 lbs. Theres still a few around worth rebuilding. If you want to see 50+ you can do thisOMC Eagle Project

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

Prior to the 140 Zuke......we also had that OMC Eagle set-up and it was the best speed vs. weight(we ran 47 mph). I could feel the heavier weight on my dad's 18SF with the 150 vs. my v-4 Yamaha 130( max 40 mph).

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

I put a new Optimax 115 HP on my 20 SF last summer and so far I have been more that satisfied with performance and fuel economy. It will run 41 MPH GPS at WOT and I am still running a little low in RPM’s. I originally wanted an ETech but the price jumped more than a grand in three or four months. I was also able to get a five-year warranty for a few bucks more.

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

OMC Eagle project sounds cool, but i am sold on a new motor. i dont have the knowhow that a lot of you do when it comes to mechanical stuff and engines. e-tecs are either loved or hated. have heard great things from some owners, terrible from others. what about 150 opti? you guys probably want to strangle me as i keep suggesting different 150hp+ motors and you keep saying no, go smaller, but i do like to go fast when i want to. not that concerned w/ planing at low speeds, as i will ride a bigger boat offshore if it is anything other than ideal. i dont beat a motor but you can cover a lot of ground in charleston in a day fishing if you want to. i can go places in my 18 seacraft that my buddies cant touch in their 20-22 ft bay boats, and still get shallow too. that said im sold on going new as opposed to rebuilt or used. still leaning towards the zuke 140, those yammis are too heavy, and it seems like none of you run them.

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

also, do you guys think i can get anything for the motor i have now. she runs strong (90% of the time). i know there are a ton of floridians on this site and the go fast guys love the old 6 cyl mercs. its a bored out 92 merc offshore. pushes my lil sc in the low 50s in optimum conditions.

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

Not sure what you're reading, but Optis have been some of the most reliable engines out there over the last 5 years. You're correct, the earlier ones had some bugs but those were worked out by the 2003 models. As mentioned above, if you want speed/performance, stick with the 2-stroke. You can get 200 horsepower from the e-tec with the same weight as the 140 suzuki.

Reason no one on here is running Yamaha is because the 200 hpdi is the only 2 stroke they make for saltwater (475 lbs) and the f150 is substantially heavier (466 lbs) than the suzuki 140.

For what its worth, I repowered my 20 last year and, after extensive research, settled on the Opti. Only 80 hours on her so far, but it hasn't skipped a beat.

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

Just an FYI, the DF140 makes the waterline at about 35% of the gunnel height in the stern vs. my 130 V-4 that was at 10%. We still use it without hesitation offshore though.

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

what size opti on your 20? the e-tec 200 really weighs the same? that sure wouldnt hurt my topend, just my wallet...

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

FYI - my E-Tec, which has a 7 year warranty, has had zero problems in 3 years and about 185 hrs; also very quiet, which is it's biggest advantage relative to the Opti. It's a very strong running 150; 2007 BRP brochure, which compares HP and torque curves for the 150 E-Tec and F-150, shows that it's actually 165 hp. At 3000 rpm it puts out 200 ft-lbs of torque vs about 150 for the Yahama, so it's a bear on hole shot and acceleration. Actual weight with full fluids and no prop is 504 lbs for the Yahama and 427 for the E-Tec. The 175 and 200 are based on same block, so weight is the same, although HP ratings are probably less conservative on the 175 & 200. My dealer also sells Honda's and Yahama's and service manager says he's had fewer problems with the E-Tecs than either of the other two.

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

bushwacker, how fast will your 20 go w/ the 150?

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

50. His hole shot at 70% throttle is mindblowing too. Seemed like 2 seconds to plane. Very impresssive indeed.
GFS

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

The Opti's are just fine now as well, when you go to the V6 all the engines will be close in weight from 150 to 200, thats why I suggested the 115 HO - V4 and as much HP as the 130. The next big factor is the lower unit, the HO's are designed for smaller lighter hulls and it comes with the high performance Lightning gear case which has a smaller foot print and therefore faster too. I think it comes in about 370lbs so about 50 lighter than Bush's 150

I follow alot of boat forums on the net, Etec's and Opti's are seeing the least issues of all. The Etecs will also run @ 100/1 oil ratio and no dealer servive for 300 hrs, which is a fact not hype. Plus I can get you a good deal on Etec's if you can put it on the boat

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

Dixon-Don't you want the larger gear case for our heavier boats for better wear and tear?

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

I have the 175 Pro XS Opti, which is a tweaked version of the normal 175. I can spin 6000 rpms versus the normal 5600.

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

I've seen 49.8 mph on the GPS with just me and a full tank of gas aboard with the top down, running a 4 blade 20" pitch prop. A 3 blade prop with a little less pitch would probably be a little faster. Also has bottom paint on it which may cost some speed, but the bracket is probably worth an extra 2-3 mph. However in normal cruising/camping trim I'm loaded very heavy, close to 4000 lbs total, so I run a 15x15 4 blade prop in that configuration, which will push it to about 40 with the big bimini top up. As Sandy said, hole shot is pretty decent. A couple of months ago I ran 235 miles on the St. Johns river in the 4000 lb configuration and burned almost 50 gallons of gas, which works out to 4.7 mpg, so I'm fairly pleased with it's performance, considering the load I was carrying. With the 20" prop and a light load I'll average over 5 mpg.

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

I used to get slightly more speed with my old Mercury XR4, running a PowerTech 15.25"Dx16.5"P 3-blade. The motor was reman'd to about 190hp, but I couldn't get that kind of mileage. The ETEC is impressive.

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

hole shot is pretty decent.

200 ft. lbs. @3000 rpm, yeah that`s ok I guess. You can also winterize it in 15 mins by yourself.Winterize? Saw a rerun of Ship Shape tv and they toured the factory. You should see the size of the spider gears in the lower unit. Massive. BRP is the best thing to happen to Evinrude.

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

Oops, forgot about the 5 gallons we bought in Palatka! :o Corrected number is ~ 4.3 mpg!

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

I had a Yammy 175 carbed two stroke, it was about 420 lbs or so and I thought that was too much weight on my 20CC. I repowered with a Etec 115. Weight is good, no water comming in the scuppers.

I was able to do a fishing run yesterday two people and gear, 12 gallons of fuel, traveling about 15.5 miles on about 5 gallons, about 3 mpg. Light trade wind 10-15 knots, seas 4-6 feet 8 seconds, so only cruised at moderate speed, probably about 18 mph.

I tested it out today with a GPS in the bay, small chop and here are the results I got. Not all measurements were the same run and exact same conditions so there is some variablity but its a good ball park. 15 pitch SS viper prop.

RPM Speed
1000 4
1150 5
1200 4.7
1500 6.4
1700 6.1
2000 7.1
3000 18
3500 20
3600 22
4100 26
5200 36.5

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

after much consideration, and tons of good info and help from all of you guys (who dwarf my knowledge of boats and motors), i think i am going to go w/ a new 150 johnson 2 stroke. i am after all, just a poor carpenter who doesnt like buying things on credit. i do love the etecs but my lord are they expensive. i will lose a solid 5 mph minimally but i will have a motor tipping the scales at 391#, and no payment to make. thanks again for all the info, and especially to dixon (eggsuckindog) for the intro to mike and mario at AMS, who got me a great deal (worth the 7 hr drive to tampa).

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

You will not be disappointed..............Congrats. That boat will fly!

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

Tell Mike he has to throw in a free bottle of that vodka :D

This is a motor Mike told me he found in his shed, a brand new 150 Johnson - the price is half of anything out there today and a heck of a find - Congrats it will work great and you can buy alot of gas for $7000

Re: motor weights, too much?
 

150 will be great on the boat, you'll love the power.

I realized an error in my numbers, that was about 18nm, not miles or about 20 statute miles, so about 4mpg...

Have fun with the new engine!